La Belle Assemblée, September 1813.
“Morning Dress”
This is clearly belongs to the category of Outdoor Morning Dress, or Morning Walking Dress. It is interesting how much of the description is devoted to the dress beneath the pelisse, of which we can only see the hem. Perhaps these are instructions to the dressmaker as to the style of dress appropriate to be worn with this pelisse.
The description also says that the gloves, shoes, and parasol correspond in color with the pelisse. Yet the hand-colorist has made the gloves a bright yellow, adding a pop of color to this otherwise almost monochrome print. Every copy of this print I have see has bright yellow gloves, so it was not just a whim of this colorist.
The print is described in the magazine as follows:
“High dress of jaconet muslin, made up to the throat, and laced behind in the slip style; waist nearly the same length as the preceding month; the bosom is cut on each side in three gores, in which a rich footing is let in; the middle gore is nearly half a quarter in length, the side ones are something shorter; they form the shape of the bosom, and have a pretty and novel effect. Long sleeve let in all the way down with a narrow letting-in lace at regular distances of rather better than a nail across the arm; the muslin between each letting-in is full; the edge of the sleeve, as also the throat of the dress, is finished with a narrow lace set on plain; the skirt is gored, and wider at the bottom than they have been worn; it is trimmed with a narrow flounce to correspond. Over this dress our fair pedestrians wear a pelisse of the palest faun-colour sarsnet, the texture of which is remarkably slight yet glossy; in the front of this pelisse there is nothing novel, but the trimming, which is composed of crape, is extremely tasteful and quite new; it is a crape rosette slightly spotted with floss silk, and the heart of the rosette is a very small floss silk button of the most elegant workmanship: this trimming goes entirely round the pelisse, which is, very appropriate to the season, made without a collar. Small cottage cap of faun-colour crape to correspond, trimmed and tied under then chin with faun-colour ribband; this bonnet is worn very much off the face to display a rich lace cap. Gloves, shoes, and parasol to correspond, the latter trimmed with white lace.”
