17th – 20th Centuries Luggage For Travel.
17th – 20th Centuries Luggage For Travel in Jane Austen and Bridgerton times. #JaneAusten #Bridgerton #RegencyEra #VictorianEra #EdwardianEra
Tag Archives: Jane Austen
1814 Man’s brown tailcoat, knotted cravat, white breeches and gaiters as worn in Jane Austen’s years. #JaneAusten #RegencyFashion #France
1814 Gentleman’s Ensemble, French. Gentleman in brown tailcoat, white vest, high collared white shirt, knotted white cravat, white pants and white gaiters above black shoes. The style of outfit worn by the men in Jane Austen’s life. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
1811 August Walking Dress For A Mother and Child Who Wears Skeleton Suit and Holds A Parasol. #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #HistoricalFashion
1811 August Walking Dress for a Mother and a child, English. Mother wears a typical Regency or Jane Austen style high round robe with full long sleeve trimmed with Van Dyke lace at the throat and cuffs and ornamented around the bottom with a Tuscan border in needlework. Short capuchin cloak of buff shot sarsenet fastened with broaches on shoulders and trimmed with deep Chinese silk fringe. Moorish turban bonnet gathered into a broach in centre of the forehead. Purple ridicule, or bag, with gold snap and tassels. Buff kid half boots, parasol with deep Indian awning. Child wears a short sleeved Spanish vest and trousers in one, which looks like a skeleton suit, a tight coat or jacket buttoned to a pair of high-waisted trousers. An Indian dimity waistcoat with long sleeves and collar trimmed with a narrow border of muslin, high shoes of purple morocco and a college cap of purple velvet with a crimson band and carries a parasol. via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’.
Definition Skeleton Suit: Shirt and trousers made as one connecting piece, often buttoned together, and were one of the earliest fashions designs made especially for children and were worn from the 1790s to the 1820s.
What was fashionable for purses during the Bridgerton and Jane Austen Years? Bags, handbags, reticules, ridicules, clutches, pocket replacements. #Bridgerton #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #Fashion
What did the Bridgerton ladies and Jane Austen use to carry her personal items? Ridicule, Reticule, Or Handbag? Call them what you like: purses, bags, handbags, reticules, ridicules, clutches, or pocket replacements. They all did the same job and they changed greatly with the prevailing fashions of time. books2read.com/suziloveReticules
Definition Of A Reticule; Bag or purse, often with a drawstring to pull closed and usually made of cloth or covered cardboard and often decorated with beading or embroidery. A reticule, or purse, or handbag, was usually carried by a woman during the Regency period to carry all their daily necessities. Earlier, women used pockets that tied at the waistline and were hidden in the folds of their skirts. Empire style, or early 1800s, high-waisted dresses made it impossible to either sewn in a pocket or to tie on a pocket, so women began carrying small, decorated bags called Reticules, or ridicules, which generally pulled close at the top with a drawstring. These Reticules, or bags, were the forerunners of our modern day purses.
The term ‘ridicule’ derived from the Latin ‘ridiculum’ and first used in France during the 17th century and meant subjecting something or someone to mockery. As women’s tiny bags were mocked, or ridiculed, for being a useless fashion accessory carried outside when they were first used in the late 1700s, it’s likely this is how the name ‘ridicule’ started. The later term ‘reticule’ derived from the Latin reticulum, meaning ‘netted bag’ and was applied when bags became larger and often made from netting. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, they were also known as indispensables as they carried all the personal items a lady needed upon her person every day. They were easily made by ladies, easy to carry and became an indispensable fashion accessory.
In the early nineteenth century, reticules started to look like future handbags as they were often made from rigid card or molded mâché or card into a variety of shapes. Early bags were circular and with a drawstring but as women wanted their reticules to look individual they could be made with two halves and a hinged metal closure or with concertina sides. Materials varied from silk, cotton and string and shapes were round, hexagonal or lozenge shapes with shell shaped bags becoming very popular during the Regency and Romantic Eras.
1800s magazines were written for well bred women who could read, so they gave plenty of ideas for how ladies could make and embellish reticules for their own use and as pretty gifts. Needlework was highly encouraged as a pastime for a lady so bags were frequently embroidered or decorated with beading. By the 1820s, reticules became more like our modern handbags using soft leather gathered at the top or hard leather with a rigid fastener and metal chain for carrying.
Floris London: Perfume and Toiletries in Jane Austen’s and Bridgerton’s London. #Bridgerton #RegencyEra #JaneAusten #Floris
While writing about perfumes and oils, a favourite subject of mine, for my book, Scenting Scandal, I sniffed out some fascinating snippets on the history of early perfume suppliers in London. I have a nose for these things ( He He!) as in my past life I also blended oils and perfumes. One name stood out in historic London- Juan Floris.
He opened his shop at 89 Jerym St. in the elegant quarter of St. James’ London soon after his arrival from the Mediterranean in 1730. After starting as a barber and comb-maker, he missed the aromas of his Mediterranean youth and began blending oils, essences and fixatives, from Europe, into the first Floris fragrances.
‘ Purveyors of The Finest Perfumes & Toiletries to the Court of St James’ Since the Year 1730.’
In the same manner that Fortnum & Mason held Royal Warrants to supply groceries to the Royals, Floris held Royal Warrants to supply perfumes, shaving items and toiletries.
The first Royal Warrant granted to J.Floris Ltd was in 1820 as ‘Smooth Pointed Comb-makers’ to the then newly appointed King George IV. Then, the social elite followed the court until the Floris ledgers held accounts for an array of public figures, including practically every European Royal. Combs, tooth brushes and mouth washes were greatly valued by the company’s elite clientele.
These days, and at the same premises, Floris still supplies royalty and world celebrities with an array of fragrances and bathroom accessories.
The Floris archives hold letters from famous customers detailing their preferences and their thanks, including the following examples:
- Winston Churchill, according to records held by Floris, purchased Special No. 127 Eau de Toilette and Stephanotis in 1934.
- Marilyn Monroe was also known to have purchased from Floris on at least one occasion, having made a purchase of Rose Geranium while staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel, California in 1959.
- Florence Nightingale wrote a 25 July 1863 letter thanking Mr Floris for his ‘sweet-smelling nosegay’.
- Mary Shelley, whilst abroad, sent friends instructions to purchase her favourite combs and toothbrushes from Floris.
- Beau Brummell in the early 19th century would discuss his current fragrances at length with Mr Floris.
1818-1831 Roller Printed Cotton Furnishing Fabrics, English. #RomanticEra #Fabric #RegencyEngland
1818-1831 Roller Printed Cotton Furnishing Fabrics, English.
Between 1820 and 1840 textile printers began to produce designs that were based on the woven silk dress fabrics of the 1750’s. Designs showing curving trails of lace or ribbons between bouquets of flowers became as popular in the 1830s as they had been in the 18th century.
Roller Printed Cotton.
The pattern on printed cotton was made with an engraved metal roller and additional colors were built up by wooden surface roller. Roller printing on textiles was introduced in the late 18th century and at first used mainly for small-patterned dress fabrics. By the 1830s, roller printing was highly mechanized process and had largely replaced block printing for fashionable furnishings.
Materials and Making
The development of roller printing coincided with a radical transformation in the dyestuffs available for printing on cotton. Until the beginning of the 19th century printing had been based on the use of vegetable dyes. In Britain, France and Germany new chemical processes were developed and mineral colors produced that transformed the palette of colors available to the printer and made combinations such as shades of pink and orange possible.
Design and Designing
The false trails of lace and bouquets of flowers in the fabric are inspired by the patterns of woven silks from nearly a century earlier. Changing taste made this design suitable for furnishing a room in the 1830s, while the 18th-century silk that was its inspiration would have been intended for a woman’s gown.
Time
The styles considered fashionable in 1830s furnishings were widely diverse. Among the more recognisable historical references were Rococo, Elizabethan and Gothic. A design such as this seems to be relying on novelty of effect for its success.
Information via Curator of Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.u Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.
1810 ca. Typical Regency Era Day Dress of Sprigged White Muslin As Worn In Bridgerton and Jane Austen Times. #Bridgerton #RegencyFashion #JaneAusten #Fashion
1810 ca. Typical Regency Era Day Dress of Sprigged White Muslin, England. High-waisted, hand sewn, bibbed front bodice fastens at shoulders with self covered buttons, net lace insertions on front bodice, squared neck, long tapered sleeves, gathered at shoulders, ankle length skirt, apron panels tied with cotton tapes at back and lined bodice. Via Museum Of applied Sciences, Australia. collection.maas.museum
Definition Empire Style Dress: High-waisted white gown defined women’s fashion during the Regency Era. ‘Empire’ is the name given to the period when Napoleon Bonaparte built his French Empire. High-waisted, loose gowns were adopted by the aristocracy as a symbol of turning away from the fussy, elaborate and expensive clothing worn in the 1700s. This sort of high-waisted dress would have been worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries in England and in the television series, Bridgerton.
1808 Blue Grey Redingote With Short Puffed Sleeves Over Long Straight Sleeves. #Regency #JaneAusten #Fashion
1808 Blue Grey Redingote, French. High waist, coordinating trim, short puffed sleeves over long straight sleeves, yellow striped bandana in her hair, yellow gloves and yellow walking boots. Jane Austen and her female contemporaries wore coats like these when outdoors because they needed the warmth over the fashionable light muslin dresses that all women wore. Redingotes could be both comfortable and decorative. They often had military elements in support of the thousands of men involved in ongoing wars. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Definition Redingote Or Pelisse Or Walking Dress Or Coat: Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. Often left open at the front to show off the dress underneath. French word developed from English words, riding coat.
Bandeau: Narrow strip or band worn around head to confine hair. Made of either twisted fabric, length of pearls, flowers, jewels or feathers. From the French word for “strip.
1795-1812 ca. Lord Nelson’s Vice-Admiral Undress Blue Tailcoat. #RegencyEra #Military #Nelson #JaneAusten
1795-1812 ca. Lord Nelson’s Vice-Admiral Undress Coat. Blue cloth tail coat, double breasted, nine gilt buttons on each lapel., two rows gold lace each sleeve with three buttons between, three buttons below each pocket flap, two buttons on skirt pleats, narrow band of wool cloth and two eyelet holes on shoulders to attach epaulettes, fastened edge to edge with three hooks and eyes, four embroidered stars of Nelson’s orders on left, Order of the Bath, Order of St Ferdinand Merit, Order of Crescent, Order of San Joachim. This is Nelson’s Trafalgar Coat worn by Nelson (1758-1805) at Battle of Trafalgar with bullet hole on left shoulder, close to epaulette. Damage to epaulette and blood stains on tails and left sleeve. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, U.K. www.rmg.co.uk
For most of Jane Austen’s life, Britain was involved in conflicts and wars across the world. The Napoleonic Wars only ended in 1815, just two and a half years before Austen died. During her childhood, Britain was fighting the American Revolutionary War and when she was 14 years old, the French Revolution upset traditional roles of the monarchy, aristocracy and landed gentry in Britain, France and many other European countries.
Jane Austen Quote: “Ah! there is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. Nobody can be more devoted to it than I am.” Jane Austen ~ Emma (1815) #JaneAusten #RegencyEra #quotation
“Ah! there is nothing like staying at home for real comfort. Nobody can be more devoted to home than I am.” Jane Austen — Emma (1815)
