The period 1800-1837
is part of the Georgian era. George III was insane after 1811, but alive until
1820. His son the Prince Regent, George, acted as Regent for nine years of the
King's madness, then
reigned 1820-1830. Because of the influence of the Georgian Prince Regent on the era, it
is known as the Regency.
Napoleon Bonaparte crowned
Emperor in 1804 was keen to make France a leader of fashion and innovator of
design and craft skills. During the French Revolution the French textile
industry had suffered and unlike in England, use of textile machinery had been
non existent. Emperor Napoleon stopped the import of English textiles and he
revived the Valenciennes lace industry so that fine fabrics like tulle and
batiste could be made there.
To make women buy more
material he forbade them to wear the same dress more than once to court. Ladies
dresses had extra fabric gathered into the back and trains were seen again for
evening. Bonaparte also had fireplaces at the Tuileries blocked up so that
ladies would wear more clothing. He did not ignore men's rôle in the revival of
the textile economy and he enforced male military officials to wear white satin
breeches on formal occasions.
Bonaparte was following a long tradition of
promoting the French economy through fashion. Empress Josephine was a great
fashion leader. She was an ideal model for the slender fashions of the day
designed by Leroy.
You can read more
about how Louis XIV promoted fashion in an earlier era when he sent fashion
dolls to European courts.
See the section called Fashion Dolls.
The high waisted graceful
styles of early 19th century are known as the Empire style. The Empire dress
which evolved in the late 1700s began as a chemise shift gathered under the
breasts and at the neck.
Right - More Simple Empire Clothes
Named after The First Empire, by 1800 it had a very décolleté
low square neckline, a short narrow backed bodice and separate skirt. The small
neat puff sleeves barely capped the shoulder. They were pulled back by the
narrow cut of the bodice and this restricted arm movement to a certain daintiness.
~
Regency dress in the
period 1800-1820 was based on classical principles of flowing Grecian
robes. For modesty until 1810 a tucker or simple
chemisette (a side opening half
blouse) filled the bare neckline by day. Right- Chemisettes like these with side fastenings
were worn under low necked gowns as a modesty filler.
Underwear
The
soft muslin dresses of 1800 clung to the body highlighting the natural body
outline so stays were unpopular unless the figure demanded them. These Empire fashions at the turn of the century
were often little more than sheer nightgowns. The practical solution to
the discomfort of lighter clothing was to simply adopt the warm undergarment
called pantaloons and already worn by men.
The pantaloons were made of light stockinet in a flesh toned nude
colour and reached all the way to the ankles or to just below the knee.
This is why Empire women often appear to be wearing no underwear when seen in
paintings of the era. The flesh tone pantaloons acted in just the same way under
clothes as they do today when a women wears a flesh toned bra and briefs under
white or pastel trousers and top.
Right - Stays Worn about 1810.
Later it became fashionable to wear a white
or pastel slippery silk satin slip
over the stays making the dress silhouette quite smooth. To support extra skirt fullness
a small bustle pad lifted the dress back.
The fabric for Empire dresses
was usually fine white lawn, muslin or batiste. Although muslins were less
costly than silks, good white work embroidered lawn fabrics still cost money.
Muslin also laundered better than silks, but the white muslins still needed a
great deal of attention to keep them looking pristine clean. Regular wearing of
white gowns was a sign of social status as white soiled so easily. White gowns
generally were kept for evening and in the day pastel or coloured robes were
thought more suitable.
Right - White Muslin Empire Gown.
In winter heavier
velvets, cottons, linens, fine wools and silks were used and sometimes extra warmth came
from flannel petticoats or full under slip dresses.
The classical decoration was
inspired by images of Grecian ladies from original Greek art. To help you date
costumes in prints, paintings and productions it is useful to understand that
the classical line was debased by other types of decoration dependant on fashion
influences. For example Napoleon's expeditions to the east and items brought
back by him and other soldiers created interest in Egyptian ornamentation.
Between 1800 and 1803 classical ornament
used geometric shapes. Greek key patterns decorated garment hems, sleeve bands
and shawls. All the embroidery was initially delicate and light, faithfully
following the classical influence, but eventually the embroidery became coarsely
executed.
One of the problems of
such simple classical silhouettes was their very simplicity. This soon led to
boredom and decorative innovation as the restraint of staying pure to plain
classical robes was too much for some. Between 1804 and 1807 the classical robes
developed an eastern exotic feel with Etruscan and Egyptian decoration with
woven or embroidered borders on fabric lengths and on stoles. The eastern
patterns first appeared from gifts Napoleon gave to his Empress Josephine after his visits
to Egypt. Soon everyone copied the items. Empress Josephine was an icon
and fashion leader of her time.
After 1808 Spanish
ornament featured on robes and appeared as slashed areas and tiered sleeves.
When sleeves covered the hand they were called à la mamelouk.
Peasant influence
from European dress was particularly applied to the name of coats, cloaks and
mantles such as the Witzchoura redingote an empire cloak of Russian origin.
The
Napoleonic Wars meant that soldiers uniform had high visibility and military
style details featured on clothing for both sexes. Frogging, braids, cords,
velvet and other trims lent a topical jaunty dashing air to many a garment,
especially outdoor wear.
By 1811 in Britain, influence
of the Middle Ages, termed Gothic crept into dress styles debasing the pure classical lines.
The bodice gained more shaping and could be panelled. It was not cut so tight
and narrow as in the first decade so it made the shoulder line broader and the
dress more comfortable to wear.
The flowing medieval
touches soon broadened to include Tudor and Elizabethan times with ruffed and Vandyke
triangular pointed decoration and cross over bodices. In England copious
trimmings on skirts were all the rage from flounces and padded rolls to pleated,
fanned and tucked trims. Embellishment was according to the latest fashion which
sometimes took its own course due to the hostilities between France and Britain.
But by 1820 the dress had
lost all classical form and took on a pure Gothic line which lasted until Queen
Victoria's accession.
In wartime between
1808 and 1814 the female waistline lengthened in England. English ladies really
had little idea of what was happening to Paris fashion. When visitors from
Britain returned to France after the 1814 peace treaty they were amazed that
fashions were so different. In Paris waists were worn very much higher than in England
and skirt hems were wider, more A-line, padded and decorated.
British fashion
soon followed the French lead after the French ridiculed the English dresses in
cartoons making them appear very ugly with bulbous tulip round waisted skirts
and solid corsetry.
In 1815 with the
Napoleonic wars over, Britain began to follow French fashion trends for wearing a
high waistline. The waistline reached its peak height in 1816-17 when the line
fell directly under the breasts. Almost as soon as the waist had risen, 1818
fashion plates began to show the waistline dropping and tightening. It continued
to drop annually by an inch, until by 1825 it was at last in its normal
position.
Leroy the French
designer had to follow the whims of his clients and drop the dress waists and
widen the skirts. It seems that French ladies soon preferred the English style.
Anglomania began to sweep France.
After 1820 as the neat
slim waist emerged, corsets were worn again by all women. The narrower buckle
belted day waist or sash wrapped evening waist was balanced by widening skirts
which were often horsehair padded and frilled
to make them stand away from the legs. By 1825 the wider skirts were balanced by
a wider shoulder line with a leg of lamb sleeve often known as a gigot
sleeve. This had begun as a short sleeve
which had been covered over by a transparent or semi opaque sleeve, and eventually
a solid fabric. It was the forerunner of all manner of fancy sleeve styles
setting the scene for more romantic dress styles of the 1830s.
The pelisse can be a
confusing term because there were several forms over a 50 year period. The first
form of pelisse worn from 1800 to 1810 was an empire line coat like garment to
the hip or knee. After 1810 it was worn full length and
was a warmer longer sleeved coat than
the Spencer, but often made of the same materials.
It was usually fur
trimmed, straight in cut, belted at a high waist like the gown and sported a broad
cape like collar an influence of military styles. The colours for pelisses were golden
brown or dark green and it was normally worn over pale gowns
which were visible as it was worn open at the front.
From 1818 onwards
women wore a coat dress variation called a pelisse-robe. It could be suitable
for indoors or outdoors and was essentially a sturdy front fastening carriage,
walking or day dress.
The Spencer was a
short top coat without tails worn by men during the 1790s as an extra covering
over the tailed coat. It had long sleeves and was frequently decorated with
military frogging. Its originator is thought to be Earl Spencer who singed the
tails of his coat when standing beside a fire. He then had the tails trimmed off
and started a fashion.
A female version was
soon adopted by gentlewomen who at the time were wearing the thin light muslin
dresses of the 1790s. The Spencer was worn as a cardigan is worn today. It was
a short form of jacket to just above waist level cut on identical lines to the
dress.
Left - A Lady Wearing a Spencer.
The Spencer was worn both indoors and outdoors and for eveningwear and was
made of silk or a wool material known as kerseymere. When it was worn as an
indoor evening Spencer it was called a canezou. Spencers stayed in fashion for
about 20 years whilst the waistline remained high.
As the fashion for
military touches persisted many Pelisses and Spencers were covered in decorative
braids, tassels, frogging and cords so that their wearers looked like members of
the Hussars. In time, a short jacket similar to a decorated Spencer was called a Hussar
jacket.
The Redingote was worn from 1818 onwards initially indoors in cold weather, worn open whilst
revealing the dress beneath. Its name derives from
the 18th century version of a riding coat. It was used in place of a loose cloak
and as it developed a series of shoulder capes it became very suitable for
travel. As dresses widened so the Redingote widened. Redingotes were usually
trimmed with fur and mostly made of heavy dark cloth.
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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