Two centuries ago, on 18 July 1817, one of Britain’s best-known novelists died. Today, when recollecting the early 19th century, inevitably we picture the world of Jane Austen (1775-1817). Her first three books were penned in the 1790s but all were published during the 1810s and with popular film and TV adaptations of her novels being set during the Napoleonic Wars and Regency, the modes and manners of that colourful era have become synonymous with her life and times.

In her novels, Jane Austen references contemporary dress to help delineate her characters, although, as genteel ladies, her heroines do not discuss clothes in great detail and those exhibiting an excessive interest in fashion, like Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, are portrayed as ill-bred or foolish. At that time, it was considered impolite to comment publicly at length about fashion or openly gossip about others’ appearance. And yet the novelist was evidently interested in dress, for the topic occurs frequently in her personal correspondence with her beloved sister, Cassandra, and with other close associates.

Ladies living in the provinces were enthralled by what the fashionable elite were wearing in centres like London and Bath and when visiting the metropolis Jane and her associates shopped for materials, accessories and ornaments for themselves and for relatives and friends. With only small articles available to buy ready-made, assembling a new outfit required considerable effort, as a lady (or her representative) visited drapers, mercers, milliners and various other suppliers, and then either had clothing professionally made, or personally sewed their own garments by hand. Additionally, ladies frequently renovated and adapted articles, dyeing and re-trimming gowns and headwear, decorating shoes, knitting silk gloves and making bags. Indeed the letters of Jane Austen, as well as her novels, form an important body of evidence for the study of fashion, shopping and maintaining a wardrobe around the turn of the 19th century.

Late-Georgian & Regency style
Jane was born in December 1775 into a world on the threshold of revolution and conflict, and fashion would closely mirror the changing times. Just as she began attending public assemblies in the early-1790s, new softer, simpler styles of dress were evolving that, in contrast to traditional rigid, formal modes, seemed to embody modern political and philosophical ideas of democracy and freedom, and also reflected the manufacturing ‘revolution’, especially the burgeoning textile industry. Fashion now favoured plain gowns in lightweight white or pale-coloured materials like cotton muslin and gauze and hair was beginning to be loosely curled, conveying a natural effect.

Towards 1800, neo-classical tastes in contemporary decorative arts increasingly influenced fashion, encouraging a perceived revival of the dress of Ancient Greece. Gowns grew even simpler and narrower, the rising waistline creating a shallow long- or short-sleeved bodice and the filmy, clinging skirt flowing into a graceful train. Diaphanous ‘Grecian’-style gowns remained in vogue throughout the early 1800s and hair now cut into shorter tumbling curls were given the ‘antique’ treatment with bandeaux, filets and combs. During the 1810s, the pure neo-classical line began to disperse as dress embraced more elements of the romantic aesthetic: gradually, substantial satin and velvet materials regained favour, along with stronger, more dramatic colours; slowly the waistline lowered, bodice and sleeves became more ornate and shorter, wider hemlines grew stiff with ornamentation.

Throughout this period, defined broadly by a columnar silhouette, outer garments worn for decency and warmth comprised the short Spencer jacket (named after Lord Spencer who reportedly singed his coat tails by the fire, then cut them off) and the longer pelisse. Spencers fitted neatly over the short bodice of the gown and were typically of woollen cloth or silk: in June 1808 Jane wrote in a letter: “…my kerseymere Spencer is quite the comfort of our evening walks”. The pelisse, essentially a coat, followed the line of the dress and was usually front-fastening: a major dress item, the pelisse is often mentioned in Jane’s novels and letters.

Head to toe
The relatively simple garments of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were complemented by eye-catching accessories. Headwear completed an ensemble and even indoors married women and ‘mature’ ladies wore dainty caps. Jane favoured these even when young, as observed by her niece, Caroline: “…she always wore a cap – Such was the custom with ladies who were not quite young – at least of a morning – but I never saw her without one…either morning or evening”. Jane (aged 23) explained in a letter to Cassandra, dated December 1798, that: “I have made myself two or three caps since I came home, and they save me a world of torment as to hairdressing.”

Women often sewed caps and also trimmed bonnets at home, their creations often featuring in private discussions among friends and relatives. In December 1798 Jane wrote to Cassandra: “I took the liberty a few days ago of asking your Black velvet Bonnet to lend me its cawl [frame], which it very readily did, & by which I have been enabled to give considerable improvement of dignity to my Cap.” Bonnets of diverse materials included straw, beaver, velvet, woollen cloth, silk, satin, and cotton, embellished with various ornaments. In the late-1790s there evolved a fashion for trimming hats with artificial flowers and while visiting Bath Jane was tasked with obtaining such decorations. In June 1799 she informed Cassandra: “Flowers are very much worn, & Fruit is still more the thing. Elizth: has a bunch of Strawberries, & I have seen Grapes, Cherries, Plumbs & Apricots –….I cannot help thinking that it is more natural to have flowers grow out of the head than fruit.”

Caps and bonnets were also trimmed with ribbons, often in bright colours like sky blue, pea green and a vivid poppy red known as ‘coquelicot’. Lace or net veils might be suspended from bonnet brims as protection from the sun or simply for decoration and towering feathers were much in vogue. Evening caps were generally ornate, like one that Jane was adapting in December 1798: “I still venture to retain the narrow silver round it, put twice round without any bow, & instead of the black military feather shall put in the Coquelicot one, as being smarter; – & besides Coquelicot is to be all the fashion this winter.” She also mentioned the Mamalouc (or Marmeluk) cap, a turban-style headdress fashion from the 1790s and especially admired after the Battle of the Nile, August 1798. Further modes were also inspired by military events, including tall-crowned hats resembling the military shako helmet.

Hats offered some protection from the elements but at this time umbrellas and parasols also came into widespread use. Umbrellas were a recognised accessory in a spa town like Bath, which could be traversed on foot and where walking was considered part of the health ‘cure’. Parasols became increasingly popular, partly due to their exotic and ‘oriental’ associations and also because ladies were now spending more time outdoors and a shady parasol preserved delicate complexions. Small silk summer parasols often matched the gown or pelisse, the picturesque pagoda parasol and tilted ‘fan’ or marquise parasol both in vogue during Jane’s lifetime.

Flimsy gowns were ill-suited to winter weather and draughty rooms. Cloaks, mantles and wraps provided warmth and a sumptuous shawl created a particularly elegant effect if worn in a manner emulating classical drapery. First observed in London in the mid 1780s, the rectangular fine woollen cashmere shawl – an article of Eastern dress – was initially imported from India, becoming the must-have accessory at the turn of the century. Soon, versions of these coveted luxury items were being produced in textile centres such as Paisley, Edinburgh and Norwich, becoming squarer in shape and more widely available. In April 1805, Jane mentioned in a letter: “Mary Whitby’s turn is actually come to be grown up & have a fine complexion & wear great square muslin shawls.”

Large muffs were another fashion statement, notably vast fur muffs like bearskin, sealskin and fox; otherwise ladies kept their hands warm with gloves or fingerless mittens. Gloves were also an important status symbol, worn by both ladies and gentlemen for all formal occasions: traditionally leather, ladies’ gloves now also began to be made of silk and other fabrics. Fitted white gloves of kid or Limerick (calf-skin) were considered particularly refined, as were neutral buff shades, or pastel tones to complement a gown. Jane was evidently much concerned with gloves: in October 1798 she wrote to Cassandra: “I have unpacked the Gloves & placed yours in your drawer. – Their colour is light & pretty, & I believe [sic] exactly what we fixed on.” Again in May 1812 she wrote “I was very lucky in my gloves, got them at the first shop I went to…& gave only four Shillings for them…”

Traditionally small bags and pockets for carrying personal items were concealed in the folds of ladies’ garments, but became impossible with clinging neo-classical robes and so from c.1800 the reticule bag entered fashion, either purchased from a milliner’s shop or hand-made at home to match a particular outfit. Seemingly evolving from the pretty work bag that many Georgian ladies carried when engaged in the fashionable craft of knotting, the silk or velvet reticule or ‘ridicule’ suspended on a cord became fashionable for carrying money, letters and feminine items including a scent bottle, handkerchief and fan. Fans were important for formal wear, being both decorative and practical in hot, crowded assembly rooms and ballrooms. Fashioned from paper or silk, intricately carved ivory or bone, fans bore designs ranging from printed political propaganda to picturesque Grand Tour scenes, reflecting a lady’s tastes and interests. In a letter of January 1799 Jane records her own white fan and fans are mentioned in connection with two of her heroines: Fanny Price in Mansfield Park and Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey.

Much picturesque jewellery was worn during the long period popularly termed ‘Regency’, including hair ornaments, necklaces, chains, pendants, earrings, brooches, bracelets and rings. Pearls and cameos accorded well with neoclassical taste and were set into tiaras and girdles, worn around the neck, on arms, wrists and fingers. Pearl necklaces were favoured by wealthy ladies, although chunky ornaments fashioned from colourful semi-precious stones like amethyst and topaz and other inexpensive trinkets were also fashionable. Jewellery plays a significant role in Jane’s novels, from jewelled and pearl hair ornaments for balls, to rings and an amber cross from Sicily given to Fanny Price by her seafaring brother William. The latter was based on Jane’s own experience: in May 1801 she wrote to Cassandra that their brother Charles (also a naval officer) “has been buying gold chains and topaz crosses for us; – he must be well scolded”. These survive at the Jane Austen House Museum, Chawton.

Flat, low-cut pumps were worn indoors and Jane’s writings demonstrate the range of colours available, including black, white, green, pink and the sensational blue shoes that feature in her unfinished novel, Sanditon. Such footwear often matched a pelisse or gown and was fashioned from leather, or fabrics such as silk. Usually plain shoes were bought from a shoe-maker ready-made or were individually made-to-measure, ladies sometimes then trimming their shoes at home. This may explain Jane’s letter to her niece, Anna, in September 1814: “…your Grandmama desires me to say that she will have finished your Shoes tomorrow & thinks they will look very well.”

The unsuitability of indoor pumps for outdoors features in several of Jane’s novels: for example, in Emma Isabella Knightley, concerned about travelling in the snow declared: “I am not at all afraid. I should not mind walking half the way. I could change my shoes, you know, the moment I got home”, to which her husband responded: “Walk home! – You are prettily shod for walking home, I dare say. It will be bad enough for the horses.” Half-boots of leather or ‘nankin’ (thick cotton) fabric were fashionable for walking or riding and might be ‘galoshed’ with a black leather band protecting the lower shoe above the sole. In particularly wet and muddy conditions, some women donned traditional pattens – wooden-soled overshoes raised off the ground on an iron frame or ring. Jane’s nephew, Edward Austen-Leigh, later recalled both aunts wearing pattens, although he claimed that by 1800 they were “banished from good society, and employed only in menial work”.

Jane Austen enjoyed dress, like others of her class, but had a pragmatic approach and did not follow fashion blindly. Her books and letters demonstrate the importance of appearance in a fast-changing world and shine a light on the minutiae of female dress in Regency England.