Our spring meeting on May 7 featured a report based on the eminently useful guide to Regency life, The Duties of a Lady's Maid: With Directions for Conduct, and Numerous Receipts for the Toilette (1825), recently re-published in a facsimile version by Chawton House Library.
After a delightful sampling of teas and treats, presented by host Dede Clements, guests reviewed the exhausting daily schedule of a lady's maid before soaking up the book's detailed advice on Duties of Behaviour (keeping family secrets, speaking correctly, familiarity with superiors) and Duties of Knowledge and Art (disguising figure flaws, hairdressing, flattering colors, the use and abuse of soap).
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| Presenters Caroline Davis, Marie-Louise Miesel and Debbie Carroll, and host Dede Clements  |
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