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Archives for February 2018

Ackermann’s Fashion Plates, August 1815

February 28, 2018 By BlissBennet Leave a Comment

 

Ackermann’s August 1815 issue prints a detailed description of the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo, more than 11 pages long. It also reports on the legislative sanctioning of a monument in commemoration of the victory, as well as a call for a general subscription throughout the country for relief of widows and orphans of men killed in the conflict (151 officers, 2, 284 “men,” Ackermann’s reports).

Fashion, though, does not cease for war, at least not in the annals of Ackermann’s. The only concession appears to be the absence of a needlework pattern for this issue. Primrose and celestial blue, as was reported in the July 1815 column, continue to be popular, but apple-blossom and Pomona green have replaced evening-primrose amongst the fashionable set. Sandals are more in vogue than are boots, and the backs in full dress are “generally brought very low, and frequently to the bottom of the waist.”

Ackermanns fashion plates August 1815: Evening Dress

 

This month’s plates do not feature such low-cut dresses, however. The Evening Dress of plate 10 covers much of the back with zig zag rows of tull and satin (I wonder if this continues on to the bodice?), which is meant to match trim which ornaments the gown’s hem. The accompanying cap is likewise made of satin and gathered tull, which looks both fashionable and cool for August’s heat.

Ackermann's Fashion Plate, August 1815: Promenade Dress

Vol XIV, no lxxx, plate 11

The bodice of the Promenade Dress (plate 11) is rather high compared to other dresses featured in the journal this year. The simple lines of the dress are accentuated by the small stripes of the gown, which is made of satin-striped sarcenet of celestial blue and white. The details of the sandal ties in the plate are quite unusual, although no comment is made about them in the description beyond the fact that they are “crossed high up the ancle with blue ribbon.” Was our illustrator taking liberties? Or did some creative shoemaker lace ribbon up the middle of the top of the foot, almost in a gladiator-style sandal? If you know of any similar extant examples from the period of similarly laced sandals, I’d love to see them!

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Filed Under: Regency History Tagged With: Ackermann, Ackermanns, Ackermmann's, clothing, dress, fashion

Ackermann’s Fashion Plates July 1815

February 21, 2018 By BlissBennet Leave a Comment

 

The news of Waterloo has still not caught up with Ackermann’s publishing schedule, nor with its fashion plates, in this July 1815 issue. In fact, the space devoted to the text for the plates is a bit longer than typical. It includes not only descriptions of the two dresses featured, but also more general comments on current ladies’ fashions. We learn that bodices of cross or handkerchief fronts are currently the rage in morning and walking dress, especially when trimmed with quilled tull or ribbon. Fashionable colors this summer are “primrose, celestial blue, and evening primrose.” The higher hems seen in earlier 1815 plates also reflect current trends: “the length of the petticoat continues not to exceed meeting the top of the boot.”

 

Ackermanns Fashion Plates July 1815: Walking Dress

Vol XIV, no. lxxix, plate 4

 

I’m struck by the beautiful mantle of oh so fashionable celestial blue the lady of plate 4 has draped about her shoulders to keep her warm on what looks to be a rather windy day. Made of twilled silk, it is “richly embroidered at the ends in shaded silks, composing roses or lilies of the valley.” The lady’s stockings are made of “patent silk,” a term which I have not encountered before. Fairchild’s Dictionary of Textiles lists patent cord, patent flannel, patent twist, and others, but no “patent silk”…

 

Ackermanns Fashion Plates July 1815, plate 5: Evening Dress

Vol XIV, no lxxix

 

Can you guess how the stripes of the evening dress of plate 5 were made?  By interspersing “folds of satin of Pomona green and white” between tull. Was it made in a factory, I wonder, or did some seamstress spend hours and hours sewing rows of satin on that delicate hexagonal mesh? The ribbon adoring the waist and the sleeves is likewise trimmed with net edged with satin ribbon. Roses and appliquéd lilies of the valley head the gown’s blonde lace flounce. A striking dress, is it not?

Ackermann's fashion plates July 1815: text

 

Like last month’s needlework patterns, July’s also include a bouquet-like pattern. Are young ladies’ fancies turning to hints of summer love?

Ackermann's July 1815 Needlework patterns

 

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Filed Under: Regency History Tagged With: Ackermann, Ackermanns, Ackermmann's, clothing, dress, fabric, fashion, needlework

Ackermann’s Fashion Plates June 1815

February 14, 2018 By BlissBennet Leave a Comment

 

There is no hint of the tragedy of Waterloo hovering about Ackermann’s fashion plates for June of 1815. Not only did news travel much more slowly in the early 19th century than it does today, but journals took a lot longer to typeset and print. This month’s fashion plates both feature white, one a ballgown of “French figured gauze, worn over a slip of white satin” (plate 28), the other a carriage dress of white satin. The lady of the ballgown is a bit shorter, and more plump, than one is used to seeing in fashion plates of the era, which I (being rather short myself) quite enjoyed! The figure on the gauze of her gown looks to be of a floral nature, complimenting the “wreaths of lilac” separating the skirt from a blond lace trim border.

Ackermann's Fashion Plates June 1815, plate 28: Ball Dress

Vol XIII, no lxxviii, plate 28

 

I’m quite impressed by the rich ornamentation at the hem of the carriage dress’s pelisse (plate 29): “clusters of leaves made in white twilled sarsnet, headed (? or beaded?) with tull.” Look at the sharp points of those appliqués! Very difficult handwork there! And though the description doesn’t mention it, the print shows the dress under the pelisse with another quite detailed ornamentation round its bottom, a pointed zig-zag trim, perhaps ornamented with beads. Not to mention that “superb shell trimming of white satin ribbon and tull” around the lady’s neck. It looks so fuzzy; I wish I could reach out and skim a finger across it!

Ackermann's fashion plates June 1815, plate 29: Carriage Dress

Vol. XIII, no lxxviii, plate 29

 

Ackermann's Fashion Plates June 1815: description

 

This month’s needlework patterns: one row of vines, and another of bouquets. I’m thinking I may need to include a character in a future book who eagerly awaits the arrival of Ackermann’s every month, just so she can get started on a new needlework project…

Ackermann's June 1815 Needlework patterns

 

 

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Filed Under: Regency History Tagged With: Ackermann, Ackermanns, Ackermmann's, clothing, dress, fabric, fashion, needlework

Ackermann’s Fashion Plates May 1815

February 7, 2018 By BlissBennet Leave a Comment

 

Frills are the name of the game in May 1815’s fashion plates, with both the walking dress of Plate 24 and the Evening dress of plate 25 trimmed on bottom an around the neck with white flounces. Though in the print they appear to my eye to be made of lace, the walking dress’s deep full flounces above the hem and neck are described as being made of “French cambric” “richly worked.” Perhaps that fabric was embroidered using one of the needlework designs featured in one of Ackermann’s earlier issues?

 

Ackermann's May 1815, plate 24: Walking Dress

Vol XIII, no. lxxvii, plate 24

 

The rich ornament on the hem of Plate 25’s Evening Dress is described as “garnet yewer.” The word “yewer” does not appear in Fairchild’s Dictionary of Textiles, and as the only definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary refer to water pitchers and udders (!), I’m wondering if this might be a typo. Especially as the trim in question is decidedly not red, but white, in the fashion plate. But I’m having a hard time figuring out what might be the correct wording. Any guesses?

Ackermann's Fashion Plates, May 1815, plate 25: Evening Dress

Vol. XIII, no. lxxvii, plate 25

Both prints give us a clear look at each lady’s footwear, and how those dainty slippers were kept on her feet. The walking dress features “sandals of green kid,” with 3 bands of ribbon lying flat across the top of the foot before crossing round the ankle and tying in a tiny bow. The white kid slippers look to have only the 3 bands of ribbon—I wonder, in the days before elastic was invented, how well such ribbons would have held a slipper on the foot?

Ackermann's Fashion Plates May 1815: descriptions

 

This month’s magazine features fabric samples for ladies’ dresses. Sample one introduces another word with which I am not familiar: “kluteen.” Again, I could find no definition for this word in Fairchild’s nor in the OED; perhaps the typesetter for this edition of the magazine was unusually careless?

Ackermann's Fashion Plates: Fabric samples May 1815

 

The “Japanese betilla muslins” of samples #2 & 3 were a little easier to identify; Fairchild’s lists “beteela,” “bethilles,” and “betilles,” all types of Indian muslin. Why these samples are deemed “Japanese” I’m not quite sure (especially as the copy tells us they were manufactured in Britain). But the description assures readers that “since the interchange with Parisian fashions and the rage for colors have taken place, they are becoming the leading article of the day.” I can picture a morning dress being made from one of them, can’t you? But I think I’d like one more that was made from sample #4, the “pink and blue printed muslin, of extremely delicate appearance.” Perhaps I’ll have to send one of my characters off to J. and T. Smith’s in Tavistock Street in a future book?

 

Ackermann's Fabric Samples May 1815: description

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Filed Under: Regency History Tagged With: Ackermann, Ackermanns, Ackermmann's, clothing, dress, fabric, fashion, needlework

RSS Bliss Bennet. The passion of historical romance.

  • Ackermann’s Fashion Plates January 1817
  • Ackermann’s Fashion Plates December 1816
  • Ackermann’s Fashion Plates November 1816
  • Ackermann’s Fashion Plates October 1816
  • Ackermann’s September 1816 Fashion Plates
  • Ackermann’s August 1816 Fashion Plates
  • Ackermann’s Fashion Plates July 1816
  • Ackermann’s Fashion Plates June 1816
  • Ackermann’s Fashion Plates May 1816
  • Ackermann’s Fashion Plates April 1816

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