Fashions for December 1813 (beautiful red dress part deux)

Loretta reports:

We’re featuring red dresses this month, as did the ladies magazines of the 19th century.

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PLATE 40.—PROMENADE OR CARRIAGE COSTUME.
This dress, when divested of the spencer, or jacket, exhibits the
EVENING OR OPERA COSTUME,
PLATE, 41.

In order to render these commodious habiliments the more clearly understood by our readers, we shall commence with a description of the Evening or Opera Costume: which consists of a round robe of morone or crimson-coloured Merino, kerseymere, or queen's cloth, ornamented round the bottom and up the front with a fancy gold embroidered border. The bodice is composed of satin, or velvet, of the same colour, trimmed round the bosom and sleeves with gold braid and narrow swansdown; the front of the bodice richly ornamented with gold and pearl buttons. A gold band and pearl or diamond clasp confine the bottom of the waist, with a gold frog pending on each side, inclining towards the back of the figure. The robe is laced behind with gold cord. Hair disposed in dishevelled curls, falling on the left side, and decorated with clusters of variegated autumnal flowers. Necklace, composed of a treble row of pearl, white cornelian, or the satin bead, confined in front with a diamond clasp. Ear-rings and bracelets to correspond. Slippers, of crimson velvet, ornamented with gold fringe and rosettes, though we recommend those of white satin in preference. White kid gloves, below the elbow. Fan, of richly frosted silver crape.

The great convenience and novel attraction of this dress, consist in its admitting of a spencer of the same material as the robe (as seen in our promenade figure), which is richly ornamented, à la militaire, with gold braid and netted buttons, forming a sort of epaulette on the shoulders. The spencer is embroidered up the seams of the back, on the shoulders, and cuffs, to correspond with the bottom of the robe. This spencer, when worn over the evening dress, affords at once both comfort and utility; and, with the addition of a straw or velvet hat, ornamented with feathers, and half-boots or Roman shoes, constitutes a most attractive and appropriate Carriage or Promenade Costume. The convenience as well as becoming properties of this seasonable habiliment, will be duly appreciated by such ladies as are in the habit of attending the theatres or private evening parties, affording a compact and comfortable protection from a damp and cold atmosphere, and which may be easily relinquished on entering the drawing room. It were needless to observe, that this dress admits of being constructed in any colour, and of many suitable trimmings. It is the sole invention of Mr. Barry, tailor and habit-maker, 55, New Bond-street, where it is exhibited, and where orders are received.
—Ackermann's Repository, 1813 (December issue)

Tinted Glass Spectacles, c. 1830

Susan reporting:

While the collection of the Winterthur Museum primarily features American decorative arts, their curators clearly possess our Nerdy History weakness for once-ordinary things from the past that are just too interesting not to share. (Examples from Winterthur that I've mentioned here include bourdaloues and  sleeve puffs.) Each time I visit, I discover some new/old curious thing in the museum's ever-changing display cases, including the spectacles, left.

Made in New York in c 1830, these spectacles are beautifully crafted of silver and clear and colored glass. They're also wonderfully ingenious, an early predecessor of 20th c clip-on sunglasses. At this time, spectacle frames were made to order by jewelers and watchmakers. The green-tinted lenses are hinged to swing over the clear glass, and are thought to have offered additional protection against bright sunlight. The bows can fold over the lenses, and have sliding pieces for a customizable fit. Because the bows are not curved to fit over the ears like modern glasses, a ribbon could be threaded through the eyelets to secure the spectacles - again much like modern leashes.

Soon after I saw these spectacles, I spotted this striking young gentleman, right,  c 1807 in the De Witt Wallace Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, and he's wearing similar spectacles with green-colored lenses in silver frames. I don't know if he wore the spectacles against the sun, or because he suffered from some sort of weakness or injury to his eyes, or if he might even be blind - it's unusual that his face is turned to one side instead of looking directly towards the viewer in a more traditional portrait pose. Or is he simply too cool for Federal-era America? Alas, his name and his story are now lost, so all that is conjecture.

But then I came across this Spanish gentleman, lower left, from a slightly later date. He, too, is wearing spectacles with hinged tinted or smoked lenses similar to the Winterthur pair, but in this case the colored lenses are used as side visors. Again, because this gentleman's identity is also now forgotten, I can't offer his reason for wearing the spectacles, especially while sitting for his portrait – though they do give him a definite steampunk air.

This kind of spectacles could have been worn by anyone sensitive to bright light or sunshine, but at this time they were also becoming popular with travelers. Passengers on the early open-car railroads were subjected to smoke, wind, flying cinders, and sparks, and spectacles such as these were so often suggested to protect the eyes that they became known as 'railway spectacles'. Later railway spectacles would replace the tinted side lenses with mesh gauze screens that eventually would evolve into modern protective goggles. Here's an advertisement from the 1840s for "Gauze Railway Spectacles and Blue Glass Eye Protectors."

For much more about the history of eyeglasses and spectacles, check out the College of Optometrists on-line MusEYEum here.

Upper left: Spectacles, made by Charles Brewer & Company, New York, 1829-33, Winterthur Museum, Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont
Right: Portrait of a Gentleman, by John Wesley Jarvis, 1807, Private collection
Lower left: Portrait of a Spanish Gentleman, by Jose Buzo Caceres, 1832, British Optical Association Museum, London

Breakfast Links: Week of November 28, 2011

Served up fresh: our weekly offering of Breakfast Links!  Our favorite links to other blogs, web sites, pictures, and articles, collected from around the Twitterverse.

• Which version of this gown do you prefer? Emily Roebling's portrait:  http://bit.ly/tvBKJp or the actual gown: http://bit.ly/vGCg76

• History of Tea in England & Her American Colonies - http://bit.ly/tkYigS

• "Blind House", Shrewton, Wilshire - an all-stone 18th c village lock-up (gaol): http://bit.ly/sneMN0

• Amazing new scans of Audubon's Birds of America: http://bit.ly/chZXdM 

• Benjamin Franklin shocks himself while trying to kill a turkey: http://bit.ly/rBkQHt

• Vauxhall Gardens, two hundred and fifty years ago. http://bit.ly/sTzbeP

•  Is it wrong to end a sentence with a preposition? http://oxford.ly/vtW0Te

• Dieting - not in the 1950s! Love these vintage 'Weight Gain' ads http://bit.ly/vyYKLm

• Stubborn food myth: Native Americans taught 17th c Pilgrims how to pop corn: http://bit.ly/w1FDMq

• Fashion curator Beatrice unpicks Cole Porter song & discovers a world of side-cars and brassières:http://bit.ly/vq8cbu

• "The Measure of Man": Concise, useful history of the Doric Order:http://bit.ly/tro4F9

• Medieval Women, Death, & the Sacraments:http://bit.ly/tASvYs

• 1895: Don’ts for women bicycle riders |http://m-bike.org http://fb.me/UJdUKeGP

• Saving Captain Asgill: the fate of a young British soldier who crossed swords with George Washington – & needed Marie Antoinette to intercede: http://bit.ly/uHaWF8

• Dinner delayed, or friends betrayed? Records get suspiciously sketchy for london dining club, 1694: http://bit.ly/szKmlE

• Just launched: Millions of historical newspapers now available to search online at http://bit.ly/iSH0Fm

• A pair of pistols finally return to Dunster Castle – pistols date from the period of the Glorious Revolution: http://bit.ly/tXxG5X

• John Rawlings 1940s color fashion photos *sigh!*http://bit.ly/rNPmvC

• On 1 December 1655, 22 yr old Samuel Pepys marries 15 yr old Elizabeth de St Michel: @HistoryTodayhttp://dlvr.it/yXZLy

• Trousered before his time? A Brummell myth debunked! http://post.ly/15Y3d

• Who brought the Christmas tree into Britain? (hint: not Prince Albert) http://bit.ly/v4bkp0

• Life Magazine explains how wives should undress in front of their husbands, 1937: http://bit.ly/v937So

•  Manuscript/transcription of “A Christmas Carol” & audio book now online: http://bit.ly/vQfwIZ

Above: At Breakfast by Laurits Andersen Ring, 1898

Henry VIII' s astronomical clock Part Deux

Loretta reports:

To follow up on my blog about Hampton Court Palace's Astronomical Clock, here's a video from Historic Royal Palaces, with some additional tidbits and a look inside.

Recycling a Silk Gown, from 1740 to 1840

Susan reporting:

Recycling is a hot trend in fashion right now, and we're all urged to make-over and make-do for the sake of the planet and our wallets. It's hardly a new idea, of course. Stylish (and thrifty) folk of the past were as conscious of changing trends as we are today, and they often took older clothes to their mantua-makers and tailors to follow the latest looks from London and Paris.

But sometimes the remodeling created an entirely new garment. In a time when the largest cost of clothing production was in the material, not the labor, older clothing was often picked apart so that the fabric could be reused. One of the reasons that banyans like this one are so rare today is that they contained considerable tempting yardage for re-cutting, and with their wide, pleated petticoats and bodices, 18th c. gowns often met the same fate.

The Victorian ballgown, above left, was made around 1840. While the sloping shoulders, v-shaped bodice, and bell-shaped skirt are all in the latest fashion, the over-sized floral pattern of the silk damask and its brilliant red were popular a hundred years before (as in these silk designs by Anna Maria Garthwaite.)

Most likely the Victorian gown began its life as a Georgian gown like this one, lower right. No one now knows if the older gown's silk was reused a hundred years later because the wearer was economizing, or if the damask was a sentimental choice from a treasured family gown, or simply a color she liked. Whatever the reason, the results are beautiful.

Above: Dress (Ball Gown), British, c. 1842. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009.
Below: Gown, British, c. 1740s, Costume Collection, Leeds Museum.