"Dress in the Age of Jane Austen" by Hilary Davidson

 

In the last thirty years the books of Jane Austen have become popular than ever, inspiring not only film and TV adaptations (many adaptations) but Regency costuming worn at Austen-inspired reenactments and get-togethers.  However what was clothing really like in Jane Austen's lifetime, and what did it mean to its wearers?  Dress in the Age of Jane Austen takes an in-depth look at the subject.

The book uses Jane Austen and her works as a focal point.  It draws heavily on her books and correspondence as evidence of what the people of her class and era wore, and what they thought about the clothes they wore, how they made or procured their garments, and how they cared for them.  Dress in the Age of Jane Austen, however, is not limited to the dress of Jane Austen's characters or Jane Austen's family—it covers the wider society and uses material from a variety of sources.

Beginning with an introductory chapter ("Self") Davidson gives a quick rundown of the fashions worn between 1795 and 1820 and summarises the evidence (from fashion plates to surviving garments) available on the topic.  "Home" follows, and in this chapter the author discusses the intimate apparel worn by Jane Austen's contemporaries, from shifts and stays to house gowns and dressing gowns.  

"Village" comes next, and in it Davidson explores the social world immediately beyond the self and the family: how fashions were transmitted locally through gossip and observation, how one maintained one's status and respectability through clothing, and how one obtained clothes through local traders and networks.  "Country" concentrates on clothing worn outdoors.  Riding and sporting dress was the particular domain of men (though some women had riding habits, of course) but outdoor dress was needed by everyone, for travelling or just for getting around.  This chapter chapter not only covers overcoats and cloaks, but also discusses outdoor boots and shoes (what would Lizzie have worn for her walk to Nethercoats?) as well as the first umbrellas!  It also gives a peek at what ordinary country folk, as distinct from the middle classes and gentry, were wearing.

"City" plunges us into the fashionable world (mostly of Bath and London). Here we catch a glimpse of the trendsetting circles of royalty and the aristocracy.  "Nation" looks at costume in the British Isles as a whole, and of its component parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and contrasts it with the fashions of France and the continent.  Since Britain was at war for most of the period covered in this book, "Nation" also explores military uniforms, and what they meant in terms of male display.

Finally we come to "World", which takes us quickly around the nascent British Empire.  This last chapter links us back to Jane Austen and her family—many of whom were officers in the Navy!

I brought away several things from the book as a whole.  Firstly, that as far as fashion goes, Jane Austen's era was far, far more complex than it is usually credited.  Technological innovations had a hand in changing fashion—for example the fashions of 1820 were covered in ribbon trimmings (while the fashions of 1795 were not) largely because new production techniques made ribbons cheaper and more available in 1820 than in 1795.  Networks of people spread out over the country and the rest of the world influenced fashion through describing different styles, introducing new fashions into new neighbourhoods, and making gifts of fashion items from around the world.  Though we tend to see this era as timeless, it was in fact the beginning of the modern era.

Lastly, the impression I got was that clothing in Jane Austen's era was hard work, particularly for women!  Every garment was made by hand: if not by professionals, then by the wearer or the wearer's female kin.  Well into the nineteenth century women's "work" was synonymous with sewing.  Which brings me back to Jane Austen herself: her brothers, sailing around the world on the business of the Royal Navy would have taken a good supply of shirts—many of which would have been sewn by Jane herself.

Dress in the age of Jane Austen: Regency fashion / by Hilary Davidson
New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2019.

ISBN: 9780300218725