Walking dress and morning dress, autumn 1837

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Walking dress and morning dress, autumn 1837

published in Le Follet, Courrier des Salons, Journal des Modes
hand-coloured etching, line and stipple engraving, published circa November 1837
7 7/8 in. x 6 in. (200 mm x 151 mm) paper size
Acquired, 1930
Reference Collection
NPG D47723

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This portraitback to top

Also published in The Lady's Magazine and Museum, December 1837, with a description:
Toilettes De Promenade et D'Interieur. - Satin redingote, lined and wadded; the corsage tight, with a revers, or kind of small cape of velvet, coming down in front, and only forming a small falling collar at back; facings, or revers, of velvet, reaching down the entire front of the dress (see plate), which is fastened at distances by noeuds (bows), likewise of velvet. Sleeves brought low upon the shoulders in flat plaits (see plate); the lower part of the sleeve is also tight, and the intermediate in a single very deep full puff, or sabot. A bow of ribbon is placed at the top of the sabot, or full sleeve, on the outside of the arm. Falling collar en tulle application. Straw colour satin hat. Hair en bandeaux.
Toilette D'Interieur. - Dress of white cashmere. Corsage tight, with pelerine open in front of the neck, and falling collar of embroidery. Sleeves tight at top and bottom, with two frills, the remainder full. Cap à-la-Fanchon (see plate). This cap is plain across the brow, with a full trimming coming down each side of the face, and a kind of half kerchief with long lappets put over the head, which quite conceals the cawl; a wreath of light flowers goes across the front of the head, and descends a short way at each side (see plate). Satin apron, with pockets on the outside; each side of the apron is trimmed with a narrow, and the bottom with a wide fall of black lace. Black shoes of drap de soie.

Events of 1837back to top

Current affairs

The controversial monarch William IV dies of pneumonia in June leaving no legitimate heirs, and is succeeded to the throne by his niece Victoria, one month after her eighteenth birthday.
The Registration Act of Births, Marriages and Deaths makes it compulsory for all births, marriages and deaths to be registered at a Registry Office.

Art and science

Dickens's second novel Oliver Twist is serialised in Bentley's Magazine. The story of the orphan Oliver is an attack on the Poor Law Amendment Acts (1834), a highly contentious piece of legislation which abolished outdoor relief, effectively increasing entry in the workhouse. The novel, famously made into a musical in 1968, marks Dickens as an outspoken social critic as well as a highly popular and commercial writer.

International

The Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin is killed in a duel with Baron Georges d'Anthès. Considered the founder of modern Russian literature, Pushkin blended Old Slavonic with vernacular Russian and was the first Russian writer to use everyday speech in his poetry. His works include Eugene Onegin.

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