NIGHT-CAP of spotted muslin, trimmed with a double border of lace in whole plaits, bound round with a narrow maroon riband, tied into a small bow in front; hat covered with blue satin, tied under the chin, and trimmed with blue and maroon striped ribbands. Round gown of salmon-colour flowered chintz; long sleeves; gold ear-rings; blue morocco slippers; fur muff.
Morning Dresses.
[from page 100] I. THE hair in small curls, plain chignon; cottage cap, of fine muslin, tied under the chin, trimmed with lace, and white satin ribands; petticoat of muslin, richly embroidered at the bottom; spencer of maroon satin, plain or blue cape, trimmed with lace; muslin neck handkerchief; fur muff; red morocco slippers. [Stolen from the March 1796 issue of The Gallery of Fashion. All changes involve merely capitalization and punctuation.]
II. The front hair combed short upon the forehead,-- the side hair dressed in curls, and the hind hair turned up plain. Highland bonnet, made of gold foil and carmelite-colouured satin, the ends trimmed with a gold fringe; two carmelite-coloured, and five, six, or seven black feathers, placed in the front and at the top; plain muslin petticoat: straw-coloured chintz gown; cape, and lappels of carmelite-coloured satin; long sleeves; muslin neck handkerchief, trimmed with lace; double ruff of lace round the neck; gold ear-rings; jonquille gloves and shoes. [Stolen from the March 1796 issue of The Gallery of Fashion. All changes involve merely capitalization and punctuation.]
Chemise à l'Indienne.--This is a beautiful undress, [another term for Morning Dress] the waist is formed by plaits artfully arrange, and by bows of ribband; the trian falls to the ground in an elegant drapery: it is made of delicate clear lawn.
Morning Dress, April 1797 from The Gallery of Fashion. A mother and her little girl take a walk together in a park. The mother keeps a hand on her little girl to protect her.
Morning Dress, March 1796 from The Gallery of Fashion. These ladies have gone out on a windy morning for a walk in Hyde Park, according to the plate's title. They have on bonnets and shawls over their morning dresses, and one carries a fur muff. The glimpses of ankle in this plate made it "titillating" to the 1797 audience. Note how boldly the bonnets and dresses contrast in color. It always strikes me as odd how fashion plates often features hats and dresses together than seem to be designed without much color coordination.
Morning Dress, September 1797 from The Gallery of Fashion. These ladies have gone out on a windy morning for a walk at a "Bathing Place." They too have on bonnets, and one woman wears a shawl over her morning dress. These ladies are at a fashionable seaside resort; note the bathing machines in the bottom left corner of the image. Compare this with a later plate labelled Seaside Bathing Dress. When one reads Frances Burney's Camilla of 1796, this is a useful image to keep in mind for the scenes that occur at seaside resorts. Camilla is actually nearly raped in one of the seaside resort's tents in which bathers changed.
Mother in Morning Dress with Infant, 1814, from
John Bell's 