REGENCY SOCIETY
In the early 1800s Regency Britain changed from a rural society to an urban, trading one, and London became an important center.
A “social season” evolved during the 17th and 18th centuries where the better off divided their year between the high life of London (also Edinburgh and Dublin) and hunting seasons at country residences.
Provincial towns and cities boasted Assembly Rooms and theaters for the proliferating middle classes.
Social rounds provided chances for young people to parade their looks and fashionable clothes in order to make good marriages.
In this fashionable evening gathering in Bristol in 1817, the young women favor a relatively simple look: a pale empire-line gown with a low, wide neckline, short puffed sleeves, gloves, fan, and modest floral hair ornaments.
Frilled and decorated hems and shorter dress lengths had recently gained currency, and diaphanous fabrics such as muslin and gauze, including satin gowns with net overlays, were popular.
Maturer and married ladies dressed in stronger colors with fancy head wear.
The gentlemen wear long-skirted frock coats, tall, upright collars, and cravat-style neck cloths.
Transitions in menswear are apparent — the man on the right wears black knee-breeches and silk stockings, while the man in the center with a lady on each arm sports loosely cut trousers.
攝政時期
十九世紀早期，攝政時期的英國從一個鄉村轉變成一個城市化的貿易點，而倫敦則是重中之重。
一種“社交季節”文化在十七到十八世紀得到發展，高品質生活的倫敦（包括愛丁堡和都柏林）與鄉村住宅的差距越來越大。
省級城鎮吹噓他們的大會堂與劇院是為中產階級準備的。
社交場合為年輕人提供了展示他們穿著與時尚的機會，方便他們結交伴侶準備結婚。
生動描繪了19世紀初上流社會社交聚會入場在存衣間的場景
年輕的時髦女子們均身著白裙，這也正是簡?奧斯汀（Jane Austen）筆下所描繪的歷史時期
1817年在布里斯托爾舉行的時尚晚宴中，年輕女孩青睞一種簡單的外形：淺色帝國風格長禮服，伴隨低而寬的領口，短的泡泡袖，手套，扇子以及最柔和的花卉頭飾。
荷葉邊，裝飾性下擺以及更短一些的裙長變得流行，精致面料例如薄紗網紗，包括帶有網眼貼面的緞子禮服非常受歡迎。
成熟的與已婚的女士則穿著更強烈的色彩，搭配花式發飾。
紳士們穿著長款佛羅克式外套，高大直立的衣領搭配領結式領巾。
男裝的變化是非常清楚的 — 有的男士穿著黑色馬褲與絲襪，有的則穿著寬松剪裁的休閑褲子。
