I’m back this week to talk about women’s clothing. There are lots of layers to those reportedly scantily clad Regency heroines, and today we’re going to look at them all. *grin* To the left we have a fashion plate from 1812 (courtesy of Candice Hern's wonderful collection).

Let’s start from the skin out. The very first thing our heroine puts on is her chemise (which she might still call her shift). It’s going to be white. It’s going to be made of linen, and it’s going to be an extremely simple garment, perhaps with a drawstring at the neckline. It will most likely have short sleeves (though it might be sleeveless) and it will probably reach to about mid-calf (you don’t want it to show below her skirts!). In the picture to the right the shift on the left is c. 1810. This is the base layer as it's easy to wash (unlike the stays!).