Beauty is pain, they say. Regency women, unfortunately, were expected to take that saying very literally… Even though a “natural” look was theoretically all the rage, most women decided to help nature a hand. And in order to satisfy the Regency beauty ideal, pain or even slow poisoning were considered rather acceptable costs.
Literal fashion police: the sumptuary laws of Renaissance Florence
These days an unfashionable outift may cause some shame and embarrassment – but at least you won’t get fined for it. In Renaissance Florence and Venice, the wrong dress could cost you a considerable amount of money, thanks to sumptuary laws and the literal fashion police roaming the streets.