How often are you reading a book and the author describes a Regency gown, only for you to scratch your head and wonder what they mean? We all have a basic knowledge of what a Regency gown looks like, but just like today, the trends changed a bit from year to year. I don’t know about you, but when I read a Regency romance, sometimes I have no idea what certain terms are or mean and I have to look them up. I thought today we’d have some fun with Regency fashion terms. I hope you enjoy 🙂
Let’s start with a couple of terms I use in Agony and Hope (Available on preorder here!):
Shot Sarsnet – A thin silk with a slight sheen woven with multiple colors, which gives it an iridescence. Sarsnet is also sometimes spelled sarcenet. Shot sarsnet was also sometimes called “shot silk.”
Mameluke Sleeves – Long sleeves divided into several puffs by thin ribbons or bands.
Detachable sleeves sound very modern, but were quite common in Regency times. A gown would have a detailed short sleeve with a sheer long-sleeve that attached over it. There is a lovely example on my Pinterst page for Agony and Hope here.
Sprigged Muslin – a lightweight white cotton embroidered or woven with a pattern.
Regency color palettes were rather specific and could change from year to year depending upon which colors were fashionable.
Primrose – pale yellow
Celestial blue – sky blue (also called Ethereal blue)
Cerulean blue – Azure blue
Pomona – Apple green
Heliotrope – A pink-purple hue, or lavender
I hope you enjoyed this little foray into fashion. I always enjoy finding new terms to better describe what’s in my head. Thanks for reading!
L.L. Diamond 
Loved this! Thank you! One of my favourite memories of Bath, (my daughter took Mum and I as a treat for my 60th birthday in 2011), was a visit to the fashion museum in the Assembly Rooms. 🥰🥰 It was absolutely fabulous, with so much information and we spent hours in there. It’s such a shame that the display is having to leave the Rooms and find somewhere else so may be unavailable for a few years 😢😢.
While I’m not such a fan of the Mameluke sleeves the dresses themselves are beautiful.so many thanks for sharing. I may have to reread this when I get to read your book (that’s if I can see through the tears I’m sure I’ll be struggling with 🤔😉)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I went to the fashion museum. I wish they’d had more Regency gowns, but I did enjoy it. I also enjoyed the gowns in the Victoria and Albert museum. As for mameluke sleeves, I do like the purple gown (or should I say heliotrope?). I have a gown image in my head with them that I like. I’m not a huge fan of the white fashion plate. I saw a fashion plate with the shot sarsnet that I liked, but I wasn’t sure of where it came from and didn’t want copyright issues.
Agony and Hope will be here soon! I promise it won’t just be tears 🙂 Thanks, Glynis!
LikeLike
Love this post. I’m always looking for new ideas and pictures to stimulate my mind of the Regency era. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve found Regency Encyclopedia to be a great resource lately. I use their color palettes that are sorted by year, and some of these terms came from their fashion glossary. When I wanted to know what something looked like, I could do a Google search and images would come up. I still love Pinterest boards. That’s where I found the gown with the detachable sleeves. It was nice being more authentic in the descriptions. Thanks, Jen!
LikeLike
Enlightening, thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you liked it. Thank you!
LikeLike