1808 Walk in the Tuileries Gardens. A dandy of the Year VIII. According to Baudelaire, a dandy was, “no profession other than elegance…no other status but that of cultivating the idea of beauty in their own persons….The dandy must aspire to be sublime without interruption; he must live and sleep before a mirror.” Dandies tried to imitate the aristocracy in manner and appearance. This man wears short breeches, usually worn by the aristocracy, that were out of fashion and had been replaced by the ‘more-democratic’ ankle-length pants. His outfit and manners are a throwback to a pre-Revolutionary era. llustrations by François Courboin from Octave Uzanne’s Les Modes de Paris. Fashion in Paris : the various phases of feminine taste and aesthetics from 1797 to 1897, William Heinemann, London, 1898. (PD-Art) via Brown University Library.
1818 Military style Redingote, or Coat,or Walking dress, French. High-waisted pale blue outdoors coat with military style braiding and decoration on bodice and sleeves. Matching hat is fitted to her head but with a large high brim and white feathers, or plume, blue walking boots and gloves. 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 Originally made with several capes and trimmed with large buttons.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.
1806 Two Ladies In White Dresses, French. High-waisted, Or Empire line, dresses, pink and blue paisley shawls, bonnets tied under their chins, and long gloves, one in gorgeous yellow. 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.
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.
Definition Paisley Shawl: Made of intricately woven and delicate wool with a teardrop motif that originated in Persia and India.
1800-1805 ca. Pink Silk Bonnet, French. Similar to hats worn in England by Jane Austen and friends. Silk net, silk satin ribbon, and silk flowers. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A. mfa.org
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.
1800-1870 ca. Stocking Purses, British. Beaded stocking purses crocheted in silk and steel beads, with steel rings with tassels and fringes. via Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK. collections.vam.ac.uk.
Definition Miser or Long or Stocking or Ring Purses: Long, narrow, tubular shape, often wider at ends and narrow in middle, which had a short slit opening. Popular in England and France from the mid-18th century through the early 20th century.
From the Curator Victoria and Albert Museum, London: Stocking purses are also known as misers’ or wallet purses. The majority were netted, but some were knitted or crocheted, like this one. Once worked, the elongated tube was put on an expandable purse stretcher to shape it. It was then sewn up, leaving a central opening, and squeezed through a pair of rings known as sliders, which were used to secure and separate the different coins stored at either end. It could be carried in the hand, bag or pocket, or tucked over a belt. Many stocking purses were made as presents, and were thought a suitable object to give to a gentleman. Crochet is a type of needlework with an open, lacy appearance, which is formed with a hook and single length of thread making a series of loops, chains and knots. The technique developed out of ‘tambouring’, a type of embroidery, after the tambour hook began to be used to create series of loops, free from a ground fabric. This could then be used as a separate trimming, like lace, or made to form items like this purse. Crochet was thus added to the varieties of fancy needlework available to ladies, and instructions for making it can be found in manuals from the 1820s onwards.
1800-1870 ca. Beaded Stocking Purses, British #RegencyFashion #RomanticEra #HistoricFashion books2read.com/suziloveReticules
1816 Crossing The Pont des Arts, Paris. Illustrations by Francis Courboin. via Les Modes de Paris. (PD-Art) suzilove.comThis plate depicts two women crossing the Pont des Arts, which is also known as the Passerelle des Arts. The women wear very high-waisted dresses. Both women wear a large white feather in their hats, symbolic of the white plume of Henri IV’s famous battle cry, “Ralliez-vous à mon panache blanc!” and made popular by the 1814 restoration of Louis XVIII on the throne. Restoration also brought back various styles, especially those denoting luxury, from the Ancien Regime. The woman on the left wears an ‘old-fashioned’ lace collar and the resurgence of luxury materials, such as fur are indicative of feminine styles of the Restoration period. (PD-Art) Illustrations by François Courboin from Octave Uzanne’s Les Modes de Paris. Variations du goût et de l’esthétique de la femme, 1797-1897, L. Henry May, Paris, 1898, or from the English translation of the same work: Fashion in Paris : the various phases of feminine taste and aesthetics from 1797 to 1897, William Heinemann, London, 1898. Modes De Paris
1819 Typical Gentleman’s Outfit, French. The type of outfit worn by Jane Austen’s male family and friends. Brown cutaway coat with extra long tails, white trousers, high white cravat, heeled black boots with spurs, gloves, black top hat and a cane. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Trousers: The word Trouser came into usage in the late 1600’s, so we’ve had trousers around for a long time. But at first, they were mostly for lower classes. Revolutionary France started a trend for sans-culottes, which meant trousers or pantaloons instead of culottes, or knee breeches, which were associated with the aristocracy. The styles of the revolution moved across to England and were taken up by those who either sided with revolutionary ideals or who took them up as part of a protest against the establishment set. Early on, trousers were generally a bit looser than pantaloons or breeches and ended at the ankles, often with side slits to get the foot through or straps under the foot straps to keep the trousers in place.
19th Century Late Mechanical Tantalus, French. Ormolu, Bronze, Crystal, and Gilt with a lock and key to open. Earlier versions of this type of small drinks cabinet would have been used in most households during Jane Austen’s times, unless the householders were teetotalers. via 1st Dibs Auctions 1stdibs.com
Tantalus: A small wooden cabinet containing drink decanters. The box has a lock and key to keep unauthorised people from drinking the contents e.g. servants and younger sons, yet still allowing the decanters of drinks to be on show. The word, Tantalus, is a reference to the unsatisfied temptations of the Greek mythological character Tantalus. Patented in the UK in 1881 by George Betjemann, a cabinet maker from the Netherlands, whose workshop was on Pentonville Road, London from the 1830s.
1715-1790 ca. Miniature Sable Pocketbook, France. Glass beads strung on linen, or sablé, woven silk and metallic binding. Miniature envelope-style pocketbook. Polychrome opaque and translucent glass beads strung with linen thread, held together by interlocking looping stitches, or sablé. Designs on white ground, cupid shooting arrow at blue and red hearts. Borbon arms surmounted by coronet, red heart with five keys. Gilt-galloon binding. Blue silk taffeta lining. Cardboard foundation. via Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. mfa.org
