Fashionable Dresses in the Rooms in Weymouth 1774

This fashion engraving was printed for The Lady's Magazine, or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, the first woman's magazine to enjoy lasting success. Earlier publications aimed towards women, beginning with The Ladies Mercury (February 27-March 17 1693) and The Female Tatler (1709-11) tended not to have long print runs. Although there were at least five publications released between 1733 and 1770 titled The Lady's Magazine with various subtitles, the Entertaining Companion was by far the most enduring, running from 1770 to 1832.

This image shows a scene from the Assembly Rooms at Weymouth. Assembly rooms were public places found in many cities and towns where members of the higher social classes of both sexes could gather and socialise. These venues were particularly important for women, for whom socialising options were limited beyond entertaining at home. They provided a safe environment in which to meet new people and make friends. The Assembly Rooms in this engraving closed in 1785 when new assembly rooms were built elsewhere, but the original Elizabethan building, called 'The Old Rooms', still stands on Trinity Street, Weymouth.

Fashion plates often place dress for different events side by side to maximise information. In this image, four of the women are wearing smart daywear, whilst the lady in the middle is wearing a very formal gown. Its wide skirts, worn over a rectangular hoop and elaborate applied trimming would have made it appropriate for balls, or even to wear to court. A very similar dress can be seen in the Textiles and Fashion Collection, museum number T.2-1947.