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Dress in the age of Jane Austen : Regency fashion

by Davidson, Hilary,

Format: Print Book 2019
Availability: Available at 3 Libraries 3 of 3 copies

Available (3)
Location Collection Call #
CLP - Main Library Mezzanine - Non-fiction GT736.D38 2019x
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  Mezzanine - Non-fiction
 
Call Number  GT736.D38 2019x
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Non-Fiction 391.00941 Dav
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  391.00941 Dav
 
 
Northland Public Library Nonfiction 391.00941 D28
Location  Northland Public Library
 
Collection  Nonfiction
 
Call Number  391.00941 D28
 
 

Summary
A comprehensive and beautifully illustrated examination of dress, clothing, fashion, and sewing in the Regency seen through the lens of Jane Austen's life and writings



This lively book reveals the clothing and fashion of the world depicted in Jane Austen's beloved books, focusing on the long Regency between the years 1795 and 1825. During this period, accelerated change saw Britain's turbulent entry into the modern age, and clothing reflected these transformations. Starting with the intimate perspective of clothing the self, Dress in the Age of Jane Austen moves outward through the social and cultural spheres of home, village, countryside, and cities, and into the wider national and global realms, exploring the varied ways people dressed to inhabit these environments. Jane Austen's famously observant fictional writings, as well as her letters, provide the entry point for examining the Regency age's rich complexity of fashion, dress, and textiles for men and women in their contemporary contexts.



Lavishly illustrated with paintings, drawings, historic garments, and fashion plates--including many previously unpublished images--this authoritative yet accessible book will help readers visualize the external selves of Austen's immortal characters as clearly as she wrote of their internal ones. The result is an enhanced understanding of Austen's work and time, and also of the history of one of Britain's most distinctive fashion eras.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that interest in all things Jane Austen continues to flourish. In this artfully designed and exhaustively researched study, fashion historian Davidson uses Austen's fiction and letters as lenses to examine the clothing and style of the Regency period (1795--1825). The narrative is organized into seven sections that gradually expand the focus from the very personal ("Self") to society ("City") and beyond ("World"). The text is enlivened with a generous selection of period paintings and drawings, photographs of historic garments, and fashion plates. There are a number of special features, including Austen's family tree, a list of characters in her fiction, and a glossary of terms. An illustrated chronology of changes in women's gowns from 1790 to 1820 provides a capsule costume history, and a generous bibliography offers a wealth of further reading. Davidson's aim is to share an understanding of dress as Austen and her characters would have understood it and to present a scholarly introduction to Regency dress. She succeeds admirably on both counts in this ultimate sourcebook for Janeites as well as scholars of clothing, British social history, and literature."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly Review: "With this debut, Davidson, a dress and textile historian, has done a superb job of placing clothing in Jane Austen's fiction and in her journals and letters within the larger context of Regency fashion and its reflection of a rapidly changing, and globalizing, society. As Davidson emphasizes, mentions of clothing in Austen, be it Fanny arriving at Mansfield Park with only two sashes or Miss Bates's unfashionable wardrobe in Emma, always carry social significance. Davidson's contribution is not only to note this significance within the context of the novels but to tie it to larger trends in British, European, and global life. She comprehensively shows how factors such as the cold and damp English climate, the ban on French goods (and resulting black markets) during the Napoleonic wars, and widespread familial ties around the globe influenced what both Austen and her characters wore. A particularly strong aspect of the book is its placement of the Austen family's own clothing use in a wide context, including through Austen's brothers' naval travels, family members making and procuring clothing and textiles for each other, and the Austens' access to the global textile market. This extensively researched and beautifully illustrated book is fascinating to read, fills a gap in Austen scholarship, and makes an impressive contribution to Austen studies. (Nov.)"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Austen, Jane, -- 1775-1817 -- Influence.
Clothing and dress -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Clothing and dress -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.
Costume -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Costume -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.
Fashion -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century.
Fashion -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.
Publisher New Haven :Yale University Press,2019
Language English
Description 324 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 27 cm
Bibliography Notes Includes bibliographical references (pages 308-322) and index.
ISBN 9780300218725
0300218729
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