'Evening dress', September 1842

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Described in the magazine:
Tarlatane robe, over an under-dress of white gros de Naples. A low corsage, deeply pointed, trimmed with a pelerine opening on the bosom, and bordered with a ruche of green ribbon. A rosette is placed in the opening of the pelerine. Short tight sleeves: mancheron composed of three points; a row of lace edges the bottom of the sleeve, and rosettes are placed in the opening of the points. The skirt is trimmed with five green ruches; they are placed at some distance from each other. Head-dress of hair, disposed in bands on the forehead; light clusters of ringlets at the sides, and a low knot at the back of the head. A rosette of green ribbon is the only ornament of the coiffure.

Events of 1842back to top

Current affairs

Edwin Chadwick publishes his damning report, Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Poor, which details the shocking living conditions of the urban poor and prompts government to take a new interest in public health issues.
A year-long depression and the rejection of the Chartist petition leads to riots, with workers striking in the Midlands, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and parts of Scotland.

Art and science

Mudie's Lending Library opens, becoming one of the largest circulating libraries in the period. Made popular by the otherwise high cost of books, it exerts a great influence over literature; both by maintaining the more costly 'three decker' novel structure, and acting as moral censor.
Richard Owen, the English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist, coins the term 'dinosaur', combining the Greek words for 'formidable' and 'reptile'.

International

Treaty of Nanjing, which allows China to trade with Britain and lends Hong Kong to the British crown for 150 years. In Afghanistan, the Anglo-Afghan war ends as the British abandon Kabul, withdrawing to India and losing most of their garrison force in the operation with only one member, Dr William Brydon, surviving.

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