Recently I've spent a considerable amount of time combing through the intertubes in search of Regency (or Austenian, or empire - whichever you prefer) inspiration. Mainly the pictures and articles I've come across have been quite ordinary - dealing with spencers and pelisses and different hairstyles and chicken Napoleon - but there have been some eye-openers as well.
Now, most of us associate the era of Jane Austen with genteel manners, dainty ladies and dashing gentlemen. Lots of these about, naturally, as well - but the Regency era, as well as the one preceeding it, could be a pretty boisterous place to be. Unlike the furtive Victorians, these people could and did flaunt their stuff in the broad daylight - and also laugh about it. I've previously mentioned my love of James Gillray's satirical pictures: now I've discovered that he wasn't the only one making delicious caricatures at the turn of the 19th century. I should have known better, really.
Most of the pictures here come from this meticulously assembled website. Click if you want to see a larger version.
First, a look at the wonderful fashions of the day:
This one's called "Les Invisibles en Tête-à-Tête". It just struck me that a fashion like that could be really useful today - you could use your mobile inside one of those hats, while on a bus for instance, without disturbing anyone. I bet a really enterprising lady could assemble a whole office into a hat like that.
The next one illustrates the fact that heterosexuality wasn't the only option for well-bred ladies even in the old days:
Notice the two men lurking together in the bushes as well. And, finally, proof that even then, ladies were dying to find the answer to the ages-old question:
I bet he wasn't.
