The Lady's Stratagem: A Repository of 1820s Directions for the Toilet, Mantua-Making, Stay-Making, Millinery & Etiquette
| PUBLISHER | Lavolta Press (01/01/2009) |
| PRODUCT TYPE | Paperback (Paperback) |
Fashion & Costume. Detailed information is imparted on choosing clothing appropriate to each time of day, and to the wearer's appearance, age, and social position. Instructions are given for laundering, dyeing, and storing garments.
Sewing & Needlework. Step-by-step directions are given for making stays; for most kinds of woman's garments, trimmings, and accessories; and for mending and alterations. Comprehensive instructions are also given for millinery, knitting, and embroidery. There is no comparable English-language needlework reference for the 1820s.
Beauty & Hygiene. An intimate picture of daily life is drawn by recipes for beauty treatments, cosmetics, and perfumes. Particulars include how women bathed, cleaned their teeth, laced their stays, and dressed their hair.
Manners & Customs. Entertaining descriptions are given of the proper behavior for all social occasions.
Frances Grimble has substantial formal education in researching social history and in clothing design. In 1974 she began making historical reproductions for periods from the Renaissance into the 1920s. Since 1972, she has collected vintage clothing and accessories from the late 18th century into the mid 20th.
