Tarleton and tulle were cheap at Nice, so she enveloped herself in them on such occasions, and following the sensible English fashion of simple dress for young girls, got up charming little toilettes with fresh flowers, a few trinkets, and all manner of dainty devices, which were both inexpensive and effective.
So does Amy, the youngest of the Little Women in Louisa May Alcott’s novel from 1868. Tarletan or tarlatan as it was spelled later, is a thin muslin fabric, slightly stiffened, while tulle is a fine netting. One imagines Amy, the most artistically inclined of the March girls, was draping and wrapping these fine fabrics around her shoulders, or over the hipline in order to create some variety in her small wardrobe. Poorer women in the 19th century had very small wardrobes by today’s standards and each dress took far more fabric as they all went down to the floor. Amy was making do--always a useful practice.
