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Ackermanns Fashion Plates March 1810

September 23, 2015 By BlissBennet 2 Comments

March 1810’s fashion plates focus again on whites: white satin for a Ball Dress; spotted white muslin for a Morning Dress. I’m struck again by how often children are shown with their mothers in the morning dress plates; is Ackermanns simply reflecting the new societal focus on the importance of motherhood? Or helping to construct it?

Arbiter Elegantiarum insists that, despite last month’s critique of women’s fashion choices, “I beg I may not be considered as exclusively censuring the foibles of the fair. No, no; the lords of the creation, with all their boasted superiority, are equally implicated.” But, despite the disclaimer, Arbiter insists that “This is not the place to register the follies and fopperies of men.” Why not, I wonder?

I do have to laugh, though, at Arbiter‘s disdain for the “monstrous tippets” being lugged around by the fashionable women of the day: “Should this wretched thing continue in use, I would strongly recommend the re-introduction of the hoop and farthingale, that the foundation may bear some proportion to the superstructure, and that our ladies may no longer have the painful appearance elf being top-heavy.” Wish we had a picture of that!

Ackermanns March 1810
Vol. I, issue 4, pages 185-86

 


In addition to the usual fabric samples included in each issue, March’s book also features fancy paper samples, which I’ve included below. Can you imagine Regency women using them to covering boxes, screens, card-racks, and portfolios? Maybe we should all try out the paste recipe helpfully included?


 


And finally, this month’s fabric samples. I can’t quite make out what the figures on #4, the “amber-shot sarsnet,” are meant to be—the ever-popular bee? A flower? Or just a geometric figure? A lovely color, no matter what the figure…

March 1810, Vol I, issue 4
page 195

Filed Under: Regency History Tagged With: Ackermanns, clothing, dress, fashion

Comments

  1. Nancy says

    September 23, 2015 at 9:48 am

    Jane Austen mentions netting a dress. Do you think she might have been making something like the garment shown on the left above? March 1810.

    Reply
    • Bliss Bennet says

      September 24, 2015 at 3:37 pm

      I think you may be right, Nancy. I forgot to put in photos of the written descriptions, which I’ve fixed now. What you’re referring to is describe as “a Circassian robe of brown silk net, the meshes terminated with white or gold beads; edging and tassels of the same.” Definitely looks like something you might make at home…

      Reply

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  • 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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