The Jane Austen Handbook (11 page)

• 
Accessories
. Elegant accessories provide the perfect finishing touch to any outfit.

• 
Gloves
.
Wear gloves outside at all times for warmth and protection, even in summer; you do not want your hands tanned or freckled as though you work in the fields. Elbow-length white kid gloves should be worn for formal parties. When supper is served, unbutton them at the wrist, slip out your hands, and tuck the gloves back into
your wrist so that you do not drag them through the negus. Always wear gloves for dancing, as will your partner; after all, one would not wish to dance with some sweaty-pawed creature.

• 
Shawl
.
The cold winter weather makes a shawl a necessary accoutrement at all times when you are not sitting directly in front of a fire. Shawls made of cashmere wool from India, woven in intricate and colorful designs, are practical as well as beautiful. Lighter shawls of embroidered muslin or gauze can be welcome with ball gowns on chilly summer nights as well.

• 
Hats and bonnets
.
Wear a hat or bonnet when you go outside in daytime. Leave your bonnet on when paying a short call, but take it off if you mean to stay for a few hours. Do not wear a bonnet or hat to an evening party or ball, though a turban or fancy headdress is fine.

• 
Caps
.
Married ladies and spinsters who wish to indicate that they are not available for marriage wear caps made of muslin or lace with morning attire and sometimes for informal evening dress to keep their hair tidy.

• 
Stockings
.
Stockings can be very light silk for balls or knitted from wool for warmth in winter. They come to a little above the knee and are held up with garters, which might be knitted or just ribbons tied above the knee
(
Fig C-4
)
.

• 
Footwear
.
Half-boots for riding or walking; dainty slippers, like ballet slippers, for evening, sometimes with decorative roses on the toes. Some ladies wear pattens, wooden slats with metal rings on the bottom, to keep their footwear out of muddy roads.

• 
Active wear
. Ladies have special clothing for riding and more strenuous outdoor activities.

• 
Riding habit
.
A habit is worn for horseback riding, of course, but it can also be worn for traveling or even just
around the house for morning wear. Habits are made of sturdy fabrics, fitted like a long coat, and are sometimes a little longer or fuller on one side to accommodate riding sidesaddle. Wear a chemisette with a frilled collar underneath to protect your neck from the sun, and if you are riding, wear a riding hat with a veil to keep insects and dirt out of your eyes. If you are just wearing your habit for traveling or walking, you can wear it with a regular bonnet.

• Walking dresses:
A walking dress is like a riding habit, but with fancier trim and worn with a regular bonnet.

• 
Mourning clothes
. Mourning clothes are made of bombazine, a silk and wool mix, or crepe, a crinkly black silk, both of which have a dull finish. Crepe also is used to trim headwear. According to custom, widows should wear mourning dress for twelve months, children for six months, and siblings for three months. For the first half of that time period, referred to as the first mourning, wear full mourning dress, or all black; for the second half, or second mourning, wear one black article of clothing along with white, gray, or lilac. Mourning jewelry such as a ring or brooch with a lock of the deceased’s hair is also worn. For more distant relations, wear black gloves or ribbons or a crepe band on your hat for a few weeks or months, depending on the closeness of the connection, as a sign of respect.

• 
Wedding clothes
. A woman’s father traditionally gives her money to purchase enough clothing to last her a year so she will not put her new husband to immediate expense for her clothing. For the wedding itself, the bride will purchase a new gown that she will wear afterwards for other suitable occasions. The white wedding gown is not compulsory, but since white is such a popular color for gowns anyway, many wedding dresses are white or cream-colored. Wear a pretty bonnet or a hat with a veil attached to the back.

• 
Morning dress
. In the daytime, a gentleman will wear a cutaway coat in a plain dark fabric, a style just made for riding on horseback, as well as a waistcoat, breeches or pantaloons, boots, and a snowy linen shirt and cravat.

• 
Evening dress
(
Fig. E
)
. For formal evening parties, coats are basic black, worn with a waistcoat
(
Fig. E-1
)
, knee breeches
(
Fig. E-2
)
, white stockings, and black shoes with gold or silver buckles. Linen shirts must be spotlessly clean and crisply ironed.

• 
Undergarments
. Traditionally, a gentleman did not wear drawers—instead, he simply crossed the trailing ends of his shirt underneath his crotch inside his breeches or pantaloons. However, as cleanliness becomes more the fashion, more men have taken to wearing knee-length drawers of a knit material to keep breeches or pantaloons from directly touching the skin. These drawers are tied with corset-like strings at the back waist for a close fit and buttoned at the waist, with an opening in the front for convenience.

• 
Outerwear
. For cold weather, every gentleman has a great coat; younger men wear them with as many as sixteen capes around the shoulders to keep out cold, snow, and rain while driving an open vehicle.

• 
Accessories
.

• 
Hats
.
High-crowned hats are worn outdoors; for evening, a gentleman tucks a chapeau-bras or bicorne hat beneath his arm.

• 
Jewelry
.
A tasteful watch and fob and perhaps a jeweled pin in the cravat are generally worn both for evening and non-active morning wear, though more foppish gentlemen might accessorize with seals dangling from their watch fob and snuffboxes made of precious metals or painted porcelain.

• 
Cravat
(
Fig. E-3
)
. Made of spotlessly clean starched muslin, usually white, and tied in any number of fashionable methods.

• 
Walking stick
. In the city, every gentleman has a sleek, elegant walking stick. In the country, a sturdy branch will do to assist one in walking up muddy hills. When paying a morning call, it is impolite to leave one’s hat or walking stick anywhere in the house, lest one be suspected of planning to overstay one’s welcome.

• 
Hairstyles
. The taxation of hair powder spurred an au naturel trend in men’s hairstyles; like the ladies, men’s hairstyles tend to imitate classical statuary, with some gentlemen even sporting an exaggerated windblown look.

LADIES’ HAIRSTYLES,
MAKEUP, &
BEAUTY TREATMENTS

Powdering the hair was already passing from fashion when a tax on hair powder in 1795 rang the death knell; thereafter, only patriotic old Tories still used the stuff. Early in the period, young women often wore their hair in long curls for the proper romantic look, with ribbons or beads twined through their hair for the evening. Around the start of the nineteenth century, ladies began wearing their hair up off their nape, with a few curly locks loose around their face. Hair was also occasionally worn short, cropped close to the head, and worn either sleek or curly.

For makeup, the natural look was the order of the day—the heavily powdered and rouged look of the eighteenth century was abandoned. However, that did not mean that ladies used no cosmetics at all. Jane Austen’s close friend and housemate,
Martha Lloyd, compiled a book of recipes that contained several beauty preparations, including milk of roses, used as a skin lotion; hand soap and softening pomatum; cold cream made of wax, spermaceti (whale oil), oil of sweet almonds, and rosewater; coral tooth powder; and lavender water, which was used both as a perfume and to revive those who had fainted.

In
Persuasion
, Sir Walter Elliot, who is very attentive to everyone’s looks, encourages Mrs. Clay to use Gowland’s Lotion and opines that Lady Russell should use rouge during daylight hours. Gowland’s Lotion was a
commercial preparation that contained mercuric chloride, which acted as a chemical peel. No wonder he found ladies’ skin to be “fresher” after they used it! One rather wonders whether the extremely vain Sir Walter used a touch of Gowland’s himself.