1780 Red Wool Stays, or corset, and Panniers, British. Wool backed with linen or canvas, stitched with linen thread reinforced with strips of whalebone, lined with glazed linen, bound with linen twill tape, fastened with plain weave linen tapes and decorated with silk braid and silk ribbon. Phalanges, or fingers, spread over the hips to give support. Side panniers, or hoops, are made of cane. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, U.K.
Back-lacing stays with a high narrow back with a wide curving decolletage and V-point in front, about 5 cm below the waistline. Decorative white lacing and white silk braids on centre front which is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Below the waist there are 19 tabs, or phalanges, or fingers. Laced through 13 eyelets at back. Compartments for the strips of whalebone are 4 – 5 mm wide, running vertically and diagonally. Centre busk of whalebone about 2 cm wide. Shoulder straps have an eyelet and extend from the front and fasten with tape at each shoulder back.
Stays were an essential item of underwear for women during the 18th century. By the 1780s, the fashionable torso consisted of an inverted cone shape. Achieving smoothness of profile and firmness of contour were the primary function of 18th-century stays, rather than emphasising the bust or constricting the waist. Although custom-made and very intricately designed, stays were usually very plain. On these stays a simple silk ribbon and linen tape serve as decoration and functional finishings.
The narrow rows of very fine, even hand stitching form the compartments into which thin strips of whalebone were inserted. Although the stays appear very rigid, whalebone was quite flexible. It had the added advantage of softening with the heat of the wearer’s body, allowing the stays to mold to her shape. When worn, the shaped and boned tabs at the lower edge would splay over the wearer’s hips, giving further fullness to the petticoat tied at the waist over the stays.
1815-1825 ca. Pink Leather Slippers. Probably French but worn in America. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. mfa.org. In Jane Austen’s years, fragile slippers were worn for balls and evening events but for walking sturdier shoes were needed, In the early 1800s, slippers were made of fabric such as satin or from leather, were flat or had a very small heel, slightly rounded toes and were laced up on the top. They were usually not made in right or left but instead one shoe shape and in multiples so that when one slipper wore out, another was on hand to replace it.
The Village Bus took us to The Doonan hotel for a wonderful lunch in the Noosa hinterland in the Sunshine Coast. “Set on 2 hectares and a stones throw from the famous local beaches — boasting indoor and outdoor dining, bars, beer gardens, a pizzeria, ice creamery, cellar door, multiple function spaces and an outdoor kids playground.” The food is amazing and the tables are scattered through the gardens and herb beds. So relaxing that we all want to go again. The Doonan Hotel, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
The village bus took us for a lovely day out to Pelican Waters, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. First, a relaxing cruise around the canals to admire all the canal side mansions with boat moorings. Hard to pick just one that we’d like to live in as they all have magnificent views. Some channels and sand banks have moved since the ocean broke through the gap at Bribie Island but we saw wildlife and water activity as well as views to Moreton Bay and the channel where ships sail through to the Port of Brisbane. The sane people downstairs viewed the houses, boats and birds out of the wind while some intrepid travelers braved the elements to sit up top for a better view. Yummy lunch and drinks followed at Pelican Waters Tavern so the merry group was a lot quiter on the return trip. A great day out! Canal Cruise – Pelican Waters Tavern
From 1700 until the early 1800s, pockets with waist ties were worn by women to keep essential items on their person. Generally of linen or some other cotton fabric, they were often quilted, or embroidered and gifted or handed down to others. In the 18th century, women’s pockets were not sewn into their gowns. Instead they were attached to a tape and tied around the waist as separate garments. Worn under the hoops and petticoats, they were accessed through openings in the gown and petticoat seams. By the early 1800s, round gowns were both flowing and almost transparent so pockets could no longer be worn under dresses, so ridicules, or bags, or reticules were carried instead. Jane Austen and her female friends and family would have worn pockets under their out layers.
From the Curator Victoria and Albert Museum, London: Quilting was a popular form of decoration for a variety of garments including pockets. However, hand-quilting was a time-consuming method of decoration. The increased demand for quilted petticoats, waistcoats and pockets led to the invention of woven quilting.
1700-1725 ca. Pair of Linen Twill Women’s Pockets With Crewel Embroidery and Waist Ties, British. Embroidered in yellow, green and pink worsted thread with chain and stem stitches, design of flower pot with flowering plant, bound with green worsted tape and sewn to linen tape tie. Designs are similar but not identical, suggesting both hand-drawn and possibly work of an amateur. Pockets may have been handed down to another person who found them too small as each pocket has been extended at top by 4 cms. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.
by 4 cms. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.
1750-1800 ca. Woman’s Pocket With Waist Ties, New England, America. Linen plain weave, cotton plain weave, wool embroidery. Dimensions 39.5 cm x 27.5 cm. Polychrome crewels on cotton and linen, vine with buds, flowers and leaves and initials M.W. in center. In 18th century, women’s pockets were tied around waist with tape as separate garments, worn under hoops and petticoats, accessed through openings in gown and petticoat seams. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A. mfa.org
1750-1800 ca. Woman’s 1750-1800 ca. Woman’s Pocket With Waist Ties, New England, America. Linen plain weave, cotton plain weave, seams. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A. mfa.org1700-1800 ca. Women's Pockets With Waist Ties. #Georgian #Regency #JaneAusten #Underclothing books2read.com/suziloveFashWomen1700s Share on XHN_1 Fashion Women Late 1700s History Notes Book 1 by Suzi Love.
What was fashionable for women in the late 1700s? Extravagant colors and fabrics and outrageous styles were all seen in these flamboyant fashions.
books2read.com/suziloveFashWomen1700s
“For the sake of propriety,” Lady Jamison informed the Earl. “I was ensuring your garments were intact. You’ve a reputation for disappearing into dark corners and re-emerging with your clothing askew.” https://books2read.com/suziloveSS The Earl says he has no time for their family friend and mad scientist, Lady Laura, yet when he’s with her, passion and desire explode. Can Richard resist Laura’s obvious charms and choose instead a passive and pleasing wife? Probably not!
1660-1700 ca. Green Velvet Gaming Purse, Probably French. Trimmed with Copper-Gilt Thread, probably French. This purse was designed especially for gaming, or gambling, and would have held money, or counters, and is of a different design to other 17th-century purses. The base is a flat circle and the sides are gathered on a drawstring to stop money or gaming counters from spilling out, and to hide how much a gambler had in the purse. The bag’s plain look was probably a deliberate move to fool other gamblers into thinking the owner had little money.The purse is quite plain, with no embroidery and only a twist of copper gilt thread, gilt being a cheap substitute for gold or silver thread.
Playing and betting on card games was a socially acceptable pastime for the wealthy in the late 17th century. Along with dancing, riding and the theatre, it was an amusement for those classes that did not have to work. A gentleman or lady who did not participate in games such as ‘Quadrille’ and ‘Basset’ would have been considered ‘low-bred and hardly fit for conversation’ according to ‘The Compleat Gamester’, published in 1674. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.
1805 January Two Ladies In White Paris Dresses, English. Two interesting bodices, long gloves, necklaces, shawl, fan and adorable hats. Fashion Plate via The Lady’s Magazine Or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, London. These are the types of outfits worn by Jane Austen and contemporaries and were seen in English magazines, where French fashions were obsessively copied despite the two countries being at war for many years.
A sedan chair is a portable enclosed chair for a single passenger. It was generally carried by two “chairmen” holding poles attached to either side of the chair. Sedan chairs were fashionable in England and Europe during the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries and were an important part of the social life of the times. They were very useful for negotiating crowded, unsafe, narrow, winding and often filthy streets and were particularly used by “invalids, ladies and party goers”. Sedan chairs had the advantage of being able to be carried up and down stairs and could deliver the passenger from inside their own home to inside their destination without having to step outside.
1784 Sedan Chair. ‘The return from a masquerade. A morning scene.’ A young lady dressed as shepherdess with staff slumps in a sedan chair. Asleep or drunk her head and shoulders hang outside window. Two porters smile and dwarf chimney sweep carries a mask.’ By Robert Dighton and Cari.
1784 Sedan Chair. ‘The return from a masquerade. A morning scene.’ A young lady dressed as shepherdess with staff slumps in a sedan chair. Asleep or drunk her head and shoulders hang outside window. Two porters smile and dwarf chimney sweep carries a mask.’ By Robert Dighton and Cari.
The 19th century English author, Elizabeth Gaskell, described the use and function of the sedan perfectly in her novel “Wives and Daughters” when she reminisced how the Browning sisters chose to be transported to a ball by sedan chair, which ‘came into the parlor, and got full of the warm air, and nipped you up, and carried you tight and cosy into another warm room, where you could walk out without having to show your legs by going up steps, or down steps.’
The Bath Chair was invented in Bath, England, in the mid 18th Century to transport the wealthy and the sick around the city. It could be steered by the passenger and rivaled and then outdid the Sedan Chair as only one chairman was needed to operate it. The last Bath Chairman retired in 1949.
Typical 1700s, or Eighteenth Century Sedan Chair. Portable enclosed chair for single passenger usually carried by two chairmen holding poles attached to either side of chair. Fashionable during 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries when needed to negotiate crowded, unsafe, narrow, and dirty streets. Used by invalids, ladies and party goers. The sedan chair comprises a small kiosk with a curved timber roof which is covered with leather and studded with brass nails. The front and side panels are painted in green with floral decorations of cherubs and flowers. The back panel is of plain timber. Access to the chair was via a hinged door at the front. Inside, the chair is upholstered in silk and features padded upholstered arm rests. The windows have raw silk curtains which are gathered with tassels. The present brackets and poles are reproductions made in 1986 prior to display in the Transport exhibition. The total length of the new poles are 80 inches. The sedan chair door lock features the initials “V.F.” and a set of crossed keys with the wording “PARIS” and the number “34”. Via Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.
Typical 1700s, or Eighteenth Century Sedan Chair. Portable enclosed chair for single passenger usually carried by two chairmen holding poles attached to either side of chair. Fashionable during 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries when needed to negotiate crowded, unsafe, narrow, and dirty streets. Used by invalids, ladies and party goers. The sedan chair comprises a small kiosk with a curved timber roof which is covered with leather and studded with brass nails. The front and side panels are painted in green with floral decorations of cherubs and flowers. The back panel is of plain timber. Access to the chair was via a hinged door at the front. Inside, the chair is upholstered in silk and features padded upholstered arm rests. The windows have raw silk curtains which are gathered with tassels. The present brackets and poles are reproductions made in 1986 prior to display in the Transport exhibition. The total length of the new poles are 80 inches. The sedan chair door lock features the initials “V.F.” and a set of crossed keys with the wording “PARIS” and the number “34”. Via Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.
Typical 1700s, or Eighteenth Century Sedan Chair. Portable enclosed chair for single passenger usually carried by two chairmen holding poles attached to either side of chair. Fashionable during 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries when needed to negotiate crowded, unsafe, narrow, and dirty streets. Used by invalids, ladies and party goers. The sedan chair comprises a small kiosk with a curved timber roof which is covered with leather and studded with brass nails. The front and side panels are painted in green with floral decorations of cherubs and flowers. The back panel is of plain timber. Access to the chair was via a hinged door at the front. Inside, the chair is upholstered in silk and features padded upholstered arm rests. The windows have raw silk curtains which are gathered with tassels. The present brackets and poles are reproductions made in 1986 prior to display in the Transport exhibition. The total length of the new poles are 80 inches. The sedan chair door lock features the initials “V.F.” and a set of crossed keys with the wording “PARIS” and the number “34”. Via Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia.
The longest journey recorded in a sedan chair was made by Princess Amelia, youngest daughter of King George III, who in 1728 was carried by 8 chairmen working in reliefs from London to Bath, a distance of 172 kms (107 miles). This sedan chair door lock features the initials “V.F.” and a set of crossed keys with the wording “PARIS” and the number “34”.
1845-1865 ca. Cream Silk Evening Slippers, British. Cream evening shoes with ankle ties and lace trim. Trim is unusual because mid 19th Century ladies’ shoes were often plain as only toes showed beneath fashionable long skirts. Designed By Hobbs, famous London shoemaker, and with a label attached to lining with a regal crest to show maker’s royal patronage. via Metropolitan Museum, NYC, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
