1805-1810 ca. Evening Dress, French. Empire style, or high-waisted, cotton dress, short sleeves
and long train. Gold metallic thread embroidery. via Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.C., U.S.A.
1800 ca. Gentleman’s White Dimity Waistcoat As Worn By the Men In Bridgerton and Jane Austen Year. #Bridgerton #JaneAusten #RegencyFashion https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819
Continue reading →During the early 1800s, dress fabrics and dresses were thin, sometimes almost transparent. These lightweight white cotton dresses were fashionable in Jane Austen’s times, but they were certainly not warm when a lady was out walking or when riding in a carriage. Numerous outer layers could be added for warmth and to brighten and personalize an outfit. These might be an overdress, pelisse or redingote, hat, shawl, gloves, or large fur muff.
A typical outdoor outfit worn by the Bridgerton family, or Jane Austen and her contemporaries, when going outside consisted of an Empire style, or high-waisted, white cotton dress worn under a Pelisse, or Redingote, or coat, for warmth and with an added layer with the pretty shawl. Hats were made to match gowns and cloaks and fashionable women spent an extraordinary amount of time coordinating complete ensembles which included reticules or bags, shoes, shawls, gloves, hats, parasols, and fans. Typical Empire style dresses had low necklines and with skirts that started directly under the bust and flowed into the classical relaxed wide styles of Greece and Rome. These were worn most days and cotton, silk or taffeta were the popular fabrics.
Definition Empire Style Dress: Named after the First Empire in France. Empire dresses had a low neckline and skirts started directly under the bust and flowed into the classical relaxed wide styles of Greece and Rome. This style of dress is associated with Jane Austen and her contemporaries as a high-waisted dress was worn most days. Cotton, silk or taffeta were the popular fabrics. Only the very wealthy could afford white dress in this style as the cottons were imported from India and had to be carefully cleaned, usually by a lady’s maid.
1816 July Opera Dress of White Lace, English. White dress with scalloped lace hem and shawl collar with lace edge, and worn under a gorgeous pink draping shawl. Skirt trimmed with lace festooned at regular distances, edged by plain band of byas satin and finished by pearl ornaments. Plain long sleeve, very full, caught at the wrists and elegantly finished with lace. Hair ornamented with a wreath of French roses, parted in front, and simply dressed in loose curls. Necklace, ear-rings, and bracelets of pearl. White satin slippers, and white kid gloves and a blush colored French silk scarf. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’.
Extravagant accessories of every color and style were added to the plain white dresses to show individuality and for warmth in cold European temperatures.
Definition Redingote Or Pelisse Or Walking Dress Or Coat: French word developed from English words, riding coat. Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. Originally made with several capes and trimmed with large buttons. For women, the coat was often cut away in the front or left open to show off the dress underneath. French fashion plates call these coats Redingotes and they were worn by men, women, and children. English fashion plates call the coats a Pelisse, a walking dress, Promenade dress, or Carriage dress.
1818 Walking Dress and Redingote, French. White walking dress under a royal blue redingote, or pelisse, or coat, with a wide fur trim and high shawl collar and with a large bonnet with black plume. The type of outfit young Regency Era ladies would have worn if they were out shopping on Bond Street, walking in a park, or taking a carriage ride through Hyde Park. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. .
Definition Redingote Or Pelisse Or Walking Dress Or Coat: French word developed from English words, riding coat. Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. Often left open at the front to show off the dress underneath. Sometimes cut away in front. Originally made with several capes and trimmed with large buttons. French fashion plates call these coats Redingotes and they are designed for women, men and children. English fashion plates call them a Pelisse, a walking dress, Promenade dress, or Carriage dress.
1808 Two Ladies, French. Apricot Evening Dress Or Moire Brochee, French. Patterned dress with very low cut bodice, short sleeves, long white gloves, and holding a Lorgnette, or looking glass, and a handkerchief. Grey Redingote with high waist and holding a red shawl. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
The French magazine, Journal des Dames et des Modes, frequently made fashion plates with a single woman, two women or a woman with a man where they wear the same outfit. The two variations show innovative ideas for decorating plain white muslin dresses with a range of colorful accessories, and the early 1800s were definitely the years when accessories were the fashion highlight. Add a pair of colorful long gloves, a draped shawl or scarf, a reticule, handkerchief, fan or looking glass and the typical white dress is given individuality and personality.
Here is the companion to the above fashion plate with the single lady in her apricot dress. The lady in a grey Redingote is added.
1818 Blue Levantine Redingote, French. High-waisted walking coat, high white neck frill, bonnet of blue Gros de Naples with pink flowers, short puffed sleeves over long straight sleeves, white gloves and blue shoes. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. The type of outfit young Regency Era ladies would have worn if they were out shopping on Bond Street, walking in a park, or taking a carriage ride through Hyde Park.
Definition Redingote Or Pelisse Or Walking Dress Or Coat: French word developed from English words, riding coat. Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. Often left open at the front to show off the dress underneath. Sometimes cut away in front. Originally made with several capes and trimmed with large buttons. French fashion plates call these coats Redingotes and they are designed for women, men and children. English fashion plates call them a Pelisse, a walking dress, Promenade dress, or Carriage dress.
1799-1810 ca. Cotton Muslin Gown, Probably American. White cotton embroidered muslin, probably Bengal, all over sprigged broderie anglaise decoration,short sleeve with three pairs of inside ties to adjust the double-puff, ruffled edge, back tie at neckline and waist, ruched band above the slightly trained hem with scalloped sawtooth border and with cotton bodice lining. via whitakerauction.smugmug.com
These lightweight white cotton dresses were fashionable in Jane Austen’s times, but they were certainly not warm when a lady was out walking or when riding in a carriage. Numerous outer layers could be added for warmth and to brighten and personalize an outfit. These might be an overdress, pelisse or redingote, hat, shawl, gloves, or large fur muff.
The Empire dress which evolved in the late 1790s began as a chemise shift gathered under the breasts and at the neck. Named after the First Empire in France, by 1800 Empire dresses had a very low décolleté, or neckline and a short narrow backed bodice attached to a separate skirt. Skirts started directly under the bust and flowed into the classical relaxed wide styles of Greece and Rome. This style of dress is associated with Jane Austen and her contemporaries as a simple cotton high-waisted dress was worn most days and accessorized according to the importance of the occasion.
1836-1840 ca. Floral Print Cotton Dress With Silk Satin Piping, English. Cotton printed in soft pink, red, white, and green floral motif on light brown, edged with green silk satin piping and lined with linen and cotton. Sleeves tightly gathered, loose at elbow, skirt gathered from tight fitting bodice edged with green satin piping. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.From the Museum: Soft colours and floral patterns are a distinctive feature of many 1830s day dresses. Here, pink, red and white flowers harmonise with the brown ground and green piping. The construction of the sleeves is also interesting as they are tightly gathered at the top and loose around the elbow. This accentuates the slope of the shoulder and the tightness of the wrist.
18th Century Wool, Leather And Linen Front Lacing Stays. via digitalmuseum.norway
In the early 18th century, stays were basically quilted waistcoats, laced in the front and un-boned and to be worn on informal occasions. Mid century, the role of stays changed. They were then supposed to create a V shaped form and support a woman’s back, so baleen from whales was inserted into the garments and backs became longer.
Eyelet holes were stitched and staggered in spacing, so stays could be spiral laced. Stays were strapless or had straps attached in the back and tied at the front sides. Eyelet holes were stitched and staggered in spacing, so stays could be spiral laced. Later, they began to support the bust, give a fashionable conical shape, and draw shoulders back.
It was around the 1790s that the term corset started to be used as a refined name for stays. The Times of 24 June 1795 stated that: ‘corsettes about six inches long…are now the only defensive paraphernalia of our fashionable belle’.
1800s French Palais Royal Sewing Box and Twelve Mother of Pearl Enamel Tools. This is the style of sewing box Jane Austen and her family would have used in the early 1800s, or Regency years. via via suzilove.com and 1st Dibs Auctions 1stdibs.com
Definition: Palais Royal: Name of an area around the Royal Palace in Paris, France, that specialized in making small and exquisite works of art during the 18th and 19th centuries. Palais Royal sewing tools were elaborate and usually feature mother-of-pearl, often intricately carved or engraved. During the 19th century, workboxes were often works of art with engravings, carvings, mother-of-pearl, and elaborate gilt metal mounts. Most popular were scissors with steel blades and gilt mounts, thimbles and needle cases which were often shaped like animals or other natural forms. Workmanship was exceptional and the tools almost too fragile to use.
