Two weeks ago I was in Nashville, Tennessee visiting with my daughter and son-in-law, and as we searched for entertainment in the metropolis, I stumbled across an exhibition I could not miss: Dressing Downton. Although admittedly not an obsessive fan, I did watch Downton Abbey® and along with the excellent story,...
In writing my Darcy Saga, and specifically my soon-to-be released Darcy and Elizabeth: Hope of the Future, bedroom wear has frequently contributed to the plot. Go figure! Long ago I researched, and am content with my conclusions and how I’ve chosen to describe the pretty underthings and nightgowns worn by...
Once an object of royal privilege, the parasol had its origins in the ancient east, migrating from China to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent where its use was exclusively to protect from the sun as opposed to rain. It eventually spread to the arid climes of Egypt, Greece, and...
Miser’s purses are known by many names: Misers, miser bags, ring or string purses, stocking purses, and finger purses to name a few. They originated in the late eighteenth century and were popular into the early 1900’s. These purses were used by both men and women and usually were long, almost...
Men during the Regency wore thick coats over their suits, as folks always have for warmth, and then as now there were a wide variety of styles. My personal favorite is the caped greatcoat. Also called a coachman’s coat, carrick or garrick coat, and box coat, it is the ancestor of...
In the aftermath of the French Revolution, European fashion followed the example established by breaking away from the thick brocade, heavy lace, immense powdered wigs, and stiff structures which were a hallmark of aristocratic garments. Flipping 180 degrees, fashionable dress embraced a “natural” style with ease and comfort the defining factor. The...
Incroyable et Merveilleuse was a set of 33 engravings, published in 1814, depicting extremely fashionable French men and women. They were engraved by George-Jacques Gatine after drawings by Horace Vernet and Louis-Marie Lanté. While most fashion plates were on a small scale designed to fit in women’s magazines such as...
Fashion print is from the March 1818 issue of Ackermann’s Repository of Arts fashion magazine. The image to the right is the original plate, faded and yellowed over time. Below is the fashion plate as refined by me. The print was described in the magazine as follows: “A fawn-coloured poplin...
Yes, you read the title correctly! I have something new on the market. Whoot! This time around (as I continue to work on my novel) I created a non-fiction picture and history book. A “coffee table” book of sorts, simply not as ginormous as the usual tabletop display photo book....
The history of clothing for European infants and children is relatively unremarkable until the last decades of the 18th century. From birth to nearly two years of age, infants (male and female) were swaddled tightly (a philosophy that, thankfully, waned in the 17th century until obsolete by the late 1700s). At...
Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., the founder of the Kentucky Derby — click to read my post on Austen Authors for more on thoroughbred horse racing — modeled the race after European-style racing events like the Royal Ascot and Derby at Epsom Downs. In the past, and still to this...
Thanks to the knowledgeable folks at The Art of Manliness — link here — anyone of the male sex can attend the Kentucky Derby assured that he is dressed and groomed properly. This IS the South, after all, where dressing according to the rules of fashion are vital! ...
Military uniforms, fame and fashion have always been closely linked. Regimental dress uniforms were designed to stand out and impress young men into joining up – with the added bonus of attracting the opposite sex in the process. LOL! When the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars (1792–1815) brought much of Europe...
When it comes to Regency fashion it is difficult to know where to start. Arbitrarily starting on the outside, let’s talk about the garments worn by the ladies of the day for warmth. With the fashion of the time favoring lightweight fabrics with almost no underclothing, women were literally freezing...
Most of my novels are set during the first two decades of the 1800s. That era is roughly referred to as the “Regency” due to the nine-year rule of the Prince of Wales as Regent while his father King George III was incapacitated from mental illness. Technically the Regency Era began...
