Fashion collections are in the news at the moment, with Kate Moss's collection for Top Shop and Lily Allen's collection for New Look. But what would a late eighteenth century fashion collection have looked like?
After the French Revolution, evening dresses were in the new style. Out went heavy brocades and skirts so wide that women had to turn sideways to enter a room. In came simpler styles, with dresses being made of floaty material. They typically had short sleeves, high waists and low necklines. Feather headdresses were popular, and, to complete the ensemble, the fashionable woman would carry a fan.
Walking dresses also had the newly fashionable high waist, and were worn with pelisses (coats), hats and muffs.
Hats were one of a Georgian woman's passions. When hairstyles became less elaborate after the French Revolution, hats took over the role of decorative headware. They were usually large with tall plumes, but as the Grecian influence began to be felt, hats could also take the shape of helmets to match the new, toga-like gowns.
The changes in fashion had little influence on court dress, however. Hoops were still worn at court well into the nineteenth century.