My sister received a present from a friend this week, and I had to take a picture to share with you! It is a chocolate cake dressed up as a teacup!
A chocolate teacup!
There is chocolate cake inside the cup, and the cup and saucer is made from white chocolate with some piped decorations on the outside. Chocolate gnache covers the top of the chocolate cake.
Now that is my cup of tea! Delicious!
Posted in Craft | Tagged chocolate artwork, chocolate teacup, teacup | 4 Comments »
“Full and half full dress for April” in Le Beau Monde, 1808
The second item of clothing in my men’s Regency wardrobe will be a neckcloth or cravat. In Regency times, a cravat was used for the same purpose as a bow-tie or neck-tie is currently used in today’s society. It was pretty much a “dressing” for the neck of a shirt.
Cravats originated in the early 1600′s when the use of Elizabethan ruffs began to fall out of fashion. The French had copied the fashion of the Middle Eastern men who wore a simple strip of material tied in a knot around the neck.
This new form of neckwear was in use throughout the 18th and 19th century in various forms and were known by several different names, including stocks, neckerchiefs, and scarves. During this time they varied in style, material and colour, but they all consisted of a strip of fabric that went around the neck and was fastened in some manner.
The 18th century lace cravats gave way to plain white linen ones during the Regency era. By 1818, pale coloured cravats were introduced for daywear (according to Neckclothitania, a pamphlet discussing various ways to tie neckcloths). Later in the 19th century, black cravats and then patterned ones appeared. The forerunner of the modern tie was developed in the late 19th century.
During the Regency, neckcloths were cut differently depending on the way in which they were tied. The materials they were made out of also differed depending on the manner of tying, as some required a more delicate flowing fabric, and others required a stiffened appearance. My next post in this series will cover the different ways of tying cravats.
There are two basic ways to make a Regency cravat. Either:
A drawing of how to cut a triangular cravat
The picture above shows the cutting line when a length of material is folded with selvedges aligned. The height of the triangle is 10 inches (remember to allow a little extra for a seam allowance) and the length along the selvedge should be half of the finished length.
You can also cut a second triangular neckcloth (or a rectangular one) out of the other selvedge edges.
Once the material is cut and opened out, you will have an isosceles triangle with two edges to hem. Hem the raw edges and you are ready to begin tying!
My next post in this series will be on tying a cravat. – coming soon!
To read all of the “MY Mr Knightley” posts in order, go to My Regency Journey.
MY Mr Knightley: Making an 18th Century Shirt
Image Source, Le Beau Monde or Literary Fashion Magazine, April 1808.
Neckclothitania; or Tietania, being an essay on starchers, by one of the cloth - read it free as an ebook on Google.
Posted in 18th Century, 19th Century, Fashion, Literature, Regency era, Sewing | Tagged cravat, cravat pattern, history of the cravat, how to make a cravat, men's neckwear, neckcloth, Neckclothitania, necktie, Regency Fashion, stock | 2 Comments »
This weekend is the birthday of my blog, one year ago!
I thought my blog deserved some sort of party to help it feel justly appreciated, and so I found one at Dear Lillie!
This is quite a suitable birthday cake for my blog!
Now that I am suitably inspired, I think that – in hindsight – I should have got a packet of friends, all dressed up in historical garments, made some yummy food and celebrated properly! Maybe next year!
Posted in People in History, Regency era | Tagged blog birthday, Dear Lillie, Jane Austen birthday cake | 10 Comments »
Jane Austen wrote an unpublished manuscript around 1795-ish (about the same time as Sense and Sensibility) called Lady Susan. For a description of the original story, you can read my post, Lady Susan: An eighteenth century epistolary novella.
Lady Vernon and Her Daughter, by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway
In 2005, Jane Rubino and her daughter, Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, rewrote this story as a novel and called it Lady Vernon and Her Daughter. As Lady Susan had been written in a very 18th Century manner, these authors attempted to update the story as Jane Austen may have done if she had revisited it in her lifetime. That is, they tried to make it more like a Regency romance, rather than an 18th Century moralist tale.
In order to do this, the story has been changed quite remarkably from its original, making use of the idea that the way people present themselves to others is not always an accurate representation of who they really are.
Lady Susan was originally portrayed by Jane Austen as a manipulative, controlling and seductive woman, willing to use other people ruthlessly to obtain her own ends. In contrast, Lady Vernon is portrayed as a misunderstood woman who is fiercely maligned and gossiped about by her so-called friends and family.
So, what Jane Austen represented as fact in her story, these authors have represented as hearsay. Lady Vernon still has a reputation as a manipulative controlling person, but those closest to her – like her daughter, Frederica, and her childhood friend, Sir James – know that this is not really her.
There is something really wrong – in my mind – about changing the plots of historical literature! In fact, I even struggle watching movie adaptations of historical literature because of the changes that are made to the story line. When I first began reading this book, I really hated the way the plot had been changed. It was really difficult for me to like Lady Vernon as a character – as the authors evidently wanted me to do -, especially because Jane Austen had originally not intended this character to be liked.
That being said, once I had struggled epically through half of the book (trying not to lose the motivation to finish reading it!), I began to appreciate the clever twist to the original story.
As Lady Susan was originally a epistolary novel (a novel made up of largely of letters to and from each of the characters), it is quite plausible that the characters may not have represented the truth to each other. It is even plausible that Susan may not have represented her own motives or personality accurately in her own letters. It is this plausibility that Lady Vernon and her Daughter hinges on, using it to twist the original story. So, the motives and personalities of each of the main characters are inverted. Good becomes bad, and bad becomes good. Close friendships become distant, and distant acquaintances become best friends. Those who were deceived are now in possession of the whole truth, and vice versa.
One of my main criticisms of this book (aside from the unsettling changes to the original plot) is the level of character development. I got quite lost at the beginning of the story, finding it quite difficult to understand the different characters and how they differed from each other. This was probably exacerbated because of the plot changes. It wasn’t until about halfway through that I really settled into the story and felt I knew the characters well.
To anyone thinking of reading this book, I would recommend to also read Lady Susan (either before or afterwards), as it does make the appreciation of the book richer.
Have you read this novel? What did you think of it? How does it compare to Lady Susan?
Lady Susan: An eighteenth century epistolary novella
Lady Vernon and her Daughter (2005), by Jane Rubino and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway - buy online
Lady Susan, by Jane Austen – read online
Posted in Literature, Regency era, Review | Tagged historical fiction, Jane Austen, Lady Susan, Lady Vernon and her Daughter, literature | 4 Comments »
An 18th Century shirt, from the Victoria and Albert Museum. The sleeves are finely pleated to enable the tailcoat to fit over the top.
My first item of clothing in my husband’s Regency wardrobe is a white shirt.
Throughout the 18th century, men of all classes wore long white shirts with off-the-shoulder sleeves as a basic undergarment underneath their clothes. The shirts often doubled as nightwear and were usually made from linen or cotton. The only visible part of the shirt during the day was the upper edges of the collar peeking out from underneath the cravat, and maybe the frills on the cuff, which extended below the jacket sleeves in the 18th century. The tails of the shirt were also extremely long, designed to be pulled between the legs as an early type of underwear.
By Regency times, little had changed. The frills on the cuffs were beginning to be dispensed with, and by the end of the Regency the frills on the front opening of the shirt had begun disappearing as well.
The pattern of a man’s shirt was relatively simple. It was made from a series of squares and rectangles sewn together to form an unfitted and comfortable undergarment. Norah Waugh has a pattern in her book, The Cut of Men’s Clothes, and there are also patterns available online (from Kannik’s Korner). All of my pattern measurements below DO NOT include seam allowances.
As the garment is so loose fitting, I found it unnecessary to take oodles of body measurements, but I would suggest taking a few.
Body Measurements to take
My pattern pieces
The layout of the pattern pieces (not to scale).
Step One: Sew the front and back shirt pieces together at the shoulder seams, sewing only 6 inches in from the sides. (I flat-felled – unless stated otherwise – all the internal seams to make it neater and more hard-wearing.) Make a cut 10 inches down the centre front.
Step Two: Fold the shoulder gusset in half to form a triangle and sew it in. (I actually cut it in half instead.)
The shirt front and back sewn at shoulder seams, with shoulder gusset. I have not flat-felled the seams here yet. I also made my shirt 32 inches long (rather than 40).
Step Three: Gather the neckline.
The neckline gathered
Step Four: Sew the two collar pieces together, with one edge turned up.
The collar, with corners clipped and one edge turned up 1.5 cms (or seam allowance).
Step Five: Turn the collar right side out and attach the unturned edge of the collar to the neckline, adjusting the gathers to fit. The turned edge can then be folded under on the inside and hand sewn to the neckline.
The collar attached, ready to be hand-sewn.
Step Six: Sew the underarm gusset to the sleeve underarm. (For greater detail on how to sew square gussets, see my post on making a chemise.)
The sleeve, with sleeve seam pinned and square gusset placed at underarm region.
Step Seven: Sew the sleeve seam, leaving a 4 inch opening in the bottom end of the seam for the wrist to fit through. Gather the sleeve head and the sleeve bottom.
The sleeve, with each end gathered
Step Eight: Sew the sleeve to the body. It can be a good idea to try it on at this point to ensure the arm fits nicely. If it is too tight, you can loosen the gathers around the sleeve head which effectively makes the armhole larger.
The sleeve attached, with cuff attached wrong! Oops! I had to unpick it in the next step!
Step Nine: Fold the cuff band in half longways and sew short edges together, with one edge turned up similar to the collar. Turn inside out and attach the unturned edge to the lower sleeve edge. The other edge is folded over and hand sewed to the inside, just like the collar.
The cuff band, pinned for sewing
Step Ten: Sew the side seams down 17.5 inches from the armhole. (Adjust this amount if you made the armhole bigger.) Fold the side gusset in half to form a triangle – or if you cut in half (like me!) hem it – before setting it in the seam.
Setting the gusset
The hemmed gusset
Step Eleven: Hem the rest of the side seams by turning over the seam allowance and sewing. Hem the bottom edge. (Note: I made my tails much shorter than period examples of up to 40 inches.)
Step Twelve: Many period examples have both sleeve binders and shoulder binders, and these served to reinforce and bind the seams. For the sleeve binder, I cut a length of material 3 inches wide and long enough to go right around the sleeve seam and a little below it. It was sewn on the same line as the armhole seam and then turned to the main body of the garment, thereby covering the raw seam edge in the armhole. (This was a great way to avoid flat-felling or zig-zagging a gathered seam!) Then the remaining edge was sewn down through all thicknesses. I have seen sleeve binders reach as far inwards as the collar. I did not do a shoulder binder, choosing to flat-fell those seams instead, but it is effectively a piece of material with raw edges folded under and sewn on the inside to cover the raw shoulder seam.
The sleeve binder attached to the armhole seam, and pinned ready to sew at edge.
Step Thirteen: The raw edges at the centre front slit are turned over and sewn. (Cutting an upside-down V-cut at the bottom of the slit helps when sewing the bottom part, similar to when setting a gusset in a corset or doing a welt pocket). In order to reinforce the base of the cut, hand-sew a heart-shaped piece of material on the inside.
I thought having a heart-shape inset into a garment was so romantic that I couldn’t resist embroidering our initials inside it! Ohhhhh…! You can also see the binding that covers the raw edge of the front frill (instructions below).
Step Fourteen: Attach a frill around the front opening and/or cuff/sleeve opening, depending on the look you would like to achieve. As a general rule, gentlemen had frills and working class men had none, but this does depend on the particular era you are interested in. I only did a front frill.
The front frill, pinned and ready to sew. After sewing, the raw edge was bound with bias-binding. You can also see the heart-shaped piece visible at the bottom of the vertical slit.
Step Fifteen: Attach a button to each cuff and one to the lower edge of the collar. The collar could have as many as three buttons.
All complete! An 18th Century man’s shirt.
The next item in Mr Knightley’s wardrobe will be a cravat.
To read all my posts on MY Mr Knightley, go to My Regency Journey.
My Regency Journey – A group of posts about women’s Regency costumes
The Cut of Men’s Clothes, by Norah Waugh – on Amazon
A pattern for a man’s shirt available online (as well as other men’s period clothing patterns), by Kanniks Korner
An 18th Century reproduction of a man’s shirt, by Kanniks Korner
An 18th Century extant example of a working man’s shirt
The details of an 18th Century shirt from the picture above, in the Victoria and Albert Museum
Posted in 18th Century, Fashion, Regency era, Sewing | Tagged 18th Century shirt pattern, how to make an 18th Century shirt, Men's Regency costumes, Norah Waugh, Regency Fashion, square gussets, The Cut of Men's Clothes, triangular gussets | 2 Comments »
Now that I have completed a Regency wardrobe for myself, I have been keen to begin a Regency outfit for my husband.
Now I need not call you Mr Knightley, I may call you my Mr Knightley.
Emma Woodhouse, Emma movie (1996)
Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam, as Emma Woodhouse and Mr Knightley (1996)
The wardrobe of a Regency gentleman consisted of:
This outfit will be worn for Book Week later in the year, and hopefully my very own Mr Knightley might be persuaded to wear them on some other occasions as well!
The first item in the wardrobe is an 18th Century shirt!
To follow my progress, as well as the progress of my other Regency wardrobe items, go to My Regency Journey.
Emma – the movie (1996)
Emma, by Jane Austen – read online
Posted in Fashion, Regency era, Sewing | Leave a Comment »
On Thursday April 12th, 2012, I travelled to Canberra for the Jane Austen Festival Australia!
The event opened that night with a viewing of Pride and Prejudice (1940) at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. It was the first ever film adaptation of Jane Austen’s novels and it was really interesting to see!
This movie is black and white, and stars Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennet and Laurence Oliver as Mr Darcy. It was released a year after the famous Gone With the Wind (1939), which was set in the 1860′s, and I found it reminded me a lot of that movie. Somehow the 1940-era must have crept into both, or maybe the type of acting was just very similar.
The Bennet sisters: (from left) Lizze, Jane, Kitty, Mary and Lydia. You can see the mutton-chop sleeves from the 1830's. Unfortunately the side view of the bonnet isn't seen, as it is a hideously squashed stove-pipe shape!
Our gowns all ready to go!
The film is known for it’s very early Victorian (rather than Regency) fashions, with its costumes being based on fashions from the 1830′s. The screen writers also altered the plot significantly, which was a little disconcerting, but even so it was fun to watch!
The second day began with an early morning to dress and get ready. I wore my morning dress, which was the first dress I had made, with a matching bonnet and reticule.
My outfit for Day Two
The day was full of dance workshops, sewing workshops and talks given on topics relevant to the Regency era. There was even archery on the lawns!
In one of my sewing workshops, I got to handle some REAL 18th and 19th century period clothing, which was VERY exciting! It was fascinating to see the small stitches with which an entire garment was constructed by. It was even more interesting to see 18th century sweat marks and 18th century dirt on the clothes! How cool!
In the evening there was a Regency Variety Night, with some “players” (actors) enacting various scenes of Austen’s novels, as well as other funny enactments. There was musical entertainment, including piano playing and opera singing. The opera singer even sung the song Mary Bennet begins to sing in the BBC version of P&P (“My mother bids me bind my hair, with bands of rosy hue…”, called A Pastoral Song)! We had some delicious Regency desserts for supper and finished the night off with some dancing.
My dress for Day Three
The other exciting part of the evening was when I was announced the winner of the Regency Serial Competition! Alison Goodman had written 10 chapters of a Regency Serial, called Trust and Tribulation, and she ran a competition for attendees to write the final chapter. Trust and Tribulation can be read online, and so can my winning entry!
I woke up feeling a little stiff from dancing until midnight the night before, but hastened to dress for the next day of my Regency Adventure! I wore my embroidered morning negligee, with a matching bonnet and reticule.
Dancing the Maypole
The third day was again full of dancing, workshops and talks, with the addition of a Olde English Country Fayre. I danced the Maypole, and watched a group of militia fire their rifles (very cool!). I even met Canberra’s official Town Crier, who walked around all day announcing events in the most appropriate and elegant Regency manner!
Canberra's official Town Crier in ceremonial dress
My ball gown
The Grand Ball was the event of the evening, and we had to dress quickly and style our hair at the hotel in order to be back in time for it. I had forgotten how much I loved dancing, and managed to dance every dance (just like Kitty and Lydia!). I would have loved to get a photo of myself dancing, but I was too busy doing that to think of it!
We had a lovely supper, with a hot Regency cordial and a cool Regency lemonade, which were both very refreshing!
My dress alteration for Day Four
We got to sleep in a little, but I could hardly walk when I got up! Too much dancing!!
I wore my embroidered negligee again, but this time with a pink ribbon around the waist and a chemisette.
The morning consisted of a Chess Dance in the park area around Lake Burley Griffin. This dance is danced very similarly to a chess game. There are 32 dancers (16 on each side) and each “chess-piece-dancer” moves about the board in a similar way to their corresponding chess piece. Since I danced the dance, I didn’t take a photo of it, but you can watch last year’s performance. In it you can see the way the “pawns” start by advancing and doing battle and going off the board, and the last “pieces” to finish the set are the king and queen, just like a real game. It was REALLY cool!
A Picture of Regency Leisure!
The Promenade around Lake Burley Griffin was really very pretty and it was a great time to stroll leisurely and enjoy being stared at! I only wished I had owned a parasol!
Thus concludes My Regency Journey, and I look forward to it’s continuation in 2013, especially as I won a free ticket to go next year as part of my Regency Serial prize! Yay!
I already am planning my next costume additions, so hopefully there will be more to post soon!
To read back on my Regency costume making, go to My Regency Journey.
The Jane Austen Festival was exactly my cup of tea!
My Regency Journey: In the beginning…
How to Make a Regency Poke Bonnet in Ten Steps
Pride and Prejudice (1940) – watch the whole film on YouTube
Trust and Tribulation, The Regency Serial – on the Jane Austen Festival Blog
The Chess Dance – video of the performance last year at the Jane Austen Festival (2011)
Jane Austen Festival Australia – website
Posted in Fashion, Historical Customs, Regency era, Review, Sewing, Writing | Tagged 1830's fashion, Chess Dance, Jane Austen Festival Australia 2012, Pride and Prejudice 1940, Regency ball gown, Regency embroidered negligee, Regency Fashion, Regency morning dress, Trust and Tribulation | 9 Comments »
