The Regency era has captured the public imagination like few other periods of British history. There always appear to be new screen adaptations of Jane Austen’s work just around the corner. Shows like the Netflix hit Bridgerton also have fun playing around with Regency conventions.
Such is the popularity of Regency period dramas, they have inspired many of us to weave stylistic motifs from the era into our modern-day attire. Yes, ‘regencycore’ is a thing. Sometimes though, historical accuracy isn’t. How well do costume designers for film and TV actually capture all the authentic details?
From 1811 to 1820, the future George IV served as Prince Regent for his mentally ill father, George III. However, ‘the Regency’ is also used as shorthand for the late Georgian era more generally, from the 1790s to the 1820s. Sky HISTORY explores the rich world of Regency fashion.
Women’s fashions in the Regency era
Much of what you think you know about women’s Regency fashion is likely mistaken. Debutantes of the time weren’t being strung up in tight, waist-cinching corsets. Nor were they tottering about with extravagant, OTT hairstyles. This is all much closer to early Georgian fashion.
Regency fashion focused instead on embracing the natural female shape, not trying to contort it into an unrealistic ideal. The prevailing trend elevated the waistline of a woman’s dress to just below the bosom. This made for a columnar ‘Empire silhouette’ inspired by ancient Greco-Roman culture.
So, Regency corsets (or ‘stays’, as they were called back then) sat relatively loose on the body. If you’ve been watching Bridgerton since the first season, you might recall the scene where stays leave Daphne Bridgerton with unsightly marks on her back. However, an actual Regency woman would have worn a chemise under her stays to prevent this from happening.
What did Regency men wear?
Compared to Regency fashion, early Georgian fashion looks somewhat ostentatious, with all that alabaster makeup and those powdered wigs. So, why did Regency Brits rein in this kind of stuff? We could point to multiple factors, but perhaps the biggest was the French Revolution just across the Channel.
Before, it was cool to look wealthy. Once French aristocrats started going to the gallows, Brits decided they wanted to look anything but wealthy. So, men switched to subtler hues with their attire (don’t be fooled by the Duke of Hastings’ purple jacket and waistcoat in Bridgerton). Wigs fell in popularity, too – especially after Whitehall imposed a new tax on hair powder in the 1790s.
The Napoleonic Wars broke out in 1803, and it’s hard to overstate the impact on Regency fashion. The men heading off to fight the French were hailed as heroes, and often seen in practical military clobber like trousers and Hessian boots. As a result, these became increasingly accepted as everyday menswear, too, at the expense of the breeches and low-heeled shoes that had long held sway.
Do period dramas get Regency fashion right?
It’s fair to say that many period dramas set during the Regency take creative liberties with the historical accuracy of the clothing. In at least some instances, this is deliberate. Bridgerton costume designer Ellen Mirojnick reveals: ‘We have increased the amount of glitter, increased the amount of colour, increased the over-embellishing. We have done things that can relate a little bit more to today’s point of view.’
Similar approaches appear to have been taken with the two best-known screen adaptations of the Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice. This is according to Rosemary Harden, a curator at the Fashion Museum Bath. Harden opines that many period dramas ‘say as much about the time in which they were made as the time in which they were set’.
Harden points out how, in the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice, star Keira Knightley’s ‘shawls and loose hair’ make her look like a mid-Noughties festivalgoer. Harden also believes that Jennifer Ehle’s attire in the 1995 TV series overaccentuates her bust. Could this portrayal have been influenced by the 1990s popularity of the Wonderbra? Harden implies as much.
Regency fashion’s enduring impact
Today, Regency fashion remains popular, and is delightfully easy to emulate. For example, cravats have much in common with ties, while hair salons can give women Regency-style curls and ringlets. Modern spins on regencycore, like ‘dark Regency’, show that the era is likely to continue inspiring fashionistas for generations to come.
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