03/16/2026
African Americans and the Regency and Victorian Eras 🕯️
As we looked to the Regency and Victorian eras for inspiration, we were drawn to the Black women who lived within that period — women whose lives were rarely centered in traditional tellings of the time, like our own family, and Queen Charlotte. Their presence, whether documented in portraits, archives, or fragments of record, expanded our understanding of what that era truly held.
Often, the place we start is our own family histories. The first image in this carousel is from our own family archive. This image of our ancestor, Albertta McLaughlin, out of South Carolina serves as a reminder that the past lives on through the stories we inherit and carry forward. The last image of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III, traced her heritage to a Black branch of the lineage and was derisively referred to as “Mulatto Face,” a detail preserved in historical record rather than erased by it.
In their adornment, composure, and quiet negotiation of visibility, we found a different kind of romance. One shaped by resilience, interiority, and self-fashioning.
This collection is our reverent imagining. A dreamy homage to the women who existed within that world, and to the beauty they carried with them.
It’s these themes and this research that informed our newest capsule with available exclusively on 🕯️🫖✨
