I have just returned from the Waterloo Study Day organised
by the Costume Society in Bath, to commemorate the 200th anniversary
of the Battle of Waterloo. As you can see from the photograph several members
dressed in circa 1815 outfits for the day. The day was split with talks from
Rosemary Harden, curator of the Fashion Museum Bath, and Nigel Arch, former
director of Kensington Palace for the Royal Historic Palaces in the morning,
and a demonstration of dressing an early 19th century lady and
gentleman in the afternoon.
Rosemary Harden spoke about the Duchess of Richmond’s ball,
which took place in Brussels just days before the Battle of Waterloo. She gave
information on the ball itself, on the fashions in ball gowns around 1815, and
finally on two ball gowns in the collection of the Fashion Museum, which were
reputedly worn at the ball. A photograph
of the two dresses can be seen on the Costume
Society’s page for the event. She spoke about the dresses, and the research
she has done since an article on them was published in Costume. (Byrde & Saunders, 2000). The family history
the donor was that the dresses were worn by the sisters of a Mr. Perceval, and
there was an Hon. Mr Perceval on the invitation list for the ball, but he cannot
be pinned down, and nothing can be proved, though the dresses are the right
date and style.
Nigel Arch spoke about the battle itself, and the uniforms
that were worn at the time, describing them as fashionable, magnificent, but
not practical. He described how certain elements of central European dress
ended up in western European military uniform, the shako, the sabretache, and hussar uniform. He explained how
the different armies wore different coloured uniforms, and why this might have
come about. Nigel has written in the past about the use of the red coat as a
brand for the British army. (Arch, 2007)
In the afternoon we had the on stage dressing of two people
from the shirt out in the case of the gentleman and from the shift in the case
of the lady. The two can be seen fully dressed to the left. The gentleman’s outfit was based on an original in Salisbury
Museum, a militia coat that had belonged to a Captain
John Swayne. The lady’s outfit was based on a morning dress of c.1798-1805,
also in Salisbury Museum, and re-created from the pattern taken by Janet Arnold
(1977).
Arch, N., 2007. The Wearing of the Red: The Redcoat
and the British Brand. Costume, Volume 41, pp. 99-104.
Arnold, J.,
1977. Patterns of Fashion 1: 1660-1860. London: Macmillan.
Byrde, P.
& Saunders, A., 2000. The "Waterloo Ball" dresses at the Museum
of Costume, Bath. Costume, pp. 64-69.
