Book Launch Event: Jane Austen’s Wardrobe, with Hilary Davidson

Join us for the launch of Jane Austen’s Wardrobe, by the chair of the Fashion and Textile Studies Department in the School of Graduate Studies. Davidson will discuss the book and a signing will follow.

About Jane Austen’s Wardrobe

What did Jane Austen wear?

Acclaimed dress historian and Austen expert Hilary Davidson reveals, for the first time, the wardrobe of one of the world’s most celebrated authors. Despite her acknowledged brilliance on the page, Jane Austen has all too often been accused of dowdiness in her appearance. Drawing on Austen’s 161 known letters, as well as her own surviving garments and accessories, this book assembles examples of the variety of clothes she would have possessed—from gowns and coats to shoes and undergarments—to tell a very different story. The Jane Austen Hilary Davidson discovers is alert to fashion trends but thrifty and eager to reuse and repurpose clothing. Her renowned irony and wit peppers her letters, describing clothes, shopping, and taste. Jane Austen’s Wardrobe offers the rare pleasure of a glimpse inside the closet of a stylish dresser and perpetually fascinating writer.

This event is free and open to the public.