Fashionable blonde lace in 1831

 

This fashion plate comes from an 1831 edition of The Ladies Pocket Magazine and depicts an evening dress made of ‘Indian green crape over gros de Naples’. The low neckline is formed of deep folds, which are crossed at the front, and trimmed with blonde lace in the mantilla style.

This image gives a better idea of the full ensemble and shows that the beret style sleeves are also decorated with blonde lace and the skirt features a trim of blonde lace above a line of satin rouleau. I’m intrigued by this trim which has the scallops of the lace pointing upwards, which would make them stand up from the background material to accentuate them but might result in them flopping over which would surely spoil the effect of a continuous line.

Blonde lace was very fashionable from about 1805 to 1835 and this image shows a detail of a typical example. Blond is a handmade bobbin lace composed of a large area of fine net ground with the main design worked along the edge in thick lustrous silk, which was usually a blonde creamy colour but could also be made in black thread. The background net or ground is made of lille net, which is also used for many other fine laces, and is made by one cross and three twists of the thread for each unit of the net. The floral motifs are worked in whole and half stitch and outlined with a thicker gimp thread. The finest blonde lace was made in France and Belgium, particularly in the area around Caen. The nineteenth century lace historian Mrs Palliser says that the white lace was made in the open air in the summer to preserve the purity of the white thread and the black variety was made inside in the winter. However, in the winter no lace was made near the smoke from the fireplace and instead the lacemakers worked in the lofts over their cow sheds so that the warmth of the animals kept them warm. At least, according to Palliser, the lacemakers earned more for making blonde lace than for other types of lace but it still seems a hard way to earn a living. And if you’re wondering what the elegant young lady in green is wearing around her neck it isn’t lace or fabric but an ermine boa.