Fashion Plate, November 1812
Subject
Title
Date
Description
Published for the proprietors, Novr. 1
By the early nineteenth century, fashion plates were a popular medium to display the “artistic, historical, moral, and aesthetic feeling of their time” (Ginsberg 2005, p. 66). They also kept women up to date on current fashions.
This plate illustrates morning dress, designed to be worn from early morning until around noon, depending on a woman’s social commitments for the day. Women were to be covered from the throat down, gradually showing more skin as the day wore on. The ensemble consists of a high-waisted white dress, possibly India muslin, worn under a yellow pelisse with Brandenburg closures. The coat features a white collar and Van Dyke trim at the hem and sleeve cuffs. The matching turban-like bonnet is trimmed with white feathers.
References
Ginsberg, Madeleine. “Fashion Plates.” In Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, vol. 2. Edited by Valerie Steele (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005): pp. 65-67.
The Mirror of the Graces, or the English Lady’s Costume. London: B. Crosby and Co., 1811. Available at: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/DLDecArts.MirrorGraces