Dearest readers,
The ton are abuzz with the latest gossip as the first spin-off in the Bridgerverse – Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story – has hit our screens.
This time all eyes will turn to the story of the young Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (played by India Amarteifio) on her quest for love, only to find herself married off to King George of England.
However, gentle readers, all is not as it first seems, and in true candy-coloured Bridgerton style, the headstrong filly finds herself tamed by the hot young King (Corey Mylchreest).
The secret authors of this gossip sheet can confirm that the scene is set once more for magnificent balls, heaving bosoms and much royal romping on Netflix as the happy couple get on with making the first of their 15 babies.
To celebrate, your authors have put the ratafia on ice, tightened our stays, and heaved ourselves into Empire-line frocks to find out what it was like to be a wealthy lady in the 18th century.
We also conscripted our colleague, Miss Serena Richards, to discover what it was like for a young debutante to come out in society.
We were dressed and trained in the art of dancing in the Winchester Guildhall by the Hampshire Regency Dancers, who we suspect idle away more time in bonnets than is strictly necessary.
And we were taught how to eat and entertain Regency-style by the historical cook Paul Couchman.
While we didn’t find our beautiful young charge a husband worth £10,000 a year we did discover that Regency dancing is much, much harder than it looks, especially with compressed lungs.
Yours truly,
Lady McNally and Lady Kefford
One shall go to the ball...
Balls were the Tinder of the 18th century. High-society daughters would be paraded at grand affairs in private clubs, such as Almack’s, or at private mansions, until an eligible bachelor wrote his name in their dance card. Having been trained daily in all the fashionable dances, debutantes would dress in their finery and wait for admirers to lead them in a quadrille.
Partners would curtsey and bow to each other before linking gloved hands and skipping up and down the room.
Our dance master Garth Notley called out the steps for our longways reel.
“It’s like when I did country dancing at school,” said Lady McNally, forcing her partner to do-si-do out of time with the music.
“There’s a lot of processing up and down in Regency dances, giving ladies a chance to chat to their partners, while modestly keeping everybody at arm’s length,” said Chris Oswald who runs Hampshire Regency Dancers and makes Regency clothes.
Lieutenant Oswald and Colonel Adrian Lobb in their officer’s uniforms of the Third Foot Guards were highly sought-after dance companions.
If a couple danced more than two sets together, society would consider them engaged. This didn’t stop Lady Kefford from inserting herself several times between Colonel Lobb and his mob-capped lady wife, then whirling him off in the wrong direction.
The best Miss Serena could expect at a ball was the chance to chat to a gentleman. She said: “I fear these gentlemen may no longer be in the prime of their life.” “Nonsense,” said Lady Kefford. “Becoming a rich widow is every Regency lady’s dream.”
Young ladies were not allowed to address anyone by their first name until engaged. So it could be a long night dodging hot wax dripping from chandeliers and trying not to faint. Sensing Lady Kefford was in danger of swooning after too long hoiked into her dress, seamstress Helen McArdle produced a pot of smelling salts. With an unladylike snort, Lady Kefford said: “This is the most awake I’ve felt since that time I snared an admiral!”
* Hampshire Regency Dancers, hrd.org.uk.
Fine dining for the upper crust
Socially ambitious Georgians would trumpet their wealth by throwing glittering balls. Tables would be laden with fashionable dishes, mimicking those served up to the royals.
Regency cook Paul Couchman regularly makes one ball favourite – oranges filled with delicate layers of jelly, which would have required the chef to boil down bones for gelatin.
We made Paul’s fanchonettes recipe, but flaky pastry and chocolate custard filling plays havoc with one’s white gloves. Punch was also served at balls.
The lethal concoction we made to Paul’s recipe later on would explain why we woke on the floor at 2am.
While the elite dined on delicacies, the majority mostly ate bread. A family of seven in the 1790s would live off about 1.5kg of flour a week, and when the price of wheat rocketed in 1815, many could no longer afford that. “This is the period where social
differences are at their greatest,” said Paul. “The people at the bottom
really suffered.”
* Visit paulcouchman.co.uk for historical cookery classes.
Handbags and gladrags
All the Bridgerton ladies look like they’ve been dressed by Quality Street, but in reality debutantes wore flimsy short-sleeved white muslin gowns which showed off their bodies.
The Regency fashion was for a more natural look. Long stays worn under column gowns created the high waist of the Empire line, and pushed bosoms up like two small oranges. Or grapefruit if you were Lady Kefford.
Changing into the gowns proved an eye-opener, with a real sense of being prepared for the marriage shop window. Ladies’ maids were required to help get dressed. Drawers were not invented until 1806, so it could be pretty draughty under those frocks. Older ladies wore darker colours, and accessorised with turbans and ornate feathers, and all ball-goers wore long white satin gloves.
Wraps were worn in the cold houses, and Regency caps were very handy to cover unwashed hair.
Outside they added spencer jackets, cloaks and bonnets. Lady McNally was taken with one hat in particular. “Oh look – this one comes with its own built-in net curtains.”
Gentlemen wore tight-fitting high cut-away jackets and breeches designed to show the measure of a man, with a flap at the front for the call of nature – and also a hidden pocket where the gentlemen stored their clocks. (Correct spelling.)
Chaps danced in black ballet pumps rather than their boots.
Who could forget the sight of Mr Darcy in his linen undershirt? But as men didn’t wear underpants either, those shirts had to be long enough not to reveal a chap’s breakfast.
