"The ceremony over, the young ladies begun, very freely, to examine my dress, and to interrogate me concerning it. "This apron's your work, I suppose, Miss? But these sprigs a'n't in fashion now. Pray, if it is not impertinent, what might you give a yard for this lutestring?-Do you make your own caps, Miss?" And many other questions equally interesting and well-bred." pg 100
Social commentary: In this one scene Frances Burney is able to express the social hierachy of the characters in a subtle manner. Neither of Evalina's cousins are well-bred; words like "interrogate" and "freely" show the liberties they did not understand that the took. Evalina, well-bred and comfortable, would also not know the cost of lutestring, as Mr. Villiers, her guardian, probably purchased it for her.
Evalina's character emulates the "perfect" well-bred woman that is expected to find a good match in the marriage mart. By following proper etiquette, she is able to advance in social circles in order to marry the handsome and refined Lord Orville. This internal social direction has been noted by Margaret Doody: "Evalina in her unsocialized innocence can unalarmingly voice basic female criticism of of social arrangements" (Doody 42). In this text, Burney is able to convey the female perspective of social conventions of the 18th century by using a simple apron.
Other Clothing References: "Poor Miss Mirvan cannot wear one of the caps she made, because they dress her hair too large for them" (Burney 31)
"The first half-hour was allotted to making themselvescomfortable; for they complained of having had a very dirty walk, as they came on foot from Snow Hill, where Mr. Branghton keeps a silversmith's shop; and the young ladies had not only their coats to brush, and shoes to dry, but to address their head-dress, which their bonnets had totally discomposed" (Burney 98-99).