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Transcriber's Notes:
For the text version, the capitalization on the title page was
adjusted to attempt to preserve relative importance of the text on
the page. Chapter descriptions in the Table of Contents were changed
from all caps to Title Case. Small caps elsewhere were converted to
all caps. Gesperrt (spaced out lettering), used in various places in
the front matter, and for chapter numbers, was not retained.
Words in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
Punctuation varies widely and was kept as printed; most other
inconsistencies were kept as printed. Inconsistencies in spelling
retained, along with the few corrections made, are listed at the end
of this text.
The original plates do not have captions. To make it easier for the
reader to check the text against the description of the figures, the
contents of each "List of Illustrations" entry has been copied into
the illustration tag for the corresponding plate. Except for the
frontispiece (Pl. 1), the captions for the plates have been moved
from the original mid-paragraph placement to between paragraphs.
[Illustration: Pl. 1.
Figure 1. Head-dress of Lady Ardene.
2. A kind of hat.
3. Steeple head-dress.
4, 6. Head-dresses of Lady Rolestone.
5. Heart-shaped head-dresses.
7, 8. Head-dresses of the time of Henry VIII.
9, 11. Hats of the time of George II.
10. Nithsdale hood.
12. Hat of the time of William III.
13, 14. Hats of the time of Charles I.
15, 16, 17. Head-dresses of 1798.
18. Head-dress of 1700.
19. Head-dress of the time of Henry VI.
20. Combination of figs. 7, 8.
21, 22. Hats for ladies in 1786.
23. Style of 1785.
24, 25, 26. Style of 1782.
]
DRESS
AS A FINE ART.
WITH SUGGESTIONS ON CHILDREN'S DRESS.
By MRS. MERRIFIELD.
With an Introduction on
HEAD DRESS.
By Prof. Fairholt.
BOSTON:
JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY.
CLEVELAND, OHIO:
JEWETT, PROCTOR, AND WORTHINGTON.
1854.
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by
JOHN P. JEWETT & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the
District of Massachusetts
PRESS OF GEO. C. RAND,
WOOD CUT AND BOOK PRINTER,
CORNHILL, BOSTON.
STEREOTYPED AT THE
BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.
PREFACE.
The fact that we derive our styles of dress from the same source as
the English, and that the work of Mrs. Merrifield has been circulated
among the forty thousand subscribers of the "London Art Journal,"
might perhaps be deemed sufficient apology for offering it in its
present form to the American public. It has received the unqualified
approbation of the best publications in this country;--entire chapters
having been copied into the periodicals of the day; this added to the
above, and also to the high standing of the author, has induced the
publishers to offer it to the great reading public of this country.
The chapter on Head-dresses, which commences the book, is of much
interest in itself, and affords an explanation of many of the
descriptions in the body of the work.
The closing chapter, on Children's Dress, by Mrs. Merrifield, will be
deemed of more value by most persons than the cost of the entire work.
A few verbal alterations only have been made in the original;--the
good sense of every reader will enable him to understand the local
allusions, and where they belong to England alone, to make the
application.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
Description of Head-Dresses, 1
CHAPTER II.
Dress, as a Fine Art, 10
CHAPTER III.
The Head, 53
CHAPTER IV.
The Dress, 61
CHAPTER V.
The Feet, 73
CHAPTER VI.
Remarks on Particular Costumes, 84
CHAPTER VII.
Ornament--Economy, 95
CHAPTER VIII.
Some Thoughts on Children's Dress.--By Mrs. Merrifield, 121
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PLATE I.
Figure 1. Head-dress of Lady Ardene.
2. A kind of hat.
3. Steeple head-dress.
4, 6. Head-dresses of Lady Rolestone.
5. Heart-shaped head-dresses.
7, 8. Head-dresses of the time of Henry VIII.
9, 11. Hats of the time of George II.
10. Nithsdale hood.
12. Hat of the time of William III.
13, 14. Hats of the time of Charles I.
15, 16, 17. Head-dresses of 1798.
18. Head-dress of 1700.
19. Head-dress of the time of Henry VI.
20. Combination of figs. 7, 8.
21, 22. Hats for ladies in 1786.
23. Style of 1785.
24, 25, 26. Style of 1782.
PLATE II.
Figure 27. Style of 1782.
28, 30. Head-dress of 1790.
29. Head-dress of the French peasantry.
31. Fashion of 1791.
32, 33. Fashion of 1789.
36. Head-dress of the commencement of the present century.
35. English housemaid.
37. Gigot sleeves, with cloak worn over.
38. From a picture in the Louvre.
PLATE III.
Figure 39. Dress, with short waist and sleeves.
41. Dress of the mother of Henry IV.
40. Dress of Henrietta Maria.
42. From the "Illustrated London News."
PLATE IV.
Figures 43, 44. From the plates of Sommaering, shows the waist of the
Venus of antiquity.
45, 46. The waist of a modern lady, from the above.
49. From the "London News."
50. Woman of Mitylene.
53. Algerine woman.
54. The archon's wife.
PLATE V.
Figure 47. Athenian peasant.
48. Shepherdess of Arcadia.
51. Athenian woman.
52. French costume of the tenth century.
62. Lady of the time of Henry V.
PLATE VI.
Figure 55. After Parmegiano.
56. Titian's daughter.
57. Lady Harrington.
59. Roman peasant.
61. Gigot sleeves.
PLATE VII.
Figure 63. From Bonnard's Costumes.
64. Sancta Victoria.
65. Anne, Countess of Chesterfield, from Vandyck.
67. Woman of Markinitza.
PLATE VIII.
Figure 60. Lady Lucy Percy, from Vandyck.
69, 70. By Jules David, in "Le Moniteur de la Mode."
68. The hoop, after Hogarth.
PLATE IX.
Figure 66. From Rubens's "Descent from the Cross."
71. From a drawing by Gainsborough.
72. Woman of Myconia.
74. Queen Anne.
PLATE X.
Figure 73. Charlotte de la Tremouille.
75. After Gainsborough.
76. After Gainsborough.
77. Costume of Mrs. Bloomer.
PLATE XI.
Figure 78. From the embroidery on fig. 47, pl. 5.
79. From the sleeve of the same dress, above.
80. From the sleeve of the pelisse.
81. The pattern embroidered from the waist to the skirt
of the dress, fig. 51, pl. 5.
82. The border of the shawl, fig. 51.
83. Sleeve of the same, figure 51.
84. Design on the apron, fig. 48, pl. 5.
85. From the border of the same dress, fig. 48.
PLATE XII.
Figure 86. Pattern round the hem of the long under dress,
fig. 51, pl. 5.
87, 88. Borders of shawls.
89. Infant's dress, exhibited at the World's Fair in
London.
90, 91. From "Le Moniteur de la Mode," by Jules David and
Reville, published at Paris, London, New York,
and St. Petersburg.
CHAPTER I.
DESCRIPTION OF HEAD-DRESSES.
Fig. 1 is a front view of a head-dress of Lady Arderne, (who died
about the middle of the fifteenth century.) The caul of the head-dress
is richly embroidered, the veil above being supported by wires, in the
shape of a heart, with double lappets behind the head, which are
sometimes transparent, as if made of gauze.
Such gauze veils, or rather coverings for the head-dress, are
frequently seen in the miniatures of MSS. Figs. 2, 3, are here
selected from the royal MS. In Fig. 3, the steeple head-dress of the
lady is entirely covered by a thin veil of gauze, which hangs from its
summit, and projects over her face. Fig. 2 has a sort of hat, widening
from its base, and made of cloth of gold, richly set with stones. Such
jewelled head-dresses are represented on the heads of noble ladies,
and are frequently ornamented in the most beautiful manner, with
stones of various tints.
The slab to the memory of John Rolestone, Esq., sometime Lord of
Swarston, and Sicili, his wife, in Swarkstone Church, Derbyshire, who
died in 1482, gives the head-dress of the said Sicili as represented
in Fig. 6. It is a simple cap, radiating in gores over the head,
having a knob in its centre and a close falling veil of cloth affixed
round the back. It seems to have been constructed as much for comfort
as for show: the same remark may be applied to Fig. 4, which certainly
cannot be recommended for its beauty, being a stunted cone, with a
back veil closely fitting about the neck, and very sparingly
ornamented; it was worn by Mary, wife of John Rolestone, who died in
1485. These may both have been plain country ladies, far removed from
London, and little troubled with its fashionable freaks. Fig. 5
represents the fashionable head-dress of the last days of the house of
York. It has been termed the heart-shaped head-dress, from the
appearance it presents when viewed in front, which resembles that of a
heart, and sometimes a crescent. It is made of black silk or velvet,
ornamented with gold studs, and having a jewel over the forehead. It
has a long band or lappet, such as the gentlemen then wore affixed to
their hats. Figs. 7 and 8 represent head-dresses worn in the time of
Henry VIII. These are a sort of cap, which seem to combine coverchief
and hood. Fig. 7 was at this time the extreme of fashion. It is edged
with lace, and ornamented with jewelry, and has altogether a look of
utter unmeaningness and confusion of form. Fig. 8 has a hood easier of
comprehension, but no whit better in point of elegance than her
predecessors; it fits the head closely, having pendent jewels round
the bottom and crossing the brow. Figs. 9 and 11 are hats of a very
simple style, such as were worn during the reign of George II., when
an affected simplicity, or milk-maiden look, was coveted by the
ladies, both high and low. The hood worn by Fig. 10 was a complete
envelope for the head, and was used in riding, or travelling, as well
as in walking in the parks. These were called Nithsdales, because Lady
Nithsdale covered her husband's face with one of them, after dressing
him in her clothes, and thus disguised he escaped from the Tower.
Fig. 12 represents a hat worn during the reign of William III. by a
damsel who was crying, "Fair cherries, at sixpence a pound!" It is of
straw, with a ribbon tied around it in a simple and tasteful manner;
the hat is altogether a light and graceful affair, and its want of
obtrusiveness is perhaps its chief recommendation. Figs. 13 and 14 are
hats such as were worn by citizens and their wives during the reigns
of James and Charles I. Figs. 15, 16, 17, were such head-dresses as
were in vogue in 1798. Fig. 15 was of a deep orange color, with bands
of dark chocolate brown; a bunch of scarlet tufts came over the
forehead, and it was held on the head by a kerchief of white muslin
tied beneath the chin. Fig. 16 is a straw bonnet, the crown decorated
with red perpendicular stripes, the front over the face plain, and a
row of laurel leaves surrounds the head; a lavender-colored tie
secures it under the chin. Bonnets somewhat similar to those now worn
were fashionable two years previous to this; yet a small, low-crowned
hat, like the one in Fig. 17, was as much patronized as any head-dress
had ever been.
Cocked hats, such as is represented in Fig. 18, were worn by the
gentlemen in the last part of the year 1700. Fig. 19 represents one
of the head-dresses worn during the reign of Henry VI. It is a
combination of coverchief and turban. Fig. 20 is a combination of the
head-dress of Fig. 7 with the lappeted hood of Fig. 8. In 1786, a very
large-brimmed hat became fashionable with the ladies, and continued in
vogue for the next two years; an idea of the back view of it is given
in Fig. 21, and a front view in Fig. 22. It was decorated with triple
feathers, and a broad band of ribbon was tied in a bow behind, and
allowed to stream down the back. The elegance of turn which the brim
of such a hat afforded was completely overdone by the enormity of its
proportion; and the shelter it gave the face can now be considered as
the only recommendation of this fashion. The hat worn by Fig. 23 was
the style of 1785. Feathers were then much in favor, and a poet of the
time writes of the ladies,--
"No longer they hunt after ribbons and lace;
_Undertakers_ have got in the milliner's place;
With hands sacrilegious they've plundered the dead,
And transferred the gay plumes from the hearse to the head."
[Illustration: Pl. 2.
Figure 27. Style of 1782.
28, 30. Head-dress of 1790.
29. Head-dress of the French peasantry.
31. Fashion of 1791.
32, 33. Fashion of 1789.
36. Head-dress of the commencement of the present century.
35. English housemaid.
37. Gigot sleeves, with cloak worn over.
38. From a picture in the Louvre.
]
Fig. 24 represents the head-dress worn in 1782. At no period in the
history of the world was any thing more absurd in head-dress than the
one here depicted. The body of this erection was formed of tow, over
which the hair was turned, and false hair added in great curls; bobs
and ties, powdered to profusion, then hung all over with vulgarly
large rows of pearls, or glass beads, fit only to decorate a
chandelier; flowers as obtrusive were stuck about this heap of finery,
which was surmounted by broad silken bands and great ostrich feathers,
until the head-dress of a lady added three feet to her stature, and
"the male sex," to use the words of the "Spectator," "became suddenly
dwarfed beside her." To effect this, much time and trouble were
wasted, and great personal annoyance was suffered. Heads, when
properly dressed, "kept for three weeks," as the barbers quaintly
phrased it; that they would not really "keep" longer, may be seen by
the many receipts they gave for the destruction of insects, which bred
in the flour and pomatum so liberally bestowed upon them. Fig. 25 is
another fashionable outdoor head-dress. Fig. 26 represents one of
the hats invented to cover the head when full dressed. It is as
extravagant as the head-dresses. It is a large but light compound of
gauze, wire, ribbons, and flowers, sloping over the forehead, and
sheltering the head entirely by its immensity. Fig. 27 shows how
immensely globular the head of a lady had become; it swells all around
like a huge pumpkin, and curls of a corresponding size aid in the
caricature which now passed as fashionable taste. As if this were not
load enough for the fair shoulders of the softer sex, it is swathed
with a huge veil or scarf, giving the wearer an exceedingly top-heavy
look. In 1790, the ladies appeared in hats similar to those worn by
the gentlemen in 1792; these are represented in Figs. 28 and 30. They
were gayly decorated with gold strings, and tassels, crossed and
recrossed over the crown. The brims were broad, raised at the sides,
and pointed over the face in a manner not inelegant. Fig. 29 has the
tall, ugly bonnet, copied from the French peasantry; a long gauze
border is attached to the edges, which hangs like a veil around the
face, and partially conceals it. A hat of a very piquant character was
adopted by the ladies in 1791, of which a specimen is given in
Fig. 31. It is decorated with bows, and a large feather nods not
ungracefully over the crown from behind. A person with good face and
figure must have looked becomingly beneath it. Fig. 32 is an example
of the bad taste which still peeped forth. It is one of the most
fashionable head-dresses worn in 1789, and is the back view of a
lady's head, surmounted by a very small cap or hat, puffed round with
ribbon; the hair is arranged in a long, straight bunch down the neck,
where it is tied by a ribbon, and flows in curls beneath; long curls
repose one on each shoulder, while the hair at the sides of the
head is frizzed out on each side in a most fantastic form. The hat of
Fig. 33, shaped like a chimney pot, and decorated with small tufts of
ribbon, and larger bows, which fitted on a lady's head like the cover
on a canister, was viewed with "marvellous favor" by many a fair eye,
in the year 1789. It was sometimes bordered with lace, as in Fig. 29,
thus hiding the entire head, and considerably enhancing its ugliness.