When we are introduced to Jenny she is a serious student on the path of success to an Oxford University education. In this period she dresses quite typically, grey school uniform, woolen jumpers and plain trousers. It isn't until she meets David that some glamour is added to her wardrobe, marking her transition into a young woman.

An Education is one of my favourite films and it contains one of the most poignant of considerations which Jenny raises, books and the like can only teach us so much, it is the education that life brings us which is much more valuable but only when we're ready for it. This may come before schooling concludes as Jenny thought, or after she'd experienced life a little as she later realises.