La Belle Assemblée, July 1816.
“British Walking Dress.”
This magazine, which typically included lengthy and very detailed descriptions of the fashions shown in their prints, began in 1816 to shorten these descriptions. It is very frustrating not to have more detail on this spencer, for example, or the lappets flowing down from the bonnet. Perhaps the magazine’s editors thought the fashion section had become too long, but I suspect his readers missed all the detail of previous years.
It is also possible that Mrs. Bell, who played the role we would call fashion editor, had become too busy with her own business as a modiste to spend as much time writing copy for La Belle Assemblée, and passed along the descriptions of the prints to an underling.
The print is described in the magazine as follows:
“Round dress of fine French cambric; newly invented spenser of white satin and spring green; cornette of fine lace under a white satin hat, surmounted with three superb ostrich feathers of a correspondent colour to the spenser. Parasol of blush color, with boots of green kid, and Limerick gloves.”
In the General Observations on Fashion and Dress, we find the following statement:
“For the promenade we refer our readers to the Print, which represents the most elegant dress for the morning museums or public walks.”
