Jane Austen's Wardrobe: Fashion Footnotes to her Letters

 

The third in a trio of recent publications on historic dress is Jane Austen's Wardrobe with appeal for Austen fans who are fascinated by fashion and fabric---a niche audience. You, like me, might fit in that niche. For us the book is a treat.

Jane Austen's Wardrobe by Hilary Davidson was published last fall by Yale University Press.

I've read Austen's letters over and over. Editor Dierdre Le Faye of the British Museum included many footnotes to explain the context but she was not a textile historian like Hilary Davidson. Here we have an addendum of fashion footnotes to the letters.

Now I know what a pelisse, a redingote and a round gown are (the last being a dress not split in the center to reveal a petticoat.)

This silk pelisse in the collection of the Hampshire Cultural Trust

is said to have been in Austen's wardrobe. 

A pelisse is a "woman's coat dress" according to the glossary.

A redingote is a "double-breasted great coat, with a prominent collar."

Davidson tells us, "Please open these pages as you would pull open drawers, and I hope you enjoy peering into the wardrobe...."

Pink shoes