All About Regency Era Dresses and Women’s Fashion

The era spanning from the 1790s to the 1820s saw many new changes in terms of women’s fashion. This was the time when dressing style was more focused on elegance and simplicity. Waists were high, most of the dresses were made with lightweight white fabrics and the directional emphasis was vertical. The women of those times majorly wore a chemise, a corset and a gown. Today, if we talk about the differences in women’s clothing of preceding and succeeding periods, it would be multiple layers, heavy fabrics and horizontal emphases that changed with time.

If you have ever read a Regency-set novel, you would have known about the various forms of women’s clothing. There were dresses based on the time of the day. Regency era ball gowns were different from dinner gowns. There was a separate afternoon dress and a carriage dress. Here are a few qualities and categories of Regency era dresses that you must know—

Morning Dress

As the name suggests, these dresses were worn in the morning. They were particularly not meant for going out. And the morning dress of the Regency era had yoga pants of Regency England in particular. Just like we wear something comfortable in the night and morning today, the Regency era also promoted similar clothing style but with a twist. Now the twist is, these pants were plain, unadorned, made from cheaper and thinner material than other clothes etc. Talking about the silhouette of the dress, it was similar to any other dress of the day. The dress was less fashionable as no one really cared who was wearing what in the morning.

Afternoon Dress

Afternoon dresses were of course more fashionable than morning dresses as they were meant to be seen. During Regency eras afternoons were spent walking in the park or going out visiting places. And because these were the only day dresses, they were a little fashionable and more decent. The dresses had high necklines and full length sleeves. The sleeves were customized as were the fashion ability of the woman wearing it. There were many types of afternoon dresses depending on the activity one did during that era in the afternoon. For example, there were walking dresses, traveling dresses and riding dresses. The walking dress was flattering and impressive. The traveling dress was made of heavier fabric. And riding dresses were sturdy, simple and modest.

Evening Dress

Evening dresses were the finest of all in the women’s wardrobe of the Regency era. These dresses had thinner fabrics like stan, slik, light taffeta and very fine muslin. The sleeves of the dresses were short and the bodice cut lower. There were various embellishments depending on the occasion rather than style. Like Regency era ball gowns would be rimmed and embroidered to the best of fashion. These were designed to catch light and eyes. Amny ball gowns were two different gowns, with a sheere one worn over another. Whereas Opera gowns were simpler and made of fine fabrics. These were not intended to be as impressive as Regency era ball gowns.

Court Gowns

Court gowns were more like Regency era wedding gowns. These were worn only on special occasions like when a lady went to the royal court. These gowns had less fashion and more traditional aspects like wide and hooped skirts, long trains etc.

Today, when people try to mix Regency era clothes with modern fashions they end up looking very silly unless the dress is from a renowned fashion brand. In case you are also looking for Regency era gowns in the modern era, you must definitely check out Wonderland by Lilian. They got you covered!