The beginning of the 19th century in Europe is known as the Regency / Empire era. Actually, it’s Regency period in Britain and Empire period in France. But regardless of the name difference, these two fashion styles look pretty much the same. The clothing of this historical era is very simple, natural, elegant, and has a few embellishments. Here, we’ll have a look at the Regency / Empire fashion and compare it a little bit with the previous Rococo style. What changed in clothes? Which adornments became tasteless? And which clothing articles managed to maintain their significance and popularity?
The article is based on a video by Amanda Hallay, fashion historian
Let's start at the beginning of the 19th century. After the terrible, turbulent, and transformative events at the end of the 18th century, the world wanted to move as far away from the frivolity of Rococo style and L’Ancien Regime as possible and show itself as being serious and earnest. And, of course, this will play out in fashion.
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism was the art, architecture, philosophy, and fashion as well. It has everything to do with getting serious again. Neoclassicism was seen as terribly serious, terribly sober, terribly sensible, and was more or less the opposite in every way to Rococo.
Although neoclassicism kicked off in the late 18th century, it wasn't until after The French Revolution did its earnest and serious intent resonate internationally in the West.
Let's quickly compare pre-revolutionary fashion with this neoclassical stuff.
On the left, here is a Rococo beauty. So artificial – lots of powder, hairpieces, flowers… And take a look at the lady on the right. She’s completely different – natural hair, hardly any makeup, no hairpieces, no flowers, no nothing, no lace. A big difference.
In the 18th century, male clothing included big powdered wigs and flowers – all of this kind of stuff. In the 19th century, it is very different. Suddenly, it changes into a very masculine look.
A minute of history
Fashion still took its lead from Europe. So who was in charge there? There was France with its emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. And there was Britain with George IV, the Prince Regent.
What is a Prince Regent? A regent is somebody who rules who isn't an official king. George III went mad and deemed unfit to rule, so his son became king, but not really king. He was still a prince, so he is known as the Prince Regent. And this period in British history is called the “Regency era”, after Prince Regent.
So French and English fashion in the 1810s and 1820s was actually very similar. But although more or less identical, we use the word “Empire” (pronounced “Omp-eer”) for French fashion trends and the word “Regency” for British fashion trends.
Regency / Empire fashion. Main features
Let's take a look at Regency and Empire fashion.
Less was more. Look how simple this is. Here is a selection of dresses from the 1810s and 1820s.
The only real difference between fashion in the 1800-1815 and 1815-1829 is that the skirt part, the bottom, became slightly more cone-shaped.
Now, although they certainly used color in the Regency and Empire era, they really did favor white, cream, and ivory. Why? Well, because although we know that statues in the classical world were painted in gaudy bright colors, at the beginning of the 19th century, they didn't know this and they really thought that everyone wore white. So they wanted to wear white.
And here is a selection of dresses from this era, and you can see that these do use color, all kinds of color. So colors were used and yet, the preference really was for lighter colors. To evoke Greek statuary as much as possible.
Spencers
One of the staples of the Regency wardrobe was the spencer jacket. For the first quarter of the 19th century, spencers were the jacket to wear. Basically, a spencer was an Empire-waisted long-sleeved jacket that had increasingly puffy sleeves.
It was the perfect jacket to wear with an Empire-waisted dress. And often in the back, they had these sort of tailcoat features.
Pelisse
Another garment from this period is a pelisse. This is an Empire-waisted long-sleeved tight-fitting coat. And we associate the pelisse with the Regency / Empire era, that first quarter of the 19th century.
Nets as decoration
Because there wasn't all that much decorative element involved in clothing, especially evening wear, compared to what had gone before, in the Rococo, the Regency and Empire folks discovered net.
Here are several illustrations depicting the net over dress or over skirt.
Lamé
It is during this era that we first see the use of lamé. And you can understand why these dresses were so simple – that lamé added some bling to them, especially for evening gowns.
Headwear and hairdos in the Regency / Empire era
Headdresses
Let's turn our attention to headwear. Meet the bonnet. Quite shallow-brimmed straw bonnets, usually tied and secured with a ribbon, were the quintessential headwear of the Regency era.
The first bonnet in the picture may not look like a shallow-brimmed bonnet but, compared to what you'll see in the 1830s, it certainly is. Sometimes, these bonnets were made of cloth, sometimes the brim was straw and the back was made of cloth. And there were also hats that looked like the third one in the picture. They were very soft and this was a variation of a turban. Turbans were extremely popular in the Regency era.
Hair
And now, let's take a look at Regency and Empire hair. This picture gives a very good impression of what hair was like – it's very natural. Take a look at the second example – center-parted (nearly always, if not always), with soft curls at either side and then pulled up in the back. There was a looseness about it, it was natural.
Also, look at the two portraits above. The women wear these headdresses that were often incorporated, as were ribbons. By the way, these hairdos were completely inspired by ancient Greek and ancient Rome.
Regency female costumes
Regency-style daydress
How do all these beautiful pieces of Regency-style clothing come together?
It started with pantalettes. These were crotchless drawstring drawers, underpants really.
Over that, went your shift – long shirt.
Then, a new little item – short stays or stays. It is an early type of bra that kept the breasts secure. Came in long and short versions. The idea of stays was to keep your breasts pert and perky, to keep everything from jiggling around.
Everything beneath a lady's dress in this era was referred to as her “underpinnings”.
Over this, came your beautiful simple Empire gown.
And then, we have the fichu. This garment was used in the 18th century as well, but Regency fichus were simpler and they were very often tucked into the dress.
Shoes were flat. Almost like ballerina pumps.
The next layer was a spencer.
The women wore one of these beautiful Regency hairdos and a bonnet.
And the accessory to carry was a very small and ladylike parasol.
Also, note that shawls were very popular – these long rectangular shawls. They were accessories as well, draped over the forearms. People were carrying these shawls in a very loose way. It was just as much an accessory as an item used for warmth.
Regency-style evening dress
Let's see how a Regency lady dressed for the evening.
The underpinnings are the same: pantalettes, shift, and stays.
Then, a simple gown, which she would wear with long evening gloves. This was a key feature of Regency attire.
Shoes were slippers with tiny kitten heels.
And a very long shawl draped over her shoulder and making a train at the back.
The hairdo was higher and more elaborate. Discreet hairpieces could be used to achieve the extra height and thickness needed for these more elaborate evening hairdos. But the idea was that it should still look very natural and very classical.
Regency male costumes
Regency men had a role model, the first true male style icon. His name is Beau Brummel. He really was the first male fashion icon, because all he did was fashion. He was about fashion, he was about style. Beau Brummel was a professional gambler, an aristocrat, a socialite. He was also one of the Prince Regent's closest friends. And it was Beau Brummell who really drove this idea that male attire should be significantly different to female attire, that women should dress in a pretty colorful clothing, with lots of lace and this kind of prettiness and gentleness and femininity, and men should look masculine but extremely well-groomed.
The Dandies
It started with Beau Brummell and his pals, but it extended throughout the centuries.
Here are a couple of dandies from later in the 19th century. The definition of a “dandy” is – a man unduly devoted to style, neatness, and fashion in dress and appearance.
So, what clothing articles were included in a typical men’s Regency-era costume?
Of course, he would be wearing drawers, long underpants.
Then, tight breeches and riding boots.
A very high-collared shirt goes next.
And a high-collared double-breasted waistcoat. It was all about being high in the collar in the 19th century. And a double-breasted attire was extremely popular in the first quarter of the 19th century with both genders but would remain popular throughout the 19th century with men.
A neckcloth or a cravat is the next piece. And because all of the attention was on the neck, this high neck, there was a variety of ways that men could tie their neckcloth.
The next item is called a “fob”. It's a little ribbon that men would clip to their waistband and this fob would hold their watch or it might have a little medal on it or something like that. It was really the only adornment that men wore in the Regency era.
Then, a double-breasted tailcoat. It's a jacket that is high in the front, at the waist, and then it dips down into tails at the back.
The male hair in the Regency era was short and natural. It kind of swept forward and it was supposed to look a little bit messy. Such style of hair has a name – it's called “frightened owl” hair. It actually became fashionable for people to want to be outdoors, in proper nature, not in those manicured 18th-century gardens, where man had triumphed over nature. In the 19th century, it was fashionable to go out in real nature, and so this sort of windblown hairdo for men was extremely popular – it showed that they'd been out and about in nature.
The hat in the Regency era was called a “round hat”. Sure, it came in certain varieties. Men no longer wore a tricorn, but it is not a top hat yet. It's a round hat. But there is another hat from this era that was popular – the kind of hat that Napoleon wore. And it is called a “bicorn”.
And all these items form a Regency male attire.
But there's another little item of a male outfit used in this period. It's called a “nightdress”. Basically, this was sort of like a smoking jacket or a dressing gown that a fashionable Regency male would wear when he was relaxing at home.
Apart from the replacement of the tailcoat with the frock coat and then the jacket, and changes in hats and hair, male clothing would remain essentially the same for the rest of the century.
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