I keep banging on about the 'deets' that I have an eternal fascination with and so very much want to acquire and wear in the clothes that I buy but I'm usually limited by funds and also the fact that there is a DISTINCT lack of 'deets' in modern clothing.  Things have become a lot simpler and less fussy and less labour-intensive.  From this book '19th Century Fashion in Detail' by Lucy Johnston that I was browsing from my sister's bookshelf, I visually gorged on many a deet that though in the context of the full garment is all a little bit too much like an overembellished, overpuffed Prestat chocolate box, when isolated and looked at up-close, I can really imagine them being trnasplanted and incorporated with the simpler shapes of our modern wardrobe and really make an impact.   

The ivory silks billowing from four openings at the top of the sleeves of a yellow silk British dress c.1810.   

Puffs of linen lawn interspersed with bands of silk satin and lace from a 1868 dress with Maltese-style bobbin lace used

Princess evening dress with a boddice of jacquard-woven silk and ruched silk 1878-80. 

The back cascade of pleated frills from a woman's 1877-79 dress and fine chiffon pleats on the front of a bodice of a jacket from Paris 1897, similar to the later Fortuny pleats. 

The bodice of a Charles Frederick Worth/Jean-Philippe Worth jacket 1890-93.  Made of silk, with ribbon stripe and trimmed with silk chiffon and lined with silk and whalebone strips in a 'Directorire' style.   

The bodice of printed wool gauze gown 1855-60. 

The folds in the back of a man's British greatcoat c.1810 that were constructed to look like sword vents on eighteenth century coats.