La Belle Assemblée, September 1818.
“Dinner Dress.”
Even though the figure is seated, the print clearly shows recent trends in fashion, including the fuller skirt, which would have had a bell shape when standing, the deep, heavily ornamented flounce, and the long sleeves made much fuller that even 3 years earlier.
The cornette, a cap with a soft, rounded crown, tied under the chin, was once only worn with day wear, alone with indoor morning dresses, or underneath a bonnet with walking dresses. But during the later years of this decade, we begin to see cornettes, with a bit more fullness in the crown, worn with evening half dress
The print is described in the magazine as follows:
“Round dress of fine Bengal muslin, with a superbly embroidered border; the border surmounted by two flounces richly embroidered at the edges, and headed by muslin bouilloné [shirred muslin] ]run through with Clarence blue satin: Meinengen corsage [German bodice] of the same colour, with small pelerine cape, elegantly finished with narrow rouleaux of white satin and fine lace. Parisian cornette of blond, with a very full and spreading branch of full-blown roses placed in front.”
