A Century of Men’s Fashions. I found several male dolls dressed in period fashion while unpacking my mother’s miniature collection, but only one of them actually fits in 1810.
On the left, the doll is clearly French, but his ensemble is mid-eighteenth century. The silk, elaborate trim, and knee breeches date him to the early to middle eighteenth century. This style was adopted a bit later in the American colonies and became a fashion style called the macaroni, as in the song “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” I found this interesting online exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art:
https://unframed.lacma.org/2016/06/08/styling-macaroni-male
There is a Georgian house in my mother’s collection, but it is set in Colonial America , so our out of period French gentleman will have to remain in the chateau. We will say that he found his grandfather’s clothes in the attic and decided to wear them. He is holding a silk cape.
The second doll is clearly Georgian, with his lace cravat and very long waistcoat. He lives in the Dutch Colonial house set in 1780, which I will post on my blog this summer.
Our chateau is dated 1810, so the third doll, the Beverly Dahl creation with the intricately tied cravat, cutaway coat, and buff breeches is spot on for an 1810 man, and he presides over the French chateau.
The doll on the far right, while extremely handsome, is dressed for 1880. Made by Connie Sauve in 2000, he is a glorious example of a late Victorian or early Gilded Age gentleman of means, right down to his leather driving gloves. He lives in the painted lady dollhouse, a Victorian masterpiece that my mother created. I don’t write novels in that era, but I read them, so I will likely show the house on my website later this year.