Georgian

Georgian 1750AD - 1820AD

Key Style Features

Mens:

Wigs: British taxes on the powder used in wigs made their wearing more exclusive for the high class later in the era. Middle classes began styling their own hair when unable to afford wigs.

Hats: Cornered hats were still popular in Europe, but in Britain were beginning to give way to early incarnations of the top hat)

Formal Clothing: Mens' formal clothing of the time became more refined and less flamboyant than the baroque era, with less use of lace, frills and embroidery, and instead began focusing more on simple and well tailored garments as a marker for fashion and quality.

Cravat: A precursor to the modern neck tie, a popular trend in this era.

Womens:

Hair: Womens' hair was often made up into large extravagant styles, often styled artistically and containing various adornments.

Open or closed robe

Reticules: Due to the designs of womenswear at the time, clothing often left little to no room for storing items, and so reticules were popular for carrying various items and accessories.

Stomacher

Chemise: An undergarment. Most outer clothing was very difficult and time-consuming to wash at the time, so a chemise was essential for protecting the outer clothing from the oils and sweat of the skin.

Sleeves: Were often trimmed with laces and embroidery.

Petticoat

Pannier: A framing for skirts and dresses worn as an undergarment.  

Sack Dress: The sack dress brings together a number of different items to complete a well-known look of the era. Usually paired with a pannier to give the back of the dress shape, a stomacher at the front, and a petticoat to wear over the dress.

Images of the Era

Figure 1

Key Features - Top hat, styled hair, cravat, tailored formal clothing

Figure 2

Key Features - Extravagant hair with adornments, lace trim sleeves, sack dress, pannier, stomacher

Figure 3

Key Features - Reticule, embroidery

Modern Interpretations on Georgian Fashion

Figure 4

This is an tailcoat dress from the Jean Paul Gaultier Spring/Summer 2011 Couture show. This particular piece is an interesting twist on the classic tailcoat, which is a popular mens style suit coat. The usual characteristics of a mens tailcoat are a high front (with the hem usually coming up to the waist line) which lead around down to one or two long tails at the back (usually falling to the knees). The coat is usually collared and double breasted as with most suit coats. 

Considering that a mens tailcoat is designed to the fit and style of a man, this particular design is interesting in how it makes the transition from a traditional mens garment to something more feminine and fitting in with a women's garment. The essence of the tailcoat is dropped down slightly so that the front 'hem' reaches just below the hips (rather than the waist), and the tails at the back just touch the floor (rather than the knees). This creates a nice silhouette around the hips and legs of the wearer, and draws attention from the chest down to the legs.

This draws a few different inspirations from the Georgian era to bring together an effective modern depiction of Georgian fashion. The most prominent is the tailcoat, which was popularised in the Georgian era by the emergence of 'dandyism' (a following of men who focused intently on presentation and appearance), and namely Beau Brummell (a prominent influence on British mens' fashion in the Georgian era). 

Another influence is the head piece, which draws parallels to the extravagant styles and adornments of women's hair in the Georgian era. This particular style is somewhat less flamboyant and extreme, likely as a reflection of the modern influence on the style. 

Further influence is reflected in the neck piece of the outfit. This piece looks to be a modern take on the cravat, another popular piece of men's formal clothing in the Georgian era. One popular style of cravat at the time was to take the cravat and wrap it around the neck, with it coming together at the front of the neck under the chin. This iteration of the cravat is much more minimalistic, with a tighter wrap around the neck, and much less left at the front (down to the very small styling at the front of the neck piece).

Another influence is in the structure of the tails of the dress, which are slightly shaped so as to give a structured look. This is a modern take on panniers, which as mentioned earlier were a popular choice in Georgian times. As a point of contrast, the modern version will have support and structure built in to the dress itself likely, whereas traditional panniers were a separate undergarment. This is likely more a reflection on better technology in modern fashion though more than anything else.