Regency Fashion: Artificial Flowers

In researching masquerades during the Regency for my historical nonfiction book, Masquerade Balls in Regency Britain, I learned a lot about a key decor item, artificial flowers.  Artificial flowers were often coupled with real flowers in elaborate designs to dress private homes and venues for masquerade and other balls.

Here is one DIY receipt I looked at:
Raffald, E. (1808). The Experienced English Housekeeper: For the Use and Ease of Ladies, Housekeepers, Cooks, &c., Written Purely from Practice : Dedicated to the Hon. Lady Elizabeth Warburton, Whom the Author Lately Served as Housekeeper : Consisting of Several Hundred Original Receipts, Most of which Never Appeared in Print. United Kingdom: J. Brambles, A. Meggitt, and J. Waters.

By the long Regency, there was a sizable cottage industry of artificial flower makers, often women, in London.  In addition to decor, artificial flowers were popular items to dress up a hat, gown, or other accessory.  The European hub of artificial flowers was typically considered to be France, although Italy was known as the birthplace of the craft.    The DIY version out of household ingredients differed from the professional craft which preferred silk and paper.  The French had advanced silk flower creation so much by the 1800s, that they looked fairly realistic and were perfect to reuse as decor items coupled with real blooms that offered fragrance.

Historically, they would have also been made of porcelain and perfumed to imitate the scent of real flowers, but this trend fell out of fashion by the Regency.

You can read more about artificial flowers and other key decor items for Regency era masquerades in my new historical nonfiction book, Masquerade Balls in Regency Britain.

Readers are saying: “fascinating read and it really opened the doors to see what masquerades were really like in the era of Bridgerton and other of my favorite period dramas”

“I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the social history of the Regency period, especially those curious about the cultural and performative aspects of elite society.  It’s a valuable resource for researchers..”

“This fascinating work of scholarship is a feast for the imagination. The level of detail is incredible; the author definitely did her research!… it is a must-read for anyone who enjoys reading or writing about the Regency era in England.”

Now available in the UK or for pre-order in US 

Additional Sources:

The Popular Encyclopedia: Being a General Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, Biography, History, and Political Economy. Reprinted from the American Edition of the “Conversations Lexicon”, with Corrections and Additions …. (1837). United Kingdom: (n.p.).