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Posts Tagged ‘Regency Fashion’

Riding Side Saddle in Jane Austen’s Day

Posted in Riding sidesaddle, tagged on October 5, 2007| 5 Comments »

“I am afraid you are very tired, Fanny,” said Edmund, observing her; “why would not you speak sooner? This will be a bad day’s amusement for you if you are to be knocked up. Every sort of exercise fatigues her so soon, Miss Crawford, except riding.”

“How abominable in you, then, to let me engross her horse as I did all last week! I am ashamed of you and of myself, but it shall never happen again.”

“Your attentiveness and consideration makes me more sensible of my own neglect. Fanny’s interest seems in safer hands with you than with me.”

Conversation between Edmund and Miss Crawford, Mansfield Park

Riding side-saddle was the leisure activity of the ladies of the upper classes, since horses were expensive to purchase and maintain. Horses and ponies that carried ladies were chosen for their sweet tempers and docile natures: they also needed special instruction in how to carry their riders in a side saddle.

The female rider was decked out in a formal riding habit. These fashionable costumes changed noticeably through the years. “Around 1785, the riding coat (later redingote) appeared with its close-fitting bodice, double or triple cape-collar in the style of a coachman’s coat, and a buttoned skirt. At the end of the century styles changed again and by the early nineteenth century a less voluminous habit became fashionable, with a high waistline and often a pleated jacket back, using materials such as fine wools or nankeen in the summer (there is also some evidence for velvet). The style lasted through the Regency period but began changing dramatically after the 1820s, when skirts became fuller again, and sleeves puffed.” (The Side Saddle Lady Museum)

Image from The Republic of Pemberley

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Shawls

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on September 18, 2007| 2 Comments »

During an era when thin cotton dresses, short sleeves, and low necklines were prevalent, the shawl became an important and ubiquitous necessity, especially in cool, draughty houses. Jane Austen mentions them throughout her novels and letters as a matter of course. Here are a few of Jane’s quotes and a sampling of shawls.

Neoclassical hand embroidered white work shawl, 1810-1820

They were entering the hall. Mr. Knightley’s eyes had preceded Miss Bates’s in a glance at Jane. From Frank Churchill’s face, where he thought he saw confusion suppressed or laughed away, he had involuntarily turned to hers; but she was indeed behind, and too busy with her shawl.

Jane Austen, Emma

Mr. Knightley thought he saw another collection of letters anxiously pushed towards her, and resolutely swept away by her unexamined. She was afterwards looking for her shawl–Frank Churchill was looking also–it was growing dusk, and the room was in confusion; and how they parted, Mr. Knightley could not tell.

Jane Austen, Emma

In Paragon we met Mrs Foley & Mrs Dowdeswell with her yellow shawl airing out—& at the bottom of Kinsdown Hill we met a Gentleman in a Buggy, who on minute examination turned out to be Dr Hall—& Dr Hall in such very deep mourning that either his Mother, his Wife, or himself must be dead.

Jane Austen, Letter (1799-05-17)


Spitalfields Shawl in the long, rectangular shape so popular during the Regency Period.

Links to shawls of the era


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Fabrics in the Regency Era

Posted in jane austen, tagged on August 16, 2007| 3 Comments »

I recall seeing Princess Charlotte’s wedding dress years ago at the Museum of London. I couldn’t take my eyes off this exquisite creation made of white silk net and silver embroidery. The details were breathtaking, and I could only imagine the number of hours that seamstresses spent toiling over this wondrous dress. The dress fabric was an exception, made for royalty. (Find more details about the dress and wedding here.)

Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra could choose from any number of bolts of fabrics from their milliners and mantua makers. Some of the more expensive cloths were dyed and handpainted, such as the silk fabric above. It was hand painted in the 1700s, made into a dress, then unpicked and remade into a dress in the 1820’s. The custom of reusing fabrics was not uncommon. This child’s dress was remade from an adult gown. The pattern is obviously too big for the tiny dress to begin with.

This white muslin fabric with embroidered spangles would have shimmered wonderfully at a ball in candlelight. One can imagine the sparkles glittering as the wearer moved about the room.

We know that white muslins were popular during this era, and that silks were used for evening gowns. But what other fabrics were popular during Jane Austen’ time? To learn more about Regency fabrics, find a detailed study and samples on Jessamyn’s Regency Costume Companion.

Read my other post: Seen Over the Ether: Fabrics and Fashion

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Seaside Fashion in Jane Austen’s Day

Posted in Sea bathing during the Regency era, tagged on July 27, 2007| 2 Comments »

In the image of the seaside above by James Gillray (A Calm, 1810) one can see the high hem of a typical seaside dress of the day, and the bathing machines lined along the water. Bathing in the sea, especially during the cold season, became fashionable in seeking a cure for many illnesses. The following is a short passage from The Bathing was so delightful this morning: The bathing experiences of Jane Austen and others from The Jane Austen Society of Australia:

Within the Austen family there was a preference for using spas for ill health and visiting the seaside for pleasure. Edward Austen visited and James Leigh-Perrott lived in Bath for treatment of their gout. Jane and Cassandra Austen visited Cheltenham in 1816 to try to cure Jane’s declining health. Their visits to the seaside were planned as recreational visits only, with no specific medical purpose attached to them. It was only the prospect of annual visits to the seaside that made the move to Bath tolerable to Jane.

In fact, during the Regency Era few men and women wore bathing costumes. They often swam nude, and entered the sea in separate beaches sheltered by rented bathing machines drawn by horses (much like those in the photograph above, taken in 1885-1890). Bathers changed in and out of their clothes in these portable dressing rooms. An 18th century description of a bathing machine from The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker gives one a good idea of what being in one was like:

Imagine to yourself a small, snug, wooden chamber, fixed upon a wheel-carriage, having a door at each end, and on each side a little window above, a bench below – The bather, ascending into this apartment by wooden steps, shuts himself in, and begins to undress, while the attendant yokes a horse to the end next the sea, and draws the carriage forwards, till the surface of the water is on a level with the floor of the dressing-room, then he moves and fixes the horse to the other end – The person within being stripped, opens the door to the sea-ward, where he finds the guide ready, and plunges headlong into the water – After having bathed, he re-ascends into the apartment, by the steps which had been shifted for that purpose, and puts on his clothes at his leisure, while the carriage is drawn back again upon the dry land; so that he has nothing further to do, but to open the door, and come down as he went up – Should he be so weak or ill as to require a servant to put off and on his clothes, there is room enough in the apartment for half a dozen people.

In 1901 it became legal for women and men to bathe on the same seashore (one presumes they are clothed) and bathing machines became less popular.

 

Learn more about bathing and seaside resorts during this era on the following site:

Update:

Here are two more posts about bathing in the Regency Era:

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The Truth Revealed: What Do Regency Ladies Really Wear Under Those Thin Yet Elegant Empire Dresses?

Posted in Jane Austen's World, tagged , on July 26, 2007| 2 Comments »

I found many fascinating facts in the Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World. One that most particularly piqued my interest was that ladies generally did not wear drawers in Jane Austen’s day. I wondered about that statement. Then I viewed the following hand colored etching attributed to Thomas Rowlandson.

This caricature depicts the staircase leading to the Great Room at Somerset House in Pall Mall, which was where the members of the Royal Academy exhibited their paintings. The stairway to the Great Room was steep and long, and undoubtedly tough to negotiate during crowded days.

Rowlandson’s caricature speaks to the popular perception that there were two kinds of viewers who came to Somerset House: Those who wanted to see the paintings and sculptures, and those who came to ogle the ladies whose legs and ankles were exposed walking up those prominent stairs.

In Rowlandson’s cartoon, the ladies tumble down in a domino effect, revealing much, much more than a neat turn of ankle. I adore the details in this scene: The rakes ready to take their visual fill of the unfortunate situation, while elegant ladies tumble haplessly, limbs akimbo and tender parts exposed. Interestingly, the ladies are wearing stockings but not much more beneath those gauzy muslins. Rowlandson proves Margaret C. Sullivan right and I am happy for it.

(Thomas Rowlandson, The Exhibition Stare Case (c. 1811, hand-colored etching; etching may be by Rowlandson, although the coloring is not).

The Romantic Cosmopolitanism: The 12th Annual NASSR Conference: “Eyes on the Metropole: Seeing London and Beyond”, By Sharon M. Twigg and Theresa M. Kelley

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