#v: bridgerton

[joyfulmagic]

Open Starter — Muse: Alastair — Verse: Bridgerton Open to: anyone

“I must inform you, I’m rather competitive,” Alastair informed his companion, offering a cheeky smile as he walked over to them and offered them a ball. “You try, I can guide you if need be,” he informed them with a slightly warmer smile.

Alastair had finally been accepted by the Court as a legitimate noble, his mother having been a duke’s daughter, and thus nobility in her own right even if his father was a palace guard. His eldest sister had fought for him to enter Society, wanting him to have a chance at a better life than what he’d have being seen as illegitimate.

His sister had been a favorite of the Queen’s when she’d entered Society about five years prior to Alastair coming of age to court a woman. It was why he’d been able to get into the Queen’s court — this importance his sister had in society. Her legitimacy and high rank didn’t hurt either, for she inherited her father’s title as his eldest living child and no sons to compete with.

“This…I much prefer this to the dances,” Alastair confessed with a laugh as he guided his companion in how to throw the ball. “Being outside on a sunny day has something special to it,” he added, it not frequently being of such nice weather.

[fantasiesandfolklore]

Bridgerton Verse — Lady Aislin McLeod

CW: Adultery resulting in offspring; pregnancy mention; prostitution mention; illegitimacy/bastardy; duels; death; parent death; arranged marriages;

Born: 1794

Aislin was born to Lord Tyr McLeod and his lover, a woman of the night known as La Dame Blanche (The White Lady) — or rather, secretly, Lady Anne Davies, a politician’s wife. She kept the pregnancy secret from the community, only her husband and Lord McLeod knowing about her pregnancy.

The two men dueled over who would get to raise the child, Lord Tyr McLeod killing the politician in the duel as it grew passionately violent. He cast aside his wife and had Lady Anne Davies live with him and his elder daughter — aged 5 at Aislin’s birth —, forcing her mother and his true wife to live in a cottage near the main estate.

Aislin was born a cold February morning to the woman and her lover, having bright red hair like her father and half-sister. However, she had her mother’s nearly lavender colored eyes and lack of freckles. She was granted Lord McLeod’s last name and legitimacy upon requesting it from the monarchy.

Aislin was an outgoing, yet gentle and kind, child, similar to Snow White and Cinderella. Animals and people alike were drawn to her as she grew up, having many prospective suitors even at a young age. She got along well with her elder sister even with the age gap, Relta treating infant Aislin like her precious baby doll.

Upon her mother’s death in childbirth when Aislin was 2, Lord Tyr McLeod took his old wife and daughters from the Scottish countryside to London, having wanted to escape scrutiny and claiming that Aislin was the full blooded child of himself and his first wife, Lady Catherine McLeod, who resented having to join London’s upper crust families.

Fortunately, Aislin was adored even by Lady Catherine McLeod, who raised Aislin as her own daughter and could pass her off as hers due to the fair skin and red hair they shared. Lady Catherine taught both her daughters how to behave in upper class society, planning to help them both have marriages of love rather than class, unlike what had been done to her in being forced to marry Lord Tyr McLeod.

When Aislin entered polite society and was presented to the court at age 18, she was approved of by Queen Charlotte initially due to Aislin’s kind demeanor yet wittiness, causing the Queen to even laugh at a joke. She followed in her sister’s footsteps, being a jewel of the court.

[miss-polly]

@polarean ;

The Clarke's ward made no great impression on the queen compared to the other young women. Her coming-out gown was lovely enough, her curls arranged in a stylish coiffure with a few gemstones pinning everything in place. A pretty sight, but nothing noteworthy among the rest of the tonne. Still, Polly smiled her way through the first ball of the season, a gloved hand covering her smile as she giggled in a most attractive manner. Were it not for her most unfortunate background, she might have made a fine wife. Certainly, she would be a pleasant friend.

And yet, she was not made for the public life. Hours passed, and one polite bachelor invited her to a dance, but her card remained empty enough. Polly took the opportunity to slip away, making for the palace's orangery in search of a place to breathe. She sat down at the first opportunity, all but tearing off one slipper and planning to massage her sore foot before noticing another figure among the trees. Shoe still in hand, Polly shot to her feet, face turning red, and curtsied. "Apologies -- I didn't realize anyone else would be here. I, er... I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

[agentinred]

The library was dimly lit, a haven of mahogany shelves and the faint scent of old paper and polished wood. Carmen Wolfe stepped inside, closing the door softly behind her. The muffled hum of the ballroom, with its orchestra and cascading laughter, was a distant murmur now, replaced by the soothing silence of solitude. It was, admittedly, ironic to be seeking peace in the very space her adoptive father had insisted she curate tonight. Baron Takemura’s ball was meant to introduce her—his enigmatic ward Countess Wolfe—to London society, a glittering announcement of her place in the ton. Yet, as the hours stretched on, the pageantry had begun to wear t h i n. Every smile exchanged, every compliment given or received, felt like a carefully choreographed scene in a play where the stakes were as sharp as daggers.. & that was all it was..a grand play for all to see.

But this… this was different.     She hadn’t expected to find someone else here. The woman sat in an armchair near the fireplace, the golden light casting a soft glow over her pale blue gown. & Carmen smiled faintly amused at finding a like-minded soul. “Hiding from the spectacle of the 'theater' as well, Miss..?”

@francescca | sc

[storyofwhoiam]

oh pick me! i’ll be your true love! Rosie @ Cress? El? Pen? Ben? Matt?

@strxngertogether

Matt’s gaze flickered over Rosie with a mixture of disinterest and mild irritation. The evening was meant for his pleasure, and he had no intention of allowing any distractions from his usual routine.

He glanced at Rosie, his tone laced with a scoff. “Oh, I'm not looking for love.” His voice was dismissive, “and I'm not here for you either.” His eyes briefly scanned the room, already looking past her towards the other women.

[tcbefearless]

Eilonwy bridgerton verse:

Eilonwy's family is close friends to the Queen being of high status. She has moved to the area and is now going to present herself for the new season (much to Eilonwy's dislike).

Under co!

[joyfulmagic]

“I’ve bewitched you?” Alastair scoffed, narrowing his eyes at Lady Victoria. “Hard to imagine, as you’ve been avoiding me like a plague,” he informed her, folding his arms over his chest. He had feelings for Victoria, yes, but he wasn’t intending to compromise her ‘value’ on the societal marriage market.

“Victoria, this isn’t something we can seem to stop from happening, much as I don’t want to jeopardize your chances at a fruitful marriage. Something keeps drawing us together, much as I don’t believe in destiny,” the young man told her.

“Dammit, Victoria, I do want to court you, but my step-father deemed me unworthy of you and I cannot bring you down,” Alastair explained, his being deemed legitimate fairly recently. “I won’t be your downfall,” he promised her.

based on: bridgerton kind of era. give me the secret/forbidden love. maybe your muse doesn't want marriage, maybe their families don't want them together, whatever you want.

"i don't know how you've bewitched me, but it needs to stop." a hushed whisper is said hidden in the shadows, away from the dancing and joyous crowd, and suddenly the corset of her dress feels extremely too tight on her. it wouldn't be proper for victoria to continue being seen with him, especially unsupervised, if she wished to secure her own match. a match she would have been so very eager to secure with him if he hadn't made it clear he had no intentions of seriously courting her. "if anyone continues seeing us together, I'll have absolutely no hope of securing a match this season. this needs to stop."

[darlingpeasant]

Obsessed with this kiss, obsessed with the closeness, obsessed with the eagerness, obsessed with the desire, obsessed with his hand on her waist, obsessed with her on her tippy toes and him craning his neck to reach her, obsessed with his hand protecting her head from the wall, obsessed with the whimsical, ethereal setting, obsessed with the beauty of it all, overall yes very obsessed

[eleanor-bradstreet]

The impossible glow up has already begun 🫠

[mariailoveyou-guerin]

Violet giving her favourite son that’s most like Edmund her ring because their relationship is like their hers and edmunds and because Colin was so very much in love so much so he asked pen on spot without a seconds to marry her! Violet never beating polin biggest SHIPPER allegations! the fact she gave him her ring and he gave her a watch that is the same exact one or looks like the same watch Edmund had personally think Colin had all these years and been using to travel the world using it to be closer to his dad thats on the best Bridgerton son

The fact I know Colin didn’t ask and she gave it to him herself because she’s always wanted to give to him bc she knew about pen feelings for her son all these years!

[joyfulmagic]

“To me it is an honor, one I hope is mutual,” Alastair offered, gently going to fix a loose curl of Penelope’s for her as she flattened out her dress. He understood why she couldn’t meet his gaze, and that he wasn’t an ideal match for any woman despite having officially been made legitimate by his step-father.

“I would like that, and you are wise beyond your years. Most I’ve encountered just laugh when I say something serious as if I’m a jester,” he confessed, looking away for a moment so she didn’t see his pain.

“I hope…I hope we learn to love each other, and respect each other,” Alastair confessed, feeling rather nervous around his betrothed. “Getting to know each other seems like a good idea,” he smiled once more, taking Pen’s hand and kissing her palm while maintaining her gaze.

open to m/nb ! plot: arranged marriage, that's it :-)

“I know this is far from ideal,” Pen began, flattening the fabric of her dress with her hands. She could not bear to meet their eyes, even if they were bound to be wed. It was supposed to be a good thing. Her mother made sure to remind her of it every time Pen’s expression turned sour. Marrying someone she did not love sounded the exact opposite of a good thing, and yet she had no choice but to play along. “But I think it would be wise for us to get to know once another before the upcoming nuptials. If we are to be man and wife, we should at least know the type of person one is, don’t you agree?”

[fantasiesandfolklore]

Bridgerton Verse — Lady Relta McLeod

CW: Infidelity/Adultery; Half-Siblings/Bastardy; Parent Death; Born: 1789 Related to [Lady Aislin McLeod]

Daughter of Scottish Lord Tyr McLeod and Lady Catherine, Relta is the elder and only truly legitimate child of the couple. Lord Tyr was unfaithful to his wife with Lady Anne Davies, with whom he had a second daughter and brought into the household while exiling his first wife to a cottage on the edge of the estate.

Lady Anne Davies died when her first child with Lord McLeod was two years old, and Relta aged 7. She mourned her “step-mother”, having appreciated having any form of mother figure, and resented having to move to London after Anne’s death to avoid scandals.

Relta was her mother’s daughter, being stubborn and yet clear-minded in her actions and thoughts. Lady Catherine often called Relta her “miniature me”, with how she took after her mother in many ways, including appearance. Rusty red hair and emerald eyes, along with a fair complexion.

Relta was elated over her upbringing, getting the best education possible for a woman of her era. She wished to become a nurse, despite her upper class status. Her father squashed her dreams when she was 17 and he introduced her to the court, including Queen Charlotte.

The two women simply smiled at each other, recognizing a wise woman in each other despite Relta’s youth. She admires Queen Charlotte greatly, finding her marriage to be one she could only hope for. Relta knew she wouldn’t get to marry for love, but she might find love in marriage.

[lemonhemlock]

tried watching the new queen charlotte series but was immediately put off by the ridiculous anti-corset propaganda, so get ready for another rant.

first of all, this is the georgian era so what she's wearing are called /stays/ - corsets are a victorian invention. why do we still not know this in 2023 when period productions have remained consistently popular throughout the years? the concept of tighlacing (the goal being a reduction of the waist) is also victorian and was not the norm at all and v much an extreme practice. this understanding of history is so superficial, it's as if an alien were to open up People magazine and conclude that all human women resort to butt injections and lip fillers to stay with the fashion of the times. also, no, you cannot tighlace in stays to obtain a waist reduction because they are shaped like a funnel (picture 1 = long stays, 2 = short regency stays, 3 = corset)

charlotte goes on to complain about how dangerous whalebone is and that it might kill her if she makes the wrong move. what the actual fuck? whalebone was actually the very best material to use for this because it was sturdy yet flexible and allowed the /stays/ to completely and comfortably mold around a woman's unique body shape. one of the reasons why today it is v difficult to replicate the same effect in corsetry is because we do not have access to whalebone (killing whales is not cool for obvious reasons) so corset-makers have to resort to other materials like plastic or metal, which CAN break. whereas whalebone doesn't really break as easily. furthermore, stays/corsets were NEVER worn on bare skin, but with a chemise/shift underneath.

why did women in the past resort to this type of undergarment, you ask? well, apart from the fact that women need bust support, the stays also serve the purpose of allowing all the many skirts and petticoats to be placed comfortably onto the waist. you try piling on that much fabric around your bare waist and see how you like it and if you can even carry it all around without it cutting into your stomach.

clothes throughout human history did cater to the popular fashions of the time, yes, but they also reflected the technological limitations and there was thus a practical aspect to it. this is a time before elastic bands, before industrialization and fast fashion, clothes are v difficult to make, everything is done by hand, so a lot of care is put into preserving them, because they are /expensive/ and labour intensive. you don't want your fancy outergarments to get ruined so you wear a lot of undergarments to absorb your bodily fluids since those are easier to make and don't have to look "pretty", can be stained and patchy etc. again, why do you need so many layers in the first place? because this is a time before comfortable heating, with poorly isolated and drafty houses, and it's bloody cold otherwise.

the third reason why that monologue was so dumb is because CHARLOTTE is the reason regency court dress was so preposterous. long story short, in a few decades, the fashionable silhouette changes wildly from the late 1700s to the 1810s.

the regency waistline was much higher and the gowns were much more flowy and unstructured than the late georgian ones (what's commonly known as the empire waistline). the long stays of the late 1700s were now replaced with short stays that really were similar to modern bras. the scene in the first season of bridgerton where they squeeze penelope's sister into what looks like a pair of long stays (?) is bonkers bc no one would wear a waist-constricting boned undergarment under a regency dress. why would they? the natural waist is not even emphasized in any way. this is just another reason to peddle the women-were-oppressed-by-their-lingerie agenda. so if charlotte really hated long stays that much, regency would really have been her time to shine, right? wrong. the woman loved the fashions of her youth so much she forced everyone who came to court to still comply to them, which is why we get the absolutely atrocious regency court dresses - essentially a combination of the georgian style with side panniers, but with an empire waistline.

yeah, this is how daphne SHOULD have looked like when she was presented at court in front of charlotte. i can understand why the showrunners decided to just leave her in a regency silhouette because this is ugly af. but, anyway, queen charlotte is the last person on earth to be complaining about how uncomfortable stays are.

creative licence aside, the reason this pisses me off is because it is SUCH lazy storytelling. the show wants us to know charlotte is a spunky pseudo-feminist character so the easiest way to do that is to have her complain about the evil 'corset' trying to kill her. it is so profoundly ahistorical and does nothing to contribute to the conversation about women's true problems and true limitations during that time. instead of genuinely exploring social history and women's actual lived experiences, we are STILL, in the year of our lord 2023, diverting the discourse towards fabricated issues that never existed in the first place.

the reasons actresses complain about boned underwear in interviews are manifold. costume designers are very overworked, they have to produce clothes for hundreds of people in a very short time, so they simply do not have the time or resources to construct corsets/stays that fit the actresses like they are supposed to. in the past, these garments were made individually for every person and completely to their own requirements. they also make these actresses wear the boning on BARE skin to look extra sexy to the audience or to emphasize their oppression - that never happened, a shift was always worn underneath (hello dakota fanning scene in the alienist??).

moreover, they lace them up until they constrict their ribcages - these women are already super thin and their bodies cannot support more reduction - instead of relying on the historical practices of padding and illusion. nowadays, body parts are what's fashionable - that's why so many resort to fat transfers or breast implants or starving themselves to achieve a flat stomach. in the past, anyone of any size could have accomplished the fashionable silhouette because they had a wide array of accouterments to plop underneath their garments - panniers, bustles, hoop skirts, padding of any sort. it didn't matter how big your waist was, you just padded other areas until you achieved the desired shape. fat women wore corsets/stays, too. working women, who did a lot of physical labour, did the same. how were they able to perform all of their tasks if they were incapable of moving or breathing? even today, people wear medical corsets all the time.

TLDR the media's obsession with portraying modern women as so liberated because they wear bras instead of "patriarchal" underwear is so tedious.

EDIT: Some very basic chronological tadpoles to make this easier to place within historical context. "Georgian" is used to denote the 18th+ century when Great Britain was ruled by several kings named George, so roughly 1714-1830. Within this interval, we refer to the Regency period as encompassing the regency of Prince George, future King George IV, when his father George III was incapacitated by mental illness. The official political regency took place during 1811-1820, but culturally speaking, this was extended to roughly the end of the 18th century up to maybe 1830 or 1837. This is the time period of Napoleonic wars and Jane Austen novels, so all her heroines should normally wear Regency styles. Think "empire waistline" as in Imperial France and Napoleon. The Victorian era (and its corsets) follows throughout the rest of the 19th century. Queen Charlotte was a contemporary of Marie Antoinette's, so they should be dressed in similar fashions (robe à la française vs robe à la anglais).

[joyfulmagic]

”How romantic that sounds,” Relta commented as her new friend walked over from the ballroom floor, enjoying Sophia’s company. “It must have been that man you were dancing with, no?” The woman asked, raising a brow in interest.

who: anyone! muse: sophie beckett, bridgerton canon, set in 1800s london where: could be the masquerade ball in which sophie meets benedict! @indiestarter

"i hear the music as i've never heard it before."

[a-kind-of-merry-war]

My YT and IG keep recommending me the same person complaining about the bridgerton costumes and I'm like.... then why are you still watching it why are you putting all this time into it!!

They got invited to an official event and wore a bridgerton-style ahistorical gown as.... a gotcha? Maybe? About how BadWrong it was? And like maybe if u leaned in more to the shiny fabrics and swan wigs you'd have more fun!!

[belleandsaintsebastian]

sketches pt 2!!!! okay so FIRST ONE is a jess and rory bridgerton au… and i know i knowww the outfits are horribly unhistorically accurate :( was basing them off bridgerton looks you understand…but if stella’s out there HI STELLA i am so sorry for this i promise i’ll draw a proper historically accurate regency period version of them soon!!!! the history student in me is sobbing btw!!! okay and second one um i drew last sem when i was like desperate for a hug and it was exam period and everything was horrible <3 okay night guys i love you i hope you’re having a gorg day i know it’s the first of october for some of you 👀👀 and well since i’m in the future i can say for sure that it’s a lovely day a brilliant first day of october if i do say so myself… :’)))