Last Saturday 5 April 2025 I presented my Regency Talk “Enter the World of Jane Austen for ‘The Random Stitcher’s of Cleveland’ a ladies sewing group based in North Yorkshire. They meet in Guisborough which is a market town located in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, It is north of the North York Moors National Park and near to the famous landmark of Roseberry Topping.
My ‘Enter the World of Jane Austen – Regency Costume Talk’ with Display is an interesting, lively, humorous and informative lecture about the design and construction of gowns I have created inspired by the Regency period. A display of beautifully dressed mannequins accompanied my talk.
Costumes included a blue cotton day dress and a white cotton afternoon dress both of which would be perfect for Jane Austen herself. Plus an ornate lilac silk ball gown embellished with sparkling jewels and a magnificent gold court gown inspired by Empress Josephine Bonaparte. Also on display were items of underwear and accessories.
My reproduction Regency Underwear consisted of a linen chemise, short stays, corset, pantalettes and a linen cap worn indoors by ladies of a certain age.
The informal blue cotton ‘Morning’ dress was worn by the Regency ladies indoors, it has detachable sleeves which can be removed when a short sleeve is required.
I also created a more expensive and more elaborate ‘Afternoon, Walking or Promenade dress worn for social occasions. This consisted of a fashionable Spencer Jacket, a chemisette and a white cotton afternoon dress worn with a Regency bonnet. A short tutorial on how to make you own regency bonnet was also included.
The white Afternoon dress would be fine for a country ball however something more sumptuous would be required for a Grand Soiree or ball so I designed a fine lilac silk evening dress. It was worn with a stunning turban and included a pretty evening reticule.
My final costume consisted of rich gold dress worn under a dazzling robe inspired by a court costume worn by Empress Josephine wife of Napoleon Bonaparte.
My son James made an appearance dressed as Mr Darcy and assisted me during my talk.
The Random Stitcher’s of Cleveland are a lovely group of ladies and is was a pleasure to present my talk to them. One of the ladies stated that she “loved the way in which I discussed the construction of my costumes and relevance of facts of day to day living linked to the history of the economics of the regency period”. The ladies were also particularly interested in my reproduction of the first pair of knickers ever worn in 1789, which had totally separate legs and were not joined together at all!
The ladies said they really enjoyed my talk and had a fabulous afternoon! I am looking forward to presenting another talk for them in the future.
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