Published in Great Britain in 2011 by Shire Publications Ltd, Midland House, West Way, Botley, Oxford OX2 0PH, United Kingdom.

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© 2010 Sarah Jane Downing. First published 2010; reprinted 2010 and 2011.

All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be addressed to the Publishers.

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Shire Library no. 583

Print ISBN-13: 978 0 74780 767 4

PDF e-book ISBN: 978 0 74780 942 5

ePub e-book ISBN: 978 0 74781 161 9

Sarah Jane Downing has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this book.

Designed by Tony Truscott

Printed in China through World print Ltd.

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COVER IMAGE

Two Strings to her Bow, by John Pettie (1887).

TITLE PAGE IMAGE

Afternoon dress, 1812.

CONTENTS PAGE IMAGE

Jerry in Training for a Swell (Life in London by Pierce Egan, 1822). Cut and fit were everything even if a corset like the one discarded on the floor was necessary. ‘Clothes maketh the man’ and already London tailors were renowned for their incredible skill in creating a gentleman.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Illustrations are acknowledged as follows: Alison J. Carter, Senior Keeper of Art & Design, Hampshire County Council Museums and Archives Service, page 48 (upper); Cora Ginsburg LLC, page 45; Victor Hassall, Bonhams, page 57 (lower); Michelle Hyde, page 14 (upper right) and 39 (lower); The Jane Austen Memorial Trust, pages 53, and 58 (lower); Eleanor Keene of Bonhams, page 24 and 40 (lower); and Simon Wheeler (Wheeler Estate), page 62 (upper).

The Fashion Museum at Bath has been wonderful in its kind support for this book, as has The Jane Austen Memorial Trust, which loaned the photographs of Jane’s white muslin scarf, page 53 and the topaz crosses that belonged to Jane and Cassandra, page 58 (bottom).

Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my sister Emma, my parents, especially my mother for her French translations, Sacha and David, and to those fabulous people at Shire Publications, especially Nick Wright and Russell Butcher.

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