°
For superb Victorian or Edwardian
|
 |
Regency Taste - Fashion HistoryBy Pauline Weston Thomas for Fashion-Era.com |
Regency Taste - Fashion History
Jane Austen's Regency GentlewomenJane Austen wrote six novels published between 1811 and 1818. The characters are not fabulously rich, but have a comfortable homelife and are wealthy enough to live virtually uninterrupted lives of leisure. Their roles are played out in the drawing room, the assembly room, the Parsonage or Rectory, the fashionable street for promenading, or the grounds of the country house. Her characters spend their time reading, writing letters, walking, riding, dancing, playing cards, listening to music and enjoying the art of conversation. Their conversation speaks of their own safe and comfortable society. They talk about fashion and taste, about acceptable manners and unacceptable behaviour. Above all else, their conversation concentrates on thoughts of love and marriage. Their mothers despair for the lack of suitable suitors. Surprisingly women of this era have opinions and a knowledge of the facts of life that were denied to later Victorian women. It would be wrong to suggest that all people enjoyed the kind of lifestyle of Jane Austen's characters. Possibly well over half of Europe still lived in discomfort, working hard, living poorly, outside of fashionable clothing and often going to bed hungry. See the names of Jane Austen's six books in the section Contemporary C19th Books. Bath SpaFashionable young ladies were the core ingredients of Jane Austen's world. When Jane Austen wrote her novels, Bath Spa town was still Britain's most fashionable health resort. Today it is considered a beautiful city, but in the time of Regency England it must have seemed the finest city of the world and an example of refined taste. Bath town had and still has, colonnaded crescents of immaculate proportions, squares and streets. Bath Spa oozed classical grace and proportion, then and now. Earlier in 1705 Beau Nash had become Master of Ceremonies at the Assembly Rooms in Bath. He laid down rules of etiquette relating to behaviour and acceptable dress. By 1730 Bath was the most fashionable city in England. It held this position until the Regency Era, by which time it was highly established as the place to be seen. In the name of refinement restraint was more evident than ever before. Fashionable women shed their hoop skirts and their high wigs. Make up usually made of lethal ingredients was discarded. Hair powder was abandoned for fresh clean washed cropped hairstyles. Blatant use of jewelry was soon seen as vulgar and outdated. Simpler styles of dress in plain cotton fabrics resulted in a fresher less artificial look and became quite usual. The simple clothes worn by fashionable women and men were in perfect parallel with the classical mood of the homes and the streets Austen’s characters occupied. Rococo to the Age of AdamEarlier in the late 18th century, a similar move to an uncomplicated taste had taken place in other things including furniture, ceramics and silver. Previously heavily decorated objects had dominated rooms. These were called 'Rococo', a taste that sprang from the French word 'Rocaille' which literally meant rocky or shell encrusted and which flourished between 1730 and 1780. Adam’s influence meant that Rococo waned and was replaced by more delicately balanced items, so that the house and the objects were harmonious. The Age of Adam coincided with the early stages of industrialization so that people like Hepplewhite, Wedgwood and Boulton were greatly influenced by the spirit of Adam. By the early 1800s even Adam was thought too fanciful and decorative. ~ The Greek Revival 1806Connoisseurs began to look to Greece rather than Rome for inspiration. Greek design was thought purer and simpler than Roman sources. The Greek revival was boosted in 1806 when Lord Elgin brought pieces of the Parthenon from Athens to London. Suddenly the vogue was for every item in interiors to be Classically Greek. There had to be Greek styled tables, chairs, coaches, wall hangings, pottery and silver all following the clean simplicity of pure Greek palaces. The Regency 1811-1820Most of the classical buildings erected during this time culminated in John Nash's improvements in Central London which began in 1811. They included 'The Royal Mile' that cut through London town in an uninterrupted sweep. The central section of the sweep was called 'Regent Street' and this ended in a spacious park called Regent's Park. Much of this still survives as a monument to the last great attempt at classicism and is known as The Regency after the era lasting from 1811-1820. Brighton Royal Pavilion 1785-1818 |
|
