Early Victorian Era Fashion Chit Chat - July 1852 Le Moniteur de la Mode

Early Victorian Era Fashion Chit Chat - July 1852 Le Moniteur de la Mode

Fashions

I have now to treat of toilets for the country and watering-places. These last are far more elegant and splendid than those for the country.

They are divided into morning costumes for attending the springs, walking costumes, full dress costumes for dinners, and ball costumes.

For travelling, the dress must be of a somewhat severe style, but not deficient in either gracefulness or character. The foulard dress of a dark colour, with branches of foliage and large bouquets of flowers, is one of the most appropriate. The same may be said of valencia and poplin de laine, either with Albanese stripes on a plain ground, or a large plaid pattern. A travelling dress should be made like a morning gown, but not exactly; for strings are put in underneath, both before and behind, for the purpose of drawing it, so as to form a pretty plaited body when they are pulled tight. Over the gathers either a ribbon or a band with a buckle must be added. The body may be either low or high, with a small collar having two rows of cambric plaited very fine, or with a jaconet collar having open plaits, or again with a Charles V collar, made of frieze well starched and lustred. The under-sleeves should be always in harmony with the collar. For travelling the outer garment is either a mante, full and fluted in the style of the Marion Delorme, which we described some time back, or a French cashmere, in the Turkish style, that is to say, with oriental stripes.

The bonnet is made half of straw, half of taffeta. The brim is straw veined with black or mixed with aloes, and the crown has a soft top or ruffled taffeta, with a bow of ribbon. On this bonnet capote, it is indispensable to put a Cambrai lace veil, that lace being at once substantial, light, and rich in pattern.

As to the feet they are provided with boots of bronze leather, very thin, and having low heels and button-holes in vandykes.

The gloves are Swedish leather, dark colour, as for instance Russia leather, iron grey, maroon, or olive.

The travelling corset, called the nonchalante, by Mme Clemancon, is an article every way worthy of the name. From its extreme elasticity and clever combination it yields to every motion of the body, and supports it without the least compression or inconvenience. This corset is therefore extremely agreeable for travellers.

The morning dress for attending the springs is very different from the above, being at once more stylish and elegant. It is a taffeta dress a disposition with small flowers and stripes, but without flounces: or a dress of pink-leaf green taffeta, with bands of Watteau flowers, or else French blue taffeta besprinkled with little Pompadour bouquets. The foulard, and light coloured valencias, the fashionable grey, gridelin, Isly green, Sevres blue, gris bege, are also very pretty articles for dresses of this kind. The costume is completed by a hooded mante of Cambrai lace. This mante must sit high and be cut in a round shape. Mme Charvet always borders these morning mantes with a broad black velvet or a ribbon plaited a la vieille. The straw bonnet may be of the fancy kind. Mme Melanie Brun makes some of this kind of bonnets of very great distinction. For instance, a bonnet half insertions of Tuscan straw, and half frills of narrow skyblue ribbon, with black stripes. On each side of the crown are tufts of blue ribbon, and falls of black velvet, and inside the brim are blue roses and black velvet.

There is also another very simple bonnet, formed of bands of straw mixed with aloes, separated by large bouillonnes of violet velvet. The crown is of plaited violet taffeta, with a bow having short ends, and under the brim is a wreath of mixed violets.