In many ways the decades before the Regency marked the end of the human age, and ushered in the age of machines.
The 1783 Vigée Le Brun portrait, Marie Antoinette en Chemiseset a fashion for cotton among the upper classes, and:
… flipped the textile industry on its head, lighting the fuse laid out by a fast-changing world of exploration, Enlightenment, and rebellion. It caused cotton, and the institution of slavery it stood on, to explode.
The Regency period itself, just a decade from 1811 to 1820, changed male attire for the next 200 years. Beau Brummell introduced the suit:
Exceptionally well-fitting and hand-tailored bespoke suits, to be precise. He rejected the use of breeches and stockings and instead introduced full-length formal trousers with both matching and contrasting jackets.
Clothes were handmade, and expensive, so they weren’t discarded. A ladies’ silk dress, or a man’s topcoat, had many owners over its lifetime.
If you no longer wanted a garment you passed it on to others, or sold it. Eventually, when the garment became too ragged to wear, the material that could be salvaged was incorporated into other items of dress, or into furnishings.
You can dress in Regency style
If you love Regency era clothing, and like to sew, you can create your own Regency garments.
Many YouTube videos will show you how to make a Regency dress and other garments.
For example, here’s a video tutorial for a Regency chemise.
You can be the heroine of your own Regency romance. 🙂
Henry (Henrietta) Eardley makes a huge mistake. Then she makes it worse. She's never known a man like Lord Devernwood, and he's never met a woman like her.
