A Most Beguiling Accomplishment

Putting it in writing to make sure it happens - next summer, I'm going to be hosting an 1830s picnic in central New York! Hyde Hall - this was in April when it was still very cold, so it will be more lush, I promise! Hyde Hall is a gorgeous mansion on Otsego Lake in Springfield Center. It was built between 1817 and 1834, which makes it a perfect place to have a pre-Victorian event. It also has a great big grassy lawn, and I've already mentioned this to the staff there and they think it would be pretty cool! Why am I posting about this so early? Well, mainly because I planned to do it this year and it never happened (though in fairness, I spent half of July out of town, so ... that made it hard to plan or prepare), and I want to make sure that I do pick a date and that it gets held. This is also not a period that most people sew for, so it might take us all some time to create our ensembles. With that in mind, I'm going to be writing a series of posts on 1830s dres

The Layette In an earlier chapter, marriage gave the lingère the work of making and furnishing a convenient trousseau. Once the wife is pregnant, she must still resort to the lingère: she contemplates the fact that she is going to become a mother, and therefore it is time to prepare the layette for her and the infant that she will bring into the world. "Layette", which etymologically means a "little box", refers today to an assemblage of all the clothes and necessary items for the infant born by its mother during the time of her confinement. With regard to the newborn, whether a boy or a girl: the sexes are not distinguished by different clothing until the age where the infant is no longer an infant. The layette can be magnificent like the trousseau, and for the same reasons a magnificent one will be described: it will contain every possible item. How and when it is put on the infant will also be indicated, and what is called the "suit": this item