On December 2nd, 2021, we were so delighted to hear again from dress historian Hilary Davidson. We learned all about the Indian textile trade, shawl smuggling into England, and the wider economic trade networks around the world.
Hilary was so kind as to provide a bibliography for us. If you want to learn more about Indian textiles like muslin and calico and the influence of Indian dress on Regency fashion, be sure to check out the texts below. We have provided links to open-access or paid materials where possible.
Be sure also to check out Hilary's book Dress in the Age of Jane Austen. With copious notes on the practice of dressing as well as high resolution color images from the period, this is one of the most comprehensive guides to Regency fashion on the market. Plus, if you buy it from Amazon Smile, you can opt to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Jane Austen Summer Program. Click here to buy.
GLOBAL FASHION IN THE AGE OF JANE AUSTEN: Communities & Colonies
Hilary Davidson 2 December 2021
Arnold, Janet, ‘The Classical Influence on the Cut, Construction and Decoration of Women’s Dress c.1785-1820’, Costume, 4.Supplement-1 (1970), 17–23
Ashmore, Sonia, Muslin (London: Victoria and Albert Publications, 2012) (Out of Print: This book is sometimes available on booksellers such as ABE Books or Amazon).
Cage, Claire E., ‘The Sartorial Self: Neoclassical Fashion and Gender Identity in France, 1797-1804’, Eighteenth-Century Studies, 42.2 (2009), 193–215. Buy or rent this article here.
Clabburn, Pamela, Shawls (Princes Risborough: Shire, 2002). (Out of print; copies sometimes available on book sellers websites like ABE Books.)
Hubbard, Thomas. Valuable secrets concerning arts and trades, or, Approved directions from the best artists. (Norwich, Connecticut: Hubbard, 1795). To learn how to scent silks and muslins from this text, download here for free and refer to pages 50-51.
Jensen, Heather Belknap, ‘Parures, Pashminas, and Portraiture, or, How Joséphine Bonaparte Fashioned the Napoleonic Empire’, in Fashion in European Art: Dress and Identity, Politics and the Body, 1775-1925, ed. by Justine De Young (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017), pp. 36–59. Book and ebook available for purchase from the publisher here.
Le Bourhis, Katell, The Age of Napoleon: Costume from Revolution to Empire, 1789-1815 (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989) FREE TO DOWNLOAD HERE
Lee, Mireille M., ‘Antiquity and Modernity in Neoclassical Dress: The Confluence of Ancient Greece and Colonial India’, Classical World, 112.2 (2019), 71–95 <https://doi.org/10.1353/clw.2019.0004> FREE TO DOWNLOAD HERE
Lemire, Beverly, ‘A Question of Trousers: Seafarers, Masculinity and Empire in the Shaping of British Male Dress, c. 1600–1800’, Cultural and Social History, 13.1 (2016), 1–22 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14780038.2016.1133493> FREE TO READ HERE.
Maskiell, Michelle, ‘Consuming Kashmir: Shawls and Empires, 1500-2000’, in The Nineteenth Century, Fashion: Critical and Primary Sources (Oxford; New York: Berg, 2009), pp. 207–40. Available on JSTOR with subscription.
Percoco, Cassidy, Regency Women’s Dress: Techniques and Patterns 1800-1830 (London: Batsford, 2015). Available to purchase on Amazon.
Rauser, Amelia, ‘Living Statues and Neoclassical Dress in Late Eighteenth-Century Naples’, Art History, 38.3 (2015), 462–87 <https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8365.12147> FREE TO READ HERE.
Riello, Giorgio, Cotton: The Fabric That Made the Modern World (West Nyack: Cambridge University Press, 2013) Available to purchase on Amazon.
Squire, Geoffrey, ‘Liberty, Equality and Antiquity. Dress 1785-1820’, Costume, 4. Supplement 1 (1970), 4–16 <https://doi.org/10.1179/cos.1970.4.Supplement-1.4> Available for purchase here.
Starobinski, Jean, ed., Revolution in Fashion: European Clothing, 1715-1815 (New York: Abbeville Press, 1989) Available to purchase from Amazon. (Out of print. Sometimes available on booksellers like Amazon and ABE books.)
Williamson, Captain Thomas, The East India Vade-Mecum; or Complete Guide to Gentlemen Intended for the Civil, Military or, Naval Service of the East India Company., II vols (London: Black, Parry, Kingsbury, 1810), FREE TO READ HERE.