Dress for Excess at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton

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Dress for Excess at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton

February 25, 2011 by Vic

Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England, opened on February 5 and will run for a full year. The cost of the exhibition is free for those who purchase tickets to see the Royal Pavilion & Museums at Brighton.

The fashions look at the life of George IV as Prince, Regent and King through the clothes of the late Georgian period and how they have influenced fashions today. The king’s silk and velvet coronation robe, trimmed in ermine and over 16 feet in length, will be on public display for the first time in 30 years. Other clothes in the exhibition include a dandy’s costume, military uniform worn at the Battle of Waterloo, and neoclassical influenced silk and muslin gowns.

The costumes are displayed in rooms in the Royal Pavilion. The links below feature a number of beautiful examples in the exhibition. Lucky is the person who plans to visit Brighton within this calendar year!

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Posted in Fashions, jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Regency Life, Regency Period, Regency style, Regency World | Tagged Brighton, Dress for Excess, Regency Fashion, Royal Pavilion | 15 Comments

15 Responses

on February 25, 2011 at 10:27 Sabine

This looks wonderful. Wish I could manage to go there.
Please, do you know wether there will be a catalogue of the exhibition be available? Thanks!
- on February 25, 2011 at 19:00 Vic
  
  I hope so! So far I haven’t found a source yet. Vic
  - on February 26, 2011 at 16:07 Kathryn Kane
    
    Please do post a source for the catalog, if you can find one. If I cannot manage to find a way to get to the exhibition, I at least want to read about it and see lots of photos.
    
    Thanks for making us aware of this celebration of the Regency bicentennial!
    
    Regards,
    
    Kat
on February 25, 2011 at 10:50 Arnie Perlstein

Any Janeite going to such exhibit ought to be sure to have first read the following, to put it in the context of how Jane Austen really felt about the Prince Regent:

http://www.jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol27no1/sheehan.htm

Cheers, ARNIE
on February 25, 2011 at 11:58 Patty

A wonderful, humorous scene about George as the Prince of Wales, played Nigel Bruce (yes, Dr. Watson, too) and Lesley Howard as The Scarlet Pimpernel is on this clip. They are dandies to the extreme. George would have been 34 in 1793 during the Reign of Terror. I never see You Tube here but must share this – this is what style was all about to the beau monde.
on February 25, 2011 at 12:04 Karen Wasylowski

I think the men look so wonderful in these clothes. Usually I only notice the women’s dresses but the men are gorgeous. Even Dr. Watson.
on February 25, 2011 at 15:44 Cora Harrison

I plan a holiday in south-west England this year and must visit this exhibition. I was a bit disappointed in the Bath costume museum. The eighteenth century clothes were a bit sparse.

Thank you, Vic, for another wonderful inspirational source of material.
on February 25, 2011 at 17:43 Grace Elliot

Thank you for drawing this to my attention- looks well worth a special trip to Brighton!
Grace x
on February 25, 2011 at 23:30 Karen Field

I have the Anthony Andrews version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. I’m going to have another look at it. I wonder if the costuming is more accurate. The men’s jackets in this little movie clip above seem really exaggerated.

I’d sure love to go to Brighton! (Gosh, I sound just like Lydia Bennet!)
on February 26, 2011 at 23:37 Nicola

Ooh thanks for letting us know. I visit Brighton most summers. I’ve just been reading Elizabeth Jenkins’ biography of Austen and she is very good on the Prince Regent. Despite his excesses he did promote art and literature – and kept a set of Austen novels in all his houses!
on March 5, 2011 at 15:39 Regency Fashion: Banyan, a man’s dressing gown « Jane Austen's World

[...] Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England, the fashion exhibition at the Brighton Pavilion this year, features a quilted printed banyan, or men’s dressing robe worn over a shirt and knee breeches. (Click here to see the full image of the robe.) [...]
on March 15, 2011 at 04:30 Regency Fashion: Banyan, a man’s dressing gown | The Beau Monde Blog

[...] Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England, the fashion exhibition at the Brighton Pavilion this year, features a quilted printed (chintz) banyan, or men’s dressing robe worn over a shirt and knee breeches. [...]
on August 6, 2011 at 08:33 Regency Fashion – Man’s Banyan | Suzi Love

[...] Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England, the fashion exhibition at the Brighton Pavilion this year, features a quilted printed (chintz) banyan, or men’s dressing robe worn over a shirt and knee breeches. When at home, a gentleman would change into an informal knee-length dressing gown known as a banyan, and wear it around his family at breakfast, playing games, such as cards or backgammon, and while reading in his library or writing letters. One can readily imagine Mr. Bennet wearing a banyan in his study, and most definitely Mr. Woodhouse (image below), as he sat by the fire reading a newspaper. [...]
on October 29, 2011 at 23:35 Regency Fashion: Banyan, a man’s dressing gown | The Beau Monde

[...] Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England, the fashion exhibition at the Brighton Pavilion this year, features a quilted printed (chintz) banyan, or men’s dressing robe worn over a shirt and knee breeches. [...]
on March 14, 2012 at 03:39 Regecny Fashion – Man's Banyan « Suzi Love's Weblog

[...] Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England, the fashion exhibition at the Brighton Pavilion this year, features a quilted printed (chintz) banyan, or men’s dressing robe worn over a shirt and knee breeches. When at home, a gentleman would change into an informal knee-length dressing gown known as a banyan, and wear it around his family at breakfast, playing games, such as cards or backgammon, and while reading in his library or writing letters. One can readily imagine Mr. Bennet wearing a banyan in his study, and most definitely Mr. Woodhouse (image below), as he sat by the fire reading a newspaper. [...]