Off to the Land of Austen and Tea!

Today's the day! After talking about this trip for years and having my spot reserved for a little over a year, I'm finally setting out on this adventure! It still doesn't feel real. Whenever we would talk about it, it always felt so far off. "Yes, I'm going to England and Germany in the fall", I would say when people asked about my trip. But now suddenly it is fall (ok, not technically, but it is September and for me that is fall.) and the fact that I'm staring at my plane ticket and passport is telling me that this is really happening!

 

 

Obviously my packing still needs some work. I'm afraid I'm not a good packer, though my excuse is that I never go anywhere so why would I be good at it? I have my books, (The Great Gatsby, A Picture of Dorian Gray, Jane Austen Ruined My Life, and All Roads Lead to Austen) along with my regency dress, short stays, a couple chemises, and a pelisse with a removable skirt to turn it into a spencer. I have no idea if that is accurate (probably not) but it is so much more convenient. I also have my bonnets, which all of my packing was worked around. I'm heading to the airport in a few hours, so I should finish up. I shall try ever so hard to share pictures with you and write as much as I can during my trip. Goodbye good ol' U.S.A. Hello U.K.!

All booked?!...Can't believe it!

All of my plane tickets are booked for my trip! I can't believe it's finally happening. This is something that I have dreamed about for years, and now it's actually coming true! Only 39 days, and there is still so much left to do! I still have to make a chemise, a petticoat, a dress (possibly 2), and then a spencer and/or a pelisse. Not to mention getting and trimming a bonnet and then making sure I have the little things like a reticule, a fan, gloves, etc. Phew, so much to think about! I'd better get going on this. I want to make my outfits historically accurate, but also interesting and with some fun colors, so I'm a little stumped. If anyone has some ideas or suggestions, please let me know! I'm open to all thoughts on the subject!

Meh, who really needs to do their homework?

The past couple weeks I have been procrastinating when it comes to my school work because I've been so caught up in dreaming up costumes for my England trip. I watch all the Jane Austen movies I own (which are a lot!) and sigh at every dress, bonnet, spencer and pelisse. I am a proud owner of the Regency Gown Pattern, the Elegant Lady's Closet pattern, the Regency Underthings pattern, and the Regency Spencer/Pelisse pattern all from Sense & Sensibility Patterns. If you have never looked there for historical patterns, now is the time to start! They are all such perfectly lovely designs and, from my experience, relativity simple to assemble as well.
As I am in school and still looking for a job, my funding is limited, so all I can do for now is dream up ideas and draw then out so I don't forget them. I have been able to make up a few "test" bodices, stays and a spencer out of some muslin to get an idea for sizing...I want everything to perfect, I mean, it is going to be worn at the Jane Austen Festival! I am so very excited for it!
So now, my dear readers, if you have any suggestions for me as to where I can find fabrics, bonnets and accessories for my regency outfits (or any outfit really!) that will be created in a few months, I would be ever so grateful for them.

I am addicted to book stores and their bargain tables...

Last week I went to Barnes and Noble to buy a book for the upcoming semester. In theory it sounded like a good plan, but once I walked in, I immediately got distracted first by the shelves of classics, and then by the bargain table. On the table I found this beautiful book.

It was originally $25, but then was put on the bargain table for $20, and then, because the edge of the cover jacket was a tiny bit damaged, it was put on the clearance table for $10!

I grabbed it and bought it, afraid that someone might come looking for this exact copy. I even forgot about the school book, which was the whole reason I went to the store! When I got home, I looked through it cover to cover, and then looked through it again with my mom. Here are some of my favorites. (All the following images are from the KCI digital archives. Web address at the bottom of the page.)

Early 19th century stockings-England (I want some!)

 A white cotton muslin dress with white embroidery. 1802, France

Gala gown with train and embroidered white silk shawl. 1805.

Day Dress. Plaid silk taffeta, five flounces. 1850, England

Day Dress. White cotton tarlatan with silk-satin sash. Late 1860's

Corset. Blue silk satin. 1880's, France.

(The bust on this measures about 30" and the waist about 19"! Ouch! I also don't know why this one is so small. If you go the website, you can zoom in very closely and see so much detail)

Ball gown. Pale green silk satin, embroidered with silver threads and sequins. 1888, Paris.

Evening dress. Pale green chiffon and velvet. S-curve silhouette. c. 1900

Blouse: Grey plain-weave cotton. Pleated skirt: white linen. 1893, America

Evening dress. Christian Dior, Autumn/Winter. 1955, France

There are soo many amazing and stunning gowns in this book, and you can access images of some of them online at http://www.kci.or.jp/archives/digital_archives/index_e.html . If you ever get the chance to purchase the book, I highly recommend it! It has given me hours of entertainment and so much inspiration for the upcoming dresses I have planned.