The inspiration and imagination of Charlotte Bronte.

Maria, the mother of the Bronte sisters, had a small collection of books and magazines from Penzence. Among these the Lady' s Magazine.

Charlotte Bronte told later, when she was 24 year old: " I read them before I know how to criticize

or object, they were old books belonging tot my mother or my aunt ; they had crossed the Sea, had suffered ship-wreck and were discoloured with brine - I read them as a treat on holiday afternoons or by stealth when I should have been minding my lessons- I shall never see anything

which will interest me so much  again- One black day  my father burned them  because they  contained foolish lovestories. With all my heart  I wish I had been born  in time to contribute  to the lady's magazine"

Juliet Barker. The Brontes. 
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The Lady's Magazine and the Lady's Monthly Museum were undoubtedly targeted to the middle class woman.  The Lady's Magazine sold for a mere 6 pence for at least its first twenty-five years (1770-1795). Ten years later, by 1805, it had doubled in price to 1 shilling, and by 1828 the cover price had risen to 2 shillings 6 pence.  This was a well-established and very popular publication by the time of the Regency, so its circulation may have been substantial, though probably not as high as theGentleman's Magazine. 
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Fashion plates as hand coloured engravings really began in England with the publication of an English monthly magazine called The Lady's Magazine in 1770.  The publishers did not tint the plates in each Lady’s Magazine issue in the early days, but dressmakers did this themselves so by about 1790 they were sold touched with colour.  Before that, coloured versions were simply tinted by enthusiasts at home.  Fashion plates from The Lady's Magazine run until 1837.

fashion plates

regency-ladies-magazines

e-book Lady's Magazine 1830 england