1812 Two Ladies, French. Orange sleeveless Redingote over a white dress with high neck frill and interesting sleeves. High-waisted white dress with blue pattern on the short sleeves and hem. Both with gloves, matching bonnets and shoes. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
1807 Blue Walking Dress, French. Although this is a French fashion plate, this is the sort of dress that Jane Austen and her friends would have worn when walking together. Back bow, a train and black trim, a white hat with flowers and holding a looking glass. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
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.
Definition Walking Dress: Worn for walking in a park or the country estate. This sort of outfit needed to be presentable and warm, but not overly accessorized.
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.
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.
1811 Evening Dress, French. Red cashmere dress over white under shirt with short puffed sleeves, carrying a white shawl, long white gloves, earrings and white evening shoes. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. Though this is a French fashion plate, the outfit is typical of the dresses worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries. An Empire style, or high-waisted, dress with a white underdress and for warmth there is an extra layer with the shawl.
Definition Cashmere: Soft, fine wool, historically used for costly dress fabric, usually in twill weave. Originally made of yarn handspun from the wool of Cashmere goats but later from other soft wools. Used for dresses, infants’ coats.
1811 Half-Mourning Dress, French. Black dress, high white neck ruffle, black hat with white trim and white shoes. Jane Austen and her family would have worn this type of outfit when mourning a relative or friend. However, as black dresses, black tunics, and black lace shawls were popular throughout the Regency years, it is often hard to decide what was definitely made for mourning and what was simply fashionable wear. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
In November, 1810, Princess Amelia, youngest daughter of George III, died. At the end of 1810 full mourning of complete black would have been worn but by the beginning of 1811, half mourning would still have been to respect the loss of a royal family member. Half-mourning allowed touches of silver, grey, mauve and white to be added to a mostly black outfit and would be worn after the period of full mourning was ended, times depending on the relationship to the deceased person. Garments and accessories could either be trimmed with black, jet jewelry worn, black ribbons added, or a layer of black net or gauze added to a dress or hat.
Definition Half or Slight Mourning: Allowed touches of grey and white to be added to full, or deep, mourning ensembles. Some lustre, or shine, was allowed in fabrics and accessories. After a time, mauve or deep purple could also be worn. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814
1802 Lavender Gown With Long Train and Decorative Trim, French. Short sleeved Empire style, or high-waisted, dress, long pale gloves, black straw hat with ribbon trim, necklace and fan. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashionWomen1801-1804
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.
The type of dress worn across Europe in the early 1800s. This sort of high-waisted dress would have been worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries in England. 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.
1808 Two Jane Austen style dress bodices, French. Green and white striped dress has short puffed sleeves and matching green turban. White dress with pink overdress has short sleeves and a pink headdress to match. Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
French fashions like this were copied by English magazines so these styles of hats would have been worn by Jane Austen and her contemporaries.
1805 Pink Redingote With Train, French. White dress with high neck frill, green shawl, velvet hat with leaf shapes to decorate the front, necklace, silk scarf as a belt and white gloves.Fashion Plate via Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
Jane Austen and her contemporaries would have wore long coats like this one to keep warm when out and about, visiting, shopping etc. The thin muslin dresses worn in the early 1800s were little protection against European winters so coats of some sort were added, plus colorful accessories like this shawl and the hat to add color and another layer of warmth.
Definition Redingote Or Coat Or Pelisse: Long fitted outdoor coat worn over other garments for warmth. French word developed from English words, riding coat. 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.
1807 Lady In A Trained White At-Home Dress With Blue Trim Taking Tea, French. Very low cut bodice and white lace cap. Fashion Plate via suzilove.com and Journal des Dames et des Modes, or Costume Parisien.
The Journal des dames et des modes was a French fashion magazine published between 1797 and 1839 and was the second oldest fashion magazine published in France, replacing the Cabinetdes Modes (1785-1793). The magazine was the main source for French fashions, both in France and internationally. Pierre de la Mesangere was editor and main journalist for most of the time the magazine was in existence and he published a magazine every five days, which is why there is an abundance of French fashion plates from these years. The magazine had eight pages of text, one or two colored fashionplates, plus poetry, theatre reviews, current social news and fiction. During the Napoleonic wars, everything to do with France was unpopular, especially in Britain, yet French fashions thrived and so did the Journal des Dames et des Modes, despite the numerous other fashion magazines that copied the magazine.
