This was the inspiration for the dress that Sophia wears to the Chesterfield Country Ball.
The description that accompanies this picture is:
“Portrait of Mary Lodge, Bride of Baron Charles-Louis de Keverberg de Kessel by Joseph-François Ducq, 1818.
Mary Lodge wears the new fashion for rich color. Her crimson evening gown with frills at neck and sleeves is worn with an ivory shawl with a wide paisley-patterned border, 1818.”
This is the dress that Sophia wears to the assembly rooms, Almack’s, in 1822. Though the picture shows a white gown with pink accents, I chose teal for the accents to better suit Sophia’s colouring.
Here is the original description of this gown from Ackerman’s Repository 1822:
“Dress of fine tulle over a white satin slip, ornamented nearly half the depth of the skirt with scallops of pink net and steel; the latter formed by a large steel button in the centre, and a semicircle of small steel beads. Short full sleeve, composed of alternate rows of pink net and steel, and white tulle and steel scallops, confined by a band of pink net and steel. Tucker, a quilling of the finest tulle. Sash of pink and white embroidered satin ribbon.”