Walking Dress – Summer 1809

Regency Era Mother and Child Strolling Promenade Attire

This authentic 1809 fashion plate from Ackermann’s Repository of Arts captures a rare domestic scene featuring a mother and her young daughter walking side-by-side in coordinating Regency period costumes. The hand-colored antique print depicts both figures dressed in lightweight, high-waisted white muslin or Scotia washing silk garments, illustrating the family dress codes of the early nineteenth century. The mother’s classic empire waist silhouette is clean and columnar, showcasing the minimalist drapery influenced by Greco-Roman antiquity that dominated British high society.

Early Nineteenth-Century Matching Outerwear and Sundial Parasol Accessories

The maternal figure is styled with an unusual, close-fitting white hood or capote cap that fastens snugly under the chin, paired with a distinct tiered cord or tassel necklace dropping down her bodice. She carries an elegant, inverted white lace-trimmed parasol or sunshade with a slender wooden handle and wears vibrant yellow slippers that match her gloves and her daughter’s shoes. The young girl is similarly accessorized in a small yellow-trimmed tunic jacket and a matching soft cap, providing fashion historians with a superb study of juvenile historic costuming and daytime textile combinations.