An example of a Regency Period gown, courtesy of Pinterest.

Jane Austen’s lifetime saw some of the most radical changes in fashions and styles in history. Come learn about these changes in “Estimating Lace and Muslin: Dress and Fashion in Jane Austen and Her World,” a visual presentation by art historian, lecturer, and educator, Jeffrey Nigro.

At the time of her birth in 1775, fashionable men were wearing elaborately embroidered colored silks, lace, and wigs. Elegant ladies wore lavishly decorated hoop skirts and tall, powdered coiffures adorned with ribbons and plumes.

By the time of Austen's death in 1817, men had adopted a more austere style of clothing that is the ancestor of the modern suit and women were wearing relatively simple, high-waisted gowns, bonnets, and shawls.

We’ll take a look at the development of both British and French fashions and the complex relationship between them in Austen’s era - with many references to her witty and perceptive comments on fashion - her own and other people’s - for a better understanding of this fascinating and complicated period.

Join us in the Betty A. Barclay Community Room, Second Floor of the Edgewater Branch Library for this delightful event.

This program is presented by the Edgewater Branch Library in partnership with Edgewater Village Chicago and Friends of the Edgewater Library.