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.
18th Century Snuff Boxes. Not only were boxes made to serve a purpose, but decorative boxes of all types were prized, especially in the 18th Century when everything decorative and extravagant was in vogue and taking a pinch of snuff was fashionable. Snuff is made from ground or pulverized tobacco leaves and is sniffed from a pinch of snuff placed on the back of the hand. Flavorings were added to the tobacco to give a fast hit of nicotine and a lasting scent. Snuff began in the Americas and was used in Europe by the 17th Century.
Snuff became popular from the mid 1600s to the mid 1800s and was more popular than smoking. Inhaling snuff, or snuffing, was first seen by a European missionary in 1493 in Christopher Columbus’s new world within Haiti’s indigenous Taino. Until then, tobacco had been unknown to Europeans, but its use spread quickly throughout Europe during the 1500s. By the second half of the 17th century, ornate boxes started being produced to keep the precious powder dry and an entire industry making accessories blossomed around the fashion of taking snuff. Noblemen, and some women, carried extravagantly decorated snuff boxes with them at all times and would offer a pinch of their own particular blend to friends and family. Therefore, these boxes were always on display and so it became a competition to see who could have the most bejeweled or expensive box possible. books2read.com/suziloveFashMen1700
1660-1700 ca. Green Velvet Gaming Purse, Probably French. Trimmed with Copper-Gilt Thread, probably French. This purse was designed especially for gaming, or gambling, and would have held money, or counters, and is of a different design to other 17th-century purses. The base is a flat circle and the sides are gathered on a drawstring to stop money or gaming counters from spilling out, and to hide how much a gambler had in the purse. The bag’s plain look was probably a deliberate move to fool other gamblers into thinking the owner had little money.The purse is quite plain, with no embroidery and only a twist of copper gilt thread, gilt being a cheap substitute for gold or silver thread.
Playing and betting on card games was a socially acceptable pastime for the wealthy in the late 17th century. Along with dancing, riding and the theatre, it was an amusement for those classes that did not have to work. A gentleman or lady who did not participate in games such as ‘Quadrille’ and ‘Basset’ would have been considered ‘low-bred and hardly fit for conversation’ according to ‘The Compleat Gamester’, published in 1674. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK.
1845-1865 ca. Cream Silk Evening Slippers, British. Cream evening shoes with ankle ties and lace trim. Trim is unusual because mid 19th Century ladies’ shoes were often plain as only toes showed beneath fashionable long skirts. Designed By Hobbs, famous London shoemaker, and with a label attached to lining with a regal crest to show maker’s royal patronage. via Metropolitan Museum, NYC, U.S.A. metmuseum.org
1823 Hackney Cab, London, U.K. This small cabriolet was built by coach builder, David Davies, and licensed for public convenience. Name ‘hackney’ derived from village of Hackney, Middlesex, famous for horse drawn carriages. French word cabriolet was shortened to cab, hence ‘Hackney Cab’. In 1813, there were 1100 hackney coaches for hire in London. Designs changed constantly and in 1834 Joseph Hansom registered his design for a cabriolet named ‘Hansom Cab’.
1800 ca. Pair of Flintlock Duelling Pistols. Owned by Captain William Waller (active 1794-1807). Walnut stock, chequered grips, rounded butts, fitted with two silver pipes containing ramrods. Silver trigger guards engraved and end in pineapple shaped finials, each with flintlock containing flints. Lock plates engraved with leaf design, octagonal barrels browned with narrow gold bands near lock. via Royal Museums Greenwich collections.rmg.co.uk
During the Regency Era and Jane Austen’s writing years, dueling was illegal, although secret duels still happened. Courts were made up of peers and they rarely charged another peer for anything illegal. Honor and gentlemanly behavior were the most important things to men so if there was an offense committed, a dawn duel was arranged with seconds to check the weapons used and a doctor in case of injuries.
1799 Gentleman’s daily outfit of brown cutaway coat and baggy white trousers. #GeorgianEra #FashionPlate #France https://www.books2read.com/suziloveFashMen1700
Continue reading →1818 May Morning and Evening Fashionable Dresses, English. Pale blue dress, heavily decorated with lace, matching hat and with hand held glasses. Lavender dress with low cut bodice, tiny sleeves, lace decoration on the hem, white paisley shawl, long white gloves and large bonnet. Fashion Plate via Lady’s Magazine.
Definition: Morning Walking Dress: Worn out shopping, walking in a city park or the country estate. Presentable and warm, more fashionable than relaxed Morning Dress but not heavily accessorized apart from a shawl that was usually added for warmth.
Definition Evening Dress: There were minute distinctions between ball, dinner, evening and opera gowns, which meant different quality of fabrics and designs. A Ball Gown differed from an evening dress as expensive silk fabrics were usually worn, light or heavy, decorated with lace, embroidery or beading, with low-cut bodice, short or no sleeves, and full skirts. In the early 1800s, white cotton dresses were considered suitable for many evening events, but not for balls. And definitely not for an evening event in a palace. White dresses with white embroidery for evening were considered fashionable and exclusive as only the wealthy could afford them.
1770 Yellow Silk Corset, Italian. Front and Back Lacing. By the 1770s, steel was being used in stays, which increased their strength, though not their flexibility. Credit Line: Gift of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1940 Accession Number:C.I.40.173.6a–e Metropolitan Museum, N.Y.C, U.S.A.
By the 1770s, steel was being used in stays, which increased their strength, though not their flexibility. With the tight lacing made possible by stronger stays, doctors and others voiced health concerns, such as this comment from a 1775 correspondence: “I hope Miss Sparrow will not fall into the absurd fashion of ye wasp-waisted ladies. Dr. Pringle declares he has had four of his patients martyrs to that folly (indeed wickedness), and when they were opened it was evident that their deaths were occasioned by straight lacing.” Although admonitions on the dangers of straight lacing are common in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, recent scholarship by Valerie Steele has called into question the reality of the many “death by tight lacing” stories of the period.
History Notes Book 15 shows how body wraps, stomachers and stays were worn during the 1700s, or Georgian Era, to create a variety of fashionable silhouettes to suit the elaborate fashions worn for court and daily life. https://books2read.com/SuziLoveCorsetBook15
1811 Lady’s Redingote, or Pelisse, or Walking Dress, French. Blue Levantine walking dress, with pale blue hat of Drap. Fashion Plate via Journal des Modes et des Dames, or Costume Parisienne.
The term, Redingote, was used more in France and other parts of Europe and Pelisse or Walking Dress was used more in England. While the terms Redingote and Pelisse are often used interchangeably, the Redingote usually features a close fitted top and flares out at the hemline with a more tailored or military look than a Pelisse. Redingotes or Pelisses were needed to cover the flimsy dresses made of lightweight fabrics of the Regency years to provide warmth and some protection from windy conditions when gowns might lift and cause modesty issues. In Europe, a Redingote was a coat or robe like garment worn both indoors and out, indoors left open to reveal a dress while the outdoor version was made of heavier materials and of darker colors than the type worn indoors. The name comes from the term ‘riding coat.’
Definition Drap: Made of wool, shiny and velvety after treatment, hair uniformly laid in the direction of the cut, thick and resistant. Used for coats.
Definition Levantine: Stout silk cloth in twill weave. First made in the Levant, a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia.
1811 Jane Austen Style Blue Levantine Redingote, Or Coat, French. #RegencyEra #JaneAusten #France https://books2read.com/SuziLoveFashion1810-1814 Share on X