Frances Grimble

The Lady's Stratagem: a Repository of 1820s Directions for the Toilet, Mantua-making, Stay-making, Millinery & Etiquette Frances Grimble

Jacket Description/Flap: The Lady's Stratagem is a collection of early instructions on what was perceived as a female duty: To be agreeable. This required meticulous attention to appearance, manners, and management of social events. The core sources are six important French manuals, newly translated into period English. These are supplemented by excerpts from 23 rare English, French, and American publications. Fashion & Costume. Detailed information is imparted on choosing clothing appropriate to each time of day, and to the wearer's appearance, age, and social position. Instructions are given for laundering, dyeing, and storing garments. Sewing & Needlework. Step-by-step directions are given for making stays; for most kinds of woman's garments, trimmings, and accessories; and for mending and alterations. Comprehensive instructions are also given for millinery, knitting, and embroidery. There is no comparable English-language needlework reference for the 1820s. Beauty & Hygiene. An intimate picture of daily life is drawn by recipes for beauty treatments, cosmetics, and perfumes. Particulars include how women bathed, cleaned their teeth, laced their stays, and dressed their hair. Manners & Customs. Entertaining descriptions are given of the proper behavior for all social occasions. Marc Notes: Includes translations of 19th-century instructional manuals written by Elisabeth Celnart and Madame Burtel.; Bibl. ref. & index.

Contributor Bio:  Grimble, Frances Frances Grimble is the author of nine books on historic costume and vintage clothing. Over 60 of her articles on sewing and vintage clothes have appeared in national magazines, such as Threads, Sew News, and Antique Trader Weekly. Frances Grimble has been a how-to writer and editor since 1983. She has worked for book publishers, magazine publishers, and software companies; she has written a number of user manuals and coauthored a computer book. Frances Grimble has substantial formal education in researching social history and in clothing design. In 1974 she began making historical reproductions for periods from the Renaissance into the 1920s. Since 1972, she has collected vintage clothing and accessories from the late 18th century into the mid 20th.