Thursday, March 30, 2017

Regency Fashion - January 1817

                     Full Dress - Ackermann's Respository for January 1817.



A WHITE soft satin slip, tastefully ornamented at bottom with a flounce of broad blond lace, and a light roll of white satin, surmounted by a wreath of lilies composed of plain blond, and a second roll of satin. The stalks of the lilies are formed of white silk cord, and a row of the same, disposed in waves, is placed above the roll of satin. Nothing can be more beautiful than this trimming. 

The gown, composed of spotted British net, is an open robe, with a short train, which meets in front, but slopes gradually off towards the bottom, so as to display the trimming of the slip. The robe is ornamented with a flounce of blond lace to correspond with the slip, and a wreath of intermingled lilies and roses. 

We refer our readers to our print for the body of the dress, which is tasteful and very novel. The sleeve is short and very full; a single flounce of blond is so disposed as to form an uncommonly pretty half-sleeve. 

The hair is brought up in a high tuft behind, and the front hair combed back on each side so as to display the forehead; a part of it is disposed in loose ringlets, which fall carelessly over the ears, which they partly shade. The hair is ornamented by a single lily, placed in a  bunch of fern. 

Necklace, ear-rings, bracelets, and armlets of ruby intermixed with pearl. 

White kid gloves, and white satin slippers. Plain small ivory fan.—We have been favoured by a correspondent in Paris with a model of this dress, which has just been made for the Duchess de Berri. 

This is one of those gowns that make me adore the Regency.  What about you?

Coming soon from Ann Lethbridge

An Innocent Maid for the Duke

"A petite woman in a glittering red mask was singing to herself, her scarlet gown swirling around her shapely ankles as she twirled in front of the mirrors, each one giving a different reflection of a gown moulded to every curve of a sinuously lush body moving in time to her humming. The smile on her parted lips was not the forced smile of a courtesan, nor that of a jaded widow, or yet the hopeful smile of a debutante anxious to please a duke. This smile was pure delight. Enjoyment.
Her joy at the simple act of dancing spilled over with an infectious feeling of lightness that unaccountably lifted his spirits. He found his own lips curving upwards in response. Even more surprising, he found himself wanting to be the one to waltz her around the room."

copyright Michele Ann Young