bring. back. balls.
the case to bring back regency era soirées.
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
As you likely already know, Netflix’s Bridgerton has become arguably the hottest show of the winter. At the time of this writing, Bridgerton has already smashed its predicted viewership within the first 28 days of its streaming, making it Netflix’s largest series launch ever. There are undoubtedly a wide variety of reasons for the show’s popularity: the representation, the production (hello Shondaland), the costumes, the actors, the music, to only name a few. So with 82 million households actively engaged and Bridgerton being the “diamond of the season”, I make this appeal; let’s bring back balls.
Yes, balls. I’m talking full out Regency era balls, in costume, with stringed quartets, with waltzes, ALL of it. Now I know what you’re thinking, “we’re in a pandemic”, yes we absolutely are and this idea is not going to be immediately practical, but stay with me here. SOMEDAY by the grace of science and human decency, COVID will end, and when it does we will collectively be re-entering into society, some may even say “debuting”. Now what better way to re-engage and reintroduce our post-lockdown selves with society than with a ball? There is no better way. Good you agree! Now let’s talk logistics and I’ll handle predicted objections:
Erdem RTW Spring 2021
“People won’t wear costumes.” – False. Just because we’ve been rotating daily through leggings, yoga pants, and sweatpants during lockdown does not mean that we haven’t also been online binge buying outfits for fictional social scenarios. We all can relate to Tika the Iggy, voiced by Lorena Pages, “Love it, Couldn’t wear it” so don’t come to me with “no one will wear these costumes”. When the pandemic finally ends we will emerge from our sweatpant cocoons like beautiful monarch butterflies. And that’s not just a theory, there’s data. Lyst has reported that since the Bridgerton premiere, online searches for corsets have surged 123% and empire-waist dresses are up 93%. There’s clearly interest. Even some of the popular and prestigious fashion house’s recent collections have pulled from the era for inspiration with great success (Erdem, Rodarte, Marc Jacobs, and Gucci - just to name a few) so if it’s “Ready To Wear”, we’re ready to wear it. Next.
“People won’t learn the dances.” – Actually laughable, TikTok says otherwise. Countless people all over the world have been memorizing ridiculous choreography for over a year just for TikTok, they can learn choreography for a few waltzes and a quadrille. If anything TikTok dances have just been their pre-season training. Next.
“The music is boring.” – Firstly, no. Secondly, have yourself a listen to the Bridgerton soundtrack (it’s all orchestral pop covers). Bridgerton isn’t even the only immensely popular series to pull from the sub-genre, the Westworld soundtracks also feature a variety of orchestral covers. In fact, the sub-genre has grown enough in popularity to have several official playlists on Spotify. And if you still have doubts, have a listen to Vitamin String Quartet’s rendition of “thank u, next”. *Ariana Grande voice* NEXT.
“It’s just one period show, not that many people are invested.” – Also false, and may I redirect you to the 82 million viewing households previously mentioned. Furthermore, Regency fever has been growing over the past few years even pre-Bridgerton. In 2019, ITV and PBS aired Sanditon, another Regency era series, based on Jane Austen’s final and unfinished novel. Sanditon underperformed in the UK, leading ITV to cancel it, however it was very popular in the US and has now led to several online petitions and high-profile articles and appeals calling for the series to be saved. At the time of this writing a Change.org petition to “Save Sanditon” has over 84,000 signatures. If you’ve already binged and re-binged Bridgerton, I recommend you binge Sanditon next. Then sign the petition to save the show.
If you’ve made it to this point, you can probably tell that I have quite a bit of time on my hands and in lieu of practicing the piano forte, I have decided on the keyboard forte instead. I suggest we all spend however much time remaining in quarantine/lockdown to refine our manners and social graces, select our fineries from our modiste of choice, and start practicing that quadrille.
Looking forward to the upcoming season,
Lady Blogette