Living in Jane Austen's World, Part 3: Hats and Headdresses

Of course, one of the main attractions of this type of thing is to admire all the different headgear sported by the ladies. I now present a collection of photos of these amazing creations.

Amy wearing the bonnet she made for herself:

 There she is again, on the right:

There was a vendor just selling bonnets:

A lady finding the perfect bonnet to match her dress:

My favorite green and pink again:

An elegant lady having lunch in the hotel's cafe:

Peacock feather headdress:

And this was my bonnet:

Living in Jane Austen's World, Part 2: The Fashion Show

On the first day of the conference, there was a luncheon and style show. Since it cost extra, I did not go to it, but I managed to worm my way behind the scenes where the ladies were being prepared! So I got a good look at the outfits nonetheless.

Here is my friend Amy being transformed:

A close-up of her lovely bonnet (I so love pink and pale green together!):

Now here's a bonnet for ya:

Surprise!

Ooooooh, my favorite colors, red and gold together:

Goodness, the poor lady on the left.... can you imagine having to wear a tunnel like that?!

I *can* tell you that she hated it, poor thing!

It seems that headgear and gloves were an integral part of every outfit worn outside the home. 

At least, that's the impression I got.

Almost ready for the runway.... Smile.....

Living in Jane Austen's World, Part 1

A couple of weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of attending a 4-day conference put on by JASNA (Jane Austen Society of North America). It was held at the very elegant Galt House in Louisville, and I was accompanied by my friend Amy from Bardstown. I have so many lovely photos to share, that I will have to break this up into 4 or 5 posts.

Here is the great chandelier in the hotel's entrance:

It amused me to see the glass elevators sometimes crowded with ladies in Regency costume. I didn't get a picture of an elevator completely full of these ladies, but here are a couple that will give you an idea of what I mean. There was also an Ironman race going on the same weekend, so we often saw people in sportswear bumping up against people in Regency wear!

I loved the way the conference's registration desk was decorated.

A Regency lady on the phone?!

There were two whole rooms full of lovely things to look at and buy. 

So now I'll let you browse around through my pictures.

See this purse? It was priced at about $300, because it is hand made of vintage ribbons (at least some of which are silk), not of solid pieces of cloth. Yikes, I certainly wasn't going to be taking that one home. But, it was certainly worthy of a picture so I can admire it forever.

There was also a booth staffed by two sisters from Minnesota who specialize in making period dresses and other clothing. Here they are on either side of a happy customer 

whom they've just found the perfect dress for! 

(I saw this scene repeated several times over the weekend.)

The dresses, though extremely well-made, were quite out of my budget range, 

but I got lots of ideas for outfits I might try to make for myself....

A fabric (and sleeve decoration) I particularly admired:

Meanwhile, the few gentlemen who were around mostly stayed out in the hallway and chatted.

To be continued.....