Ever since I learned that this book would be coming out in the spring, I couldn’t wait for its arrival. The title alone told me that it was tailor made to my interests. Slim and more a monograph than a book, Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen‘s 62 pages are jam-packed with information and images. Some of the material that author Sarah Jane Downing wrote about was familiar, but much of it was new. While I finished the book in two sittings, I know I will be using it frequently for future reference.
Until the Napoleonic Wars, France had influenced fashions in Britain and Europe. It was the custom of messengers known as les grandes couriers de la mode to deliver the latest French fashions to the great courts of Europe in person. Wearing designer creations, their costumes were analyzed from head to toe and then tried on and taken apart. Patterns were made from the resulting pieces. People who visited cities and returned home were plied with questions about the latest trends in fashions by those who stayed behind. Soon, fashion journals appeared showing images of fashions, home furnishings, and architectural plans, and new styles trickled down to even those who lived in the farthest reaches of England.
The French Revolution marked a radical shift from the elegant, wide-skirted brocade gowns so prevalent for most of the 18th century to the streamlined, body-hugging, empire-waisted silhouettes of the Directoire Period that were inspired by classical antiquity. Wide hooped skirts were still worn for appearances at court, but gowns became simpler, narrower, and more vertical. In fact, the change in dress silhouettes was so dramatic that such a radical shift in style would not occur again until the flapper era and the jazz age over a century later.
Jane Austen’s books were written during the narrow time frame when empire dresses with their high waists, short sleeves and décolletté necklines reigned supreme in the fashion world. When long sleeves were introduced in evening dress, she wrote Cassandra:
I wear my gauze gown today long sleeves & all; I shall see how they succeed, but as yet I have no reason to suppose long sleeves are allowable. Mrs. Tilson has long sleeves too, & she assured me that they are worn in the evening by many. I was glad to hear this. – Jane Austen, 1814

1815 Long sleeved evening dress. Costume of the ladies of England 1810-1823.(NYPL Digital Collection)
Male attire also went through a dramatic change. Ruffles and ornate brocaded fabrics gave way to intricately folded neckcloths, simple shirts, stark jackets and leg-hugging breeches. The emphasis was on the neckcloths, but not the shirts, which were sewn by women, not tailors. Jane was known to be an excellent seamstress, and she wrote about completing a batch of shirts for her brother Charles: “[I] am to send his shirts by half dozens as they are finished; one set will go next week,” and “In Mansfield Park Fanny price works diligently to ensure that her brother’s linen is ready when he goes to sea.” – p 13.
There are so many other interesting tidbits of information that I won’t share in this review lest I spoil the reader’s pleasure. Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen discusses accessories, underwear, half dress, full dress, court dress and more. I wish a timeline had been included of when hems were raised and when they became decorative; precisely how the Napoleonic Wars affected fashion in both England and France and who influenced who and when; and when waists when up, then down, then up and down again. Another quibble I had was with the book’s cover, which John Pettie painted in 1887. With all the lush images and paintings available of regency misses and their chaperones and suitors, why choose a Victorian painting? The woman in this painting belongs so obviously to another age that I find her face a little creepy.
Be that as it may, I give this book three out of three regency fans and recommend it highly to all readers who are interested in Regency fashion and historical romance writers who are interested in precise details of dress.
Another excellent book about fashion is Penelope Byrd’s A Frivolous Distinction: Fashion and Needlework in the works of Jane Austen.
Regency Fashion History is an excellent site.
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I didn’t know of this book. Thank you for this post about it. I’ll be doing a research project on fashion during this period for school, so this is good to know about .
Thanks for the review. I must get this, if it’s out in my part of the world.
I suppose Jane Austen wore more or less the same style for the whole of her life as those simple straight gowns were worn by children and young girls in the early nineties.
Vic, on another matter (I put a question at the end of a post about Cassandra & Tom Fowle and too late realised that it was out-of-date) – I wondered how the young ladies spoke of their boyfriend or fiancé – my ‘betrothed’ seems clumsy. Could you help me?
Many thanks, and as usual, I am so lost in admiration for your wonderful posts. I read everyone.
Cora, you are so complimentary! Let me pose this question on my Twitter and Facebook accounts and see what happens. I’m not sure a lady would even say such a word. Saying Mr. Darcy or Mr. Bingley when speaking of one’s betrothed, for example, would be most suitable and appropriate, for believe me, the word would spread quickly that a young lady has been spoken for. Will get back to you with the answer later. Meanwhile, I invite others to join in on the discussion.
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The cover design for this book is same as the one on Georgette Heyer’s False Colours. That’s why possibly this picture of the young woman with two men on her ar,s was chosen for a Regency Fashion book. I think its charming! As again, thanks for finding these books that makes the Regency time very exicitng to read and imagine.
The long sleeved gown is GORGEOUS! And that head piece is beautiful! Great post Vic. I just saw that you have a new art/history blog… I’m on my way to explore!
Lovely book review Vic, thanks. Must have this one. ;-)
re fiancé, betrothed etc. – I wonder what Lydia Bennet would say.
Would ‘beau’ be used?
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This book looks really great, just ordered it off Amazon! Thanks for mentioning it here… :D :D :D
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[…] prized, to the black eyebrows that were favored by 18th century women. As with her best-selling Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen, Ms. Downing provides the reader with a comprehensive overview of the topic. She begins with the […]