Pockets and Ridicules

This month we welcome guest blogger Althea Mackenzie. Althea is Curator of Costume at Hereford Museum and Curator of the Wade Costume Collection, National Trust. She has a wealth of knowledge about all those sneaky questions that authors and readers have always wanted to ask about what Georgian and Regency people wore and how they wore it. Today, she's blogging about pockets and reticules or -- to use that lovely word of the period -- ridicules.

Over to Althea:

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Our relationship with our bags and the 'essentials' housed within is not dissimilar to the relationship between the 18th century lady and her pocket. The nature of the essentials have changed slightly to include the mobile phone, but Henry Leigh Hunt's description in 1812 has some resonance:

'In one is her handkerchief, and any heavier matter that is not likely to come out with it, such as the change of sixpence. In the other is a miscellaneous assortment, consisting of a pocket-book, a bunch of keys, a needle-case, a spectacle-case, crumbs of biscuit, a nutmeg and grater, a smelling-bottle, and, according to the season, an orange or apple, which after many days she draws out, warm and glossy, to give to some little child that has well behaved itself.'

Frying Sprats with a large pocket

In a period when opportunity for privacy and security of personal property was limited, the pocket was an ideal solution, sitting as it did close to the body under the petticoat and the gown and only accessible through the pocket slits.  However, pockets were not totally secure as was shown by the number of convictions for crime associated with pockets - pockets being targeted by pickpockets or used for transporting stolen goods.

The radical change in fashion that took place at the end of the 18^th century/early 19^th century has often been associated with the emergence of the reticule. 

Boilly Checkers 1803

Such a revealing silhouette based on classical simplicity with high waistlines and skirts that fell close to the body and legs didn’t lend itself to a bulging pocket and yet so many of the dresses still have pocket slits. In 1809 in ‘Celia in Search of a Husband’ the young girl is asked ‘What is Fashion?  To which the reply is ‘fashion is not to wear pockets’.

A splendid reticule in a 1790s print

The speed to which women could have access to changes in fashion had been revolutionized with the growth of the printed word.  Access to materials was equally revolutionized, as was the emergence of a wage-based population who could shop. Gradually in museum collections we see the representation of a wider slice of society, not just the very high end of fashion but a combination of radical followers of fashion and the more conservative, such as those advised by Theresa Tidy in ‘Eighteen Maxims of Neatness and Order’ who wrote in 1819:

'Never sally forth from your own room in the morning without that old-fashioned article of dress - a pocket. Discard forever that modern invention called a ridicule.'

It looks as if dresses were made with pocket slits regardless of whether the individual continued to wear pockets or carried the new-fangled reticule, or indispensable, for those essential items.

A beautifully embroidered pocket

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Thank you, Althea. Fascinating stuff. I expect you'll get lots of comments and questions from our blog visitors.

Joanna 

Costume Up Close and Personal

I was lucky enough to be invited to the preview of Hereford Museum's new Exhibition: Shades of White: the changing shape of women. I brought back a vast number of pictures and I'm indulging myself a bit here.  Be warned.  This post will be long!

Nancy Hills, Head of Theatre Costume Design, Caine College, Utah State University has led the project which recreates real costumes from the Hereford and Berrington Hall collections (with the assistance of their costume curator, Althea Mackenzie) All the replicas are in shades of white so that the intricacies of cut and construction can be seen; the workmanship is fantastic.  What's more, visitors can be up close and personal with the replica costumes. It's like being in a sweet shop. Wonderful.

1750 riding habit

The costumes in the exhibition range from 1750 to World War II but there's more than enough early ones to suit fans of Georgian and Regency historicals. There's a replica of this 1750 pink riding habit, for example.

1780 polonaise front

1780 polonaise back

I loved the 1780 polonaise, partly because I used a similar gown for my heroine to wear at the masked ball in His Cavalry Lady and I based it on the very same gown that is now shown as a white replica in this exhibition.

The polonaise is so clever. The elegant ruching is achieved by simple ties underneath and the height can be adjusted to suit the occasion.

1780 caraco replica worn by model

The caraco is a fascinating gown, Lots of gathering in ways that can be altered easily, such as when the wearer is pregnant. You can see some of the detail on the close-up of the back, below. Then just look at the complexity of the pattern cutting. And all to be sewn by hand, as well.

1780 caraco replica, back

1780 caraco pattern pieces

1815 replica

The Regency gowns are much simpler, as we know. On the left is the replica, in white, of a simple gown made of border-print cotton, dating from 1815. When you see it in plain white, there really isn't much to it at all. And the pattern, by contrast with the caraco, looks pretty straightforward.


On the right is a picture of the original, border print cotton of the gown. It must have been a challenge to determine how much cloth to buy. Easy to work out how wide the bottom hem was, but how much do you allow for bodice and sleeves?

Still, the pattern was simple, as you can see below.

1815 border print dress pattern

Things got more complicated later, of course.  While not strictly Regency, I'm including a gown from 1825.  It's a day dress made from cotton gauze and with beautifully ornate sleeves.  When you're up close with the replica, it's easy to see just how much work went into fashioning something like this. And then you look at the picture of the original and see how stunning it was (and is).

1825 day dress replica, sleeve detail

1825 day dress original

Finally, and absolutely not our period at all, I couldn't resist including a few pictures to show the military influences on costume that continued throughout the century.  The last one reminds me very much of the dress uniform worn by the Russian cavalry officers in His Cavalry Lady, complete with fur-edged pelisse over left shoulder. So, even though it's almost a century too late, I have to include it.

1850 day dress replica, military detail

1860 cream silk original with purple military detail

1898 wool and fur suit replica, military detail

Do visit this exhibition if you have a chance.  It's fantastic!  Details below.

 Shades of White: the changing shape of women opens on Valentine's Day and runs until 25 April,  Opening hours 11.00 -- 16.00, Wednesday to Saturday.  Admission Free!

REGENCY EVENING GOWNS : THE REAL THING

In my last blog, I showed you some modern replica costumes from Jane Austen adaptations. This time, I thought you might like to see the real thing, from the Hereford Museum collection. They’re not displayed on mannequins, sadly, because Hereford can’t afford that kind of display, but the curator is very happy to show them to visitors (by appointment).

I said before that I thought Regency ladies would have become bored with white and pale colours. Have a look at this one, where the colours are still blazing, even after nearly 200 years. Not boring in the least!

The interesting thing about this gown, apart from the colour, is its sleeves. In this photo, you can see that it has plain long sleeves. However, they were only an optional extra which could be tacked in when the occasion required. The real gown has the most beautifully fashioned puff sleeves, seen in the picture below. In this close-up, you can also see the fineness of the material, and the vibrant colours it contains. Note also the acid yellow trimming. It might be a little too bright for modern tastes, but it was meant to be seen by candlelight, when it would have appeared more subdued.

My second gown for this blog is one of the saddest items in the collection. It would have been a fabulous ball gown, made of the finest white satin overlaid with a net decorated with silver.

The gown is in a very poor state, as you can see from this photo of part of the bodice, but you may be able to judge just how magnificent it once was. Now, most of it has rotted away.

The saddest part of all is the skirt and what would have been its sumptuous silver ornamentation. The fabric is completely gone. All that’s left is this little pile of silver. Heart-breaking, isn’t it?

Joanna

www.joannamaitland.com