1819 January ‘Laceing a Dandy.’ Dandy in underwear, laces of his corset pulled by two servants, left young black page, right French valet with high collar. Dandy, “Fore Gad ye wretches you’ll never get my Stays tight enough go brute and call John James & Thomas, To help you take care you don’t Spoil by Breasts”. Published by: Thomas Tegg. Hand colored etching. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1804 Dandies In Morning and Evening Dress. By Isaac Robert Cruikshank. ‘Dandies In A Morning Dress’. Man in morning suit with hat and umbrella, woman with large hat and shawl. ‘Dandies In A Evening Dress’. Man in short evening jacket with handkerchief, woman with large feather headpiece. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1802 ‘The Cow Pock or The Wonderful Effects Of The New Inoculation’. By James Gillray. Caricature depicting the early controversy surrounding Dr. Edward Jenner’s cowpox vaccination program begun in 1796 in England. Recipients of the vaccine developing cow-like appendages. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1815 June 15th ‘Behold at Brook’s Club, London. By George Cruikshank. Sir Thomas Stepney standing under the porch of Brooks’s Club in St. James’s Street, London. Double door with glass panels is behind him. Right hand in his breeches pocket, round hat with low crown, double-breasted tail-coat, double-breasted waistcoat, small stock, knee-breeches, and striped stockings with pumps. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
Caricatures were pasted to the windows of newspapers and shops in the Era of Jane Austen and the Bridgertons.
1820 ca. Groups of Dandies fashionably dressed. Hand Colored etching. Published By J. Le Petit, Dublin, U.K. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
A dandy is a man who places a lot of importance on his appearance, on having refined language living his life in a leisurely manner. A dandy didn’t have to be an aristocrat. He could also be a middle class man or a self-made man of wealth who could afford to place all his emphasis on his clothing and his leisure time.
1810 Les Invisibles. By James Gillray. Two men walk towards each other, each with a lady hanging to each arm, all have their faces concealed by some part of their dress, hat, or collar, or both. One man has a round hat, with a fantastically curved brim projecting downwards. The other has a huge crescent-shaped cocked hat with the peaks dipping over face and back. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1810 “A Bonnet Shop” By Thomas Rowlandson.A shopkeeper with a hat in each hand converses with an elderly woman wearing a similar hat. A child holding a rattle looks up at them at left, a plump woman wearing a bonnet sits at center, and a group of young women make bonnets in the background. Many groups of hats hang overhead in the shop. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1801 November 9th Playing Cards. Men and women play cards at round table. Supreme Bon Ton Plate 2. Published by S W Fores. Men and women play cards at round table. Man and woman talk to players. Woman sleeps in upright chair, two others, one with parasol and other fan, walk off arm-in-arm.Men: High-waisted coats, high collars, huge neck-cloths, with pumps or Hessian boots. Women: High-waisted dresses, short sleeves, long trains, very low necklines, short ringlets, two in caps. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
In Jane Austen’s times, cartoons posted in the windows of shops were one of the main ways people found news. Common people couldn’t afford newspapers so cartoonists ridiculed the people and the places with cartoons of the daily events happening in London and other cities. The ridiculous fashion trends of the late 1700s and early 1800s were easy targets for satirical cartoons as was the addiction to gambling by women and men alike.
1818 September 18th Le Palais Royal de Paris. ‘A Peep at the French Monstrosities’. Two English tourists dressed as dandies walk arm-in-arm under the arcade of the Palais Royal, interested in the promenading courtesans. Their dress is rather similar to that of the Englishmen, but the latter wear bell-shaped top-hats, while the Frenchmen have flower-pot shaped hats. By George Cruikshank. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
1818 November ‘Fashionables Of 1818’ By George Cruikshank.Couple walk arm-in-arm with the man wearing Dandy costume of bell-shaped top-hat, trousers strapped under high-heeled boots without spurs and jauntily carried cane. Much shorter lady wears enormously high bonnet, striped over-dress over frilled white muslin, skirt above ankles, and carries a large ermine muff. Via British Museum, London, UK. britishmuseum.org (PD-Art)
These are the sort of outfits a couple would wear in Jane Austen’s times although these are exaggerated in caricatures to poke fun at the extremes of Regency fashion when women’s hats were so large and high that a lady was dwarfed by her devotion to fashion and a gentleman’s collar and neckcloth were so high he couldn’t turn his head to speak to the lady.
