Delicate
The Inspiration behind the design: This is a summer pelisse. White was a very popular colour during the Regency but looking after it would have taken work, therefore one might imagine the work of servants linked with any white garment one sees.
The term 'Walking Dress included the whole of an outfit worn for walking (and being seen out and about) in. That is, not only the coat or jacket but also the dress beneath and any accompanying accessories, the bonnet, parasol etc.
One might imagine the lady wearing Delicate walking across the land of an estate such as Firle Place, with the shadows of grasses falling on it's surface.
Delicate is also so names because of the paper it is made of and how easily it might be damaged and because it is inspired by a period when (upper class) women were often treated as if they were delicate.
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The three white Walking Dresses in The Regency Wardrobe collection are accompanied by audio tracks, in the form of an extract from a Regency broadside ballad. Broadside ballads are best put into the category of street songs, which were very popular during the Regency and Victorian eras. This one is called The Bonny Hawthorn, linking nicely with the walk this lady might have taken across her estate, where the white blooms of the Hawthorn hedgerows would surely have caught her eye. To listen please click the play button:
The real Regency garment that was behind this design is a white cotton pelisse dated 1810 - 1818 © The Olive Matthews Collection at Chertsey Museum. A very similar garment can be seen in this fashion plate from the time.
The shapes in the cut and stitched design includes Cornucopia and ears of wheat (popular mitifs of the time) and leaves.
Each of the three white Walking Dresses is designed to be underlit with different decorative aspects showing up in the dark. This images shows Delicate as a work in progress.
Please click on the dress to magnify
Delicate shown in the studio.
