1805 White Morning Dress, French. White tunic over the dress, pink shawl with paisley patterned ends, white cap tied under her chin and slippers. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. This flowing white dress show the transition from the round dresses of the late 1700s to the Empire style dresses with the waistline high under the bust. Small trains were still worn in the early 1800s, but much more manageable than the larger and more elaborate trains of the late 1700s. Jane Austen and her friends would have worn dresses like this when at home with the family or close friends. It’s easy to picture Jane Austen wearing a dress like this while writing her manuscripts.
Definition Cashmere Shawl: Extremely fine, soft, handwoven shawl. Two-ply yarn in warp, single yarn in filling. May be embroidered, with pattern appearing on both sides, or woven in one or more colors. French shawl is woven in multicolored designs on jacquard loom with designs showing only on one side. Presumably originating in Kashmir region of India and Pakistan. These sort of cashmere shawls were a much-prized fashion accessory for all ladies who could afford them. Jane Austen and her family and friends would have been extremely fortunate to either buy one or have one gifted to them.
Definition Morning Dress: Worn either at home, out shopping, or for walking in the park or country. Presentable but not overly accessorized. Often a round gown where the bodice and skirt were made from one piece of material. Usually with a high-neck and long sleeves and made from sprigged or plain muslin, cotton, or wool.
1809 The King Of Great Britain. From: 1809 A Book Explaining The Ranks and Dignities Of British Society. via Google Books. (PD-180) BRITISH RANKS, The King Of Great Britain and His Or Her Powers during Jane Austen’s lifetime.
BRITISH RANKS, THE KING .
The supreme executive power of these kingdoms is vested by our laws in a single person, the King or Queen, for it matters not to which sex the crown descends, but the person entitled to it, whether male or female, is immediately invested with all the ensigns, rights, and prerogatives of sovereign power .
In the earliest periods of our his tory the crown appears to have been elective. But hereditary succession has now been long established , and has proved a good preservative against that periodical bloodshed and misery, which both history and experience have long shewn are the consequences of elective kingdoms. The crown descends lineally to the issue of the reigning monarch , and not till the failure of the male issue is it allowed to be taken by the female.
Lawyers say the King of England is a mixed person, a priest as well as a prince and at his coronation he is anointed with oil, as the priests and kings of Israel were, to intimate that his person is sacred. The principal duty of the king is to govern his people according to law and these are the terms of the oath administered usually by the Archbishop of
Canterbury at his coronation, in the presence of the people, who on their parts do reciprocally take the oath of allegiance to the crown :
“ The archbishop, or bishop, shall say, Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this kingdom of England , and the dominions thereto belonging,
according to the statutes in parliament agreed on and the laws and customs of the
same?
The king or queen shall say , I solemnly promise so to do .
Archbishop , or bishop .– Will you to your power cause law and jus tice , in mercy , to be executed in all your judgments?
King or queen, I will,
Archbishop , or bishop – Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of God , the true profession of the gospel and the protestant reformed religion
established by the law? And will you preserve unto the bishops and clergy of this realm, and to the churches com mitted to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain unto them or any of them ?
King or queen, All this I promise to do .
After this , the king or queen , laying his or her hand upon the holy gospels , shall say , The things which I have here before promised , I will perform and keep : so help me God . And then shall kiss the book .
One of the principal bulwarks of our liberty is the certain and definite limitation of the king’s prerogative, the extent and
restrictions of which are marked out with the greatest clearness. But in the exertion
of those powers which the LAW has given him , the king is irresistible and absolute. He is considered by the laws of England as the head and supreme governor of the national church and, in virtue of this authority, he convenes , prorogues
rogues , restrains , regulates , and dis solves all ecclesiastical synods or
convocations. He has the supreme right of patronage over all ecclesiastical benefices and if they are not presented to within the time prescribed , their lapse becomes the
advantage of the crown. In regard to foreign concerns, the king is the delegate or
representative of his people. He has power, by his prerogative, with out any act of
parliament, to make war or peace, conclude treaties, grant safe conducts, give
commissions for raising and regulating fleets and armies, as well as for erecting,
manning, and governing forts, and other places of strength. He can prohibit the
exportation of arms and ammunition out of the kingdom, can dispose of magazines, castles, ships, public moneys, etc. and all that is done in
regard to foreign powers by the royal authority, is the act of the whole nation. He has the sole power of sending ambassadors to foreign states, and receiving ambassadors at home. He convokes, adjourns, prorogues, and dissolves parliaments and may
refuse his assent to any bill passed by both houses, without giving his reason for it .
He may increase the number of members of either house at plea sure, by creating
new peers and bestowing privileges on other towns for sending burgesses to
Parliament, but the last has by late kings been given up.
The sole power of conferring dignities and honors is entrusted to him so that all
degrees of nobility and knighthood, and other titles, are received by immediate grant from the crown. And the king has also the prerogative of conferring privileges upon private persons such as granting place or precedence to any of his subjects such is also the power to enfranchise an alien and make him a denizen, and the prerogative of
erecting corporations. The coining of money too, as well as the settling the
denomination or value for which it shall pass current, is the act of the sovereign
power.
But to take all the characters into view in which the king is considered in domestic
affairs would be almost endless for from thence an abundant number of prerogatives arise. All lands re covered from the sea , gold and silver mines, royal fishes etc.
be long to him. He can unite, separate, enlarge, or contract the limits of ecclastical
benefices and, by his letters, erect new bishoprics, colleges etc. He can dispense with the rigor of ecclesiastical laws except those which have been con firmed by act of
parliament, or declared by the bill of rights. He has also power to moderate the
rigor of the law to pardon a man condemned by law except in appeals of murder,
and in case of impeachment by the house of commons, and to interpret by his
judges in statutes and cases which are not defined by law.
But though he be entrusted with the whole executive power of the law, yet he cannot sit in judgment in any court for justice must be administered according to the powers committed and distributed to the several courts.
As the king is declared to be the supreme head in matters both civil and ecclesiastical so no suit can be brought against him even in civil matters because no court can
have jurisdiction over him. The law also ascribes to the king in his political capacity absolute perfection. The king can do no wrong, by which ancient and fundamental maxim we are not to understand that every transaction of government is of course just and lawful but that whatever is exceptionable in the conduct of public affairs is not to be
imputed to the king nor is he answerable for it personally to his people and farther that the prerogative of the crown extends not to do any injury. It is
created for the benefit of the people and therefore cannot be exerted to their
prejudice. In the king there can be no negligence and therefore no delay will bar his
right. In the king also there can be no infamy, stain, or corruption of blood. And the
law ascribes a kind of perpetuity, or immortality to him. His death is termed his
demise , because the crown is thereby demised to another. He is not in law liable to
Death, being a corporation of him self that lives for ever. There is no interregnum but the
moment one king dies, his heir is king, fully and absolutely, without any coronation , ceremony etc. To these it may be added that by the law the king is said in a manner
to be every where in all courts of judicature , which he alone has the right of erecting and therefore cannot be nonsuited.
The power of issuing proclamations is vested in the king alone, considered as the fountain of justice. The laws make it high treason barely to imagine or intend the death of the king, and because the destruction of the king may ensue
that of his great counsellors or officers, it is felony in any of the king’s subjects to
conspire even that. Some things the king cannot do.
He cannot divest himself or successor of any part of the regal prerogative or
authority and there are two things which he cannot do without the consent of
Parliament: the making of new laws and the raising of new taxes.
The king cannot dispense with the laws nor do any thing contrary to law. In England the law is as much superior to the king , as to any of his subjects and the obedience
of the king of England to the laws is his greatest glory while it is the security of the
rights and liberties of his people who are the greatest as well as the freest people on the face of the earth , merely because their sovereigns are obliged to live in
subjection to the written laws of the land.
The title of grace was first given to our kings about the time of Henry IV and that of majesty first to Henry VIII. The title of his present Majesty is , GEORGE the Third , King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,
Sovereign of the Orders of the Garter, Thistle, Bath and St. Patrick, Duke and Elector of Brunswick Lunenburg, Bishop of Osnaburg and Arch Treasurer of the Holy Roman Empire.
What did Jane Austen and friends wear? Early 1800s fashions were elegant and pretty with high waists and fabrics that were almost transparent. These Empire style gowns, named after Napoleon’s first Empress, became popular throughout Europe, and were then copied around the world. Colorful outwear was added to make an ensemble more attractive and warmer. History Notes Book 26 Fashion Women 1805-1809. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1805-1809
The Empire waist gown defined women’s fashion during the Regency Era. ‘Empire’ is the name given in France to the period when Napoleon 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. Jean-Jaques Rousseau advocated copying peasants and returning to a simpler life and more natural fashions. Unrestricting clothing was part of the new Democracy in France and these simpler and flowing fashions were adopted all over Europe, including Britain and despite the continual wars being fought against France during the early 1800s. Not even war stopped fashions from being copied everywhere.
19th Century Early Cotton Trousers, British. Buttons at waist, drop down front flap with buttons and cut with excess material to allow easy movement. via Metropolitan Museum New York City, U.S.A. metmuseum.org.
Trousers: In the early 19th century, trousers were sewn with a flap in front called a fall front and was held in place by two or three buttons. Trousers were held up by tight-fitting waists which were adjusted by gusset ties in back of the waist. Seats were baggy to allow a man to rise comfortably from a sitting position.
Fashion Women 1810-1814 History Notes Book 27. This book looks at what was fashionable for women in Jane Austen’s times, or the early 1800s, or the Regency Era in Britain. Wars were being fought around the globe so women’s fashion adopted a military look in support of soldiers. Fashions, like the lifestyle, became progressively more extravagant and accessories went from colorful to over-the-top.
1810 Yellow Dress, British. Plain woven silk, silk crêpe and silk satin. High-waisted dress of yellow silk, ivory colored silks billow out of four openings at sleeve tops. The puffed trimmings are inspired by the fashionable slashing of garments in the Renaissance period when the top fabric was cut to reveal a colored lining or garment worn underneath. A long rectangular strip of ivory silk on inside of sleeve head and excess gathered into pudds through openings. The 19th-century version of slashing is much more controlled by cut, stitching and piped edges, rather than the raw cuts in fabric seen in the 16th century.
Long sleeves narrow at wrists with double bands at cuffs and trimmed with ivory silk satin frills, yellow silk crêpe, cream ribbon and cording. Trimming around lower hem of skirt of applied vandyked border of ivory silk.
Length center back neckline to hem of train length: 158cm Front length shoulder to hem length: 139cm
1808 Two ladies in high-waisted dresses, French. White dress with blue paisley shawl, blue shoes and red and white bonnet, blue dress with elaborate yellow trims, yellow shoes and bonnet to match.Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
These are the types of general morning dress worn by Jane Austen and contemporaries in England, as French fashion plates were obsessively copied despite the two countries being at war for many years. English fashion magazines frequently published plates copied from French fashion magazines and both French and English magazines published the same design for both single women’s fashion and for two ladies together.
Ladies clothing in the early 1800’s featured a high waist line called an Empire Line, or Empire style dress, with a waistline just under the natural bust line and much higher than the natural waist. The high-waisted, or short-bodied, Regency styles shifted focus away from the natural waist and so left the natural waist unconstricted, in direct contrast to previous and future styles. Britain took these simple European styles and progressively made them more elaborate by adding complicated embroidery and colorful accessories.
1810 ca Spectacles Or Eye Glasses, British. Fashion accessories as worn by both men and women in the time of the Bridgertons and Jane Austen. via Museum Of London museumoflondon.org. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionMen1800-1819
1817 June Morning Dress as worn in Bridgerton and Jane Austen’s times in England. A round dress composed of jaconet muslin; the bottom of the skirt is trimmed with an intermixture of tucks and embroidery. The body is perfectly novel, it is a three-quarter height, and displays the whole of the throat and a little of the neck: it is composed of the same material as the dress, and is formed to the shape, in a manner at once singular and becoming, by bands of letting-in lace; it is also profusely ornamented with lace, which is set on very full. Long full sleeve, the fullness confined by a tasteful cuff, which is finished by a lace ruffle. Head-dress the Marlborough cap, composed of white lace, ornamented with full-blown roses and blush colored satin ribbon. For the form of this elegant cap, which is perfectly in the English style, we refer our readers to our print. The hair is parted in front so as to display a little of the forehead, and curled lightly over the temples. Necklace and ear-rings white cornelian mixed with gold. White kid slippers and gloves. We are indebted to the elegant taste of Mrs. Marchant of 40, Gerrard-street, Soho, for both our dresses this month. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’.
Definition Morning or At-Home Dress: Loose and comfortable dress and soft lace cap to be worn at home for reading, painting, sewing or for walking in the garden. To be seen by family, servants and close friends. Not accessorized enough to be out in the wider public, although the pretty pink roses and trim on the cap suggest this outfit may have been worn for receiving visitors at home.
