Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Newer Additions to My Collection: 1809


It’s been a while since I started doing (and finished up) regular Fashion Forecasts here...and one corollary of that is that I’ve since acquired a lot more prints for any given year. Since the last time we looked at fashions in the year 1809 was back in 2009, I thought I’d post some more prints from my collection...because, eye candy.

Enjoy!

I do like the poses in a lot of these early Ackermanns. Doesn’t the young lady in this Dancing Dress (not Ball Dress, for some reason) look like she’s having fun? Note the shorter hemline, a feature of dresses intended for dancing in. (February 1809)


Also from February 1809, and noteworthy in that the model for this Half Dress was not a sylph-like sprite like those seen in Ackermanns from later years, but a woman of some substance.  Note the lace oversleeves and “Egyptian headdress” with a tassel falling on one shoulder.


Here’s an official Ball Dress: I love the fashion popular in these earlier years of over-dresses caught with ropes of pearls for closure...but what I love even more are her blue-striped slippers! (May 1809)


What a selection of Walking Dresses! The yellow one worn by the seated lady looks almost Renaissance-ish with those slashed sleeves...and her dainty little veiled hat is adorable. The standing figure looks right out of A&E’s Pride and Prejudice in that spencer and dress of muslin. And even the little girl’s dress is charming—if you look very carefully, you can just see that she appears to be wearing pantalettes. (June 1809)


Another figure of generous proportions for this Opera Dress...and what a delightfully insouciant pose! I’m also struck by just how baggy full-length kid gloves became after being worn for a bit—I’m afraid they would have driven me crazy. (July 1809)


I was very excited to finally acquire this plate of Mourning Dresses from September 1809; how odd to see a toddler in mourning (though she seems much more concerned with retrieving her doll!) Note the drawstring at Mom’s waist, and the delightful lions’ feet on the pedestal.


This print is full of visual delights, despite the mother’s curiously posed legs and feet (perhaps she’s a contortionist?): her Morning Dress buttons up the front of the bodice, and she’s wearing some kind of be-ruffled robe or pelisse over it. Note the fire-screen in the background...and my, that is one healthy-looking child! (November 1809)


I rather liked this Tyrolese Walking Dress from December, though more properly it’s the coat that's Tyrolese (it’s of shaded green, or drake's-neck velvet, lined throughout with amber sarsnet, and trimmed with gold or Chinese floss binding.) However, the hat is evidently English through and through: it’s described as an Amazonian helmet, composed of the same materials, ornamented with a patriotic band and and bow, towards one side; a curled ostrich feather, tipped with gold, on the other.
It’s a little hard to determine just what a patriotic band is—perhaps it’s striped like a Union Jack?



1 comment:

Regina Scott said...

Absolutely lovely, my dear! Thank you so much for sharing them!