It's not an era I have a particular interest in, as far as costume is concerned, but it is an era I love for fiction settings. The Discord group I am a part of has suggested going to Bath and either joining with, or meeting up with those who are formally part of the 2021 Jane Austen meet-up. So, that needs Regency appropriate attire.
Now my first thoughts for the Regency era are based on ball dresses and outfits worn during the Season - both from museum collections and in novels. They don't appeal at all. I'm neither young nor sylph-like, and I feel that I'd just feel so self-conscious in a flimsy muslin dress, let alone a White dress. My disabilities affect co-ordination, so white as a colour is deeply Out for me - I will be wearing something on it by the time I get there, if not before I leave the house.
So, no flimsy, white muslin for me. Does that mean no Regency clothes at all?
I'm older, married, and also not rich. If I was living then, I would have no need to wear the "pretty" clothes of a debutante or other husband-hunting Society lady. What if I dress as a middle class lady, and one of middle age? Oh, and it's winter, would an older lady really have worn muslins in November? What about white? Wasn't that for young virginal women who were showing off their purity for potential husbands? I don't need that, I can "wear colours", so I shall. I don't have a lot of money, so I can see it would be reasonable to wear something less fussy than a young, and/or wealthy woman.
On "It's winter!", what about a coat, or headwear?
Oh, and underwear. Oh hell, I'll need underwear - you can't get an authentic outline without the right underwear!
So, as it's very much early days, and nothing is decided, but below are the beginnings of my thoughts, inspiration, and tentative plans.
I've fallen in love with two dresses from c1818, so I'm looking at narrowing my clothing to broadly that year.
I've realised that my way of approaching the concept of a dress from a specific period is to create myself a rough character. That "character" is mostly a meditation on who would I have been if today was 1818?
My "character"
As an "older woman", I can get away with have clothing items that are a few years out of date as don't feel I'd have been in the first stare of fashion). I'm giving 'her' the name/reference of Harriet or Henrietta.
So who is this person I feel I would be?
Middle class - I have never been wealthy, but having grown up solidly middle class, I feel that that is a background I feel confident in portraying. It's also more realistically achievable for me - while I couldn't afford fine silks even now, I can afford to buy decent quality fabrics if I budget sensibly.
Older - I have no desire to pretend to be younger than I am, and I am not ashamed of my real age, so I'm content to portray a woman in her 40s
Married - hopefully my other half will be coming to Bath with me, and may even be willing to dress up too. A married woman would be more likely to wear the darker and richer colours I prefer, and wouldn't be looking for a marital partner. A single woman in her 40s would have been reliant on her relatives in a way that a married woman was not, and I feel that I am pragmatic enough to have married for "job security" when I was younger.
Comfortable - By this I am referring to her preferences in fashion. She's neither first stare of fashion nor totally out of date. She's comfortably within the range of normal for her era, without being at all obvious.
Quiet - not physically quite, but in line with the "comfortable" above, she is not overly visible or noticeable. As someone who is not always seeking the most up-to-date fashions, she's therefore less obvious and more likely to blend in with the background scenery. This fits with an older middle class lady who is not seeking to raise her station or marry off children. She has no need to be noticed, so she dresses "quietly" so as not to draw excessive amounts of attention. I'm an introvert, so I am more comfortable and confident when I am not the centre of attention, and Regency Me is going to be the same...
Neither poor nor wealthy - this is different to class, which was somewhat less easily changeable. Because my creations have to live within my real life budget, I choose not to portray someone who is vastly more wealthy than I am. I choose to portray a woman who is comfortably off, but not rolling in money. She can afford nice fabric, but she won't have multiple changes of clothing nor a vast wardrobe of clothes to pick from. She prefers to buy/make one to two good quality items and vary how they look with accessories. Her clothes will be well made and made for/fitted to her, rather than second-hand and made over ones. They aren't high fashion, because that lasts longer and she's not so wealthy as to waste money on buying new clothes before the older ones are unsuitable for wear. She has some servants, but her clothes are cut to allow her to dress herself where possible rather than being reliant on employing a dedicated ladies maid.
Creating the Costume
Subsequent posts on this topic will go through my plans for making/buying the different layers to dress u[ as this character. Before I go though, here is a great guide to the general outline of the layers: http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/regency/tips/
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