So, I originally titled this post “My, what an enormous muff you have”, a la Little Red Riding Hood, because apparently I’m on a children’s story theme this week.
Then Mr D pointed out that my title was perhaps a little more risque than I usually aim for with my blog. After blinking at him in confusion for a very long moment, comprehension finally dawned. Ohhhhhh….
I know I keep him around for something!
Anyway, I’ve been looking at late 18th and early 19th century fashion plates, and, thanks to my love of muffs, I’ve noticed all the absolutely enormous muffs that were in fashion in the Regency period.
I mean, look at this:

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1797
Her head would fit in the hand hole!
And if you thought that one was bad, look at this one:

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1798
Forget keeping her hands warm, if she gets cold enough she could climb into this thing wholesale, and keep warm like a little post-Revolutionary space rebel. How did she even carry it? It would weigh half her body weight!
Things got a tiny bit saner after 1798, but these two examples from 1799 are more than twice the size of the heads of the ladies carrying them:

London Full & Half Dress, Winter 1799
(also, how fabulous are the two hats in the one above!)

Ladies’ Museum, Morning Dress for December, 1799
One would think that such a ridiculous trend would disappear pretty quickly, but no, here they are again in the new century:
It’s like she is carrying half a sheep!

Men’s & ladies fashions for 1807
(it’s taking her second hand and some help from the gentleman’s other hand to hold up the weight of all that white fur)
Amazingly, you see examples of utterly ridiculously large muffs almost until 1820:

Carriage costume, January 1817
Muff weight lifting. How Regency ladies stayed in shape.
Now I kinda want to make one, just to see how heavy a half-body sized muff made in period appropriate fur, wool batting and fabrics would be…
(all images via Damesalamode)