THE BRONTË SISTERS are not generally regarded as women who paid much attention to fashion, but Charlotte’s writings reveal a strong interest in clothes.

She was keenly aware of the importance of dress when fitting into society. Charlotte and Anne made an unexpected visit to the London opera in 1848. They had no evening clothes, so wore “plain . . . country garments”.

In a letter, Charlotte recalled her embarrassment as “fine ladies and gentlemen glanced at us with a slight, graceful superciliousness”.

Charlotte frequently used dress as a device in her writings. There are, for example, many detailed references to dress throughout Stancliffe’s Hotel. She knew how a phrase such as “a young dandy with red curls and velvet waistcoat” could define and illustrate character.

Despite her ability to use costume effectively in her work, Charlotte had little confidence in her own taste and avoided clothes which were too ostentatious. She regretted her purchases after getting them home, sent things back to the shops, and regularly sought the advice of friends: “I wish you could have looked over them and given a dictum — I insisted on the dresses made quite plainly.”

Her behaviour sounds very modern, but fashion in the world of the Brontës was very different from today. Clothes were all sewn by hand and were very expensive. Theft of clothes was a common crime. The lower classes mostly wore second, third or even fourth-hand clothes.

Those who could afford new clothes shopped in small, specialised stores which had little display space. Customers were dependent on what the shopkeeper chose to show them. Haggling over price was expected. Ready-to-wear clothing was very limited. Most clothes were made by a tailor, dressmaker or at home. “Shopping for clothes” actually meant choosing fabrics and trimmings.

However, by the middle of the 19th century the new department stores had introduced fixed prices, big displays and another new concept — no obligation to buy. Shopping became a fashionable activity, and a way of seeing the latest styles.

Ladies’ magazines — the precursors of today’s glossies — also helped to spread fashion news. They featured illustrations, such as those pictured, right, of the new styles in hats, bonnets, morning and evening dresses and were circulated countrywide.

Of course, the greater availability of fashion news and fashionable clothes increased the pressure on respectable ladies — and their pockets — to dress in vogue.

Charlotte’s uncertainty about clothes may have been a personal foible. Or it may have been a result of living in a period of great change in the fashion industry.

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