Regency Fashion:
The Rise and Fall of the Empire Waist
...for after undergoing an examination into the value and make of her gown, the colour of her shoes, and the arrangement of her hair, she was almost sure of being told that upon "her word she looked vastly smart, and she dared to say she would make a great many conquests."
- from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Fashion is something that comes and goes, always changing but ever present. It is a means of self expression, yet society dictates what is acceptable. It is something that communicates ideas and reflects the time and place in which one lives. It is an indicator of what it is to be modern, reflecting cultural and social phenomena. The fashion of the Regency era was born out of the onset of industrialization and the rise of democratic reform. It follows a century of aristocratic indulgence exhibited in the Rococo fashions of the time and precedes the strict moral constructs of the Victorian era with values heavily influenced by the rising power of a middle class.  Regency fashion becomes all the more fascinating when examining it in the context of its historical setting and fashions in which it sat between.
Most of the 18th century was dominated by Rococo styles that were flamboyant and highly ornate. Focusing on evening wear, by far, the preferred fabric for gowns was silk which was often further embellished with metallic threads. Voluminous skirts emerged from the waistline, which were supported by panniers (padding and hoops of different materials such as cane, baleen or metal). To achieve the desired look, a heavily laced bodice was worn that required long-waisted, rigid stays to taper the torso. This created a very narrow waist in sharp contrast to the billowing skirts. The above pictured gowns, the robe à la française and the robe à l'anglaise, were popular from approximately 1720 to 1780.
TIGHT LACING, or FASHION before EASE by John Collet, 1777
Mary Wollstonecraft wrote in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman that uncomfortable clothes requiring whalebone stays were a means of physically and mentally subduing women. Stays pulled tight to near suffocation, skirts so comically wide that one must shimmy sideways through doorways...something had to give. But, fashion was not the only facet of life where things were reaching a breaking point. With the onset of the American war for independence from their distant British king, a period of revolutions and democratic ideas would have its influence on British society. And soon after and much closer to home, the French Revolution would have its own effect and initiate a 20 year period of war between the two countries. However, before the two countries said adieu, the French queen bestowed a gift upon British women...the gift of comfort.
Marie Antoinette in a Chemise Dress, after Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun, after 1783, National Gallery of Art.
In the above portrait, Marie Antoinette is seen, and it may seem unextraordinary if one does not know that it was considered scandalous to paint a member of the French monarchy in such casual attire. But, what a legacy that dress would leave! The French queen wears a gown that is naturally draping and transparent, resembling a lady's shift. This white muslin dress with puffed sleeves and blousy ruffles around the neckline, known as the chemise à la reine, found its origins in the dress of the ladies of the French West Indies and would have a large influence in altering the course of fashion. The queen sent this dress to her friends in England, the Duchess of Devonshire and the actress/literary celebrity Mary Robinson. Once those illustrious paragons of fashion were seen wearing the chemise a la reine, a new era had begun.
It is ironic that Marie Antoinette influenced the trend toward the neoclassical style of Regency fashion since the democratic ideals that surrounded it led to her demise. Before the 18th century came to a close, the waistline continued to rise until it sat just under the bust, fine muslin became the fabric of choice, and dresses were allowed to drape naturally and cling to a woman's silhouette. The rigid stays of Rococo fashion were no longer needed, and the women of high society were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. The new simplicity applied not only to gowns, but was seen in footwear as well. Towards the end of the 18th century, the heel began to shrink and the fabrics became less ornate. The flat-heeled slipper had appeared by 1800 and remained popular throughout the Regency Period.
However, one area of fashion that perhaps became more intricate was headwear, for something was needed to fill the void left by the demise of the lofty powdered hairdos of the last century. During the Regency Period, women did not only look to the Classical past for inspiration, they were also inspired by other cultures, or at least fantastical ideas of them, such as with the turban. There were a range of derivations of this exotic headdress that included a 'mameluke' cap consisting of a wrapped fez-like toque. Headwear could be large and elaborate or as simple as a bandeau.
Fashion Plate 1811
Fashion Plate 1815
Fashion Plate 1819
As the Regency Period progressed, women began to abandon the easy, breezy neoclassical look. Waistlines began to lower and skirts began to deviate away from the natural silhouette becoming bell-shaped. The necklines rose and the sleeves puffed out like inflatable arm floats.
During the Regency Period, distinctions between the formal and the informal had been blurred compared to those of the previous age, but they once again sharpened leading up to the Victorian Era. Regency fashion was somewhat of an anomaly - so very distinctive from what came before and what came after. With early industrialization and the radical ideas of the rights of men and women being expounded and acted upon, the world must have seemed in a disconcerting flux. The last decade of the 18th century was the beginning of the modern world, and from then on, society would change at an ever increasing pace. Perhaps, women looked far back in time to Classic Greece and Rome to gain respite from the ever increasing rate of change. Perhaps, they looked to faraway cultures to inspire the balm of imagination. Do we not find comfort in doing the same today as we immerse ourselves in Jane Austen's novels or lose ourselves in the imaginary London of Bridgerton?
Sources:
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Ribeiro, Aileen. "2. Painters of Modern Life: Fashion from 1789 to 1820." The Art of Dress: Fashion in England and France, 1750 to 1820 by Aileen Ribeiro, Yale University Press, 1995. A&AePortal, aaeportal.com/?id=-22503.
Davidson, H. (2022). Looking Back Through Fashion: Regency Romances and a ‘Jumble of Styles.’ In M. McCue & S. Thomas (Eds.), The Edinburgh Companion to Romanticism and the Arts (pp. 502–522). Chapter, Edinburgh University Press.
Bolles, M. P. (1944). Empire Costume: An Expression of the Classical Revival. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 2(6), 190–195. https://doi.org/10.2307/3257118
Day, C. A. (2017) Dying to be Beautiful: Fragile Fashionistas and Consumptive Dress in England, 1780-1820. Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 40: 603–620. doi: 10.1111/1754-0208.12512.
Ribeiro, Aileen, and publisher Yale University Press. The Art of Dress : Fashion in England and France 1750 to 1820 / Aileen Ribeiro. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. Print.
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Byrne, P. (2013). Perdita. Random House.
