Fashion Prints: Ackermann's Repository

By Susana Ellis Author

Ackermann’s Repository of Arts was an illustrated British periodical published from 1809-1828 by Rudolph Ackermann. The formal title of the journal was Repository of arts, literature, commerce, manufactures, fashions, and politics, and it did cover all of these fields. In its day, it had great influence on English taste in fashion, ar

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susana Ellis Author
• Release date: Jun 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781945503085

Book preview

Regency Fashion

One thing that became glaringly obvious to me as I went through all twenty years of fashion descriptions is that there is no clear delineation between categories of dress. A carriage dress can also be called a walking dress or promenade dress. In fact, sometimes the title on the print is Walking Dress while the description is titled Carriage Dress or Promenade Dress. The same is true of evening dresses and full-dresses, which leads me to conclude that an evening dress can be made a full-dress with the addition of lavish accoutrements, such as evening gloves, elaborate head-dress, jewelry, fan, reticule, feathers, boas, shawls, and scarves. Morning dresses are nearly always gowns to be worn at home, although I have seen prints labeled Morning Carriage Dress. Frankly, it seems to me that a morning dress can become a promenade/walking dress with the addition of a pelisse or mantle and bonnet. And if you get into a carriage, it's a carriage dress. Simple!

Undressed refers to gowns worn during the day, whether in the home or outside of it. Half-Dress refers to daytime wear that might also be worn for informal evening affairs, such as dinner parties or opera excursions. Afternoon Dress is similar, rather like glorified morning dresses.

Evening and ball dresses generally have lower necklines, are made of more exclusive materials and embellishments.

It truly boggles the mind to consider how costly it would be to launch a young lady into London society, as she would require a wide variety of gowns of all types, as well as shoes, boots, half-boots, gloves, stockings, undergarments, bonnets, shawls, muffs, parasols, fans, dominos, spencers, cloaks, pelisses, reticules, jewelry, ribbons, handkerchiefs, perfumes, creams, powders, etc. And that doesn't include pocket money, dancing and music lessons, theater and lending library subscriptions, ices at Gunter’s, and whatever other incidentals enter into the picture.

Susana Ellis

Regency and Georgian Era Colors

Colors from Sarah Waldock’s Colors Used in the Regency and Georgian Eras.

https://sarahs-history-place.blogspot.com/2011/09/colours-used-in-regency-and-georgian.html

January 1809 walking dress

Walking Dress

January 1809

Evening Full Dress January 1809

Evening Full-Dress

January 1809

Dancing Dress Feb 1809

Dancing Dress

February 1809

Half-Dress February 1809

Half-Dress

February 1809

Opera Dress March 1809