Men! Their clothes, their beards and the ladies who love them...or not!

THIS!

THAT!

In the Regency period, male attire went from this....to that!


Simplicity was the greater rule, all folderol of lace and hair powder and male peacock colors swept away by the ideals of the French Revolution and equality, fraternity and lack of funds to pay for it all!

While the extravagant attire boiled down to slimmer silhouette and darker colors, so to did men hairstyles change.

Here we see a chronological illustration of that progress, some of which we still honor today. Certainly, shorter hair brings with it cleanliness, order and ease of fashion sense.

 These illustrations/paintings seem more in line with our current sensibilities as they certainly were with the ladies' fashions of the day. Here the simplicity of line in female attire corresponds to that of the men!

Too often when we authors write historical fiction fight with ourselves about what to include to give us the verisimilitude necessary. Fashion is definitely one I struggle with! Shall I talk about the fabric, its feel or cost, its hue, its suitability or NOT for the style. Certainly a dressmaker had to have knowledge of what she/ he created.

I remember that from when I was younger and often sewed my own clothes! Choosing the wrong flexibility of fabric or a thickness of warp could destroy the intent of the design. One should have swayed, perhaps, when one really only stalked!

You get me!

One young man who is currently the Rage in men's costume is Zack Pinsent! Who is he??? 

A tailor who lives in Brighton in UK who makes all his own clothes and sews period clothing for men who wish to dress correctly for historical representation! I hope to visit with him when next I go to Brighton!

Do read about him! https://metro.co.uk/2019/06/27/man-identifies-1820-wears-historical-clothes-10079418/

Fashion sources are a wonderful rabbit hole for research !

Here is one for many time periods but this is 1810-1819 (Regency definitely!)

https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1810-1819/

Here is another, most intriguing! 1810-1830 :

https://cdnhistorybits.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/mens-fashion-during-the-regency-era-1810s-to-1830s/

Lately, we see men wearing “runway scruff”. But beards became popular in the mid-19th century, approximately after Victoria came to the throne.

Here is an intriguing discussion of them:

https://www.theenglishshavingcompany.com/blog/history-of-beards-the-victorians

Beards implied masculinity! Here is a quote from a historian of beards: “Echoing later claims for the innate masculinity of beards, whiskers were said to be ‘grave and manly’. Whiskers had been venerated by ‘the ancients’, lending them an air of authority and wisdom. It was, as one commentator noted, ‘silly to oppose so ancient a custom in an age so attached to antiquity’.”

https://dralun.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/what-about-whiskers-the-forgotten-facial-hair-fashion-of-19th-century-britain/

A fellow making 2 points of things!

I'm going to a #Regency ball and my choices of gowns are unlimited! Yellow is The Color I've chosen!

1817 Yellow Silk Gown,
Leeds Costume Collection

 We're going to ball, you and I, and it's the Regency period. Our Papa has unlimited money to spend on our wardrobes and that's a good thing because our seamstress is frightfully expensive. Delightfully, our complexions and figures can stand a dashing yellow frothy something or other! And to make everything simply scrumptious, we're arriving in Papa's marvelous new town coach. (Do see a marvelous black lacquered older version of it here.)

What color shall we ask for when we see our seamstress?

The colors available to us (in, say 1820) are numerous. And we see in the fashion plates a few we'd like.

I'm blonde with warm brown eyes. And my sister, Beatrice, is a honey blonde with green eyes. Let's see. Choice of fabric and drape has much to do with how complementary the gown will be. Silk, silk damask, silk gauze would be good choices. But what of the color? What do you think is best, hmmm???

(Colors listed are those used commercially with the approximate date in use and the modern color name by the British Color Council.)

Apollo, 1823. Bright Gold
Isabella, 1821. Cream
Bird of Paradise, 1830. Straw
Orleans, 1832. Rose Beige.
Cameloparde, 1828. French Beige
Congo, 1883. Coppery Gold
Dust of Paris, 1851. Ecru
Florentine, 1867. Yellow with Bronze tint
Oiseau, 1837. Chartreuse Yellow
Terre de Pologne, 1831. Yellow, bordering on Brown

Cerise's picture from her trip to Chateau Vaux le Vicomte:
Berliner de Ville, circa 1840,
by W. King and Company, London

1810-1812 Pale Yellow Evening Gown;
Metropolitan Museum

1811 Ballgown, Regency era

1800-1805 Dress
(no attribution, Pinterest)

LADY STARLING'S STOCKINGS hits bestseller list! Free on KU, 99 cents for this spicy Regency! In Print too!

On Kindle Unlimited FREE, 99 cents to buy!
Amazon

This Regency starring a lady spy and her spymaster is once again on the bestseller list! So tickled!
Hope you will give her a go with her new cover, new text, too.

When she debuted in 2011, she was in an erotic romance. Now? She's still in love with Monsieur Noir, but now she's in a spicy romance.

I transitioned to mainstream with a bit of hotness a few years ago. One can do erotic for so long and then, it's time to become more mainstream!

So here she is, still finding spies in her cousin's garden in Naples, ferreting out the person who attempts to keep Napoleon's brother-in-law in power in Italy!

Enjoy!
Amazon Kindle Unlimited in digital and also in print!

Do you see RED? Color in fashion in Regency romances! What great-great-grandma wore!

This charming number is dated approximately 1810
 and sits in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London

Creating fashion in our novels, we authors like to give stunning visuals. Sometimes, those require more research than we’d hope!

Recently on the Beau Monde RWA writers loop, we discussed the color red, the dyes and fabrics that could have existed at the time.

Here from one of my large references on fashion (let that read TOME), I thought it fun to list for you the very limited number of shades of red for that period! Note, too, that many come from the latter part of the period which is not officially the Regency, but indeed the late reign of George IV, once that notorious man, the Prince of Wales.

So this table reads as: the title of the color, the year the term was first used, the modern color description/name as per the British Color Council! (In alpha order!)

Aurora, 1809. Chilli.

Aurora, 1829.  Shell-Pink.

Eminence, 1829.  Crushed Strawberry.

Japanese Rose, 1826.  Crushed Strawberry.

Marsh Mallow, 1829. Crocus or Old Rose.

Morone, 1811. Peony Red.

Naccarat, 1800. Tangerine.

Terre D’Egypt, 1824. Brick Red.

What does this imply? That blood red, ruby red, cherry red and many more were not possible in this period. So when you read that your heroine wears a bright red gown to the ball, beware, she may not have been at all!

Cerise went to #Bath, #England, indulged in #Fashion Museum, architecture! #Regency

One of the displays featuring 2 men's
coats in forefront plus a man's red silk damask
banyan, dated 1715. 

On my recent research trip to England, Mr. DeLand and I caught the train for Bath. What a delight to visit the town where Jane Austen visited and so many other notables. My main interest, as you might imagine, was to go to the Fashion Museum. Oh, sigh. How I wish I could have spent WEEKS there instead of hours!

The wealth of what they have collected there could amuse and inform anyone interested in fabric, designing and fashion. A little girl's dream closet come true is certainly the impression I had!

The Fashion Museum is housed in the same building as the Assembly Rooms not far from the major thoroughfare through the old city of Bath and not far, in another direction, from the Crescent and from the Circus. Financed by a tontine opened in 1768 (of 53 subscribers), the list raised 14,000 pounds to begin construction. The exterior is very plain, but the interior is dotted with Corinthian columns, swags and Vitruvian scrolls. I leave for another day, my pictures and dialogue about the Roman baths, the Pump Room, our dining experience there, and the city in general.

George II portrait on entry wall
of Fashion Museum

Here for your delight are my pictures. I apologize first that there are few pictures of the exhibit per se. Taking pix through glass is not my forte and so I demure and offer up my regrets. Instead, I encourage you to buy a marvelously affordable train ticket to Bath from London and enjoy the delights of the train and that museum for yourself.The Fashion Museum holds original clothing from many eras, collected and carefully catalogued. The curators rotate the displays to "air" the garments which are normally kept in boxes. Researchers may apply to examine items of clothing. And I, Dear Reader, wished I had the time!

 This particular exhibit I saw was of Georgian period clothing, including women's and men's outfits. Shoes, bonnets, belt buckles, jewelry and ladies pockets were a wonderful site to behold, giving you a full picture of what people wore head to toe. In particular, George IV's extravagant coronation outfit was breath-taking.

I particularly enjoyed learning the history of the Assembly Rooms, not as popular after the Regency period. As Brighton became more popular, the building was vacant for a time, then in the early 20th century it became a cinema! In ruin after the Great War, restored only after World War II. Do visit the website for more information about this marvelous building in Bath.

Period gowns in shades of browns, reds and yellows
of Regency period

Decor at one end of the Tea Room.

Mantel in the Octagon Card room,
central room of the Assembly Rooms layout.

Plaster decor in the ballroom

The balcony above the Ballroom floor where the musicians sat and played.

Full length of the Ballroom, ceiling decor. Imagine this lit with candles!

One chandelier which in Regency period boasted candles not electric light bulbs.

Ceiling plasterwork, detail.

Detail, wrought iron fencing on homes/offices in the Circus, not far from the Assembly Rooms.