Left: Evening Dress, 1820, half-mourning, from Rudolf Ackermann's The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashion, and Politics, 1809-1829. Black silk roses and leaves form two large bands around the hem of this dress of white crinkled silk spotted with white satin. The bodice of the dress is fake black velvet. The lady wears a wreath of white flowers in her dark hair. We can imagine how striking this black and white dress appeared at an evening musical. The lady holds her music, ready to approach her instrument to perform. Perhaps she plays the pianaforte, like Elizabeth Bennet and Georgiana Darcy in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, 1813. Or she could play the harp, like Juliet in Frances Burney's The Wanderer, 1814.
Right: Evening Dress, 1822, from Rudolf Ackermann's The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashion, and Politics, 1809-1829. The dress is silk in Mackenzie tartan. A white tucker is tucked in front and above the sleeves, held down by pearl loops. Twisted satin trims the sleeves and the hem of the skirt. The lady wears an emerald and gold necklace. Her headdress is of braided satin with pearl and feather trim.
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Evening Dress, 1822, from Petit Courrier des Dames, Annonces des Modes, des Nouveautes et des Arts, 1821-68. The dress is made of a white cashmere shawl. The mirror is used to show the viewer the back of the headdress, a turban trimmed with feathers. The lady plays a lute, posed elegantly on a sofa. |
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