Throughout the Regency Era the lightweight robes needed other
garments or accessories to make the wearer warmer. Tulle shawls which were
delicate and light particularly suited fine evening dresses. White muslin net
shawls embroidered with tambour work were made in Essex where a thriving cottage
industry was set up by a Flemish refugee. Not far away Norwich produced silk
warp and wool weft twill Norwich shawls which were almost Chinese in design.
Genuine Kashmir shawls
of the most beautiful quality made from very fine wool with woven and
embroidered patterns were considered one of the most useful and attractive
accessories. The draped shawls emphasised the classical effects that women
strived for. Other stoles and long slender scarves were also used, but the
Kashmir was prized. These are shown in the heading.
Eventually the shawls
were copied by manufacturers in Britain and especially by the towns of Paisley
and Norwich. Paisley made reversible shawls. Firstly they were woven, but later
to cut costs and beat competition Norwich started to print the shawls. By the
Edwardian Era even cheaper printed paisley shawls bought for shillings were worn
solely by the lower classes. The once sought after items had become so watered
down and universally changed from a true Kashmir shawl that the upper class
ladies rejected them.
When the century had
begun a wide range of hats from small caps to enormous ribbon festooned bonnets,
turbans, feather trimmed satin jockey hats and poke bonnets were all part of
gentlewoman's wardrobe. At night exotic turbans were usually seen. The white
satin mameluke turban was trimmed with an ostrich feather and worn early on in
1804.
In 1800 caps were worn mostly in the day by older ladies, then in the
1820s young people generally wore them in the day. Some references hint that
the morning cap of white cotton covered up paper tied ringlets for release later
in the afternoon. Right - Romantic Hat
Poke bonnets had a soft
crown and could be called a capote. Firmer crowned bonnets trimmed with ribbons,
feathers, frills and sometimes flowers, got larger.
~
Beyond 1815 the bonnet increased until the crown was very big
and culminated in the Leghorn style. The name comes
from the leghorn straw used. Fabrics such as taffeta silk were ruched and
pleated to make flowerpot style hats with wide deep brims.
For reproducing hats today use plastic hat blocks called Hat Shapers and for lots
of information on hats, visit Carol Marston's
The reticule bag was a
new accessory in the late 1790s because women had carried their pockets about
their waist when their gowns had been large enough to hide them.
Left - Reticule Handbags and Purses.
Reticules were pretty
small decorative purse like bags, similar to an evening bag of today and which held a
lady's belongings. Some had steel hoops which gave a concertina like framed
effect. Others might be circular with ribbon drawstrings and feather trimmed.
Still others might be steel mesh trimmed with pailettes and steel fringe beading.
By the 1820s the reticules had
become proper handbags either soft drawn up leather or rigid and buckled hard
leathers or decorative materials. Folding small fans, and shot silk or taffeta parasols
with ivory handles were used as decorative, rather than functional accessories.
Huge fur, feather or shirred silk muffs began the era only to disappear totally by
1811, ending the fashion with smaller rounder muffs.
Throughout the era ladies wore a limited amount of jewellery. They liked dainty necklaces and other
pieces including combs of jewelled hair ornaments all modelled on original Greek
items.
Ornamental Hair Comb
The women kept hair shorter and cleaner, but enhanced with false
ringlets, an ideal style to show off earrings.
After the coronation of Emperor
Napoleon and Empress Josephine when the splendid, reset, French royal family jewels
were worn, matching jewel sets called
Parures
once again gained popularity.
The tippet was a long slender boa fashion accessory used to
wrap the neck area. It was worn at various times by all classes at some time in
the 19th century.
It was a fancy version of the scarf and could be made of
swansdown or fur. Worn initially by the gentlewoman of 1800 it was eventually
favoured by poorer woman of the 1890s.
The flat or low heeled
pump that replaced 18th century heeled shoes was in fashion for forty years in
Britain. Often trimmed with a bow or rosebud these shoes were made of soft kid,
cloth or silk and were very flimsy, so wore out easily. The flat sandal sometimes
had ribbon ties that were crossed over the leg reaching to the calves.
They were almost too fragile to wear and were mainly worn in the evenings or
indoors and the half boot was worn for outdoors.
Then about 1810 the
flat soled boot was worn by fashionable women for general wear. These were
attractively made of coloured leather or leather and fabric or the same fabric as
pelisses. In a short time boots became so usual that even bride's boots and
dancing boots were made. Proper walking for gentle ladies other than in landscaped
gardens was unknown. Pumps were not made for anything other than a tiled promenade.
Cloaks and mantles or
mantelets
were three quarter length or full length.
Winter cloaks were fur lined. About 1808 the Witzchoura
mantle a fashion from Poland was a fur trimmed three quarter length mantle
with wide open sleeves.
Fashion-Era.com looks at women's costume and fashion history and analyses the mood of an era. Changes in technology, leisure, work, cultural and moral values. Homelife and politics also
contribute to lifestyle trends, which in turn influence the clothes we wear. These are the changes that make any era of society special in relation to the study of the costume of a period.
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