{"id":8146,"date":"2026-06-08T18:46:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/?p=8146"},"modified":"2026-06-15T20:46:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T20:46:03","slug":"students-investigate-the-original-fashion-influencer-womens-18th-and-19th-century-periodicals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/2026\/06\/08\/students-investigate-the-original-fashion-influencer-womens-18th-and-19th-century-periodicals\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Investigate: The Original Fashion Influencer\u2014Women’s 18th- and 19th-Century Periodicals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This series features the work and research of University of Iowa students at the Libraries. The following is written by Jenna Zukauskas, an undergraduate student worker at Special Collections and Archives.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before there was the \u201cget ready with me\u201d or \u201cdo it yourself\u201d trends, fashion and style had to find other ways to make their way into society. But fear not, women had their ways of adapting. Instead of TikTok or Instagram, women read periodicals. An easy and comprehensive view of the best gossip, fashion advice, romance stories, and do-it-yourself crafts were offered in the time\u2019s most popular magazines. A quick tour through UI Special Collections and Archives will reveal all the fashionable do\u2019s and don\u2019ts of Georgian style icons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most notable of such periodicals was the British publication known as the Lady\u2019s Magazine<\/em>, which ran from 1770 to 1832. While publication under its original name ceased in 1832, the periodical merged with other successful women\u2019s magazines to continue circulation throughout British society. As a pillar of middle-class female literature, this magazine, including its successor publication, was of high interest to any woman seeking entertainment and knowledge that was not available elsewhere.<\/p>\n

While fashion prints were not a consistent feature of the Lady\u2019s Magazine<\/em> until 1800, style was still considered one of its selling points. The magazine focused on reproduction and replication when it came to sharing fashion advice. Many styles were copied and recycled from elite fashion periodicals. The Lady\u2019s Magazine<\/em> succeeded in bringing high society to everyday women who shared the feminine sentiment of wishing to dress like European elites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Drawing<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fig. 1-4: Fashion plates from 1818 Lady’s Magazine <\/em>publications. Includes promenade, walking, and mourning dresses. Feature designs from the months of February, March, May, and December.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Alongside the all-important fashion prints, the Lady\u2019s Magazine<\/em> included embroidery patterns. It was the first periodical to boast consistent publication of such embellishment guides. These fold out papers were meant to be removed from their bindings in order for them to be used by readers. The embroidery included both male and female focused patterns and outlined specific suggestions on what it should be used for. By providing this, the magazine offered a do-it-yourself opportunity to elevate one\u2019s look in a cost-efficient and personalized manner. Likely, the purpose of these embroidery patterns was to furnish middle class women with the tools to assimilate to upper class standards, just as the fashion plates aimed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fig. 5: Lady’s Magazine, <\/em>V17 from 1786, “New Pattern for Working a Gown or Apron”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is impossible to discuss the Lady\u2019s Magazine<\/em> without recognizing similar prints that were in publication at the same time. Rival periodicals, such as the Lady\u2019s Monthly Museum,<\/em> and La Belle Assemble<\/em> all worked to publish similar content to capture the interest of their female audiences. To compete with these magazines, the Lady\u2019s Magazine<\/em> had to adapt. Beginning in 1820, the magazine began to alter its series, ultimately ending with a competitor merge in 1832. The three series mentioned above became one as they vied for survival in the cutthroat field of entertainment literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with changes to their content, the Lady\u2019s Magazine<\/em> remained a shining beacon of style for its female audiences in the late 18th to the early 19th century. Not only did these magazines provide women with colorful depictions of fashion, but they also worked to inspire the individual female. The embroidery patterns, plates, and sheets that were featured in the Lady\u2019s Magazine<\/em>, as well as other women\u2019s periodicals, offered a connection to society, while still allowing creative freedom. Through homemade articles of clothing, embellished with designs offered through such magazines, women were able to assimilate to the expected styles of the time and fit into social gathering. Fashion and practicality were presented as a vessel in which women were able to involve themselves in social interactions occurring within their own societies.<\/p>\n

Learn more about how to view these periodicals and more on the Special Collections and Archives website.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Fig.7: Lady’s Monthly Magazine<\/em> , V.3 from 1779 “Afternoon Dress for August 1799” and “Full Dress for August 1799”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Works Cited and Further Reading:<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Batchelor, Jennie, and Manushag N Powell. Women\u2019s Periodicals and Print Culture in Britain, 1690-1820s\u202f: The Long Eighteenth Century \/ Edited by Jennie Batchelor, and Manushag N. Powell. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018.<\/p>\n

Jennie Batchelor. \u201cRivals: The Changing Face of the Women\u2019s Magazine.\u201d In The Lady\u2019s Magazine (1770\u20131832) and the Making of Literary History, 162. Edinburgh University Press, 2022. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/9781474487665-008.<\/p>\n

Miller, Peter John. \u201cEighteenth-Century Periodicals for Women.\u201d History of Education Quarterly 11, no. 3 (1971): 279\u201386. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.2307\/367294.<\/p>\n

Lady’s Magazine. <\/em>University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives. X-Collection. AP 4 .L226 v.17 1786, Cop. 1<\/p>\n

Lady’s Magazine. <\/em>University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives. X-Collection. AP 4 .L226 v.49 1818, Cop. 1<\/p>\n

Lady’s Monthly Magazine. <\/em>University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives. X-Collection. AP4 .L227 V.3, Cop. 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This series features the work and research of University of Iowa students at the Libraries. The following is written by Jenna Zukauskas, an undergraduate student worker at Special Collections and Archives. Before there was the \u201cget ready with me\u201d or \u201cdo it yourself\u201d trends, fashion and style had to find other ways to make theirContinue reading “Students Investigate: The Original Fashion Influencer\u2014Women’s 18th- and 19th-Century Periodicals”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":8151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[3,837],"tags":[849,850,851,838],"syndication":[],"class_list":["post-8146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collection-connection","category-students-investigate","tag-fashion","tag-jenna-zukauskas","tag-ladys-magazine","tag-students-investigate","has-blocks","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8146"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8160,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8146\/revisions\/8160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8146"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/speccoll\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=8146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}