Reading the Regency

Fashion - Women's Layers & Accessories

Demi corset or Swiss corset - a bodice, often decorated or made in a contrasting colour, that was fastened or tightened at the back with corset lacing. It could include long or short sleeves or be sleeveless. This was worn over an otherwise plain base layer. From the front, a long-sleeved version could look similar to a Spencer jacket with back lacing.

Drapery - was exactly as it sounds. A piece of material, scarf or shawl that was draped around or across the body, sometimes fixed on the shoulder with a clip or brooch. This gave a similar appearance to statues of ancient Greek ladies that provided fashionable inspiration in the early years of the 19th century.

Vest - whether long or short, a vest had either very short sleeves or no sleeves. They could be worn open at the front. The Cottage Vest looked more like a Peasant's Bodice. In the early days of the 19th century, some short vests looked similar to men's waistcoats (UK)/vests (US) today.

Tunic - some tunics were full-length wrapping robes that fully covered a base layer. Shorter tunics (demi tunics) could be hip, thigh or knee-length and might be open or closed at the front. Tunics could have varied length of sleeve, or no sleeve at all. They might also be called a jacket, although it didn't look like the sort of jacket we would know today. A tunic could be added to day wear or evening wear. Sometimes a tunic or demi tunic would look very similar to a robe or demi robe. In different years, tunics could be given other names. In 1811, a French Coat looked identical to an open tunic from previous years.

Robe - a full-length robe, often of see-through material like gauze, net or thin muslin, which could be highly decorated or trimmed. One transparent robe worn over different coloured base layers could give the impression of different dresses.

Open robe - a full-length robe, open at the front, sometimes fastened at the waist, which may or may not include a train. These were often highly decorative, particularly for full dress. One open robe, worn over a trimmed satin slip, was described this way:

"The gown, composed of spotted British net, is an open robe, with a short train, which meets in front, but slopes gradually off towards the bottom, so as to display the trimming of the slip. The robe is ornamented with a flounce of blond lace to correspond with the slip, and a wreath of intermingled lilies and roses."
[Full Dress, Ackermann's Repository of Arts & Science, pub. August 1817]

Semi-open robe - a full-length robe, fastened together for part of its length, but open at the front from below the waist or mid-thigh level. This robe could also add a train.

Half robe or demi robe - a shorter layer, worn over a plain base. It could be as short as hip-length, mid-thigh, or sometimes knee-length. The hem could be straight, curved or asymmetrical.

Outer Layers

"At length Lady Susan, weary, I believe, of her situation, proposed walking; and we left the two gentlemen together, to put on our pelisses."
[Chapter 20, Lady Susan by Jane Austen]

Today, when we leave our homes, we might add another item of clothing to protect us from the weather or keep ourselves warm. Those ladies living in the Regency period also had clothes more commonly worn outdoors. An outer layer could be a second layer over a plain morning dress, but could also be a third layer of a more decorative outfit. Although I think of these as outdoor layers, they would not always have been removed when arriving at someone's house.

Outer layers weren't just for walking and carriage rides. They often added one of the following layers when visiting the theatre or the opera, possibly because those large auditoriums were cooler than they are today.

You might assume that every young lady would always cover her evening dress as she travelled to her next party or event, but that was not the case. In November 1814, The Lady's Monthly Museum made the following observation: