Romantic Era Fashion Chit Chat - August 1828 Ladies' Monthly Museum

Romantic Era Fashion Chit Chat - August 1828 Ladies' Monthly Museum

General Monthly Statement of Fashion

Though balls have now ceased in London, yet the rural dance still prevails in the country, and the advanced season presents us with a variety of costumes, adapted to every time of the day, and suited either to the morning deshabille, the attractive half-dress or home costume, or for the grande parure, at evening parties. The watering places now may be said to mark the style of dress, and to give birth to many inventions, as graceful as they are becoming and appropriate.

Dresses of striped batiste are much worn in home costume; the texture of these cheap dresses is light and cool, but the elegance of their patterns, and brilliancy of their summer tints, are greatly improved; and when these dresses are well-made and tastefully trimmed, they form a very pretty home attire for young persons. The expense of evening dress, however, makes up for the economy of the morning; whether in the fine India muslin white gown, richly embroidered, or trimmed with lace, in profusion; and though a simple broad hem often constitutes the sole ornament round the border of a skirt of gros-de-Naples, yet this hem almost requires a double quantity of silk for the dress; the breadth being such, that it approaches as high as the knee.

On coloured crapes are often seen flounces of broad blond, of the most rich and expensive patterns; on gauze, either white or coloured, are broad ornaments at the borders, bouillones, interspersed with embossed satin foliage. When silk gowns are flounced, the flounces are headed in the most beautiful manner, forming separate trefoils; and when the silk is plain, the edges are often splendidly embroidered in white floize silk.

Hats of white chip are ornamented in a very chaste and simple manner, with small bouquets of flowers, consisting of only three flowers grouped together. All the hats and bonnets continue extremely large, but the close bonnets of fancy straw, leghorn, or dunstable, tie down in the cottage style; and though these are also very large, yet they are suitable to the summer, and are refreshing to the eye, which is often annoyed, in more ways than one, by the enormous width of the modern French bonnet. Large puffs of gauze, silk or riband, are more in favour than either feathers or flowers; particularly for walking. The crowns of the new hats are rather low, and the hat is placed very backward, entirely concealing the nape of the neck. Straw bonnets, and those of stampt paper, in imitation of chip or leghorn, have only a simple riband round the crown, and strings of the same; these bonnets have now succeeded to the heavy, coarse dunstable, which affectation only could ever have adopted. Rose-coloured silk or satin hats, trimmed with white or black blond, prevail much in carriages, morning lounges, and the public walks, and at places in the country of fashionable resort.

Many riding-habits are made of figured merino; but the fine cloth, called European cachemire, is preferred; as it has the singular advantage of never being creased; nor does the rain affect it. Some Ladies copy from their Gallic neighbours, in their equestrian dress, and wear only the skirt of coloured cloth, with a muslin Canezou-spencer, with very wide sleeves. The jacket and petticoat all of one colour and material, is certainly to be preferred.

White muslin Canezou spencers, embroidered, or trimmed with lace, are favourite out-door coverings, over a petticoat of coloured gros-de-Maples. Pelerines, either round, or with long ends, drawn through the sash, double, and superbly worked in feather-stitch, form the sole addition for the promenade, over a dress made partially, or quite high. Silk pelisses, though worn, are not general: they are made very plain, and fasten down the front, or can be worn open, as summer-pelisse robes, over an embroidered muslin petticoat, at pleasure. Half-handkerchiefs of silk, throat-scarfs, and zephyr-scarfs, are in usual favour. Many ladies have endeavoured to bring again in fashion the scarf of double levantine, with richly brocaded ends; but they do not appear to meet with much patronage.

At the summer theatres, and also at the provincial theatres, small caps of blond, trimmed tastefully with ribands and flowers, form a very general coiffeure in the dress circles. The head-dresses of hair are beautifully and moderately arranged; neither too high, nor too low. A few flowers, or ornaments similar to the head-dress in our engraving for a dinner dress-party, which is the same style as for the summer evening party, form the most prevailing mode for adorning the tresses of our fair country-women. Dress hats are of white crape or stiffened net; and are sometimes trimmed with coloured gauze ribands: the plumage is generally formed of white ostrich feathers, tipped and edged with the same colour as the riband.

The head-dresses of our matrons, for the evening party, consist much of turbans and berets, blond caps, and fichus, elegantly ornamented with bows of riband, and, very slightly, with a few flowers in season; but these are mostly of the hedge or the field kind. The turbans are of coloured crape or gauze; over the right temple is some beautiful flower, either indigenous or exotic; and at the back of the crown are branches of lilacs and other flowering shrubs of the spiral kind. One beret we remarked as extremely beautiful: the colour was a bright geranium,enlaced with gold, and tastefully ornamented with gold wheat-ears; yet this was disposed with so much lightness and grace, that it had not any appearance of gaudy finery. Some young ladies, who have fine heads of hair, have them arranged in beautiful ringlets, among which are mingled, on the right side, sweet peas, and on the left, branches of small flowers, such as lilies of the valley, white thorn, or mountain ranunculuses.

The colours most in favour, are rose, green, blue, and bright jonquil.