La Belle Assemblée, February 1816.
“Ball Dress.”
The bodice at this time begins its creep ever upward, creating some of the tiniest bodices to be seen. These very high waistlines will continue for the next 3 years or so, especially in evening wear, until they begin the slow drop to the natural waist in the 1820s.
The description calls this an “Oriental Ball Dress.” I’m not sure what makes it oriental. The only hint of the Orient in the description is of the Ceylon pearl necklace.
The “ivory carved fan” would be like the ones from my collection shown in this article.
The print is described in the magazine as follows:
“ORIENTAL BALL DRESS. Dress of white crape or patent net, over a blush-coloured sarsnet or satin slip, elegantly ornamented round the bottom with a broad trimming of the same material as the dress, interspersed with white satin ribband builloné, and finished at the points in a rich and novel style. Body with short full sleeves of intermingled crape and satin. Head-dress composed of the hair alone, arranged in light curls. Necklace consisting of one row of large Ceylon pearls; ivory carved fan, white slippers of French silk, and white kid gloves.”
