1817 March Green Evening Dress, English. Hem with a wide white lace frill and flower decoration, cute green evening hat with an Aigret, and a large draping shawl. Fashion Plate via Rudolph Ackermann’s ‘The Repository of Arts’, London, U.K.

This sort of fashionable ensemble would have been worn by Jane Austen and her family and friends for an evening event. Elaborate hats decorated with plumes, or feathers, were very fashionable in the late 1810s.

Definition Aigret, Aigrette, Egret: Upright plume of feathers or jeweled ornament in shape of feathers worn on head or hats. In the 19th century, the favorite feathers were osprey and heron.

Definition Shawls: The shawl started off in India as a fine wool garment for men that could be worn as a scarf, turban or as a mantle: the word comes from the Persian shäl. Originally imported from the East, European Kashmir shawls were made first in Norwich and Edinburgh in Britain in the late 18th century. Shawls were an essential item in the early 1800s to cover the thin gowns women wore. They were made of muslin, gauze, silk, wool, and velvet, though cashmere shawls were the softest and most prized.