Miss Palmer by Joshuah Reynolds, 1780.

What a gorgeous white bonnet!

(Source: historicalportraits.com)

Miss Benwell by John Hoppner, 1790.

Gorgeous, gorgeous portrait!

Hooded cotton cape, 1780-1790, France

So sorry I don’t have the source for this one!  It’s an unusual garment- cotton capes/cloaks don’t turn up often.  If you look closely you can see that it is trimmed with a very deep pleating treatment on the outer edge as well as along the hood. 

18thcenturylove:

Miss Lucy and Miss Frances Carpenter by Pierre-Joseph Lion, 1769-1772

An unusual silk-lined straw hat

(via the-life-quixotic-deactivated20)

A Highland Laddie, 1770 (Detail of hat)

Straw bonnet circa 1770?  VERY unusual and awesome! 

Gallerie des Modes, 1787. 

From my fashion plate blog, Dames a la Mode. 

Physiognomical Studies, 1796.  By Isaac Cruikshank

Cruikshank!   Not just Hermione’s cat, but also a wonderful and prolific illustrator and satirist from the late 18th and early 19th century!  His sons went on in the same field, so there are many excellent illustrations with that unusual name attached to them.

Shout-out to the wonderful Jane Austen’s World for posting this image!

Restoration Dresses, 1789.

Brief history lesson:  King George III (probably) had Porphyria that made him crazy as hell.  It got really bad in the late 1780s and parliament passed an act of Regency that allowed his eldest son to rule in his place in 1789, but before it passed the House of Lords he recovered so the bill was scrapped.  There was universal celebration at his “restoration” and people wore patrotic outfits to balls and parties.  Here’s another example of one of the gowns.

I’d LOVE to do a restoration event at some point!

Taking Water for Vauxhall, 1790.

I love this style of hat- straw brim and large fabric puff!  It is always charming.

Magasin des Modes, November 1787. 

Magasin des Modes, June 1787. 

Magasin des Modes, December 1787. 

Forgive the brief hat spam from Magasin des Modes.  I’m making a big hat like this and I need a place to park these images.

monsieurleprince:

Johann Friedrich August Tischbein (1750-1812) - Nicolas Chatelain in the garden, 1791

I love a man in a tall hat!

(via centuriespast)

Lady Taylor by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1780.

I NEED that hat!

(Thanks to fourbritisheyesonly for posting this!)

1770s brown silk calash, lined in ivory silk, and boned with cane.  This is from an ebay auction at some point. 

 I actually despise calashes because I think they are ugly and ridiculous, but I still find them fascinating.