Evening Dress.

This fashion plate is from the periodical La Belle Assemblée or Bell's Court and Fashionable Magazine Addressed Particularly to the Ladies, published between 1806 and 1868. This plate is from March, 1828. The fashion plates showed the latest dress styles, with written descriptions, detailing the hairstyle, accessories and materials used, giving very specific information about the trends of each month.

This plate shows an evening dress and a ball dress. Both outfits include gloves, elaborate hairstyles and narrow shoes. The waists are tiny and the skirts full. La Belle Assemblée was an early example of a women's magazine, with articles about celebrities and royalty, etiquette advice, beauty and cosmetic instructions and advertisements selling make-up and corsets. It also carried information about births, marriages and deaths.