How did Elizabeth look like?

[Sandy]

Besides as we all know, she was very pretty with fine eyes, being attracted by Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham and Colonel Fitzwilliam, what else can we conclude?
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Chapter 44:
Miss Darcy was tall, and on a larger scale than Elizabeth.

Chapter 45:
(Miss Bingley said.) Her (Elizabeth's) face is too thin; …
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So from my point of view, Elizabeth was thin and petite, which a tall man like Mr. Darcy tended to love and cuddle her like a lovely as well as stubborn little bird.

[A.]

Hmm...I've always pictured her being thin, medium height, with dark hair and eyes. (She's also very lightly tanned since she walkes outdoors alot.)

[Sandy]

Anne wrote: "She's also very lightly tanned since she walkes outdoors alot.)"

Good point, Anne!
Chapter 45:
She (Elizabeth) is grown so brown and coarse.

[Marte]

I see her as quite tall, thin, with a fresh complexion, big dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. Exactly like Keira Knightley in the movie really.

[Kressel]

Marte wrote: "I see her as quite tall, thin, with a fresh complexion, big dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. Exactly like Keira Knightley in the movie really."

No, she was petite. See above for the quote that Miss Darcy was taller. There's also a quote in the Netherfield chapters that Georgiana is not yet as tall as Caroline, but as tall as Elizabeth, implying that Elizabeth is shorter. And when Jane and Elizabeth are running to their father for news from Uncle Gardiner, Elizabeth runs faster because she is lighter than Jane.

[Marte]

Kressel wrote: "Marte wrote: "I see her as quite tall, thin, with a fresh complexion, big dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. Exactly like Keira Knightley in the movie really."

No, she was petite. See above for ..."

Oh, I never caught that. I guess I just thought of her as tall because of her character...

[Sandy]

Kressel wrote: "Marte wrote: "I see her as quite tall, thin, with a fresh complexion, big dark brown eyes and dark brown hair. Exactly like Keira Knightley in the movie really."

No, she was petite. See above for ..."

Agree, she was pretty, petite with a very thin face.
Please note, petite girls could be very stubborn and strong minded.

[A.]

I agreed more with Marte about the height (not about Keira Knightley). I never pictured her as being petite.

[Goddess]

I think she was meant to be petite. Dark hair, dark eyes. This was pointed out in the novel.

Darcy was also dark, so was Mr Wickham. While Bingly was lighter in build and complexion.

[Chelsea]

“Mr. Darcy had at first scarcely allowed her to be pretty; he had looked at her without admiration at the ball; and when they next met, he looked at her only to criticise. But no sooner had he made it clear to himself and his friends that she hardly had a good feature in her face, than he began to find it was rendered uncommonly intelligent by the beautiful expression of her dark eyes. To this discovery succeeded some others equally mortifying. Though he had detected with a critical eye more than one failure of perfect symmetry in her form, he was forced to acknowledge her figure to be light and pleasing..”

I think she was supposed to be pretty in an unassuming, understated way. Like the “girl next door” kind of beauty. Not a stunning, drop dead gorgeous woman, like Jane, but upon second glance a pretty woman. She was known in the town as a beautiful girl, I doubt it was solely because of her personality. Charlotte had a nice personality and she was not a reputed beauty. If she was ordinary looking, she would have been described as "plain." I think she was actually medium height. It was what, a year or less from when Darcy said Georgiana was the same height as Elizabeth till Georgiana was described as being tall. At 16 I doubt she could have grown more than an inch or two in a year. If Elizabeth had been petite, then Georgiana would have still been about average height, not tall. Elizabeth was described as light in figure, which I assume meant she was on the thin side. I don't think thin then was the same as thin today, though. Probably “average” weight by today's standards. She was probably slightly tan, but I doubt she was very dark. Back then women tried to avoid the sun like the plague lest it darken their "fair" complexions, so "coarse and brown" was probably not tan by today's tan crazy world. And she had dark eyes. I don't think her hair color is ever mentioned but I think I remember she was contrasted against Jane's fairness, so I think we can assume that her hair is darker than blonde (all shades of brown or even red is possible). I also believe that Miss Bingley's description of her is not reliable since she was jealous and petty.

So in short-I believe, based on my memory of the novel, that she was pretty, medium height (although she could have possibly been either slightly tall or short), thin (for the times), slightly tan (for a British woman living in those days), dark eyes, and hair at least darker than blonde. Pretty vague really. Jane Austen never did describe her characters in great detail. Back then I think that was wise because the reader could imagine her to look like whatever they wanted her to look like. It's a problem today because when the movie version doesn't look like what fans imagined in their heads they get annoyed. Although, I imagine it makes it easier to find an actress based on acting ability vs looks, which in my opinion is far more important.