How did Jane Austen and her family? Did they go by stagecoach? The dreadful condition of British roads caused great apprehension to all classes of travelers. Making a journey anywhere in the country was a big undertaking and often a gentleman composed his last will and testament before his departure. Traveling in vehicles was only possible during the day or on the nights with very bright moonlight with few vehicles attempting road travel in winter and any travel on a Sunday was frowned upon.
Description of Stage Coach Travel in England. via 1815 Journal Tour of Great Britain. “The gentlemen coachmen, with half-a dozen great coats about them, immense capes, a large nosegay at the button-hole, high mounted on an elevated seat, with squared elbows, a prodigious whip, beautiful horses, four in hand, drive in a file to Salthill, a place about twenty miles from London, and return, stopping in the way at the several public-houses and gin-shops where stage-coachmen are in the habit of stopping for a dram, and for parcels and passengers on the top of the others as many as seventeen persons. These carriages are not suspended, but rest on steel springs, of a flattened oval shape, less easy than the old mode of leathern braces on springs. Some of these stage coaches carry their baggage below the level of the axletree.”
1806 Two Ladies In White Walking Dresses, French. Puffed sleeves, extra long gloves, bonnets tied under chins and decorated with flowers, walking boots, green cashmere shawl. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. These fashionable ensembles with a variety of fashionable and practical accessories would have been worn by Jane Austen and her family and friends during the day when out walking in the park or visiting village shops. Hats were a necessity to protect fair skin from the sun and scarfs and shawls added color and warmth to an outfit.
1804 London Hairstyles, Gorgeous Gold Hats. via Fashion Plate via Fashions of London and Paris, Published By Richard Phillips, St. Paul’s Church Yard, London, UK. These styles of hats and hairstyles would have been worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries as hats were an essential fashion item during the Regency years.
1810 ca. Muslin, or Cotton, Bodiced Petticoat With Sleeves, British.The sort of petticoat Jane Austen wore beneath her dresses, for both modesty and warmth. via Killerton House. National Trust, U.K. nationaltrustcollections.org.uk
In Jane Austen’s years of the early nineteenth century, women often wore light-weight dresses under which was worn a range of underclothing to stop gowns appearing transparent and sticking to a lady’s body. To preserve modesty, underclothing included a chemise next to the skin, then a corset, and then petticoats to give shape to a dress and to keep it away from her body.
1804-1815 ca. Wedding Dress. Silk dress with square bodice and very small bodice, short puffed sleeves, beautiful train decorated in gold. via Palais Galliera, or Musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris. City of Paris Fashion Museum, formerly Musée Galliera. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
1805 Breeches, part of the Royal Naval Uniform of surgeon Joshua Horwood , who served as surgeon’s mate in HMS ‘Prince’ at Trafalgar, and was promoted to surgeon in 1807. via Royal Museums Greenwich, London, U.K. collections.rmg.co.uk
From the finish of the 18th century until 1820, men’s fashions in European and European-influenced countries moved away from the formal wear of brocades, lace, wigs and powder to more informal and relaxed styles. Focus was on undress rather than formal dress. Typical menswear in the early 1800s included a tailcoat, a vest or waistcoat, either breeches, pants, or the newer trousers, stockings, shoes or boots, all worn with an overcoat and hat. This basic ensemble was accessorized with some form of neckcloth or cravat, gloves, walking stick, cane or riding crop, handkerchief, fobs, watch and perhaps a quizzing glass or eye glass.
Skirted coats were replaced with short-fronted, or cutaway, tailcoats worn over fitted waistcoats and plain, white linen shirts. Knee breeches were gradually replaced by tight-fitting pantaloons and later trousers, decorative shoes with buckles were replaced with a variety of boot styles, and fussy and ruffled neckwear gave way to intricately tied, white linen neck cloths. A Regency Era, or early 1800s, gentleman was outfitted in more practical fabrics, such as wool, cotton and buckskin rather than the fussy brocades and silks of the late 1700s.
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
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”.
19th Century Early. Gilt and Patinated Bronze Inkstand , or Encrier, or a little reservoir of ink. Rectangular base mounted with a round lidded ink pot with a porcelain container and a sand pot, each raised on winged lion feet, centered by a palm decorated columnar carrying handle, with two pen holes. via 1st Dibs Auctions 1stdibs.com
The type of inkstand that households woulds have in Bridgerton and Jane Austen households for writing letters and keeping track of estate matters.
