And I thought last month’s plates were cosmopolitan! But June’s first plate, a walking or carriage costume, features “a round high robe of Frenc cambric, with Armenian collar, “an Egyptian mantle of lilac shot sarsnet, trimmed with broad Spanish binding,” “a Parisian bonnet” with “French net,” as well as a “Chinese parasol.” Young women in the Regency may not have been able to go on the Grand Tour, but their clothing certainly gave the impression that they had!
Again we have a “child” outfit, not a “boy’s” or “girl’s” outfit, demonstrating once again how interchangeable clothing was for the youngest set.
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- Plate 37, Vol III, no. XVIII, page 388
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- Plate 38, Vol III, no. XVIII, page 388
Arbiter Elegantarium quotes Oliver Goldsmith’s Essay Number XV (full link here) to bemoan the current state of English fashion: “Foreigners observe that there are no ladies in the world more beautiful or more ill-dressed, than those of England.” Goldsmith held French fashions in far higher esteem than English ones, an opinion obviously shared by AE, a prime example of the longstanding English cultural inferiority complex when it comes to anything French.
This month’s fabric samples include a lovely “permanent lilac chintz furniture, never before produced in this country.” It does seem quite colorful compared to many of the other chintzes featured in earlier Ackermann’s plates. Sample #2, a Persian lace muslin, is particularly becoming; wish the image were better at capturing its detail…
Lovely pictures. I’m always a little surprised to see the models of walking dresses wearing little slippers that obviously would not have been practical to wear for a long walk. 🙂
Thanks, Donna, for stopping by. Yes, those slippers do not look at all comfortable for even a short stroll in the park, do they? Or perhaps we are just used to a different standard of comfort, now?
— Bliss