Jane Austen Festival in Pictures

How remiss am I in sharing photos, proper photos, from the Jane Austen Festival. So remiss! In fact, when I opened up this draft post to see how far I’d gotten, this is all I had…

Left to Right: Abby, Nicole, Robert The Barbary Corsair, Lauren M. and Maggie

Nicole’s shako was incredible.

Lauren a la Marvelleuise in beautiful 1790s

Pass the Punch – we enjoyed an excellent dinner with The Acasta, which got friendlier and friendlier as the punch bowl made its rounds.

Abby and Maggie, the whimple sisters, rocking the late 1790s trend for exotically wrapped turbans

Nicole wore a stunning embroidered batiste gown with her version of the Agreeable Tyrant spencer in burnt orange silk trimmed with olive green buttons and passimenterie.

Abby’s gown was a gold-printed Indian cotton trimmed in gold bullion fringe with a gathered front and green silk sash pinned with Wedgewood jewelry.

The narrow diamond back of Maggie’s 1790s gown was expertly fitted. This is a tricky style to accomplish!

Maggie’s gown was made of a subtly red and blue dotted cotton with a full back and train. The front was high-necked and gathered, worn over a chemisette. The whole ensemble was tied together with a dark blue silk ribbon sash.

The train on Nicole’s gown was long and luscious, a hallmark of 1790s fashion for both day and evening.

Details – accessories make the 1790s interesting. The same Agreeable Tyrant spencer made and worn two different ways for completely different looks – Nicole and Lauren M.

Same pattern, two exquisite and quite different results. This pattern came from the book An Agreeable Tyrant.

Gorgeous Lauren M in her round gown with enormous ’90s cap and her Agreeable Tyrant spencer in black silk trimmed in silver.

Token gentleman – The Doctor, HMS Acasta

It was hot and sticky but we still had fun!

…but we don’t take ourselves TOO seriously, now. 😉

 We had such a great time, even if we were a little heat drunk.

Practical info for the pretties seen in this post:

* Abby’s gown, sash, and turban were put together with the methods in “The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking.”
* “An Agreeable Tyrant” is available on the DAR website here.
* The shoes seen in these shots are “Pemberley” Regency Slippers and “Dunmore” 18th Century Shoes available from AmericanDuchess.com. The new “Dashwood” slippers are also available there.
* Learn more about the Jane Austen Festival in Kentucky here.
* Learn more about HMS Acasta here.