Ackermanns Fashion Plates July 1810

Volume 4 of Ackermanns opens with a sumptuous ball dress, one that sports a rather short hem—so that we could see those fabulous spotted shoes? I wonder how the “pink foil” spots on the white satin of the shoes was stuck on? And does anyone have any idea what the heck it is that the woman is leaning on??

The three ladies purportedly taking the air in Kensington Gardens look ready for a cloudy, showery day, rather than for a hot summer stroll. The post uses the word “ridicule” rather than the more familiar (at least to us) “reticule.” I wonder which word was more popular at the time?

I have no idea what an unella veil is; couldn’t find a listing in Fairchild’s Dictionary of Textiles, and a Google search just turns up a character on Game of Thrones.

 

In the general observations, Arbiter Elegantarium bemoans the introduction of “stiff stays and long waists,” particularly among “the middle and lower classes of society”:

 

 

Comments on this month’s fabric samples include a long footnote about British muslin being falsely marketed as India muslin, and puffs for the new “establishing of the warehouse by Mr. Millard, in Cheapside” “as the India goods there are sold direct from the India warehouses.” Wouldn’t want the India Company to lose their revenue, would we, fashionable ladies?

Would you wear “seaweed muslin” (see sample 4)?