Georgette Heyer's Regency World (23 page)

Women, too, styled their hair along Grecian lines with soft curls around the face and the rest of the hair pulled back into a chignon or braided. The antique Roman style also became popular after 1810 with the hair lifted to the back of the head and styled into two soft knots or ringlets which hung lightly to the neck. A plain or jewelled bandeau was often worn around the hair in imitation of the ancient modes. By the middle of the period long hair had become the vogue and it was fashionable to wear one’s hair in bunches of ringlets on either side of the head or, less commonly, in a braided coronet on the crown of the head as Jenny Chawleigh was persuaded to do in
A Civil Contract
. The ‘natural’ look which was so popular often took much time and patience to achieve and for those who did not have natural curls, it was necessary to produce them with metal curling tongs heated in the fire or by using curl papers. Styles such as
à la Méduse
(like Medusa) consisted of long curls or ringlets carefully dressed to create a ‘natural’ look. Upper-class and wealthier middle-class ladies often had a personal maid or dresser to attend to their hair or they could call upon the services of a professional hairdresser who would attend them in their home and charge between 2s.6d. and 5s. for cutting and styling. For formal occasions such as a ball it was fashionable to wear a tiara or even a wreath of flowers in one’s hair but for presentations at Court ostrich feathers were
de rigueur
.

Seals, Fobs, Snuff-boxes and Quizzing Glasses

Seals were small, decorative stamps used to impress one’s insignia on the wax seal of a letter. They were often finely crafted and could be made of ivory, silver, gold or other metal. Fashionable men often hung them from their fob-watch ribbon. Most gentlemen carried a fob or pocket watch in a specially designed pocket in the waistband of their breeches or pantaloons. Attached to the watch was a fob ribbon which hung outside the waistband and was weighted down with an ornamental fob. This not only advertised the fact that the gentleman could afford so expensive an item as a pocket watch but also made it easier to draw the watch from the pocket. As well as a fob, fashionable men often attached their watch key and a seal to the fob ribbon, while aspiring dandies and fops often hung several fobs and seals from their watch. Fobs were handcrafted, highly decorative pieces, usually made of gold or silver.

Snuff taking did not become widespread in England until the early 1700s and in the first half of the century it was taken from bottles and jars as well as boxes. Ladies took snuff from a small bag hung from their dress, while some men purportedly carried it loose in their pocket. From mid-century, however, snuff was mainly taken from boxes and, by the time of the Regency (when snuff taking was in the last decade of its enormous popularity), snuff-boxes had become objects of fashion and status and, in upper-class circles, formed part of a complex social ritual with its own precise rules and etiquette. It was Kit Fancot’s lack of dexterity with his brother’s pretty Bernier snuff-box in
False Colours
that caught Sir Bonamy Ripple’s attention and earned Kit a piece of salient advice about how to handle it. Snuff-boxes varied greatly in size and shape as well as design: they could be almost any shape, including octagonal, heart-shaped, oblong, circular, oval, shell, sarcophagus and scroll, but they were also made in the form of people, animals, birds, fruit, flowers, books, shoes, sedan chairs and boats, and their inner and outer surfaces were often decorated with imaginative and beautiful designs. They could be made from almost any material but during the great period of manufacture, from about 1730 to the Regency, many of the most popular boxes were made of gold (almost always in alloy form as pure gold was too soft), silver, porcelain or hard-stones such as quartz, agate, onyx and jasper. But boxes made from ivory, bone, tortoiseshell, papier mâché, lacquer, wood, pewter, copper, brass, steel, leather and
Vernis Martin
were also an option. They could be plain or decorative, with any amount of jewellery or carving, and many boxes had etched, painted or engraved surfaces. They sometimes had cameos mounted into the lids, or the sides were painted or enamelled with pastoral scenes or family portraits. Many snuff-boxes were ingeniously designed with hidden openings, double lids or false bottoms for hiding love notes or portraits of a lover or mistress. Some collectors had a snuff-box to match every outfit, or one for every day of the year as Lord Petersham had in
Regency Buck
, with heavier snuff-boxes for winter and lighter ones for summer. Men and women often had boxes specifically designed for their gender and made distinguishable by shape, design or decoration. During the Regency there were many avid collectors and connoisseurs of snuff-boxes—both male and female—among the upper class.

Eyeglasses that could be held on the face with side arms were not invented until 1727 and prior to that date lenses used for reading or vision were hand-held or made to pinch the nose (hence pince-nez) which was uncomfortable. ‘Glasses’ often consisted of one lens set into a frame or heavy metal casing. During the eighteenth century these elegant magnifying lenses became known as quizzing glasses—possibly because the aristocracy used them as a weapon against pretension—whereby the person looked at was ‘quizzed’ or made to feel inferior. In
The Corinthian
, Sir Richard Wyndham used his quizzing glass to such good effect that it was considered one of society’s deadliest weapons against any form of pretension. Quizzing glasses were used by all classes, however, with those used by the less affluent being made of brass with crudely ground lenses compared with the often finely wrought, elegant gold and silver glasses of the upper class. Gentlemen generally wore them around their necks on a piece of ribbon attached to the handle.

Jewellery

Although perennially popular, during the Regency most jewellery was worn in the evening. The simpler styles of dress worn earlier in the period lent themselves to embellishment, and necklaces, bracelets, brooches, aigrettes and jewelled combs or hair bandeaus were favourite adornments for the soft silks and satins of a lady’s ball gown. Some elaborate heirlooms such as the Cardross necklace which caused Nell such distress and worry in
April Lady
were considered quite antiquated and unfashionable. As the period progressed and dresses gradually evolved into more elaborate costumes, jewellery was often reset to match the new mode. Precious and semi-precious stones were both highly sought-after and diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls were popular along with garnets, topazes, turquoises and aquamarines. Ornaments for the hair were also favoured during the Regency and jewelled combs, pearl bandeaus, tiaras, aigrettes and circlets of silver filigree were much worn. Earrings were often worn during the day and at night and ladies sometimes had their ears pierced with a needle and silken thread so that they could wear a pair of diamond drops or fine pearl earrings. Jewellery for men was confined mainly to a handsome pocket watch worn with fob and seal attached, a plain or jewelled tiepin for his cravat and possibly a signet, such as the one worn by the Duke of Sale in
The Foundling
, or other kind of ring. Both men and women wore rings as a token of affection, loyalty or marriage.