Regency Dress | A Guide to Regency Era Day & Evening Fashion

Regency dresses are the high-waisted, softly flowing gowns worn in Jane Austen's lifetime, from the 1790s to the 1820s. Here we look at how women's day and evening dress changed across the period, from simple white muslins to the richly trimmed silks of the late Regency.

When Was the Regency Era?

The Regency itself ran from 1811 to 1820, when the Prince of Wales ruled as Prince Regent after his father, George III, was deemed unfit to rule. The wider Regency era of fashion and style is more flexible, and is often dated from around 1795 to 1837.

This period was dramatically different from what came before it, Georgian decadence and excess, and from what followed, Victorian morality. The fashions, of course, reflected this change. In the eighteenth century fashions were highly elaborate, made of heavy brocades and satins with copious lace trim and quilted, beaded underskirts supported by a complicated infrastructure of hoops and panniers.

The entire confection would be crowned with elaborate wigs, tall feathers, and huge hats. By the 1790s, a radical change was in the air. The change was precipitated by the French Revolution and its "democratic" tenets. Noblewomen and their maids alike dressed in the new style as silks gave way to light muslins, clinging lines, high waistlines, and arm-baring sleeves. These new styles were classically influenced, modelled on the ideals of the Greek and Roman worlds that were aped by the Revolution.

The Key Features of Regency Dress

Throughout the Regency, there were certain elements of fashion that remained fairly consistent. Necklines were low and wide, filled in for daytime with fichus, scarves, or chemisettes; a high waistline; a fitted bodice, and fitted sleeves, either short and puffed, elbow-length, or long. There were trends; waistlines went up and down, more elaborate trims came into vogue, especially at the hems and necklines of gowns, and medieval and Renaissance details became popular, especially in England. As always, the French tended to be more daring in their fashions!

What Are Regency Dresses Called?

Today, Regency dresses are usually described as empire-line or empire-waist gowns, after the high waistline that sits just below the bust. At the time, a lady would more often name a dress by its purpose: a morning dress, a walking dress, a carriage dress, an evening dress or a ball gown. Early simple styles were also known as chemise dresses, and a gown with a closed, all-round skirt was called a round gown.

Fabrics and Colours

Fine white muslin was the fabric of the age, particularly for day wear and for young women, along with cambric, lawn and other light cottons. For evening and for grander occasions, silks, satins, crepe and gauze were worn, and heavier silks and velvets returned as trims became more elaborate after 1810. White and pale shades dominated the early Regency, while stronger colours became more popular as the period went on.

Day Dress

The two photos [I sent] were of the same dress, dressed up for evening and down for day. I made it from the La Mode Bagatelle Regency pattern (which can be bought at the Sense and Sensibility website). It's kind of expensive, about $48, but you can make about 10 different dress styles from it, as well as a pelisse and spencer. Very authentic, too, but a bit hard to sew.

In the early Regency (approximately 1797 to 1805), the most common style of dress for day wear was one that was very classic in feel and simple in style, what we of

ten think of today as "typical Regency". It was high-waisted with a wide neckline and r

ather long sleeves. Chemisettes (a style much like a modern dickey!) or fichus, often made of filmy fabrics, were used to fill in the neckline. Often there were no back fastenings; a woman could simply pull the dress over her shoulders and tie up the drawstrings.

Opera Gowns, from Ackerman's Repository of the Arts, 1810

The term "chemise dress" was very descriptive of these dresses. Early Regency dresses, even day dresses, also had trains, though this trend faded around 1805. Also after 1805, the longer, tighter sleeves began to give way to the shorter, puffed style. The drawstring fastening was often augmented by a hook or button in the back, at the neckline.

Waistlines continued to fluctuate, and around 1807–08 new, smooth bodices, not gathered but fitted with darts, began to emerge. Early styles of dress had skirts of classical simplicity with very little trim or embroidery. They were also quite narrow, with all the fullness gathered in the back with the train. In the 1810s, gowns started becoming more elaborate.

Tucks and flowers adorned hemlines. The English were especially fond of "Renaissance" details: ruffs, slashed sleeves, and lace, as seen in the fashion plates of the day. Heavier fabrics were needed to support these details, and silks and satins returned to vogue. By 1816, waistlines were at their highest, though often just a small band of fabric, and hems were at their most elaborate.

Out of doors, a lady added a spencer, pelisse or shawl over her gown. Read more in Cloaks, Capes, Pelisses and Spencers.

Evening Dress and Ball Gowns

Early Regency evening dress retained some eighteenth-century richness, with coloured silks and metallic trims, but the style was Classical, with high waists, narrow silhouettes and close-fitting, longer sleeves. A train was de rigueur, as it was for day dress.

On the whole, evening fashion tended to resemble day dress styles. When trains disappeared for day dress, they became optional for evening. Waistlines raised and lowered; fabrics became simpler, then returned to more elaborate silks, satins, and velvets. Sleeves grew and became more gathered and puffed.

By 1815, the original classical simplicity of dress had all but vanished. Layered gowns (underdresses of silk or satin, often coloured, and overdresses of sheer lace or gauze) came into vogue.

Hems were very elaborate, with artificial flowers, beadwork, lace and netting used. Ornamentation on the sleeves echoed that of the hems. By 1825, the waistline approached the natural state, skirts were growing wider, and the fashion style of the Regency was ending. Soon it would give way entirely to the elaborate hoops and corsets of the Victorian age, sending fashion back full circle.

A Regency ball gown was typically cut with a lower neckline and short sleeves, and worn with long gloves, a fan, a reticule and jewellery or flowers in the hair. See a complete example in A Lady's Evening Ensemble, and discover the history of the evening bag in The Reticule.

Regency vs Georgian and Victorian Fashion

Regency dress sits between two very different looks. Earlier Georgian fashion used stiff stays, hoops and panniers, heavy silks and a natural or lower waist. Regency gowns lifted the waist to just under the bust and let the skirt fall in a narrow, column-like line. Victorian fashion (from 1837) brought the waist back down, laced it in with a tighter corset, and widened the skirt with layers of petticoats and, later, the crinoline.

How to Create a Regency Look

Whether you are dressing for a ball, a costumed promenade or a Regency-themed party, the essentials are the same: a high-waisted gown in a light fabric, short puffed or long fitted sleeves, and a modest neckline for day or a lower one for evening. Add long gloves, a shawl or spencer, a bonnet for outdoors, and hair dressed up with ribbons or flowers.

The same rules work if you are building a Regency era look for a game theme such as Dress to Impress: choose an empire-waist gown in white or pastel, add puffed sleeves, gloves and a bonnet or hair ribbon, and avoid anything with a fitted, natural waist.

Buy dress patterns to make your own Regency gown at the Jane Austen Centre Online Gift Shop!

You can also browse our Regency Dress Up collection, or follow our guide to sew a Regency gown.

More to Explore

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Regency dresses called?

They are usually called empire-line or empire-waist dresses today. In the period itself, dresses were named by purpose, such as morning dress, walking dress, evening dress or ball gown, and simple early styles were known as chemise dresses.

What did women wear in the Regency era?

A high-waisted gown with a fitted bodice over a chemise and short stays, with a chemisette or fichu to fill the neckline by day. Outdoors they added a spencer, pelisse or shawl, a bonnet and gloves.

What is Regency attire?

Regency attire means clothing in the style of roughly 1795 to 1820s England. For women that is an empire-waist gown with gloves and a bonnet or hair ornament; for men, a tailcoat, waistcoat, cravat and breeches or pantaloons.

When was the Regency era?

The Regency proper lasted from 1811 to 1820, but the Regency era of fashion is usually dated more loosely, from around 1795 to 1837.

What is the difference between Regency and Victorian fashion?

Regency gowns had a very high waist and a slim, flowing skirt. Victorian dresses returned to the natural waist, used tighter corsets and had much fuller skirts.

Amanda McCabe is an author of Regency romances, including Scandal in Venice. The gown pictured in the Day Dress section is one she made herself, using a Regency pattern that can be styled for both day and evening.

Select Bibliography

Arnold, Janet. Patterns of Fashion 1. Quite Specific Media Group, Ltd.: 1975.

Ashelford, Jane. The Art of Dress. Harry N. Abrams: 1996.

Written by Laura Boyle

A Tour of Regency Fashion: Day and Evening Dress