Male and female dress during the late 18th century and early 19th century were both influenced by the political climate of the time. But unlike female modes of dress male costume changed gradually in the forty-two years spanning Jane Austen’s lifetime from 1775 to 1817.
The Late Eighteenth Century
Typical male dress throughout the 18th century consisted of a knee-length coat, a waistcoat, and breeches along with silk stockings, white linen or cotton shirt with jabot, decorative cuffs and a cravat. These suits were usually very highly adorned with decorative embroidery and ornate buttons made of porcelain, metalwork or glass.
Towards the latter half of the century suits transformed to a more functional style while still maintaining the brilliant fabrics, colors, embroidery, lace and decorative buttons. The coats became slimmer-fitting, the length of the waistcoat shortened.
Men generally wore their hair long and powdered or very florid wigs with curls and queue also powdered.
Throughout the 18th century the vogue in fashion tended to the ornamental and expensive.
The French Revolution
The French Revolution promoted a new aesthetic in fashion. Clothing for men and women became simplified. Fabrics tended now towards uncomplicated cotton which in France was more in line with the republican attitudes and in England with the technological advances in the milling of cotton fabric. The large workforces in the factories could generate the amounts of cotton in demand.
In France, the revolutionary attitude shunned the breeches and silk stockings and opted for the more utilitarian pants. In England, the coat evolved in cut removing the skirts in front allowing for more comfort on horseback also the sleeves diminished and the waistcoat was cut smaller to allow a better fit in the tighter cut of the coat.
The Early 19th Century
By the 1790s social revolution began to affect male dress. Clothing became plainer and the fabrics less extravagant as men spent more time in the outdoors and on horseback. The frock coat was replaced by the more functional great coat. Breeches were replaced by longer and more form-fitting pants either worn with riding boots, V-fronted Hessians or shoes. Colors became more sober and discreet and additional ornamentation was considered ostentatious.
A staple of male fashion was the white linen or cotton shirt. The jabot was no longer in vogue but the one area a man could show off his personal style was in the tying of his cravat which could become very elaborate.
The high tax on hair powder now began to effect male hairstyles as well as that of women. The long, powdered hair and wigs fell out of favor. Men began to crop their hair short brushed forward in the style of ancient Greek and Roman statuary recently unearthed at Pompeii and other archaeological sites in Italy.
Men’s Fashion in Jane Austen
In Jane Austen’s novels the male fashion would have depended on when they were written. The males in the earlier novels of Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice all written before 1800 would have worn the earlier fashions. Edward Farrars, Colonel Brandon, Mr. Darcy, and Henry Tilney all would have worn knee-breeches with silk or cotton stockings and have had long and powdered hair.
Our heroes of the later novels, Mr. Knightley in Emma, Edmund Bertram in Mansfield Park and Captain Wentworth in Persuasion would have favored the short, cropped hair and the pragmatic fashions popular during the Regency and dictated by the London “dandy” Beau Brummell extolling perfect fit and cut, faultless tailoring and attention to detail.
See Female Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen
Sources: Fashion: A History from the 18th to the 20th Century (New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., by arrangements with TASCHEN GmbH, 2006); Ashelford, Jane. The Art of Dress: Clothes and Society 1500-1914 (New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 1996); Le Faye, Deirdre. Jane Austen: The World of Her Novels (New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc., 2002)
Marilynn Doore - I aspire to Miss Jane Austen's advice given to her niece: to be patient, get on with it, think of your readers, and take inspiration from ...
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