Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, February 1813.
“Morning Dress.”
This print was one of the first I bought years and years ago, and it has always been a favorite, especially as it includes an enormous muff, a Regency accessory I simply adore. I’m not sure why muffs were so big, but all of my prints that include a muff show them as huge. One has to wonder if there were pockets inside to hold things, as there is almost never a reticule shown when there is a muff.
Though the print’s title is “Morning Dress,” the description names it a “Promenade or Morning Costume,” which basically means it is a walking dress that could serve both the more casual morning activities or the fashionable afternoon promenade in Hyde Park. The dress itself is quite simple. It is the velvet cloak and hat, as well as the ermine muff, that takes the ensemble a bit above a typical morning walking dress.
The print is described in the magazine as follows:
“PROMENADE OR MORNING COSTUME. A plain cambric robe, made high in the neck, with plaited fan frill and long sleeves, finished at the bottom with a border of fancy tucks or needlework. A Prussian hussar cloak, of Sardinian blue velvet or superfine cloth; lined and edged with pink satin, and finished at the termination with a variegated ball fringe; large hood or cape, lined and trimmed to correspond; the points finished with rich cone tassels, and confined at the throat with the same. A Moorish turban hat, composed of Sardinian blue velvet and sable fur. A muff of spotted ermine. Blue kid half-boots; and gloves a pale tan color.”
In In the Thrill of the Night, Marianne is described, in Chapter 17, as wearing an ensemble that includes a Prussian hussar cloak of Sardinian blue velvet and matching Moorish turban hat.
