When during the REGENCY period should I base my story on?

My story is a rather dark and gothic sort of tale.....but I don't want it to be set in the Victorian era when the Gothic stories usually are set. And I don't want it to be set in the Pride and Prejudice period when everything seemed rather bright and jaunty. Should I set it during the earl 1800s?? Perhaps, 1801?? The fashion is very important....|||I agree. Aim for the turn of the 19th centry. Clothing would have been more of a "Gothic" style then 10 or maybe even 5 years later. The styles of the Revolutionary War could still be seen in the clothes, except the waistline of lady's dresses was starting to rise up the torso, and the hairstyles were still tall wigs (except they were usually natural colors, not white), and men's clothing was much the same as in Revolutionary times, except the hairstyles were changing and sideburns started appearing. I think it's a perfect time for a dark tale to be spun. =)|||Basically, the Regency period is from 1811 to 1825. Although some people talk about the extended Regency period. If you are talking about fashion, the dating is from 1790 to 1829. To avoid the problems that you mentioned, I'd work on the period between 1790 and 1800. It could be much darker than the 1800's.