My research lately has centered on the 1830s election for the UK Prime Minister that threw out Wellington’s conservative party and voted in Earl Grey’s reformist party—does that sound like history repeating itself? Of course, the series focuses on romance, my magical Malcolms, and recalcitrant Ives, so the books really are about people and not politics. What can be more about people than fashion?
I’ve spent the better part of my career writing about the Regency era, which is technically a much smaller period of time than publishers believe. So if they want to include the late Georgian era as Regency, then why not the 1830’s, after George IV dies? I’m not even sure William’s reign over the ensuing decade has a name. Publishers are probably calling it the Victorian era, simply because Victoria’s reign took over almost the rest of the century.
No matter what era we call it, fashions change on a yearly basis—women’s fashions anyway. I can look at images of men from 1800 and 1830 and not see a startling amount of difference. But during those thirty years, women went from wispy, uncorseted waistless gowns to heavy corsets, tiny waists, leg-o-mutton sleeves and skirts over five petticoats.
My fascination, though, is with the intricate little details necessary when characters dress and undress. Did you know that metal buttons weren’t invented until 1807? (and of course, they had no plastic!) A cloth-covered version didn’t come around until 1827. So ladies wanting buttons down their fronts for easier dressing either had to look really gawkish with metal down their middle, or wait until modistes figured out how to conceal them with cloth. And solid-headed pins weren't manufactured until 1831, so pinning up those gowns could be a real chore!
But blessedly, elastic fabric made of rubber came long about 1820, because my inventor had use for that. And while a sewing machine wasn’t patented until 1850, there were innumerable examples of them being used well before that, so my inventor’s lady could sew the new fashionable pleats into shirts so much faster.
Despite all the pretty images on the internet of shoes, I’ve never spent much time researching them. Kicking off ladies’ slippers probably didn’t take long, but a man’s boots?
How much clothing description do you like in a book? Or are you like me and just want to know how to get them out of their clothes?