Banyan, Dress for Excess
Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England, the fashion exhibition at the Brighton Pavilion this year, features a quilted printed (chintz) banyan, or men’s dressing robe worn over a shirt and knee breeches. (Click here to see the full image of the robe .)
When at home, a gentleman would change into an informal knee-length dressing gown known as a banyan, and wear it around his family at breakfast, playing games, such as cards or backgammon, and while reading in his library or writing letters. One can readily imagine Mr. Bennet wearing a banyan in his study, and most definitely Mr. Woodhouse (image below), as he sat by the fire reading a newspaper.
Mr Woodhouse (Bernard Hepton) in a fur-lined fitted man's dressing gown, or banyan
The banyan was a loose, full kimono style in the early 18th century, but later evolved into a more fitted style with set-in sleeves, similar to a man’s coat. It was known as an Indian gown, nightgown, morning gown, or dressing gown. First used as a type of robe, it was originally worn for leisure and in at-home situations; but came to be worn as a coat out-of-doors, in the street, or for business. Many gentlemen had their portraits made while wearing banyans. They were made from all types of fabrics in cotton, silk, or wool (Cunningham, 1984). – Cross cultural influences on fashion prior to the twentieth Century
Nicholas Boylston in a loose fitting banyan, 1767. Painted by John Singleton Copeley. Image @Wikipedia
More on the Topic
- Jenny La Fleur: Looking to the Gentlemen
- Click here to see one on Etsy that has been made to order.
- The Manchester Banyan: Sewing Project Part One ; Part Two, Sleeves;The Manchester Banyan, Part Three; Part Four, Collar
- Dress for Excess: Fashion in Regency England
- Regency Underthings: Jane Austen Centre Online Magazine
- Gentlemen at Leisure: Banyans
- 1700’s Gentleman’s Banyan Pattern
Tartan wool banyan lined in bottle green silk, 1800. Image @Christie's
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