A little Regency inspiration.

I feel this blog has been a little Edwardian heavy lately, and so I thought I'd put together a quick (or not so) post of Regency inspiration, for both myself, and anybody out there who may be interested.

Let's kick things off with some fashion plates! Fashion plates are often a good source of finding historically accurate inspiration, but it is a good idea to bare in mind that these were high end, therefore not necessarily worn by everybody. It's like how today we have the super-duper trendy items of clothing, and then we have the clothes that we feel comfortable in, or are best suited to our personal taste.

Mint green pelisse with ribbon trim, 1817.

c. 1800

What fabulous trim on that spencer! Also, note the clocked stockings.

A lovely simple ensemble, complete with red shoelaces.

Deep plum day dress, 1802.

1810.

A lovely neckerchief with a plain white gown, and some rather long gloves.

Robe de Crêpe, and evening gown with a net overlay.

Let's not forget the bonnets!

If you're wondering what the book/folder she has under her arm is, it's titled 'Solfége', which, according to wiki, is a music education method used to teach pitch and sight singing.

She looks to be wearing either a slightly transparent gown over petticoats, or a slightly transparent spencer jacket over a dress, the latter of which is something I haven't come across before, but I really like it! It has piping on the seams, too. And then there's the adorable matching yellow shoes and gloves.

I have a bit of a thing for riding habits, so of course I had to include some.

c. 1800

c. 1802. One of my favourites.

1816.

Moving swiftly on, here are some gorgeous pelisses, spencers, redingotes that I've accumulated over on my Pinterest. I'm still coming to terms with the difference between a pelisse and a redingote. As far as I can tell, the pelisse was worn over a gown, but made from a lighter material and decorated, and so could look like a gown itself, whereas a redingote is made from a heavier material, and came back in towards the later part of the Regency era. I found a great post on Regency outerwear, if you fancied further reading. Here's a snippet...

"The pelisse has a somewhat mundane genesis: with the fashion of the time favoring lightweight fabrics with almost no underclothing, women were literally freezing to death. 1803 was a devastating year for the fashionable lady; a goodly number perished from the "muslin disease," the popular name given a French influenza epidemic credited with carrying off scores of scantily dresses ladies who's braved the frigid weather in little more than wispy sheaths. To counteract death by fashion, the pelisse and spencer soon became standard wear among Regency belles."

1823. This is one of my favourite pelisses. 

The front.

Embroidered redingote, c. 1810

Redingote, c. 1822

Spencer with military inspired buttons. A look that I adore.

Redingote, c. 1810

Now, let's have some gowns.

Formal gown with train, c. 1800

Bib front gown, c. 1805. What a fab colour.

British evening dress with net overlay, c. 1810. Netting became popular due to a development in machine-made net.

Zig zag striped cotton day dress, c. 1810

English dress made from cotton, neckerchief trimmed with French valenciennes lace, c. 1802. In this, you can see how the style was adapted from the look that was popular in the late 18th century.

Muslin evening dress, c. 1812. Embroidered with single strands of very fine silk, with the stalks embroidered in silver gilt thread.

Muslin dress with mameluke sleeves, 1816.

Half robe, c. 1810. I also have a thing for striped half robes.

Some absolutely lovely sheer dresses.

French evening dress, c. 1805

And last but by no means least, some fabulous shoes.

Slipper worn by Juliette Récamier, a French society leader, c. 1805

Grecian sandals, as this style of shoe was known, came in and out of fashion every few years during the Regency era. These are from 1818.

Half boot. Regency's contribution to 'make do and mend', c. 1815

c. 1798