The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify
Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness
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ca. 1835
The Met says: The 1830s silhouette was created by a corseted, raised waistline; here a bell-shaped skirt reveals the lower ankle. By the late 1830s, the gigot sleeve was collapsing at the sleeve cap, but in this case, its detachable pelerine, or capelet, sustained the broad triangulated shoulder line of the period. The similarities between men’s and women’s fashion extended to footwear: women could wear flat slippers or tiny booties not so different from the boots and walking shoes of men.
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MAG says: “This dress was worn by Sarah Coke, who lived at Brookhill Hall, Pinxton, Derbyshire, at a fancydress ball in Nottingham in 1826. It was Sarah’s “coming out” ball, her first social event as an adult, and the dress was supposed to represent the fashion of Charles II’s time, and she wore her hair in ringlets, adorned with white ostrich feathers. However, the puffed sleeves, the flat collar and the stomacher effect of the bodice front actually suggest the fashions of Charles I rather than Charles II.
Fancy balls became extremely popular in the 1820s, the fashion spreading from court and high society balls given in London, Paris and Brussels, to private family balls, and then to large municipal balls organised by committees to raise money for charity, like this Nottingham ball. Preston held a ball as early as 1822, Liverpool in 1827 and Manchester in 1828. A “fancy dress” often represented a historical figure such as Mary, Queen of Scots or Queen Elizabeth I, a character from fiction such as a Shakespeare play or a Scott novel, or simply mainstream fashionable evening dress with a few “fancy” trimmings, such as feathers, furs and oriental scarves.”
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Wedding Dress, 1828, made in Paris, worn in England.
The V&A says: “Ballgown, cream silk crepe embroidered with silver strip, large short puffed sleeves and pelerine. Co-ordinating garters of white silk, embroidered with silver, and white silk slippers embroidered in cream.
Acquired with a deep bertha collar of silk blond lace which has now been removed as it was a later addition.”
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I modeled this costume for a second year last year. It’s hard to believe that this year I’ll have my own model wearing my costume on the stage!! Time flies so fast!
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I am not a fan of this period’s costumes but even I have to look past that at the way this was painted. Look at how realistic her pashmina looks!
Empress Maria Anna of Austria
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Romantic turbans ftw.
I have reason to believe that by the end of my Regency project I will never be able to look at a turban the same way again. They may look good in a portrait but on ones head it’s a different story entirely.
Karl Briullov
