Catching the Past, What Did Jane Austen Wear When She Was 18?

My next release, A Heart to Treasure, is set in 1794. This just so happens to be the summer Jane Austen was 18 (she turned 19 that December), and while the book does not feature Austen, I used the author as a springboard to find out what people were wearing in 1794. Plus, I kinda wanted to know what Austen wore when she was a young lady making her own debut into society and possibly hoping to catch someone's eye. :)

What gowns were ladies wearing in 1794?

You may be relieved to know it wasn't the giant hip gowns with rows upon rows of bows and white wigs on her head--that was the 1780s when Austen was in her early to mid-teens. Although, if Austen was presented at court (and I'm assuming she was), she would have worn those big hip gowns for the occasion because court fashions took longer to change.

By 1794, everyone from the average lady to the royal princesses wore what would become the beginnings of the Regency fashions. What gown was that you ask?

The humble round gown.

Round gowns were worn as both a day dress and evening wear in the 1790s and early 1800s. My sources didn't quite agree on when it stopped being fashionable to wear a round gown for the evening, so that one is a little sticky to pinpoint!

However, round gowns were even worn as the occasional day dress during the Regency period (because you wore your older gowns as day gowns). Although the Regency frock quickly outstripped it and the humble round gown was wiped out from fashion by the end of the Regency period.

But what is a round gown, and how does it differ from a frock?

Round gowns opened at the front while Regency frocks opened at the back.

The Evolution of the Round Gown

The round gown changed quite a bit over the course of its life, and by the end just before the crossover to the frock, it bore a striking resemblance to the frock.

Round gowns had been around before the 1790s, but the poorer classes typically wore them. By 1792, a reporter said all the ladies at the Princess's party wore white round gowns with blue trimming.

Somewhere along the way, the common lady's round gown got popular with the gentry. Not the normal way it goes!

Trains

At this point, round gowns still had trains, and the skirt was gathered all around the waist. Later in the decade it tended to be gathered only at the back of the dress. But speaking of the waist, where did that sit?

Waistline

We know from a complaint by a seamstress/tailor that the waist rose from the natural waistline to the empire waistline somewhere between 1793-1795. Some say it had not risen by 1794, but fashion plates from the time do show higher waists.

So, Jane's waistline was possibly at the natural position at the start of 1794 and perhaps had risen (not quite as high as the empire) by the end of the year.

Sleeve length

Thankfully due to the enduring popularity of Austen and her wonderful family members who compiled and shared her letters (not her awful sister who burnt so many of them!), we have much fodder for consideration and little tidbits which help us better picture what people wore back then. Including sleeve length.

Ugh, I would probably need a whole other post to discuss sleeve length. But let us suffice it to say that sleeves were still long in 1794. They were made from two long pieces of fabric. The fabric was cut with a bend at the elbow instead of being one long straight piece. This allowed the wearing better movement and easy of dressing.

After 1794, the sleeve length went the way of the waistline bit by bit, year after year.

The head of the sleeve (where it attaches at the shoulder) lost its gatherings gradually too. By the end of the decade, sleeves were nothing more than short, simple tubes with not a ruffle or gathering at all. But in 1794, the average round gown would have had a long sleeve gathered at the head.

We can presume that since Austen celebrated the return of long sleeves during the Regency period in a letter to her sister, that she favoured long sleeves.

Apron fronts

By the late 1790s, dressmakers began to experiment with what modern historians called 'bib-front', 'apron-front', and 'fall-front.' It's where the gown was attached at the shoulder with pins or buttons and fell down the front when unfastened like a pair of overalls might. Hilary Davidson calls this design the true pre-cursor to the Regency frock.

The change-0ver to the frock

The famous painting of Jane Austen from behind is most helpful in establishing that frocks (with buttons down the back) had finally been invented by 1804. Although, it was probably a very new design at that point.

Conclusion

As you can see, in just a few short years, the humble round gown of yesteryear looked nothing--absolutely nothing--like the gown it used to be, and very much like the Regency frock during the 1790s. And I haven't even talked about collars like the splice gown which got invented sometime in the 1790s or how the trains changed or the gathering around the waistline... Yeah, there was a lot.

While Jane wore a round gown for most of her adult life, the look of the dress greatly altered from year to year. And her letters show just how much Jane took an interest in making sure she followed the fashions closely as she tweaked her wardrobe to match.

So, what did Jane Austen's dress look like when she was 18? (And also, what my own heroine Eliza Hill wears in A Heart to Treasure)

Let's look at what I put as the cover image again. It's not quite right, but it has some parts right.

It was a round gown (opening at the front) with long sleeves. It had a train, and the skirt gathered all around the waist.

At the start of the year, Austen's gown probably had a natural waistline with slits in the side seams of the skirt to allow access to detachable pockets*, but by the end of the year, that waistline had probably been raised about halfway between the empire waistline and the natural waistline, and she'd lost her pockets.

(Yes, this was the time ladies lost their pockets because the slimmer design didn't allow for discreet slits in the side seems. And *pockets were not sewn into the dress. They were attached to a belt that you tied around your waist under your dress and looked a little like a rectangular cloth bag or one of those medieval bags ladies used to wear. You'd access them through a slit in your dress.)

FYI, reticules were not a thing yet. So, Austen didn't have one at 18. Can you imagine how frustrating it must have been not to have a pocket or a reticule? By January 1795, ladies started to carry muffs to store their stuff in, but for a few months in 1794, things got pretty tricky. One resource suggested they stuffed their stuff in the wide sashes they wore around their waist. A friend wondered if they used their long sleeves. It's hard to know honestly, just that someone figured out a fashionable solution within a year.

From the fashion plates and books, it seems Austen would have worn a neck handkerchief (also called a chemisette).

In her letters, Jane followed the fashions about what to put in your hair or on your hats, so she probably had a big feather or two in her hair since the fashion plates had those too. Can't say I'm a fan of those. What about you? Do you like the feathers?

Speaking of fashion plates...

If you'd like to view some fashion plates from 1794 (the year my book is set, and the year Jane Austen turned 19), you can do that here!*

*Note, this includes morning, mourning, half-mourning, and court dress from April 1794-March 1795.

Well, what do you think about what Jane Austen wore in her teens? Are you surprised?

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Before you go, why not check out my latest release set in 1794?

The vicar’s son and the draper’s daughter have fought against all odds to be together, and with just days until their wedding, both are ignoring the cracks in their relationship. But a storm is coming. One that will shatter everything.

In this Broader Regency, reverse rags-to-riches, interclass romance novella, you'll find faith, a clean and wholesome romance, and a happy ending. While this book doesn't feature Jane Austen, it is set the year she turned 19. Ever wonder what England was like when Austen was a teen? Read a Heart to Treasure to find out!

Read more about "A Heart to Treasure" here

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Resources:

Jane Austen’s Wardrobe by Hilary Davidson

Dress in the Age of Jane Austen by Hilary Davison

Style & Society: dressing the Georgians by Anna Reynolds

Jane Austen’s Letters collected and edited by Deidre Le Faye in 1997

Uproar! Satire, scandal, and Printmakers in Georgian London by Alice Loxton