Arbiter Elegantiarum blows November’s chills away with a blast against the overuse of fur in winter fashion. Muffs come in for particular scorn: “these monstrous muffs, or rather muffles (for they completely handcuffed the poor women).” At least, though, muffs have been abandoned, suggests Arbiter; alas, the ungainly fur tippet is still to be found, that once “graceful ornament of a winter dress” which has, unfortunately, “swelled itself out into a large plaister of fur, which covered the back and shoulders, and completely destroyed the beauty of the figure.” What woman would want to wear a garment that Arbiter compares to “the collar of martyrdom, which was formerly fixed upon the neck of the unfortunate victims of the infernal Inquisition”? Not me!
- Plate 28, Walking Dress
- Plate 29, Carriage Dress
Fall colors grace this month’s fabric samples: fawn, rusty brown, and yellow gold. Sample #4, a “Persian kerseymere, worked in tambour,” is “much in vogue with our male fashionables.” The photograph here is not very clear; I’d love to see a better close up of the tambour (embroidery) work, wouldn’t you?

Fabric samples Nov 1811
I enjoy seeing the fashion plates. I think so of the gowns on the front of the historical romances are not very accurate. They are beautiful and romantic but when I see the fashion plates I see few that resemble the covers.