The Truth About Reformed Rakes: Victorian Views on Marrying a Scoundrel
If you’ve ever read a historical romance novel, you’ll likely be familiar with the oft-quoted belief that “reformed rakes make the best husbands.” This matrimonial maxim did not, however, originate in the world of Regency and Victorian fiction. In fact, when it came to marriage, many a nineteenth century lady firmly believed that a reformed rake was superior to other men. Not only was a rake more sexually experienced and (presumably) a better lover, but—after having sown his wild oats—a rake was believed to be more attentive to his business and more indulgent toward his wife.[…]Continue Reading
The Pug Who Bit Napoleon: Cover Reveal!
At long last, I can reveal the beautiful cover of my upcoming book, The Pug Who Bit Napoleon: Animal Tales of the 18th and 19th Centuries. It was designed by Dominic Allen at Pen and Sword Books (UK) and features one of my favourite historical pug paintings. I hope you love it as much as I do![…]Continue Reading
Seaside Fashions of the 19th Century
“The close of the London and Parisian Season has now arrived, and the Fashionable World has sought the invigorating breezes of the Seaside…”
The Ladies’ Monthly Magazine, 1869.
During the 19th century, there was no such thing as a holiday from fashion. Seaside resorts in England—whether in Brighton, Bournemouth, or Burnham-on-Sea—were as much a place to flaunt one’s style as London itself during the season. An 1869 issue of the Ladies’ Monthly Magazine even goes so far as to declare:
“…splendid as they have been in the season just ended, dresses to be worn at the Seaside, and at the mansions of our Aristocracy, often surpass those that have been worn in London or Paris, during the height of the Season.”
19th Century Fortune-Telling: From the Drawing Room to the Court Room
“…every person pretending or professing to tell fortunes, or using any subtle craft, means, or device, by palmistry or otherwise, to deceive and impose on any of his Majesty’s subjects…shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond.”
(Excerpt from The Vagrancy Act of 1824.)
Crystal gazing, palmistry, and other forms of fortune-telling were quite popular during the 19th century. Husband divination games were heavily featured at Christmas and Halloween parties in the rural countryside. While professional practitioners of the occult laid the cards for tonnish ladies and gentlemen in some of the finest drawing rooms in London. In general, such games were viewed as nothing more than thrilling entertainment. However, there were plenty of individuals – from the highly intelligent to the ridiculously gullible – who truly believed in the supernatural. Their desire to learn the future or to contact the dead gave rise to a seemingly endless parade of fraudsters, charlatans, and outright villains.[…]Continue Reading
The 1830s in Fashionable Gowns: A Visual Guide to the Decade
The 1830s was another transformative decade in 19th century fashion. Like the 1820s, it was a span of years which stood between the Regency era (1811-1820) and the Victorian era (1837-1901), providing a bridge from the often extreme, gigot-sleeved confections of the 1820s to the tight-sleeved, form-fitting bodices of the 1840s. The 1830s was also the decade in which the pendulum of fashion swung from large, ornate sleeves to large skirts embellished with various pleats and trimmings. Or, as fashion historian C. Willett Cunnington describes it, the decade in which women’s gowns moved from the “exuberantly romantic” to the “droopingly sentimental.”[…]Continue Reading
