Sunday, August 28, 2011

Regency Era Fashions - Ackermann's Repository 1820

Regency fashions for 1820 began in the normal mode of what was new and some lovely color; however by late January the royal family saw two more deaths to continue the mourning period they had already been experiencing for the previous two years.  

On January 23, 1820 Prince Edward the Duke of Kent (the 4th son of King George III) and then a few days later on January 29, 1820 King George III also passed away.  These additional royal deaths once again impacted fashions as the Royal family was placed back into full-mourning, subsequently causing members of court and most of England to follow in one form or another out of respect.   

Having the nation follow a state of mourning again after spending  part of 1818 and 1819 in it, was having an adverse effect on the trade economy. The new king - King George IV (previously the Prince Regent) had decreed that a shortened period of mourning would be observed, putting and end to the nations state of mourning on April 30, 1820.  Even with this stipulation you will notice that many of the fashions for the first half of 1820 are mourning or half-mourning colors and then fashions seem to resume a more normal trend as the year progressed.  

(For those of you who love historical bits and pieces; I will post the Ackermann's death notices for both the Duke of Kent and King George III at the end of all the pretty fashions.)



One of my all time favorite Ackermann's Repository fashion plates
July 1820 is also the first time a Court Dress is shown as a fashion plate in Ackermann's Repository and I have to say this is one of my all time favorite Ackermann's plates.  Evening and Ball dresses of this time period are exquisite; but the court dresses were just amazingly over the top with plumes,trains and heavy trims. King George IV did not have his coronation till the following year in July of 1821; however I believe Ackermann's wanted to uplift the public a bit by showing such an elaborate and colorful costume.  There was also increased activity at court during this time and for those who had need to appear before his royal highness, the appropriate clothing was a necessity.


png version of the above 1820 Court Dress fashion plate
Being one of my top fashion plates by Ackermann's Repository; 
I removed the background and created this lovely lady to be a png image 
so I could use her when creating fun pieces of digital art.
One example were she was used can be seen HERE along with
several other Regency ladies. See if you can spot her. - giggles


Now on to the Lovely Ladies of Ackermann's 


Ackermann's Repository 1820 Fashion Plates

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - January Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository fashion description - January Issue
 In my previous post for 1819, I gave a few examples of fashion plate errors that can be found in Ackermann's Repository.  The January 1820 issue I had access to shows a colorization error in the first fashion plate for a Half Dress.  The color is to be an odd shade between dark fawn and sage green - leaning more to the sage green color.  The colorist who worked on this particular plate made the dress a fawn color leaning toward a peachy coral not the sage green as suggested in the description.

Just one of those fun quirks that makes the pages of Ackermann's even more interesting.


1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - January Issue


The British nation was back in mourning due to the deaths of 
Prince Edward the Duke of Kent and King George III in January
and for the next few months this will be apparent in the fashions at large.
February 1820  - Ackermann's Mourning Fashions
 Ackermann's Repository placed a black band around death announcements.
This is the only time I saw where they also placed a black band around the fashion descriptions.
These descriptions are for the next two fashion plates and I found it interesting that prior to this point when a fashion plate depicted a mourning dress it was obvious on the plate itself - in that the dress title said Mourning Dress or Half-Mourning Dress as the case may be.  For the next few months the mourning costumes do not contain the word mourning on the fashion plates themselves but it is evident from the colors and descriptions of each that they are mourning dresses.

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - February Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - February Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - March Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - March Issue


Example of Fashion Descriptions and Fashion based articles from 
Ackermann's Repository April 1820 issue 
this particular issue is most informative since it states:
- how mourning fashions are adversely effecting the trade economy, 
- the monarchy reducing the mourning period
- the changes in mourning fashion for members of court vs
the general public
- how the death of a French royal duke is effecting french fashions 
there and the differences in French and English mourning fashions.

(even if this kind of historical information is not your cup of tea, it does 
cause the fashions seen here to take on a new dimension
and it really gives you a feel for the time period.)

 







 Half- Mourning fashions - April 1820
1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - April Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - April Issue
This last month of mourning shows fashion of half-mourning with
the first of grey and the evening dress of white with black decorations.


As we continue into June of 1820
The British Public is no longer in a state of national mourning 
and colors have started to re-surface in the fashion plates.

This first plate for June is a "transitional" garment.
It is in a color Ackermann's describes as "a peculiar shade of lavender"; 
of a fabric Ackermann's has listed as "a new silk called zephyreene".
 
1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - May Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - May Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - June Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - June Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - July Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - July Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - August Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - August Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - September Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - September Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - October Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - October Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - November Issue
This garment is described as being of 
"a singular but beautiful colour between  lilac and purple."
(I love the way things were phrased in this time period)


1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - November Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - December Issue

1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - December Issue

It is so nice to see the Regency fashions back with pretty colors.
I know in our current culture we view black as an ordinary color to
wear and in evening wear an elegant color; but in Regency times when a woman 
wore black it was tied to sadness and loss, so even though it may appear attractive
it was not a color worn unless necessary. 

(Morning fashions and restrictions were not as harsh for the men of the time;
they were more loosely impacted where as the women carried the heavier burden socially.)

 
Mourning fashions will appear in Ackermann's over the next 10 years; 
however not with the intensity we have seen in the 1818 - 1820 issues.

*******************

Now for you history lovers (like me)
Here are the Death notices Ackermann's published for the 
Royal Duke of Kent and His Royal Majesty King George III

Prince Edward - The Duke of Kent
Nov 2 1767 - January 23, 1820




King George III
June 4, 1738 - January 29, 1820 
(nicknamed Mad King George)
King George III was no longer ruling the British empire as of 1811.
Due to the Regency Act of 1811 the Prince of Wales (later King George IV)
became regent and he started ruling in his fathers place with the title of Prince Regent
(giving this time period in British history the name "Regency")

King George the III was permanently insane by the end of 1811
and spent the remainder of his life in seclusion at Windsor castle 
till his death in 1820.

(It's quite interesting to see how politely his "infirmity" was referred to; 
when in today's terms we would just say he was plain "batty".)







 
 I hope you have enjoyed seeing the latest installment of 
Regency fashions for Ackermann's repository.

For those just finding my blog you can see the previous  
Regency fashion posts by clicking the links below. 

Ackermann's ran series 1 from 1809 - 1815

Ackermann's ran series 2 from 1816 - 1822
Series 2 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1820
(1821 - 1822 - are yet to be posted) 
Series 2 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1821
Series 2 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1822

Ackermann's ran series 3 from 1823 - 1828
(series 3 coming soon)


I hope you join me again 
for more Regency fashions from Ackermann's Repository

Till next time...


Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com

If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository 
and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself 
they are are available on line at www.archive.org

Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in.
You can then see and read them online or download 
them to your computer for future reference.
Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. Hello,

    It's very interesting to have included descriptions of the fashion plates! Thank you!

    I went through your entire blog, and it is really beautiful. It's very rare that we see blogs interested in Ackermann's engravings, and yours is the only one I could find.

    Many thanks!
    Sylvie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Sylvie!

    I'm so glad you are enjoying the blog.

    I love history, especially the Regency and then later the Victorian period; so when I found this treasure trove of Ackermann's Repository items - I knew I had to share them.

    I know most people just want to see the pretty ladies but after a while I wanted to tell more about what was going on and why. This is when I started adding more details and articles from Ackermann's.

    Thanks for letting me know it has been worth the effort and that others are getting pleasure from it too.

    Wishing you all the best,
    Evelyn

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello,

    Currently, I study history at the University for giving me historical references to my research on the history of fashion and etiquette. I currently have accumulated several archives on these matters and I would like to pursue my research and classify these documents. Yes, the prints are beautiful, but it's so interesting to learn the historical details. It's like every time I returned in the past when I read of old fashion magazines.

    Many thanks!
    Sylvie

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree Sylvie. I believe these old publications to be a treasure and I get just as much a thrill out of reading the articles as I do in looking at the pretty illustrations.

    It sounds as if your course of study is most interesting and that you will enjoy a lifetime of following your dreams.

    Wishing you all my best,
    Evelyn

    ReplyDelete