Regency Fashion: Parisian Fashions and Princess of Wales Court Dress

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LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE FASHIONS For JULY 1807 EXPLANATION OF THE PRINTS OF FASHION ENGLISH COSTUME No 1 HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS OF WALES IN HER COURT DRESS AS WORN ON THE BIRTH DAY THIS dress for taste and magnificence stood unrivalled amidst the splendour and elegance displayed on the Birth Day of our justly revered Sovereign and we consider ourselves fortunate in having it in our power to procure a represen tation of it for our fair correspondents The body and ground of the drapery was formed of a rich silver and lilac tissue with a most superb border composed of emeralds topazes and amethysts to represent the vine leaf and grapes The train and petticoat of silver tissue bordered all round like the drapery and each terminated with a most brilliant silver fringe of a strikingly novel formation Rich silver laurel and arrow on the left side to loop up the train Head dress of diamonds and amethysts tastefully disposed with high plume of ostrich feathers Neck dress the winged ruff à la Mary Queen of Scots sleeve ornaments to correspond Amethyst necklace and earrings with Maltese cross dia mond armlets and bracelets White satin shoes with rich silver rosettes French kid gloves above the elbow Fan of Imperial crape studded with amethysts and topazes No 2 PARISIAN FASHIONS TAKEN FROM A GROUP OF CONVERSATION FIGURES AT THE FRESCATI IN PARIS LADIES DRESS A white Italian crape robe over a white satin slip ornamented round the bottom and drapery with a border of shells painted to nature Plain scolloped bosom cut No XVIII Vol II very low and made to sit close to the form Waved sleeves easily full formed of alternate stripes of crape and pink satin Hair bound in smooth bands confined on the forehead and ornamented behind with wreaths of wild roses Earrings and necklace of pearls Shoes pink satin trimmed with silver White kid gloves rucked GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE FASHIONS FOR THE SEASON With a complete List of Ladies in their Court Dresses as worn on the Birth Day As there is little alteration in the general style of personal decoration since our last com munication and as our elegant and extensive collection of Court Dresses will occupy much space and we doubt not prove highly acceptable to our readers we shall simply notice a few par ticular articles which strike us as most novel and graceful and hasten to give our delineations of Court splendour The most distinguishable style of hat is a com plete gipsy with the lowest possible crown and some of our elegant females wear an entire round flat clip tied across the crown with a coloured patent net handkerchief embroidered in a border of natural flowers The small French bonnet and cottage poke are also in general request The former are composed of coloured figured sarsnet the latter of muslin or leno lined with coloured Persian and each are usually worn with UU
the promenade tippet of the same materials For a morning the fugitive coat of cambric or muslin with a deep collar pointed in front and finished with the acorn tassel is considered simple and elegant With these last mentioned articles the gipsy hat of satin straw with the magic or bee hive crown is most appropriate and becom ing but no flowers can be consistently admitted in the morning costume The round French robe the Algerine vest and the mantle wrap are each amidst the last offerings of taste and fashion and are formed of undrest crape Angola silk or muslin Dresses and robes are often seen in plain coloured muslins ornamented with Van dyke lace and with them is worn the Anne Bullen cap which is considered the most novel and simple article of the kind that has been in troduced for a length of time The head dress continues in the antique and Grecian style and the hair is parted on the forehead à la Cleopatra or Madona The backs of dresses are a little ad vanced in fashionable circles since our last in formation and the bosom is usually made to sit close to the form In full dress the sleeve is shorter than ever but in the morning and fre quently in the evening dress the long sleeve is adopted universally Walking dresses are now made rather longer than we have witnessed for some time so that in walking they just offer a graceful occupation for the hand Trains again form a part of the evening costume except for dancing when they are invariably made short and formed in the Arcadian style Vandyke and shell scollop trimmings in lace or work or nament almost every article of fashionable attire and pointed drapery tastefully disposed has en tirely exploded almost every other The Flemish spensers with flowing scarfs are now become too general to find a place amidst a fashionable selection The spenser is however so conve nient and generally becoming an article that we still continue our recommendation of it to those females who wish to adopt the intermediate style Scarfs are less seen this summer than we ever re member them but the Etruscan mantle and the order of the gipsy and Spanish cloak are still conspicuous amidst the gay and fashionable throng Flowers in full dress are at this time the prevailing ornaments both as decorations for the head and trimmings for robes Wreaths of the oak leaf of the hop blossom wild roses honey suckle pea blossom horse chesnut rock lily & c & c will be found distinguishable orna ments on the Birth day The following correct list of Court Dresses will at once exhibit the standard for full dress as well as the most prevailing colours for the season We give them en train

Plates and descriptions appeared in the July 1807 issue of La Belle Assemblée.

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