My Regency Accessories

Here they are, the promised photos of the reticule and handkerchief I purchased at the Jane Austen Festival in July. 

My new Reticule with basket bottom. I greatly admired this style last year and am so pleased to have one of my own now!

The reticule has plenty of room for the fan I purchased at the Festival last year and the handkerchief. It might also fit an iPhone or camera perfectly for easy photo taking.

Fan I bought last year - it really came in handy this year in the hot weather!

Pretty blue butterfly detail on the handkerchief.

My Regency collection is building! The goal for next year is to have a dress to wear. ;)

What color dress would you pair these items with? 

Regency Fashion Show - JA Festival 2013

Last year I did a separate post about the Regency Fashion Show at the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, Kentucky (read it here). Because Miss Elizabeth had to leave before the Fashion Show I promised to take lots of photos. Unfortunately I had forgotten my camera battery and only had an iPhone to take photos with but I think I did get photos of each of the dresses in the show. I don't have a lot of info about each dress but I'll add a few comments when I can remember.

It was neat to see some familiar faces among the models and this young lady was one of them. Isn't her striped spencer smart! Her hat is a Roman Centurion Style and was worn in the fashion show last year.

Love these two outfits! The colors on the brown dress are so pretty!

Isn't her hat pretty!

This young lady in blue reminded me of a Fanny Price character: quiet, mousey and reserved. 

The shawl she carried was such a rich color and pattern. The lady on her left was next in the show. Her dress was such a lovely fabric! She carried a reticule with a basket on it which reminds me of the one I saw last year inside the historic house.

Her dress is a actually a ballgown and the skirt is cut above the ankles for ease in dancing. Her gloves are on a nankeen cloth that would become a deeper yellow color with use and washing. The hat she's wearing was featured in the show last year where we were told it was actually bought at Target. When Betsy Bashore asked if anyone knew where it was bought I stuck my hand up high and called out "at Target!" Hehe :)

A very pretty print dress in cotton. Love the colors and accessories!

There were just two gentlemen in the show this year.

This outfit (with the target hat above) was featured in the show last year. The spencer has the prettiest pleats in the back!

The red dress is such a pretty color and has some nice accessories!

This lady modeled for the show last year. This year she wore a similar color to last year. 

Aren't the sleeves on the blue dress interesting? I forget the exact time period of the cut but it is pretty.

The lady on her far left is next with a very smart outfit!

It's hard to describe how pretty the fabric on this dress is! It's a light yellow-ish color with rose colored flowers. The fabric is sheer-ish and laid overed the main dress fabric. The bonnet she is wearing was featured last year.

I love the color pairings on this crossover style dress. 

Longer cuffs were actually quite popular for gentlemen in this time period and masculine fashions influenced the ladies style a bit. 

The young lady on the left is wearing a popular Prussian (or was it Russian) military style hat. Love the color of her dress! 

This lovely young lady modeled a purple sari ballgown last year and this year she modeled my favorite dress from last year! The color is so gorgeous on her and the red shawl accentuates the lovely scarlet embroidery so well!

Paired with gloves and a shawl she looks set for an evening dinner.

The lady on the left wears an opera cape!

The intricate edging on the opera cape is used at the bottom of the gown she's wearing.

Such a lovely look for an evening at the opera in Bath or London!

Lastly a couple in traveling attire. The gentleman's trousers are of nankeen that turns more yellow with washing, a very popular fabric for gentlemens attire.

The lady's bonnet has a long veil perfect for keeping flies and dirt out of her face when she's traveling and hide her face from other travelers. 

Her green pelisse features lovely lace on the back!

Here is her dress after she took off her hat and pelisse. Isn't that fabric lovely!

This comb with the tines belongs to the model. She bought it and really enjoyed wearing it with her Regency costumes. Not too long after she found the red and yellow piece and even though it didn't have the tines she figured she could pin into her hair to decorate Regency updos. Then one day when she was polishing the silver comb the top broke off and she discovered that it was actually made to change out the decorative bit at the top and that the other topper fit on it perfectly - as if they were made for one another! So lovely!

Many of the regular guests at the festival have such lovely costumes that I love to admire! This young lady's outfit was perfectly styled for the warm summer day! 

You can't quite see it here but this lady's bonnet was so lovely and the trimming at the bottom of her dress was so elegant!

Miss Emily Waterman in the green spencer has the most lovely costumes, my favorite of all the costumes I saw that day, she makes them herself and they fit so nicely - like a fashion plate!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this glimpse at the Regency Fashion Show from the Jane Austen Festival! If you are planning to attend the festival next year we should really make plans to sit together during the fashion show! 

See official photos of the Regency Fashion Show.

Which outfit from the show is your favorite?

Jane Austen Festival 2013!

This year was my second time attending the Jane Austen Festival in Louisville, KY. You can read about and see photos of last year's festival here. My father and I drove down together again this year and enjoyed listening to my audiobook of Lady Susan by Jane Austen (such an interesting fun story!).

This year was extra special because I got to meet my dear blogging friend Miss Elizabeth Bennet who authors Elegance Of Fashion! We met by the Visitor's Center and set off to explore the festivities together!

First we went to the Naval Encampment to see the members of the HMS Acasta (a clever reenactment group). This gentleman, who acts as the First Lietenant explained about sextants to us and had a lot of interesting facts about life at sea in the 1700's-1800's. It was fascinating listening to him and meeting the other members of the ships crew.

The tents were all kitted out with many period items.

The ships Doctor with his two oldest daughters Miss Lucy and Miss Molly. I had the privileged of seeing The Doctor demonstrate fencing last year and was delighted to see his family this year too! 

On leaving the encampment area one of the crew tipped his hat to us in a gentlemanly manner.

It was delightful to see Miss Emily Waterman, The Doctor's fiancee, who has the most delightful outfits - probably my favorite outfits at the festival! She was accompanied by Lady Caroline Linnington, Dowager Baroness Cranston as they came to meet the naval officers.

Standing very near we were in a way to overhear Miss Waterman introduce The Doctor's brother sailors to Lady Caroline. In a very sweet piece of drama The Doctor took Miss Waterman's hand and kissed it!

On our way toward the Historic House my father captured this picturesque photo of The Commander of the HMS Acasta walking with his lady. They very much remind us of Admiral and Mrs. Croft from Persuasion, some of my dad's favorite JA characters! 

Miss Waterman introduces Lady Caroline to The Commander.

Another fun sight on the way to the Historic House was seeing a sedan chair with a lady inside! Very much reminded me and Miss Elizabeth of Mrs. Jamison in Cranford!

Historic Locust Grove is a lovely spot, perfect for this event! We enjoyed touring the house and enjoying the coolness inside.

Pretty upstairs bedroom.

See the gorgeous shawl on the bedpost? I love the fabric!

 Regency costumes were on display inside the house. The spencer shown here with its tassels reminded us of ones worn by Lucy Steele in Sense & Sensibility (1995) and Elizabeth Elliot in Persuasion (1995). Very smart!

I spotted a reticule with a basket at the bottom. Miss Elizabeth remembered that I had admired this style of reticule last year. They are lovely!

Great room upstairs with costumes on display. Some of these fashions were featured in the Regency Style Show last year. Two or three of these are made using Saris from India!

The talented lady (sorry, your name escapes me!) who made most of the costumes on display and kindly answered our many questions about her gorgeous fashions!

Styles on display in my favorite bedroom with the toile curtains! The cape hung over the chair to the far left is shorter in the back than in the front, has a hood and is made of double layers of silk. It is exactly the same style as one worn by Marianne Dashwood in Sense & Sensiblity (1995) when she goes to Cleveland (the Palmer's home) and stands out in the rain viewing Coumb Magna and calling out for "Willoughby, Willoughby"! When it was described to us I immediately pictured those scenes!

A delightful handmade shawl!

The little parasol has a fold-able handle on it for easy packing.

Love the fabric on this late 1700's dress.

The colors on this outfit are just gorgeous!

Love all the intricate details!

A cape with a military style which was very fashionable in its day.

Love all the colors of the fashions and furniture together!

Love this bed in the young lady's room.

Captured this lovely photo of Miss Elizabeth by an upstairs window. Her outfit was so lovely!

While I was taking pictures of dresses and studying Regency fashions my father was drooling over these antique shield-back chairs! Also of interest, many of the floorboards in this large upstairs room run the length of the long room! Great craftsmanship! 

After visiting the Historic House, Miss Elizabeth and I enjoyed a shop or two but then it was time for my father and I to grab a bite to eat before heading for the big tent to see the shows. It was very warm so Miss Elizabeth and her mother did not stay too much longer.

She showed off her new parasol and we took a few more photos together before she left.

It was so delightful to meet Miss Elizabeth and get to chat with her a while! I wish the weather had permitted a longer time together but I'm so thankful for the time we did have!

The Dressing Mr. Darcy show was presented again this year and then the Regency Fashion Show was quite lovely this year. I will be doing a separate post with photos from that.

A new feature this year was the Regency Promenade where folks in Regency attire parade about the grounds. The goal was to beat the Guinness World Record by having 200 people in costume. Each participant was numbered and dad spotted one lady wearing a tag that said "#300"! 

Here is a 7 minute video of the Regency Promenade. Video stars sideways but changes to the right way round after 30 seconds. Also please forgive my fingers in the way for some of the video. The Promenade was led by a bagpiper! Later they took photos of the whole Promenade group which you can view along with official festival photos here.

Then my dad and I enjoyed browsing through the many Shops Of Meryton. I purchased a pretty reticule and a cute handkerchief (I don't have photos of those right now but promise to post some soon!). 

It was a very warm day so we stopped for iced latte drinks at a local Dairy Queen before starting our trip home. On the drive back we chatted about the Festival and finished listening to the Lady Susan audiobook (well dad did, I fell asleep a few times due to being very tired from a busy busy weekend :).

It was such a wonderful day but the most delightful part was getting to meet Miss Elizabeth (Dearest Lizzy!) and her mother and get to enjoy the Jane Austen Festival with her! 

Thank you Lizzy for greeting me with a hug, smiling and laughing with me, asking questions about naval history, enjoying the picturesque scenes, chatting about Jane Austen, remembering costumes worn in the films, enduring the heat, and being such a dear friend! I'm so glad I got to meet you in person! :)