Fashion Plate, Walking & Evening Dresses, 1818

This fashion plate is dated July 1818 and depicts two women wearing fashionable garments of the time. The woman on the left, sitting down, is wearing an evening gown with elbow-length gloves and necklaces. Her hair is covered with a draped hat, with small curls peeking out of the sides. The woman standing on the right displays a long gown with a green spencer, which was a jacket worn over a dress. At her neck is a ruff. She holds a parasol, which was used to block the sun. Her hair is covered by a larger head covering known as a calash. 

The 1820s saw an influx of decorated fabrics as worn by the two women in the fashion plate. Both women have embellishments on the bottom of their dresses, which was quite fashionable at the time. The ruff, which was a popular addition to the neckwear of garments in the sixteenth century, saw a revival towards the end of the 1810s. The women are also showing off gowns in a tubular silhouette which was a much more relaxed and natural silhouette compared to the many extremisms in dress previously seen, such as that of the farthingale and the mantua of the late seventeenth century.

This fashion plate was published by Dean & Munday, an English publisher remembered as a publisher of children’s books. Fashion plates like this one created an aspirational image for ordinary women who wanted to be fashionable.

References

“Dean and Munday.” Wikidata,
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24203920.

Ingham, Erika. “Fashion Plates Introduction.” National Portrait Gallery, https://www.npg.org.uk/research/fashionplates/fashion-plates-introduction.

Heideloff, Nicolaus. “Gallery of Fashion, vol. V: April 1, 1798 - March 1, 1799.” Metmuseum.org, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/837926.

“Regency Era Evening Dress.” Regency Fashions for Ladies, Vintage Victorian, http://www.vintagevictorian.com/costume_1810.html. 2014.Dean & Munday