Illustrated Books About 19th Century Fashion

Apr 29, 2010
Vic Sanborn

: 1823 Ballgown with overskirt - Wikimedia commons

The books in this article show lady's fashions throughout the 19th century with an emphasis on the Regency and Victorian years.

Regency Era Fashion Plates 1800-1819 compiled by Mandy Foster and Dannielle Perry

Regency Era Fashion Plates from 1800-1819 offers 122 full page colored illustrations of ladies fashions from the Journal des Luzus and der Moden in 1791 to Le Journal des Dames et des Modes, Costumes Pariesiens in 1819. The gowns in this book were fashionable at the height of the regency era and for much of Jane Austen's adult life. Other lady's monthlies featured in this book include: The Fashions of London and Paris, The Lady's Magazine, Lady's Monthly Museum, La Belle Assemblee, and Ackermann's Repository. While the size and color of the plates show great details for costumers and students of fashion, only a few plates carry an explanation or text. Dates are supplied, but not the season for which the gowns were intended.

Ackermann's Costume Plates: Women's Fashions in England, 1818-1828, edited and with an introduction by Stella Blum

The black and white plates in this book are accompanied with a full description of these post-regency, pre-Victorian gowns, including their material and colors. Eight color plates are also included in the center. One can see clearly in these plates how fashion began to change again. High waists were lowered to the natural waist line. Gowns became more ornate and lost the classically simple lines of the regency era, and gigot sleeves were balanced by wider brimmed hats.

A two-page introduction by Stella Blum sets the stage for the illustrations, which show the evolution of the dresses worn during most of King George IV's reign. The book also includes a glossary in the back that defines terms like stomacher, Soie de Londres, and Zephyrne.

Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail by Lucy Johnston

The color photographs and close ups of 19th century dresses in the Victoria and Albert Museum's costume collection and the accompanying outline drawings are designed to inform the reader about the evolution of dress. Photographs show how a woman's dress was transformed by whalebone corsets, cage crinolines, bustles, and skillful construction. The chapters and costumes are grouped to show an aspect of a theme, such as The Male Image (and how it influenced women's fashion); Historicism (and how historical events affected the details in dress); Romantic Styles (and their soft, whimsical touches); Exoticism (and its lush and opulent feel); and Innovations (that include bright synthetic dyes, new bustle shapes , and machine-made net fabrics).

Other books that include 19th century fashions

Although these two books are not wholly devoted to 19th century fashions, they must be mentioned in the context of this topic. Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century, Taschen, from The Collection of the Kyoto Costume Institute devotes fully one third of its pages to 19th century clothes. Fashion plates from the era accompany full-color photographs of gowns, along with descriptions, some close-up details and a few historical facts. The dresses are arranged in date order.

The second book, Four Hundred Years of Fashion edited by Natalie Rothstein, features fashion from the Victoria and Albert Museum costume collection. Color and black and white photographs and catalogue descriptions follow the exhibit as shown in the museum. The book includes four essays about the history of dress using the museum's collection as examples.