Georgette Heyer's Regency World

by Jennifer Kloester

  Captain John Staple took up residence in a toll-house and acted as

  gatekeeper for a time in The Toll-Gate.

  TURNPIKES, TOLL-GATES AND TICKETS

  Turnpikes were first established on the Great North Road in 1663 during the reign of Charles II as a means of charging road users a toll to supplement the cost of building and maintaining the highway. By the time of the Regency the poles or pikes originally used to bar the road had been replaced with wide wooden toll-gates, with small toll-houses built on the adjacent roadside as permanent residences for the toll-keepers or pikemen. It was in one of these toll-houses that Captain John Staple resided after he found himself unable to resist the promise of adventure and took over the role of gatekeeper in The Toll-Gate. The two main tasks of the trusts were to ensure the maintenance of the roads and the collection of the tolls, a long and often complex set of charges which depended on such things as who was travelling and whether they were on horseback, in a coach, driving a wagon or herd of animals, or transporting particular kinds of goods. Mail coaches travelled all toll-roads free of charge but in 1815 it cost a single-horse carriage sixpence, a coach and four a shilling and a wagon and six two shillings to pass the toll-gate and, as Captain Staple soon learned, it was not uncommon for travellers to tell any tale which might see them exempted from paying the toll. Once the toll was paid a ticket was issued which usually opened several more toll-gates along the highway.

  A turnpike ticket could be used to open several gates along a highway.

  9

  What to Wear

  MEN’S FASHION FROM HEAD TO TOE

  A man of fashion was meticulous in both the choice and wearing of his clothes. From his elegant beaver hat and elaborately tied neckcloth to his gleaming hessian or top-boots, the cut of his clothes, the polish on his boots, the fit of his pantaloons all combined to designate him a Tulip of the ton. As one of the great leaders of London society, Mr Beaumaris in Arabella was known as the Nonpareil—the Arbiter of Fashion who had taken Beau Brummell’s place and whose taste and style in dress was copied everywhere by younger men. Not all gentlemen aspired to inclusion among the dandy set or even to turn out in fine trim but it would be a rare upper-class man who did not adhere to the established dress code of hat (when outdoors), shirt and collar, neckcloth, waistcoat, well-cut tail-coat, breeches and top-boots, or pantaloons and hessians—ensuring that his coat was dark-coloured and his trousers light. Gloves were essential outdoors or for formal occasions and a gentleman might also carry accessories such as a cane, quizzing glass or, in inclement weather, one of the new umbrellas. To guard against the cold, or while travelling, he could wear a top-coat or a driving-coat with any number of capes.

  What a gentleman wore was dictated by the day’s or evening’s activities: whether he was in the town or the country; whether he was on the strut, visiting or driving; whether he was travelling, hunting or shooting; whether he was going to a ball, or to his club, or out for a night among the fleshpots, each activity had the appropriate dress. His choice of costume was also determined by his self-designated role as either a dandy, a Corinthian, a top-sawyer or a quiet man about town. But every gentleman wore black for mourning, buckskins and top-boots for riding, full dress on formal occasions, and a nightshirt—or nothing—to bed.

  Hats were de rigueur for the Regency man and the most popular was the beaver hat. Made from felted beaver fur, it was similar to the modern top hat in shape with tall vertical sides (sometimes widening towards the top), a flat or slightly curved crown, and a slender brim which gently turned up at the sides. Men’s shirts were mostly home-made with replaceable cuffs (and even fronts) to extend the life of the garment. They were designed to go over the head with an opening halfway down the chest which could be tied at the neck or buttoned. Made of cotton, linen or the finest cambric, shirts were white and generally plain-fronted for day wear and ruffled for the evening. Collars were attached separately and were raised to accommodate the cravat. During the Regency it became fashionable to leave the collar standing with the points touching the cheeks and some men, such as the aspiring young dandy Matthew Ware in The Foundling, wore their collars so high and the points so stiff that they could not turn their heads. Worn over the shirt, waistcoats were either single- or double-breasted and were often a testament to the wearer’s taste and the tailor’s art. While coats were of plain, usually dark-coloured cloth, waistcoats could be of a wide variety of colours and fabrics. White or black were the essential colours for evening dress but during the day spotted, striped, patterned—even flowered—waistcoats in colour combinations of green, yellow, blue, grey, black, cream and lilac could be seen. Striking designs such as the blue and yellow striped kerseymere waistcoat of the Four-Horse Club could set the wearer apart as a sportsman or leader of fashion, while the wearer of a waistcoat that was too florid or ornate (such as those worn by Nathaniel Coate in The Toll-Gate) would be censured. Waistcoats were longer in the front than the coat, with the lower edge—either cut straight or to one or two points—emerging from beneath the coat. The fronts were made with fine fabrics, such as satin, kerseymere, marcella or Valencia, while the backs were of either cotton or silk; the waistcoat was pulled in from the back with tapes.

  Men of fashion often wore breeches, top-boots and a well-cut coat during the day.

  Until 1816, when the frock-coat was introduced, the skirt of a gentleman’s coat was cut at the back into two long tails reaching to the back of the knee—and sometimes longer for those aspiring to join the dandy set. Coats were either single- or double-breasted with a turn-over collar that was high at the back and lapels with a single or M-shaped notch at the point where they joined the collar. The coat waist was short and cut square with double-breasted coat fronts always shorter than single-breasted. Padding was sometimes added to the shoulders or breast of the coat and well-built gentlemen often had them made so close-fitting they needed assistance to get them on or off. Preferred fabrics were superfine and kerseymere, which both sat well and had an elegant finish, and colours were generally dark. Claret, bottle green, olive green, brown, corbeau, black and blue were the most popular colours for day wear, with blue the first choice for evening attire. The cut of a coat could indicate a man’s social status and in Cotillion Freddy’s concerns about the Chevalier d’Evron were somewhat allayed by the fellow’s appearance in a bottle-green, long-tailed coat that had clearly come from the hands of a master tailor.

  Below their coats men wore either breeches, pantaloons or trousers. Breeches were made of soft leather, wool or nankeen, or of satin or velvet for formal occasions. They had a high waist, were full at the hips and ended just below the knee where they were buttoned, tied or buckled and had a front opening or narrow flap, known as a ‘fall’, which buttoned at the waist and could be dropped down. They had a deep waistband which gave extra support with a fob pocket in the right-hand side. For riding or day wear, breeches were worn with top-boots, but for evening wear or attendance at Court they were worn with plain or clocked stockings and shoes. Buckskins were men’s suede leather breeches made from the skin of the male deer which were naturally greyish yellow in colour. Soft and comfortable, each leg was made from a single piece of leather to avoid having an inner seam, making them especially comfortable for riding. Although they were worn as riding breeches they were perfectly acceptable for ordinary day wear. Pantaloons were an alternative to breeches and were, as Mr Beaumaris told his grandmother in Arabella, knitted. A close-fitting trouser, also known as ‘inexpressibles’, they were shaped to the leg and eventually replaced knee-breeches for day wear. The fashion was for light-coloured trousers, and pantaloons were often yellow, cream, biscuit, buff or fawn; they were worn with hessian boots or half-boots—never with top-boots. Trousers were long like pantaloons but cut wide at the ankle and could be worn with shoes, half-boots or boots. They were generally light-coloured and made of nankeen or jean.

  A fashionable male always wore gleaming hessians with his skintight pantaloons.r />
  Regency men usually wore short or knee-length cotton or linen drawers under their breeches which were tied at the waist with ribbon. Drawers had a small vent in the front and could be drawn in from behind with tapes. Ankle-length drawers were worn under pantaloons or trousers and these either had feet attached or were kept in place with a strap under the instep. Stockings were mostly worn with knee-breeches and came in a range of colours for day wear, with white or natural-coloured hose generally worn with evening dress. Knitted worsted, cotton and silk stockings were the most common, held up with garters, and stockings for evening wear were often decorated with the intricate embroidery at the ankle known as clocks.

  The top-coat, also known as a Benjamin, was a loose-fitting overcoat, originally worn by the working classes. Its style was appropriated by upper-class gentlemen who wore it over their clothes in cooler weather or while travelling. Top-coats were usually ankle length and often drab-coloured—either light olive brown or grey. Also known as a box coat (from being worn by coachmen who sat on the box seat of a carriage), the driving-coat was a type of overcoat worn by gentlemen in cooler weather while driving, walking or travelling. Designed for a loose fit, they were usually light in colour, calf or ankle length, with several of the broad collars, known as capes, hung across the shoulders in layers. In Regency Buck, the Earl of Worth wore a driving-coat made of drab with fifteen shoulder-capes and a double row of silver buttons.

  Shoes, gloves and a cane completed the gentleman’s wardrobe and the well-dressed man always wore the correct footwear. Leather knee-high boots worn with breeches, top-boots had turn-over tops of a different colour from the uppers. Tops were generally either brown or black but some of the dandies wore boots with white tops for hunting or short boots with very long tops. Both top-boots and hessians were expected to be polished to a high gloss and some valets, such as Vincent Darracott’s man Crimplesham in The Unknown Ajax (who considered the care of boots to be an Art), had their own jealously guarded recipes for boot blacking. Hessians were men’s calf-length, low-heeled boots which curved up in front to a point just below the knee (sometimes with a V-shaped cut-out) and were cut at the back into a curving V-shape to allow the leg to bend. Generally black in colour, they were worn with pantaloons and were usually decorated with a small tassel at the point below the knee. Shoes were usually worn with knee-breeches and later with trousers. They were made of leather (and shaped to the foot), low-heeled with rounded toes and were tied across a tongue above the instep. Shoes worn to Court were known as pumps and were made of soft leather with thin soles and low sides; they usually had buckles or were tied with ribbon.

  Gentlemen wore short cotton or leather gloves both during the day and in the evening; the colour, fabric and style were dependent on the occasion. A fashionable man had his gloves made to measure and generally owned several pairs. In Friday’s Child, the Honourable Ferdy Fakenham wore elegant lavender gloves and carried a cane to his friend Sherry’s wedding. Made of polished wood, canes often had ornamental heads of semi-precious stones such as amethyst, or of carved ivory, polished glass or porcelain. Black was the colour for funerals and for mourning, during which period a gentleman wore all black clothes and sometimes a black muslin band tied around his hat. Court mourning precluded the wearing of gilt buttons or buckles and the usual swords were replaced with black ones. Francis Cheviot in The Reluctant Widow wore silver tassels on his hessian boots instead of the usual gold to mark the sombre occasion of his cousin’s funeral.

  A gentleman of fashion was required, on certain occasions, to dress formally. Evenings at Almack’s or formal balls demanded that he appear in the exquisite attire of full evening dress. This consisted of a freshly laundered shirt and carefully tied neckcloth, white waistcoat, long-tailed coat (coats of blue superfine were popular), black satin or light-coloured knee-breeches, white stockings (either striped or with clocks), black shoes with ribbon ties, and a chapeau-bras. The ‘chapeau-bras’, also known as an opera hat, was a black, crescent-shaped hat which could be flattened, and was mainly designed to be held under the arm although it was worn on occasion. In Cotillion, Freddy Standen was ‘beautiful to behold’ when he appeared in full evening dress at Almack’s with his neckcloth the epitome of the wearer’s art.

  Freddy Standen in Cotillion wore a perfectly cut coat and satin knee-breeches when he visited Almack’s.

  Attendance at Court demanded a full dress suit more in keeping with the glamour of the previous century than the more austere male costume of the Regency period. A single-breasted cutaway coat of embroidered velvet was worn over a matching velvet or white satin waistcoat and silk or velvet knee-breeches. The coat was generally a rich colour: either blue, purple, green or brown, with the cuffs and front edges sewn with silver lace. White silk stockings with clocks and black slippers with buckles were de rigueur and a dress sword and chapeau-bras completed the outfit.

  THE INTRICACIES OF THE NECKCLOTH

  For the man of fashion, the neckcloth or starched cravat was a crucial part of his daily dress. The great dandy and leader of fashion, Beau Brummell, had set the standard and was reputed to spend hours perfecting the set of his neckcloth before leaving the house. The neckcloth was a large square of fabric—usually muslin, lawn or silk—which was folded into either a triangle or a wide band and then wound around the neck and tied at the front. Several of the most fashionable styles required that the neckcloth be well starched so that it would stand stiffly about the wearer’s neck and remain so throughout the day. A perfectly tied neckcloth required both patience and considerable skill, particularly if the wearer aspired to its being recognised as one of the several named styles in fashion during the Regency. In The Corinthian, Sir Richard Wyndham had developed the Wyndham Fall and, in Frederica, James the footman (whose secret ambition was to become a gentleman’s gentleman) was pleased to have the chance to watch the Marquis of Alverstoke put the final touches to his exquisitely tied neckcloth.

  The Oriental tie was required to be perfectly smooth, without the hint of a crease, and snowy white; another austere tie, the Trône d’Amour, was similar to the Oriental but with a single horizontal indentation made above the knot; the Mathematical, with its three precise creases (one horizontal indent above the knot, two diagonal creases from the ears to the knot), was demanding but its height was at the discretion of the wearer; while the American was similar to the Mathematical but without the horizontal crease. It was the Mathematical which young Christian Emborough in Charity Girl admired on his cousin Viscount Desford and which the Viscount kindly promised to teach him. Both the Osbaldeston and the Napoleon ties were more suited for summer, being of a narrower band and encircling the neck only once. The Osbaldeston employed a large knot at least four inches wide while the Napoleon was simply crossed at the neck. With the taller neckcloths it was important that the edge beneath the ears always remained higher than the edge beneath the chin, as a straight line was considered very poor taste.

  Hats came in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and were often adorned with flowers, ribbons and feathers.

  Many women enjoyed trimming a bonnet to match a new dress or pelisse.

  One of the most popular ties was the Mail Coach or Waterfall, which required minimal starch, but a considerable degree of skill to achieve a perfect fall over its single knot. Favoured by Corinthians and the bloods of the fancy, it was wound about the neck and tied at the front with the ends pulled over the knot to hang; it presented a softer, fuller look than most other styles of neckcloth. Although coloured neckcloths had been fashionable in earlier times, and were re-introduced in about 1818, for much of the Regency it was expected that neckcloths would be white; the exception being the black-spotted, white muslin cravat of the Four-Horse Club which Lord Ulverston wore in The Quiet Gentleman. An alternative to the hand-tied neckcloth was the stock: a ready-made, high-standing neckcloth made of cambric or linen and stiffened with pasteboard. It was fitted around the neck and tied or buckled at the back; it was customary for
clergymen to wear stocks rather than neckcloths.

  WOMEN’S FASHION FROM HATS TO HOSE

  The hat was an essential accessory for the Regency woman. From the bonnet which shaded her face from the sun to the lace cap worn indoors and which indicated her age or marital status; the evening hat or turban that completed an elegant ensemble and the straw, chip, or leghorn hat—the decoration of which could fill her leisure hours—some kind of hat or headdress was worn for a good part of each day and often in the evening. Hats were always worn outside and bonnets with brims large enough to protect the complexion were fashionable, as were veils which could be added or removed as desired. Nell Cardross wore a bonnet with a heavy veil when she went to visit a moneylender in April Lady. Military-style hats came into vogue during the Napoleonic wars and Shako-style hats, cylinder-shaped, with a high crown, ostrich plumes and neat peak, were a popular accessory to the military-style riding-habit then in vogue. Caps were mainly worn indoors by matrons, widows and women considered to be past their prime and were usually made of lace and trimmed with ribbon. Sir Gareth Ludlow in Sprig Muslin was displeased to find Lady Hester Theale wearing a cap but could not persuade her to remove it. He had never thought of Hester as being of an age when she ought to wear a cap but Hester felt it essential to do so in order to emphasise her position as a mature and respectable female. Hat design tended to vary according to the wearer’s hairstyle and throughout the period bonnets came in a wide range of sizes, styles and fabrics; ladies regularly had them made up in muslin, sarsnet, velvet, satin or silk to match a particular pelisse or dress. Trimming hats was a popular pastime and even those straw or fabric hats bought from the milliner were often re-trimmed by their owners. Artificial flowers, feathers, ribbon, and even fruit were all used to add colour and style to a new or old bonnet. In Arabella, on finding herself complimented on her pink-feathered hat by the Duke of Clarence, Arabella wrote to tell the news to her mama who had made it for her. Turbans were an elegant form of headdress for the evening and were often made of silk or satin and adorned with ostrich feathers or jewels.