Regency Wardrobe Colors

A List of Regency Colors for Clothing

One of my favorite eras in history is the Regency.  I love the clothing styles--the delicate slipper shoes, the elegant bonnets, the silk stockings.  Even the hair ribbons and small purses called reticules.   Below is a list of colors used during the Regency.

PINKS

Pink

Rose

Blush - pale pink

Laylock - warm pink

PURPLES

Amaranth - purple‐red with a pink tint

Amethyst -  light purple

Deep Violet

Lilac

Purple

Violet - parma violet

BLUES

Azure - bright, sky blue

Bishop's Blue - blue/purple

Cerulean Blue - a bluish green color during the Regency (not the sky blue we think of today)

Spanish Blue - dark blue, used for men's coats

GREENS

American Green - bright green

Bottle Green - dark green with a hint of blue

Emerald Green - a bluish green color made from a copper arsenic compound.  Yes, it was poisonous, but not known to be at the time

Green

Pea-green

Pistache/Pistachio  - light green

Pomona - Apple green

YELLOWS

Bois de Citron - a yellow green

Canary yellow -  bright yellow

Evening Primrose - deeper yellow than Primrose

Fawn - a light yellow‐tan

Jonquil - daffodil yellow

Primrose - soft yellow

Yellow

REDS / ORANGES / BROWNS

Brown

Capucine - dark orange

Coquelicot - named after the Poppy flower

Devonshire Brown - rich reddish brown

Garnet - same as today

Hazelnut - reddish‐brown

Pompeian Red - the deep red color

Poussiere de Paris - light brown

Puce -  brownish-purple/purplish-pink

Sorrel - cinnamon color

Scarlet

Egytian Earth-Brown

MISC. 

Black

Manilla - light, hemp brown

Nakara - pearl color

Slate - a dark gray/stone gray

Steel‐grey -  a metallic blackish gray

Straw -  the golden beige hue

White

Resources:  A Lady of Fashion - Barbara Johnson's Album of Styles and Fabrics;  Sandra Brands Regency Clothing Workshop; The Regency Companion by Laudermilk and Hamlin