Friday, April 13, 2012

A List of Regency Colors for Clothing

One of my favorite eras in history is the Regency.  I love the clothing styles--the delicate slipper shoes, the elegant bonnets, the silk stockings.  Even the hair ribbons and small purses called reticules.  While I found clothing styles to be easy to research, I had to dig deeper to learn about colors.  Below is a list of colors used during the Regency.


PINKS
Pink
Rose
Blush - pale pink
Laylock - warm pink

PURPLES
Amaranth - purple‐red with a pink tint
Amethyst -  light purple
Deep Violet
Lilac
Purple
Violet - parma violet

BLUES
Azure - bright, sky blue
Bishop's Blue - blue/purple

Cerulean Blue - a bluish green color during the Regency (not the sky blue we think of today)

Spanish Blue - dark blue, used for men's coats

GREENS
American Green - bright green
Bottle Green - dark green with a hint of blue

Emerald Green - a bluish green color made from a copper arsenic compound.  Yes, it was poisonous, but not known to be at the time

Green
Pea-green
Pistache/Pistachio  - light green
Pomona - Apple green

YELLOWS
Bois de Citron - a yellow green
Canary yellow -  bright yellow
Evening Primrose - deeper yellow than Primrose
Fawn - a light yellow‐tan
Jonquil - daffodil yellow
Primrose - soft yellow
Yellow


REDS / ORANGES / BROWNS
Brown
Capucine - dark orange
Coquelicot - named after the Poppy flower
Devonshire Brown - rich reddish brown
Garnet - same as today
Hazelnut - reddish‐brown
Pompeian Red - the deep red color
Poussiere de Paris - light brown
Puce -  brownish-purple/purplish-pink
Sorrel - cinnamon color
Scarlet
Egytian Earth-Brown

MISC. 
Black
Manilla - light, hemp brown
Nakara - pearl color
Slate - a dark gray/stone gray
Steelgrey -  a metallic blackish gray
Straw -  the golden beige hue
White

Resources:  A Lady of Fashion - Barbara Johnson's Album of Styles and Fabrics;  Sandra Brands Regency Clothing Workshop; The Regency Companion by Laudermilk and Hamlin

11 comments:

  1. Their clothes might not be so eye popping but they still had nice clothes during those days.

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  2. Thanks for commenting, Savannah! I love the simplicity of the Greek-style gowns of the Regency. Plus, I think the gowns of this time-period were very feminine. But I do agree, they were not as eye popping as, say, Tudor gowns or Victorian.

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    1. I think the Regency 'togas' were the most fashionable thing EVER! If only we could recreate that beauty nowadays! I remember seeing that baggy popsocks are in fashion- what is the world coming to! :O

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  3. I love the names they have for the different colors. I need a list like this for the 18th century. :)

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    1. Shelley, there are colors in my research books I didn't put on this list because they were 18th century. Email me through my website on the contact section of the bio page and I'll put together a list of colors from my research files.

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  4. I agree w/Shelley. The names of the colors are beautiful. Great resource:-)

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  5. Sweet! I bookmarked this for future reference! ;o) Thanks for providing it!

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  6. Very fun post. I like the names of the colors.

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  7. I just found this. Thank you.

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  8. Can I use the blues picture for a book cover please?

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