Researching the regency: Men’s Fashion, heraldry, Word Choice and more

As I work on my regencies, researching things every page or two, I’m always astonished at how very many websites I visit. Not that long ago, I saw where another author kept track of that sort of thing via a blog post, a very detailed blog post for each specific book that impressed me mightily. But more than that – given how I have a tendency to “bookmark” every single page of value, and my bookmarks are numbering in the thousands, I think this might prove a super helpful reference, in and of itself.

So here goes…

(I’ll likely organize this better as it becomes more detailed, but for now, I’m simply going to use topics and links, and might – once I’m not feeling the pressure of a deadline – add snippets about why each area has become a Topic of Interest, and which character it applies to.)

These are the links being utilized while working on Ensnared by Innocence, in June 2021.

18th CENTURY ART

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71f4ciyTjyL.AC_SL1277.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Landscape_with_Salmacis_and_Hermaphroditus_by_Louis_Jean_Francois_Lagren%C3%A9e_Mauritshuis_776.jpg (& about 30 others but liked this one best)

CEMETERIES and BURIAL RIGHTS

https://www.wattpad.com/477095442-reading-the-regency-funeral-rites-and-burials/page/6

CHURCHES and WEDDINGS

http://hibiscus-sinensis.com/regency/wedding.htm
https://www.regencyhistory.net/2015/09/st-georges-hanover-square.html

HERALDRY

https://www.theheraldrysociety.com/education/ (this has ended up being my favorite resource – wonderful PDFs)
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41617/41617-h/41617-h.htm
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/guide-to-heraldry

MEN’S FASHION

One of the COOLEST things I’ve stumbled across ever – a Swedish gentleman working in a museum, who has made his own Regency pants as well as shared some phenomenal pictures. He hasn’t posted since 2018, but just the few couple posts I read, you could easily pattern a Regency hero off of him! A self-sufficient man who can sew his own pants? Aye, I am impressed!
https://candicehern.com/regency-world/glossary/breeches/
https://www.historyundressed.com/2013/11/history-of-mens-leg-wear-pants-through.html
https://janeaustensworld.com/2013/06/21/regency-fashion-mens-breeches-pantaloons-and-trousers/
http://hibiscus-sinensis.com/regency/tailors.htm

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/07/23/pannier-stifling-cousin-crinoline-18th-century-fashion-undergarment-kept-gown-spectacular-2/
https://www.songsmyth.com/fabric.html (one of my all-time favorite sites for Regency clothing; have been visiting this one for over a decade)

NAMES

https://amp.mongabay.com/names/male_names.htm (super helpful naming site; I pop down to the bottom and narrow my search from there)
https://namecensus.com/data/surnames_A.htm (ditto)
https://britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/

NGRAMS

(I use this a ton, when researching common versus uncommon words, hyphenation I cannot readily find elsewhere, etc. Below is only one example)
https://books.google.com/ngrams/

TABLE GAMES

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Games_of_Whist_Quadrille_Piquet_quinze_V/qqpAAAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22vingt%22&pg=PA133&printsec=frontcover (Awesome! 1807 Hoyle publication on card games. Proved very interesting as the spelling of some differed from the majority of the Internet.)
https://judeknightauthor.com/tag/card-games-in-the-regency/
https://reginajeffers.blog/2020/07/20/playing-cards-at-balls-and-gaming-hells-during-the-regency/

TITLES and FORMS of ADDRESS

https://www.regencyhistory.net/2018/08/dukes-marquesses-and-other-titles.html
https://www.chinet.com/~laura/html/titles12.html

WORDS
I use all of these sites extensively on every Regency manuscript.

etymonline.com
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5402/pg5402.html
https://greensdictofslang.com
https://onelook.com
http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary

WORD ONE-OFFs (sites where I get an answer for what I need at the moment for that particular book or sentence)
https://blog.inkyfool.com/2012/03/dicked-in-nob.html (thank goodness for this one; for some reason, this phrase came right to me but I could not find it at any of my regular research places)