The gown is round

My seamstress friend LivingwithJane has taken to sewing like a fish to water.  I've joined the period sewing group that she is a part of, even though I have no intentions of ever making a dress, and it's been quite fascinating to observe the learning process as she and ZipZip, the head of the group, figure out how to make a round gown (see this picture for an example).

The round gown is for me, for the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville this summer.  I've gone in for two fittings thus far and when I say I've observed the learning process, I mean I've literally, intimately, watched the process.  I've stood in my chemise and short stays with my arms extended while ZipZip chewed her lips and fiddled with the dress form and discussed the shape of the armholes with LivingwithJane.  It was a dance of sorts, as I raised and lowered my arms as needed while they moved about with me with needle and marker.

See the latest progress on my dress here.

Bloggy friends

My seamstress extraordinaire friend has started her own blog, Living with Jane.  To give you an idea of some of her posts, check out what she's written on getting started on my dress for the Jane Austen Festival later this year.

Emma and the yellow room

PBS currently has the first two episodes of Emma posted online.  I took advantage of this to take some screenshots of especially interesting scenes.

I'm drawn to this room. I don't particularly want to decorate my house this way, but there's something about the color scheme and abundance of paintings that attracts me at a deep, soothing level.  

 

This is the dress I would like my seamstress extraordinaire friend to make for me. 

Travel plans and the uncanny

Trip preparations for our trip to Great Britain are getting ridiculously uncanny.  First, I decided that we should setup a base camp in Kingussie, Scotland for our time in the Cairngorms.  Then I found out that it was used for some scenes in one of my all-time favorite series, Monarch of the Glen.  Okay, cool, not enough to make me absolutely have to stay in that village should a better location show up, but, still, pretty cool.

Recently, I found out about Lacock Village and decided that we would make that another base camp because I was intrigued by the thought of a village that "remains largely unchanged over the centuries."  Then I found out that it was used in the famous 1995 Pride and Prejudice series (I don't need to mention how much I love that series, too) and some Harry Potter movies (I love Harry Potter, too.)  Now I am definitely making sure that we include this stop in our itinerary!

And today, after some discussion with J. about exploring other mountainous regions of Scotland and settling on Ben Nevis and Glen Coe, I discovered that the village Glencoe was the setting for my all-time favorite shots in the movie Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  And I ABSOLUTELY have to go here!

Really, this is all getting a little...strange.

For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn?**

My friend and I went to a festival put on by the Louisville chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America. It was held on the grounds of Locust Grove, a National Historic Landmark:

We were expecting a little event, a handful of folks drinking tea, a smattering of cheap trinkets for sale. Instead, we were quite blown away by the smart planning and execution of the event.

There were several events planned for the day, including several Regency fashion shows (which I'll get to in a minute), that were excessively diverting. The Emporium was host to a treasure trove of genuinely interesting items, including 19th century inspired fabrics that Jenni and I plundered for our next set of dresses:

Several stations were scattered across the grounds, including a shoemaker, a milliner, a mantua-maker (dressmaker), and a showroom of exquisite outfits on the second floor of the Locust Grove home:
We had afternoon tea at 1 o'clock, where we were served a variety of small sandwiches, delectable scones with preserves, and lavender pound cake:

After tea, we went to the session "Dressing Mr. Darcy," where the host proceeded to undress down to his undershirt and pants, explaining each item of clothing that he was removing (hat, coat, vest, cravat):
Obviously meant to titillate the crowd. We couldn't stop snickering, and I couldn't keep a straight face when I danced a turn with him later that evening at the ball.

Yes, indeed, there was a ball and we suppressed our inner wallflowers to attend. My friend made our gowns. She wore an evening gown, and I wore an afternoon dress (hey, at least it was period appropriate):

Some scenes from the ball:


Here some folks are dancing "Mr Beveridge's Maggot (Favorite)", which some of you will appreciate knowing that this is the dance from the famous scene in Pride & Prejudice (1995) where Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth dance together for the first time:

Of course, the folks at this little ball weren't as graceful. There was lots of laughing and stumbling and wrong turns and bumps. It was all thoroughly fun.

More pictures over at my flickr.

**Jane Austen

Your very own Mr. Darcy

You can purchase the portrait of Mr. Darcy used in the 1995 BBC production of Pride and Prejudice.

It's kind of like a high-art version of those heart-throb photos I used to tear out of those teeny-bopper magazines back in middle school.

Be careful what you wish for

I came across this title at work: American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb.

This reminded me of how sometimes I would think about what it would be like to live "back then," such as in Jane Austen's time. Then I would wonder what it would really be like if I was transported warts, hearing impairment and all, into the Regency era. I suppose, considering the fact that I've been hard of hearing (to the point that I am more likely to feel thunder, not hear it) since I was little, I would be considered dumb, especially if I did not have someone like Anne Sullivan to work with me. It's a sobering realization, especially just for daydreaming--I shouldn't be so literal in my imagination.

By the way, the title was changed to American Annals of the Deaf in 1886.

When all hope is gone

For those of you woefully unaware of the delights that Austen's writing offers, I want to point out that, for the premiere of 'Masterpiece', PBS is putting on an Austen-palooza that runs from now until sometime in April. They've remade several of Austen's books, yet again...but a janeite never tires of these remakes.

Persuasion aired last Sunday. We enjoyed it, even if it was a little rushed. The story was compacted into 1 1/2 hours. One barely had time to appreciate the severity of Fanny's situation before things immediately started looking up again. That was my only complaint. It didn't quite overtake the 1995 version--Ciaran Hinds is a wonderful actor, but, like the 2 most recent Pride & Prejudice movies, I would highly recommend both versions of Persuasion.