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Archives for March 2018

Ackermann’s Fashion Plates December 1815

March 28, 2018 By BlissBennet Leave a Comment

 

After the whites and pale pink of the dresses in the previous two months of Ackermann’s Fashion Plates, it feels like a breath of fresh air—holiday air—to gaze on the crimson red slip and silver-striped French gauze evening gown of December’s plate 33. Trimmed with white flowers and green leaves, the gown conveys a decidedly festive air. The three-quarter length frock is “drawn up in the Eastern style” on the bottom, the slit “confined by a cluster of flowers” that matches those adorning the hem. The white satin trim, edged with crimson ribbon, trims the hems of both gown and slip, as well as the bodice and sleeves. And to top it all off, the evening gown features a negligé, this one not an item of intimate apparel, but rather a necklace of irregularly set beads or pearls.

Ackermann's Fashion Plates December 1815: Evening Dress

Vol. XIV, no. lxxxiv, plate 33

I can’t remember seeing evening gloves trimmed with a quilling of tull before, as are the ones in this plate.

 

Ackermann's Fashion Plates December 1815: Promenade dress

Vol. XIV, no lxxxiv, plate 34

Plate 34’s Walking Dress also features a splash of color, this time the dark blue of a twilled sarsnet pelisse. Look at those large ribbon bows adorning the front opening of the pelisse! And I’m amazed by the border of leaves decorating the hem; it is difficult to tell from the picture, but the description suggests that they might be appliquéd onto the pelisse itself, rather than simply embroidered (“a border or leaves formed of the same sarsnet, edged with white satin”). The slashed sleeves at shoulders and wrists, as well as the elaborate collar (not described in the copy), must have added hours and hours of work for whichever seamstress was assigned the task of crafting this gown. Not to mention the way the hem is drawn up into small festoons, almost like a curtain…

 

Mrs. Bean, the creator of this ensemble, was, according to her trade card, dressmaker to both the Duchess of Kent and to Princess Charlotte. It must have been a mark of distinction to rate a “special appointment” with “the ever-varying and approved taste of Mrs. Bean.”

Trade card for Mrs. Bean, Milliner and Dressmaker.

Trade card for Mrs. Bean, Milliner and Dressmaker. British Museum

 

December 1815’s needlework patterns are also quite unusual: six circles, each with its own design. They remind me of the hex signs you see adorning the barns in Pennsylvania Dutch country. What do you imagine they were intended to adorn? Seat backs? Screen covers? Pillows?

Ackermann's Needlework patterns December 1815

 

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

Ackermann’s Fashion Plates November 1815

March 21, 2018 By BlissBennet Leave a Comment

 

As in last month’s fashion plates, Ackermann’s November plates feature a morning gown and a walking dress (although this month labeled with the fancier title “Promenade Dress”), and a lady with a book in hand. I wonder if after the tumultuous summer and fall in the aftermath of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, ladies were spending more time at home or on quiet walks than they were socializing?

Plate 27, the morning dress, features a petticoat topped by an unusual cross-bodice jacket, rounded at the bottom front and collar. The high waisted look of the period is achieved by the addition of a ribbon or belt cinched or tied right below the bosom. Both the petticoat and the jacket are trimmed with a broad border of cross-hatched “French work,” which also appears at the wrist of each sleeve. I’d like to try to sew a version of that little jacket some day…

Ackermanns Fashion Plates November 1815: Morning Dress

Vol XIV, no lxxxiii, plate 27

 

The description of plate 28, the Promenade Dress, says it is made of “the moreno blue striped satin,” something the painter of this plate doesn’t seem to have heeded; the dress appears white, or perhaps a pale pink, and I don’t see anything in the way of stripes. At least the illustrator got the blue of the satin ribbon on the hat right!

Ackermanns Fashion Plates November 1815: Promenade Dress

Vol. XIV, no. lxxxiii, Plate 28

Have you ever heard the word “gypsy” as a verb? The copy here says  the bonnet is “composed of orange-coloured satin, gipsied with a handkerchief of the same.” Any guesses as to what that might mean?

 

Ackermanns Fashion Plates November 1815, copy

 

Although it is termed “Patterns for Needle-Work” in the issue’s Table of Contents, the actual pattern page appears to be titled “Muslin Patterns.” Unlike patterns in earlier issues, which typically featured long, narrow patterns for the edge of a gown, this page features three sets of tiny repeating motifs, along with two short leaf and vine patterns. To embroider on a handkerchief, perhaps, instead of a gown?

 

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

Ackermann’s Fashion Plates October 1815

March 14, 2018 By BlissBennet Leave a Comment

 

The first of October 1815’s fashion plates includes a negligé, but don’t get too excited; this negligé is far different than the garment we currently associate with the term. The French word négligé appears in an English source as early as 1715, but at that time was used as an adjective, to describe someone negligently or informally attired. By the mid-18th century in America, the term had also come to describe a lady’s loose-fitting gown or informal male garment. During the same period in England, the word was also used to describe a kind of men’s wig, and a necklace or girdle of irregularly set beads. Not until the mid 19th century did negligé take on its current meaning, a light dressing gown or nightgown, typically made of flimsy, semi-transparent fabric and trimmed with lace and ruffles.

Plate 22 features a white cambric muslin petticoat, topped by a white negligé, which to my eye looks more like a short, light jacket than a dressing gown. Although it is trimmed all round with “French work” to match that of the petticoat flounce, it appears to be made of the same cambric as the petticoat, not of any silky or semi-transparent fabric. More of a comfortable additional layer to keep the arms warm on chilly October mornings than something meant to entice the eyes of another.

Ackermanns October 1815 plate 22: Morning Dress

Vol. XIV, no. vxxxii, plate 22

 

Though Plate 23 is labeled ” Walking Dress,” its model sits, rather than walks, amongst picturesque rocks, a book open in one hand. She, too, is dressed in white cambric, though her second layer is more colorful than that of the lady in plate 22: an open pelisse of grey sarsnet, lined with salmon satin. Look at the slashed sleeves; though they appear grey in the plate, the description says they, too, are made from the salmon satin. An unusual color combination, don’t you think? I’m very drawn to the model’s French bonnet, with not one but three grey ribbons set about its crown, to match the pelisse.

Ackermann's Fashion Plate October 1815: Walking Dress

Vol. XIV, no. lxxxii, Plate 23

 

Ackermann's Fashion Plate copy October 1815

 

This month’s needlework patterns feature swirls of leaves in three different settings.

Ackermanns October 1815 Needlework pattern

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

Ackermann’s Fashion Plates September 1815

March 7, 2018 By BlissBennet 1 Comment

The first plate in Ackermann’s Repository for September 1815 is described as a “Dinner Dress,” a label I can’t remember seeing in earlier Ackermann’s fashion plates. The gown, though elaborately trimmed, does have a less formal feel than the typical evening gowns featured in Ackermann’s pages. The copy says the overdress (worn under a white satin slip) is “primrose-colored French gauze,” and makes no mention of stripes, both of which seem to be at odds with the actual dress depicted in the plate. Both this dress and the white carriage dress of plate 17 feature the deep rows of flounces that seem to be all the kick in 1815.

 

Ackermann's Fashion plate #16 September 1815

Plate 16, Vol. XIV, no lxxxi

 

As for the carriage dress… Can you imagine driving around in the dust and dirt in a pristine white muslin dress? No wonder the lady needs a handkerchief in hand! I appreciate that the dress is “of short walking length”—for walking, or for ease of ascending into or descending from the smart carriage in which this lady is sure to be riding? Her bonnet is described as an “Anglesea chip hat,” although it is covered with such an explosion of ostrich feathers, one can’t really make out the shape of the chapeau beneath them…

 

Ackermann's Fashion Plates September 1815, plate 17: Carriage Dress

Plate 17, Vol. XIV, no lxxxi

An embroidery pattern concludes September’s Ackermann’s Repository, a pattern featuring heart-shaped leaves and aster-like flowers, perfect for an autumn project.

 

Ackermann's Embroidery Pattern September 1815

 

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  • 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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