Georgette Heyer's Regency World (20 page)

Attendance at Court demanded a full dress suit more in keeping with the glamour of the previous century than the more austere male costume of the Regency period. A single-breasted cutaway coat of embroidered velvet was worn over a matching velvet or white satin waistcoat and silk or velvet knee-breeches. The coat was generally a rich colour: either blue, purple, green or brown, with the cuffs and front edges sewn with silver lace. White silk stockings with clocks and black slippers with buckles were
de rigueur
and a dress sword and chapeau-bras completed the outfit.

The Intricacies of the Neckcloth

For the man of fashion, the neckcloth or starched cravat was a crucial part of his daily dress. The great dandy and leader of fashion, Beau Brummell, had set the standard and was reputed to spend hours perfecting the set of his neckcloth before leaving the house. The neckcloth was a large square of fabric—usually muslin, lawn or silk—which was folded into either a triangle or a wide band and then wound around the neck and tied at the front. Several of the most fashionable styles required that the neckcloth be well starched so that it would stand stiffly about the wearer’s neck and remain so throughout the day. A perfectly tied neckcloth required both patience and considerable skill, particularly if the wearer aspired to its being recognised as one of the several named styles in fashion during the Regency. In
The Corinthian
, Sir Richard Wyndham had developed the Wyndham Fall and, in
Frederica
, James the footman (whose secret ambition was to become a gentleman’s gentleman) was pleased to have the chance to watch the Marquis of Alverstoke put the final touches to his exquisitely tied neckcloth.

The Oriental tie was required to be perfectly smooth, without the hint of a crease, and snowy white; another austere tie, the
Trône d’Amour
, was similar to the Oriental but with a single horizontal indentation made above the knot; the Mathematical, with its three precise creases (one horizontal indent above the knot, two diagonal creases from the ears to the knot), was demanding but its height was at the discretion of the wearer; while the American was similar to the Mathematical but without the horizontal crease. It was the Mathematical which young Christian Emborough in
Charity Girl
admired on his cousin Viscount Desford and which the Viscount kindly promised to teach him. Both the Osbaldeston and the Napoleon ties were more suited for summer, being of a narrower band and encircling the neck only once. The Osbaldeston employed a large knot at least four inches wide while the Napoleon was simply crossed at the neck. With the taller neckcloths it was important that the edge beneath the ears always remained higher than the edge beneath the chin, as a straight line was considered very poor taste.

One of the most popular ties was the Mail Coach or Waterfall, which required minimal starch, but a considerable degree of skill to achieve a perfect fall over its single knot. Favoured by Corinthians and the bloods of the fancy, it was wound about the neck and tied at the front with the ends pulled over the knot to hang; it presented a softer, fuller look than most other styles of neckcloth. Although coloured neckcloths had been fashionable in earlier times, and were re-introduced in about 1818, for much of the Regency it was expected that neckcloths would be white; the exception being the black-spotted, white muslin cravat of the Four-Horse Club which Lord Ulverston wore in
The Quiet Gentleman
. An alternative to the hand-tied neckcloth was the stock: a ready-made, high-standing neckcloth made of cambric or linen and stiffened with pasteboard. It was fitted around the neck and tied or buckled at the back; it was customary for clergymen to wear stocks rather than neckcloths.

Women’s Fashion from Hats to Hose

The hat was an essential accessory for the Regency woman. From the bonnet which shaded her face from the sun to the lace cap worn indoors and which indicated her age or marital status; the evening hat or turban that completed an elegant ensemble and the straw, chip, or leghorn hat—the decoration of which could fill her leisure hours—some kind of hat or headdress was worn for a good part of each day and often in the evening. Hats were always worn outside and bonnets with brims large enough to protect the complexion were fashionable, as were veils which could be added or removed as desired. Nell Cardross wore a bonnet with a heavy veil when she went to visit a moneylender in
April Lady
. Military-style hats came into vogue during the Napoleonic wars and Shako-style hats, cylinder-shaped, with a high crown, ostrich plumes and neat peak, were a popular accessory to the military-style riding-habit then in vogue. Caps were mainly worn indoors by matrons, widows and women considered to be past their prime and were usually made of lace and trimmed with ribbon. Sir Gareth Ludlow in
Sprig Muslin
was displeased to find Lady Hester Theale wearing a cap but could not persuade her to remove it. He had never thought of Hester as being of an age when she ought to wear a cap but Hester felt it essential to do so in order to emphasise her position as a mature and respectable female. Hat design tended to vary according to the wearer’s hairstyle and throughout the period bonnets came in a wide range of sizes, styles and fabrics; ladies regularly had them made up in muslin, sarsnet, velvet, satin or silk to match a particular pelisse or dress. Trimming hats was a popular pastime and even those straw or fabric hats bought from the milliner were often re-trimmed by their owners. Artificial flowers, feathers, ribbon, and even fruit were all used to add colour and style to a new or old bonnet. In
Arabella
, on finding herself complimented on her pink-feathered hat by the Duke of Clarence, Arabella wrote to tell the news to her mama who had made it for her. Turbans were an elegant form of headdress for the evening and were often made of silk or satin and adorned with ostrich feathers or jewels.

The dramatic shifts in fashion between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries also extended to women’s underwear. Before the introduction of the more revealing lawn and muslin dresses, underwear had consisted mainly of the chemise, corset and the all-important full-length petticoat and, although most English women continued to wear these essential items, by 1811 drawers had also begun to be worn. A knee-length linen or cotton shift of plain design, with or without sleeves, the chemise was the undergarment worn next to the skin. It was wide and straight-edged and could be nearly oblong in shape; generally the only concession to fashion was a square neck with a lace or muslin edging. Introduced as early as 1804, drawers were originally thought to be immodest but they gradually increased in popularity and, by 1811, the Prince Regent’s daughter, Princess Charlotte, was known to wear them and the Duchess of Bedford had the bottoms of hers edged with Brussels lace. Drawers could be made of cotton, silk or muslin and consisted of two knee-length legs attached separately to a waistband. There was no gusset (which made access to the chamber-pot easy) and they could be buttoned or tied below the knee. Long drawers with feet attached for cold-weather wear were introduced during the Regency and several enterprising manufacturers offered ‘ladies hunting and Opera drawers in elastic India cotton’ or ‘patent elastic woollen drawers of stockinette’ to those wishing to ride in greater comfort. Soon referred to as ‘pantalettes’, to distinguish them from the close-fitting male trouser, women’s pantaloons were another form of ladies’ underwear. Longer than the knee-length drawers, they reached to just below the calf. Pantalettes were finished with a deep decorative border of lace and several rows of tucks which were meant to be seen. As a result they were mainly worn by the more daring in society and, in 1817, Lady Charlotte Lindsay shocked the sensibilities of her hostess, Lady Stanley, by wearing ‘a green silk spencer, green silk boots, and trowsers to the ankle much below the petticoats’.

Also known as stays, corsets were worn over the chemise and under the petticoat. Corsets underwent several changes in design during the early nineteenth century. The decade before the Regency was the era of the long corset which pushed up the bosom and extended over the hips to flatten the stomach and create the long straight line needed for the light, clinging lawn and muslin dresses of the period. Made of buckram and jean, it was stiffened with whalebone and steel and laced at the back. In 1811, the short corset returned to favour—stiffer than ever and with shoulder straps and back lacing. It too was made of strong cotton such as jean but its shape was more curved and the aim was to emphasise the waist and bosom. The fashion for small hips encouraged tight lacing and was extremely uncomfortable for many female aspirants to fashion; when Miss Morville was knocked unconscious in
The Quiet Gentleman
Mr Leek was put in a quandary as to whether or not he should cut her laces. The petticoat was put on over the chemise and corset and worn directly under the dress. Mostly made of linen, cotton, cambric, or flannel for the winter, petticoats had a bodice (often high-cut at the back) which fastened at the front and was attached to the skirt, which the wearer secured around the waist with tapes. Petticoats were generally made to match the length of the dress under which they were worn and old or worn-out dresses were sometimes converted into petticoats. During the Regency decorative or ornamental petticoats or underskirts were worn under open dresses designed to show off a portion of the undergarment. Full-length under-dresses worn under ball gowns of gauze or lace were also known as petticoats.

Stockings were worn to the knee and held up with knitted or ribbon garters. They were usually white or pink, although prior to the Regency black and coloured stockings had been popular. Those who could afford them wore silk stockings with cotton feet attached for which, in 1811, they paid about 12s. a pair. Tiffany Wield bought several pairs of silk stockings when shopping in Leeds in
The Nonesuch
and inspired her friend Patience Chartley to put aside enough money to buy just one pair to wear to the Colebatches’ ball. Stockings for evening wear were sometimes embroidered at the ankles (in order to cover the seams) with decorative patterns known as clocks. Cotton stockings were also fashionable and cost around 4s. a pair, while the cheapest and least liked were woollen or worsted stockings which were often made at home. Although warm and functional, worsted stockings were not thought to be modish and it was not uncommon to give them to the needy.