Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Featured in the Morgan’s exhibition “A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250” (June 6 through September 14, 2025) is a replica of the author’s sumptuous silk pelisse, on loan from Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England. The pelisse features a pattern of gold oak leaves on a brown ground, conveying Austen’s stylishness and physical stature. Elements of the garment’s design date it to circa 1812–14. In those years, thanks to the earnings from her novels, Austen could afford to purchase the expensive fabric and employ a professional to stitch it. In 1993 family descendants donated the original pelisse to what is now the Hampshire Cultural Trust. The textile and fashion historian Hilary Davidson devised the pattern for the replica and sewed it by hand. Based on the pelisse’s measurements, Davidson estimates that Austen was between 5’6” and 5’8” tall. This video shows the construction of the garment and how it moves when worn. The video was produced by Hilary Davidson and Larissa Shirely King, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.
Featured in the Morgan’s exhibition “A Lively Mind: Jane Austen at 250” (June 6 through September 14, 2025) is a replica of the author’s sumptuous silk pelisse, on loan from Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, England. The pelisse features a pattern of gold oak leaves on a brown ground, conveying Austen’s stylishness and physical stature. Elements of the garment’s design date it to circa 1812–14. In those years, thanks to the earnings from her novels, Austen could afford to purchase the expensive fabric and employ a professional to stitch it. In 1993 family descendants donated the original pelisse to what is now the Hampshire Cultural Trust. The textile and fashion historian Hilary Davidson devised the pattern for the replica and sewed it by hand. Based on the pelisse’s measurements, Davidson estimates that Austen was between 5’6” and 5’8” tall. This video shows the construction of the garment and how it moves when worn. The video was produced by Hilary Davidson and Larissa Shirely King, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.
