Pride and Prejudice - Having a Ball

A fascinating programme, Pride and Prejudice - Having a Ball was shown this evening on BBC 2. This is a documentary 'celebrating the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice, revealing the hidden world behind one of the greatest love stories of all time by restaging a regency ball at Chawton House, the grand estate of Jane Austen's brother. Amanda Vickery and Alastair Sooke lead a team of world class experts as they reconstruct the ball in loving detail, from music and dancing, to food and fashion.'

You can also see a catwalk show of some of the costumes, which is interesting because it shows the variety of fashionable and provincial styles. I also found it interesting to see how the dancers responded to the costumes, how it changed posture and movement. There is also a little film about how to dance the regency waltz, should you desire to don your dance pumps.

How to dress like a dandy

From BBC 4's series Elegance & Decadence presented by Lucy Worsley, here is a little clip about the  fashionable men's costume of the regency period.

How to dress like a dandy

Gallery of Costume at Platt Hall

This morning I had the opportunity to visit The Gallery of Costume at Platt Hall, Manchester. I arranged to look at their collection of shirts dating from 1800 to 1850. It was interesting to make comparison with the Prince's Shirt in terms of garment cut, style and weight of the cloth.

The box that was brought out to me was crammed with 13 linen shirts, folded between layers of tissue paper. Each was different. None of them quite matching the style of the Prince's Shirt, but finding familiar features amongst them.

Most of the shirts were quite yellow and stained. Marks from water, wear, staining, fold marks, etc. Some also showed signs of mending; darns, patches alterations and replacement sections. It made me aware what a wonderful condition the Prince's Shirt is in and how white it is. Has it been washed with modern detergents or just very well cared for?

The main thing I was able to observe was the difference in quality and weight of the fabric. From the collection at Platt Hall I found nothing even close in quality to the Prince's Shirt. The Prince's Shirt is a floating, transparent lawn, by comparison the other shirts seemed heavy. Dr Miles Lambert confirmed my thoughts about this and agreed that the shirt was of extremely high quality and something of very high status.

It made such a difference to see 'the real' thing rather than looking at images online. Handling the shirts and looking at their construction allowed me to see the similarities and understand how styles gradually evolved. I also found it fascinating to see the mended shirts, to realise how clothing and textile was valued and preserved.

Elegance & Decadence: The Age of Regency

Although this goes completely against my methodology, and I have got ahead of myself in process, I have already come across possible ideas for the era of the 'Princes Shirt'. As a result my research antennae is tuned in to all things of the English regency period and thereabouts. This series called Elegance and Decadence: The Age of the Regency is fantastic. The first episode was on BBC 4 yesterday with Dr Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces. You can watch the first episode on BBC iplayer here.