Exhibition Lecture | Fashions on Paper: The Words of Regency Dress

How did Jane Austen, her contemporaries, and their fashion media describe clothing, and what did they mean when they did? The language of Regency dress is not necessarily straightforward to understand now. Drawing on new research underpinning her 2025 book, A Guide to Regency Dress: From Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslin, this presentation looks at the words of fashion in use during Austen’s adult life and their slippery associations with actual garments worn during the Regency.

Dr. Hilary Davidson is a dress, textiles and fashion historian and curator, associate professor, and chair of the MA Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice in the School of Graduate Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. In 2007, Hilary became curator of fashion and decorative arts at the Museum of London. She presented on the BBC documentary, Pride & Prejudice: Having a Ball, reconstructed Jane Austen's pelisse for this summer's A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250 at the Morgan Library and Museum and spoke at the Jane Austen Society of North America's Annual General Meetings in both 2024 and 2025. Research sparked by Professor Davidson's reconstruction of Jane Austen’s pelisse led to her most recent book, A Guide to Regency Dress: From Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslin.

Dr. Davidson’s book will be available for sale and signing.

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