Plate XXIV.
- (a) Outdoor Silk Jacket. 1798-1808.
- (b) Embroidered Muslin Bodice. 1816-30.
- (c) Embroidered Muslin Bodice. 1824-25.
- (d) Satin and Gauze Bodice. 1820-30.
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. GEORGE III TO 1800. MALE.
The wigs, which were rather high in the front of the crown in the earlier part, began to cast off the most eccentric forms, and became just curled, rather full at the sides, and tied with a bow at the back: dull pink powder became a favoured hue from about 1780; most people began to return to their own hair, and one might see many without long hair in the nineties. The last type of dressing the hair in imitation of the wig form was a long, tightly braided pigtail at the back, with one or even two side curls over the ear, and side whiskers were allowed to fill up to them; thus when the short hair set the fashion, side whiskers came in.
Hats were still worn of the three-cornered shape, but the favourites became a front cockade hat and a hat with a rounded crown and rather wide brim, sometimes turned up on one side; a short type of top-hat was also often seen, and later became the fashion. The same lawn and lace cravat developed into more of a plain white stock, with a frilled shirt-front.
The coat was worn much tighter in the arms and was smartly cut, with the fronts running away into a narrow tailed skirt. The pockets often began to take a plain square form, with or without buttons; the buttons on the front of the coat stopped at the waist—many cuffs are seen without them; and the side pleats, set more to the back, were pressed and narrower. Both the plain and turn-over collars were set up high in the neck, large cut-steel buttons were introduced in the early seventies, and many fancy china buttons, besides the gilt silver and paste ones were in use. A new type of coat made its appearance with a high turn-over collar and large lapels, and a sudden cut-in of the coat-front high in the waist, giving a very long-tailed effect to the skirt. A cuff shape with these was mostly made in one with the sleeve and buttoned at the side towards the back, and when the cuff was additional, it seldom had buttons, as formerly.
A greatcoat with one, two, or three capes was a picturesque garment, and a leather-covered bottle was often carried when riding a distance, of which I have an example in my collection.
Fig. 105.