Welcome to the latest edition of Looks from Books, which aims to prove that you can look smart, while still being book-smart, too. Fashion inspiration can be found between the pages of your favorite stories, on well-designed book covers, and in your favorite characters… if you read closely enough.

This week, we’re focusing on Jane Eyre, a feminist favorite that made a hero of every plain-faced, witty girl in English class, and inspired more than one clandestine peek into the attic.

Jane Eyre book cover via Amazon

Table of Contents

Inside Cover: A Little Bit of Background

Jane Eyre is a Gothic romance novel, written in 1847 by Charlotte Bronte.

The story explores the personal life and emotional growth of plain, unassuming Jane Eyre, from an abused, precocious orphan, to a witty, yet subdued, new governess at the house of the mysterious Mr. Rochester. The plot thickens when she falls deeply in love with her secretive employer, only to face new struggles.

Jane Eyre was originally published with the subtitle, “An Autobiography,” which points to the parallels between Jane’s life and Bronte’s own. The work is largely based on experience: Charlotte attended a school much like Lowood, where she endured tragedy; she later worked as a teacher, and then pursued a career as a governess. Of course, Charlotte eventually became a writer, and was then able to re-imagine her experiences with an amplified sense of drama.

A Fashionable Literacy

Jane Eyre‘s most recent film adaptation, directed by Cary Joji Fukanaga, starred Micheal Fassbender as the enigmatic lover Rochester and Mia Wasikowska as our titular heroine, Jane. The costumes adhered strictly to those of the time period, featuring coiled buns, high collars, hoop skirts, and bloomers.