Regency Trivia – Pantaloons

Pantaloons were extremely popular for wear during the day and for some evening entertainments. They were not considered as formal for evening wear as were breeches.

Pantaloons were made from linen and a knitted material. When the knitted material was used they were cut 2” smaller than the gentleman’s measurements. They covered the ankle and were held down by a strap that went under the foot. They could also be worn with boots or dress pumps.

After they went out of style there is a story about two older ladies bemoaning that they were no longer worn because you could immediately see a man’s interest when he wore pantaloons.

 

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Regency Trivia – Men’s Breeches

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During the Regency there were three types of unmentionables men wore. The oldest—and the only one accept at Almack’s—were breeches. Breeches could be made in a variety of different fabrics, such as silk, wool, leather, and nankeen.  Breeches ended just below the knee and could be worn with either boots or dress pumps. They were essential wear for evening events until around the late 1840’s. Only gentlemen dressed in breeches were allowed in Almack’s. Buckskin breeches were de rigueur for riding, around Town, and in the country.

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Regency Trivia – Ubiquitous Words – Check

As we’ve seen before, some words have been around for hundreds of years, but their meanings have evolved over time. ‘Check’ used as a verb is one of those words. Up until the around 1911 in the US, ‘check’ meant to stop someone from doing something, or to stop yourself from doing something, or to slow your horses. It applied to dogs losing a scent. To lose one’s wages, in short, there were many meanings.

However, around the time of WWI in the US ‘check’ began to be used to look in on something or to arrive and depart from a place such as checking into a hotel.

Therefore, during the Regency, ‘check’ was not used to look in one someone or something or to ensure something.

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Regency Trivia – Men’s Underclothing

During the Regency, underclothing was the term for underwear. Unmentionables were actually breeches or trousers, not underclothing. The meaning changed to mean underclothing during the Victorian era. Interestingly, a man’s shirt was also considered to be underwear. Ergo, if a man is running around wearing only his shirt, he’s running around in this underclothing. This was probably the reason banyans were so popular. One man even had his portrait wearing one. For their nether parts, gentlemen either wore their shirt tails tucked around their groin or drawers.

 

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Regency Trivia – Women’s Drawers

There is an on-going (and unresolved) debate about whether ladies wore drawers. Advertisements have been found for drawers. I tend to think ladies, especially young ladies, did not wear them. It’s more than possible that women in the demi-mode did wear them. They were considered scandalous because they had legs and only men were supposed to wear clothing items with legs. They were also notorious for falling down. At least one lady was embarrassed when she was at an evening entertainment and they did just that. But whether you believe they did or not, it’s helpful to know just what Regency era drawers looked like.

Drawers were two pieces of cloth made into legs and held together by a string at the waist, very much like chaps. There was no slit.

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Regency Trivia – Hall or Foyer?

A hall originally referred to the large main room of an old castle or house. It was the place that the family showed its wealth. They were often quite elaborate because it was the first impression a visitor got. When I lived in England in the late 1990’s and early 2000 the first room one entered was still called a hall.

However, it’s quite common in the US to call the first room one comes to after entering the house a foyer from the French foyer. But what did the word ‘foyer’ mean in England during the early to middle part of the 19^th century? According to the OED foyer first came into use around 1859 and was the green room or large room in the theater as this quote shows. “1859   G. A. Sala Twice round Clock (1861) 263  “This model foyer is to have something of the Haymarket and something of the Adelphi.””

Gradually, it came to mean any large room in a theater, restaurant, or other public building.

1882   Harper’s Mag. Feb. 327  Twice a year it is held in the foyer of the Academy of Music.

1910   Bradshaw’s Railway Guide Apr. 1116  The Restaurant with Foyer is one of the prettiest Dining Rooms in London.

1915   ‘Bartimeus’ Tall Ship iv. 77  There were at least half a dozen mothers in the foyer of the big..hotel.

The OED still does not define the word as an entrance to a house. However, Merriam-Webster defines the word as an entrance hall or vestibule and dates its use in North America to 1833. Thus, clearly making it a word Americans have used for almost 200 years.

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Regency Trivia – Towels (Fluffy ones were not a thing)

During the Regency towels were either linen, cotton, or flannel. The weaving technique was first developed in France in 1841. This video shows how terry cloth was first woven: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d5gwvUzAlI At the time it was used for clothing.

The technique was used on cotton in 1848, and in 1850 an industrial method for weaving terry cloth was developed. Once terry cloth was machine made, it began to be sold to be sold in lengths as toweling, and as pre-made towels. The industrial process made terry cloths affordable.

I haven’t been able to find anything concerning when fluffy towels were first made. From my own memory, I think it was sometime in the later part of the 20^th century.

My thanks to Doreen for this idea.

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Release Day – The Marquis She’s Been Waiting For!

It’s Release Day for The Marquis She’s Been Waiting For!!

 

Dashing as they may be, Ella Quinn’s eligible bachelors have much to learn about life and love. Fortunately, just the right ladies are willing to instruct them . . .

Lady Dorcus Calthorp, daughter of the Marquis of Huntington, loved and lost during her first Season, leaving her suspicious of gentlemen. Now Dorie finds herself with no marital prospects in sight—until Alexander, the newly elevated Marquis of Exeter, arrives in town. Handsome, charming, and an interesting conversationalist, he at first seems to be her perfect match. Then Dorie discovers he may not be seeking a wife so much as a land steward…

After learning of his father’s death, Alexander returns home to find his mother has run off with his land steward, leaving his younger sisters with their governesses. The most expedient solution is a wife who will take the household and estate in hand while he assumes his role in parliament. Lady Dorie meets all the requirements—until she makes a surprising proposal. Instead of marrying Alexander, she will tutor him in his duties, freeing him to find his heart’s match. Yet the more Dorie teaches him, the more he longs to change their course of study—to love. And with the end of the Season nearing, he doesn’t have much time…

 

Amazon https://amzn.to/2T02PRD

Apple: Someone please send me a workable link!

Barnes and Nobel: http://bit.ly/31ZwXBd

Google: http://bit.ly/2P6YoHD

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2TT6KBk

 

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Sale!

Believe in Me is .99 until May 13th!!

 

Marriage has worked out quite nicely for her older sisters, yet Lady Augusta Vivers is certain it would end her studies in languages and geography, and stop her from travelling. But when her mother thwarts her plan to attend the only university in Europe that accepts women—in Italy—she is forced to agree to one London Season. Spending her time at parties proves an empty diversion—until she encounters the well-traveled Lord Phineas Carter-Wood. Still, Europe awaits . . .

 

Phineas has studied architecture all over the world, yet Augusta is his most intriguing discovery yet. How can he resist a woman who loves maps and far-off lands? But her longing for all things foreign hinders any hope of courtship. When he learns her cousins have offered a trip to Europe, he secretly arranges to join their party. For he is determined to show Augusta that a real union is a thrilling adventure of its own. And when their journey is beset by dangerous obstacles, he gets far more opportunity than he bargained for . . .

 

Amazon https://amzn.to/2kBb73b

B&N http://bit.ly/2HUgIuC

BAM http://bit.ly/2HVvHEG

Google Play http://bit.ly/2lfQCJQ

Kobo http://bit.ly/2sjC2VE

iBooks https://apple.co/2xtw0GN

 

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Dukes by the Dozen Release Day!!

Today’s the day!! For those of you who haven’t ordered Dukes by the Dozen the links are posted below.

 

The Blurbs

January – Duke in Winter by Alyssa Alexander — When the highwayman demanded that the Duke of Highrow stand and deliver, he didn’t know she would steal his heart.

February – The Difference One Duke Makes by Elizabeth Essex — All it takes is one frosty night for two imperfect people, former naval commander Marcus Beecham and ruined Penelope Pease, to meet and make the perfect February Valentine.

March – Discovering the Duke by Madeline Martin — Reunited at a house party after a lackluster start to their marriage, the Duke of Stedton attempts to win his Duchess’ heart. Will a sizzling wager be enough to melt the frost between them, or will it truly remain the coldest winter in London?

April – The Duke and the April Flowers by Grace Burrowes — The Duke of Clonmere must marry one of the Earl of Falmouth’s three giggling younger daughters, but Lady Iris—Falmouth’s oldest, who is not at all inclined to giggling—catches Clonmere’s eye, and his heart!

May – Love Letters from a Duke by Gina Conkle — The Duke of Richland needs a proper duchess, but he wants his thoroughly fun, entirely inappropriate neighbor, Mrs. Charlotte Chatham. She’s widowed, older, and if the whispers prove true—barren.

June – Her Perfect Duke by Ella Quinn — Still suffering over the loss of his wife and child, Giles, Duke of Kendal sees Lady Thalia Trevor at a market and is instantly smitten. There is only one problem. She is already betrothed to another man. Will she defy her powerful father to marry him?

July – How to Ditch a Duke by May McGoldrick — Lady Taylor Fleming is an heiress with a suitor on her tail. Her plan to ditch him is simple, escape to the Highlands. But there is nothing simple about the Duke of Bamberg. And even with the best laid plans, things can go awry…

August – To Tempt A Highland Duke by Bronwen Evans — Widowed Lady Flora Grafton must be dreaming. Dougray Firth, Duke of Monreith, who once pledged her his heart but then allowed her to marry another, has just proposed. Why now, after eight years? When she learns the truth, can she trust Dougray to love her enough this time?

September – Duke in Search of a Duchess by Jennifer Ashley — The meticulous Duke of Ashford is dismayed when his children ask Helena Courtland, the gossipy, busybody young widow next door, to find Ash a new wife. But she sweeps into his home and his life, turning Ash’s precisely ordered world into a chaotic whirlwind.

October – Dear Duke by Anna Harrington — When the Duke of Monmouth, decides to build a canal, he isn’t prepared for an old mill owner and his daughter to stand in his way. The only person who understands him is the anonymous pen pal to whom he’s been pouring out his heart, a woman not at all who she seems.

November – Must Love Duke by Heather Snow — Lady Emmaline Paulson already has the only Duke she wants in her life—an adorable puppy she rescued from the Serpentine with the help of a handsome stranger. Can Maxwell Granville, heir to a dukedom, convince her there’s room for him, too?

December – The Mistletoe Duke by Sabrina York — The Duchess of Devon can’t think of a better way to tempt her widowed son into marrying again, than to throw a Christmas Ball. And there simply must be mistletoe everywhere! But it’s not until Jonathan meets his mother’s humble companion under the mistletoe, that fireworks erupt.

January – Dueling with the Duke by Eileen Dreyer — When Adam Marrick, Duke of Rothray, shows up on Georgie Grace’s doorstep, she thinks it is to become acquainted with his cousin James’s widow and daughter. Instead he brings news that will completely upend their lives and put them all in danger.

Buy links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2FL2JdW

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2MxAi3R

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2TfBuvg

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2CIcbuS

B&N: http://bit.ly/2sK9PqL

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2KHXAH7

Apple: https://apple.co/2Xdcs1l

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