Our generation has a fear of irrelevance. Social media has made us both competitors and stakeholders in today’s attention economy as we fight to stay interesting and interested. One consequence of this? An obsession with branding and rebranding ourselves — and I worry that it’s doing more harm than good.

Ah, yes, the Regency Era. Such a fleeting period of British history — only about nine years in length (1811 to 1820) — and yet it still occupies our fantasies over two centuries later. We daydream of the frills and ornate gowns and waltzes and witty banter, but why? It’s been over 200 social seasons … what are we holding onto?