Women's Fashion in the Era of the New Republic

Every era has its own individual sense of fashion style even when that style is clearly influenced by the past.  One of the most unique eras in women's fashion occurred during the early years of the American republic and continued through the War of 1812 (and Regency) period.  Elegant Grecian inspired gowns of gossamer silk, ethereal sheer cotton and linen, in white, creme and pastels were the height of sophisticated fashion. 

Please enjoy these fashion plates from "Incroyables et merveilleuses de 1814."   Truly the "Paris Vogue" of the day! 

Will you be so bold as to join with the staff of the Great Lake Seaway Trail Discovery Center and dress in period correct fashion for our 1812 Quilt Challenge? 

(Click on each fashion plate and then click again to see a super-high resolution image.)

What would your ideal 1812 / Regency era outfit look like? 

Rare 1812 era quilts

Quilts from the War of 1812 / Regency period are very rare finds indeed but we have located a few more quilts in various museum collections.    We hope these images will inspire you in the design of your quilt for our 1812 Quilt Challenge at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor next March. 

The following quilts are from the collections of the Michigan State University Museum:

Photo by KEVA



Whitework Quilt
Circa 1810
86" x 88"
 

A whitework quilt with stuffed trapunto details, provenance unknown. The back is probably homespun.  Incredible quilting!



Chintz counterpane

Circa 1820   New York State provenance     
120" x 108"
This counterpane is made of five panels of fabric, each 24" wide. The four-poster flap is 32" long.  The fabric is printed in a repeating floral print, within the window pane checks.  Mostly brown with green and white. The fabric is still very shiny.  The counterpane has a narrow hem all the way around.



Closeup detail of the fabric





Photo by Fumio Ichikawa



Bars  circa 1800

Provenance unknown   
73" x 89"

This bar quilt made from English chintz is one of the earliest quilts in the Michigan State University Museum collection. These fabrics, manufactured for home furnishings, have all the indicators of early block-printing techniques; poor registration, overlapping dyes, and pin registration marks.  The large fabric pieces showcase floral, bird, and fruit designs.  The quilt is tacked, not quilted.

War of 1812 / Regency Era Quilts from Museum Collections

We have located a few more quilts from the War of 1812 / Regency Era in museum collections.  Quilts from this period are very rare finds.  We hope these images will help you in the design of your quilt for our 1812 Quilt Challenge at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor next March.



 Michagan State University Museum Accession 1998:53.37.  Photo by Pearl Yee Wong.



 Four Patch
1800-1820
99 1/2" x 104"  Cotton with cotton filling

This Massachusetts   quilt contains copperplate prints, probably of English manufacture, some calicos, glazed chintz and India prints.   



 Michagan State University Museum Accession  1998:53.39.  Photo by KEVA.



Framed Square 1800-1820 95" x 100"  Cotton with cotton filling This early New England quilt seems to have been made with random scraps, but, as can be seen here, was carefully organized. The cut-out corners indicate that it was made for a four poster bed.  Michagan State University Museum Accession 2007:107.1.   Photo by Pearl Yee Wong,    Wholecloth Provenance unknown - circa 1800 79 1/2" x 91"  Cotton, wool filling Very little is know about this wholecloth quilt but wouldn't it look great in some of the reproduction fabric lines coming out for the War of 1812 bicentennial like Moda's Lately Arrived from London by Barbara Brackman or some of the new Andover reproduction prints.   Michagan State University Museum Accession 1998:53.99.  Photo by KEVA.   Sunburst with Mariner's Compass Circa 1800-1830  86" x 86"  Within this New England quilt can be found a wonderful collection of early printed cotton fabrics. Please feel free to email us and share any museum collection quilts or other quilts from the War of 1812 / Regency Era that you have researched.

Fashion Plates of the War of 1812 / Regency Era

The fashion era spanning of the War of 1812 was also the Regency era of British novelist Jane Austen, it’s focus was on elegance and simplicity. 

Women’s fashions of the period were inspired by the democratic ideals of the new French Republic - which in turn took it’s inspiration from classical Greece. Waists were high and diaphanous light coloured fabrics were at the height of fashion. 

Such a contrast to fashions of the previous and following eras with their multiple layers of dark and heavy fabric. 

The following fashion plates were published in Incroyables et merveilleuses de 1814.  Click on the plate and then click again to see a high resolution large image.

  

Wonderful inspiration for the gowns we will all wear to the Seaway Trail 2012 Quilt Show in March.  Hope you will plan to join us in costume too!

Our 1812 Quilt blog posted on Barbara Brackman's blog

Quilt Historiann Barbara Brackman has mentioned us on her blog! 

Check it out at:     http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2011/05/war-piecing-1812-2012.html.   

In other news, while researching for our 1812 quilt challenge project I've come across some great quilts to use for inspiration for fabrics and patterns in various museum collections include this circa 1790-1810 Winterthur medallion quilt:

And this medallion quilt from the International Quilt Study Center and Museum:

Also from the International Quilt Study Center and Museum is this bar/stripey quilt with chintz and nine patch blocks circa 1800 to 1820.

 

Plus this double Irish chain possibly from Pennsylvania between 1800 - 1820 from the International Quilt Study Center and Museum

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Or how about a circa 1800-1820 quilt possibly made in Eastern Pennsylvania also from the collections of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum.
So many quilts to use for reference to the 1812 era!

Playing "Dress-up" for the War of 1812 Quilt Show?

War of 1812 Period Costume Dress Up 

One of the things I love about the War of 1812 period as portrayed in classic films like Pride and Prejudice and Emma by Jane Austen are the gorgeous costumes!  The ladies at the Great Lakes Seaway Trail will be attired in period correct fashions for the 2012 quilt show - and maybe even sooner!  We’ve just ordered Regency Era patterns from one of my favorite re-enactor fashion designers Jennie Chancey.   

(and undies too!)

Hope to see many of you dressed in period costume too, in the interim you can check out her patterns at:  http://sensibility.com/about/

Quilt Historian Barbara Brackman has a new book coming out.   Perfect timing to inspire our War of 1812 bicentennial quilts!  

http://www.blurb.com/books/2106301

Click on the link to see a preview of the first few pages of  Lately Arrived From London - Cotton Prints and Patchwork Before 1820, a companion to her early 19th century fabric reproduction collection from Moda that will be out in September, 2011.   You can "View Fullscreen" by clicking the icon on the lower right of the page.