Fashions of London and Paris, December 1801.
“Walking Dress. Dancing Dress.”
In the first few years of this century, black lace and other black trimmings were simply a fashionable color, having nothing to do with mourning.
Trains on dancing dresses would have to be held up by the wearer, or attached to a device suspended from the waist, or looped over the wrist.
The print is described in the magazine as follows:
“WALKING DRESS. Round dress of thick white muslin. The Hungarian cloak made of nacarat, or scarlet silk; trimmed all round with broad black lace or fur. A bonnet of the same colour as the cloak; trimmed with black lace or fur, and ornamented with a flower or feather of the same color.
“A DANCING, OR FULL DRESS. A short robe of fine muslin with a train or petticoat of the same; the robe made plain over the bosom, with additional fronts, to fly open from the shoulders. The whole bound with scarlet ribbon: the sleeves and the robe, from the shoulders to the bottom, are ornamented with scarlet ribbon. The bosom trimmed round with deep white lace. A hat of white silk, turned up in the front, and lined with scarlet; a feather of the same colour fixed in front, to fall over the crown.”
