Ackermann’s Fashion Plates May 1812

 

This month’s first fashion plate looks almost as if it had been made over from last month’s ball gown, with its “blossom-colored” sarsnet, and its trim of “tufted Chinese silk” all down the front and about the hem. But this dress is meant for walking, not for dancing. The second plate, featuring a “Morning Dress,” looks quite fancy for casual letter writing or reading, in which the model in this plate appears to be absorbed. The lemon-colored kid gloves strike my eye as rather odd, but perhaps the celestial blue of the hat and waist ribbons was not an option for gloves?

 

 

 

This month’s fabric samples include (for the first time I can recall) something that isn’t fabric: a trim made of “willow shavings”! This sample is shown in cream and green, but the description assures readers that Mr. Palin, its inventor, stocks the trim “in a variety of beautiful tints and colors.” Industrious ladies can use the trim not only to decorate their own hats and bonnets, but also to make “baskets and mats for the table, &c., as well as many other article both useful and ornamental.” Can you imagine a group of young Regency ladies holding a contest, to see who could come up with the most ingenious use of Mr. Palin’s willow shavings?