Thursday, July 2, 2015

Fashions for July 1810, a Strange Contrast

Thursday, July 2, 2015
1810 Ball Dress
July 1810 Court Dress
1810 Ball Dress description
Loretta reports:

Throughout the earliest part of the 1800s until 1820, when the Prince of Wales (later Prince Regent*) became King George IV and changed the rules, ladies had to wear a very strange fashion for Royal Court occasions.

While court dress was quite formal, it wasn’t like normal formal dress, as you can see when you compare these two fashion plates.

Since author Candice Hern offers a beautiful explanation of court dress here at her website, I will leave it to her, while I leave you to ponder what hoops did to the slim silhouette we associate with Regency dress.
1810 Court Dress description
Images: The Ball Dress is from Ackermann's Repository for July 1810, courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art via the Internet Archive. The Court Dress is courtesy the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (the Google Books edition of La Belle Assemblée, where I found the description, had only a black and white plate.)

*“Regency” strictly interpreted, refers to the time he was Prince Regent, when his father, King George III, was too ill to carry out his duties as monarch. Many social historians, however, use the term Regency to cover a much broader period, often from 1800 to 1837, when Victoria became queen, and ushered in the Victorian period.

Clicking on the image will enlarge it.  Clicking on the caption will allow you to read at the source, where you can learn more and enlarge images as needed.

1 comments:

Regencyresearcher said...

Gilded Butterflies a book about the season says that Queen Charlotte seemed determine to be difficult . She made feathers mandatory when fashion said they were out and kept the ridiculous skirts because that was the fashion when she came-- or words to that effect. Those dresses cost a great deal and I doubt a lady would wear one twice in the same year. The nobility and aristocracy were supposed to show up on the Queen'a and King's birthdays at least.
I wonder did The Prince Regent require such dress when he entertained at his own property? Did the aristocracy walk around in those ridiculous dresses in Brighton?
The men who were in government had it easier and could wear Windsor uniform for many occasions and their fancy dress was so much more attractive than the ladies'.
I find your offerings very informative and enjoyable.

 
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