Dress up....

Every year for the last couple of years I have made my own Halloween costume. Two years ago I was Snow White, then last year I was an Elf of Mirkwood from the Lord of the Rings. This year I left it up to my followers on Facebook. ( https://www.facebook.com/LostTraditions ) I gave them a choice between 1810-1820 or 1940s. They are two very distinctive years in fashion with very distinctive looks. Their choice was… drum roll please… 1810-1820 also called the regency era (1800-1820).

Dress ca. 1810-1815 United States Cotton, cotton thread, appliqued, embroidered. Found at the Mint Museum

So let us look at this era.

 ~         War of 1812 between the United States and England from 1812 to 1814. Though the last battle takes place in 1815.

~          Napoleon invades Russia in 1812

~          August 24, 1814 The British burn down the U.S. Capital, A Rain storm helps put it out

~          September 14, 1814 Francis Scott Key writes the Star Spangled banner

~          April 5-12, 1815 The volcano at Mt. Tambora in Indonesia erupts causing a cold winter.

~          June 18, 1815 Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo

~          July 14, 1817 Construction begins on the Erie Canal

~          Jane Austen writes notable work

Evening dress ca. 1812 From the Museum at FIT via Fripperies and Fobs.

So that is what his happening at the world so what things are housewives are doing. Well in that regard things aren’t much different from the following and past centuries. They are cooking, baking, sewing, knitting, embroidery, studying music and so much more. Of course what they are doing is totally dependent on their station. Jane Austen's own books helps give us insight as to what women were doing.

French muslin dress embroidered with metallic thread. Detail of embroidery. c1810 Met Museum

What are they wearing? Long muslin gowns often with a thing muslin overlay with fine embroidery. Abigail Adams wrote to her sister in regards to the new fashion “I could not but lament that the uncovered bosom should display, what ought to have been veiled… I wished that more had been left to the imagination and less to the Eye.”[1] Made of wool, linen but mostly made from thin cotton they were very different from the late 1700s and while other centuries had more of a gradual change, this Grecian inspired style made waves with plain skirts bordered with ruffles, flounces, puffs, pleats and embroidery.

1810ish Regency gown of tamboured India muslin, Victoria and Albert Museum

So as I do some more research a few things I am going to be looking at in regards to this era undergarments. I will need to make a shift, a Stays (corset) with a style that helped to make the “bosom” a little more eye raising. If I have time and am brave enough I may even see about knitting socks and making pantaloons. While the shift will be made of cotton muslin, the corset will be made with canvas. I will also be stepping away from the period appropriate baleen from a whale for modern steel boning. The main garment will be either of cotton with a fine satin silk overlay (or closely resembling as much as my budget will allow) or wool. On that regard I haven’t decided but hey I have two months… right? Shoes and hat, will be another thing I will need to address as I research the era.

Progress of the Toilet: the Stays, etched by James Gillray (1757-1815) published by Hannah Humphrey in 1810 (etching). These stays are greatly exaggerated most I have seen end just under the breast like today's or to just above the hips like many that are seen in prior eras. 

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[1] The DAR Museum, Martha Pullen’s Favorite Places Series. The Martha Pullen Company; Alabama, 2009. P. 70