French paintings of ladies dressing and at their toilettes provide us with an insight of how dressing rooms were once constructed and used. While we think of dressing as a private affair, William Hogarth demonstrates in his painting, Marriage à-la-mode: The Countess’s Morning Levee, how a woman of means with a large elaborate dressing room would [...]
Archive for September, 2011
An 18th Century Lady’s Toilette: Hours of Leisurely Dressing and Private Affairs
Posted in 18th Century England, 18th Century France, Georgian Life, jane austen, Jane Austen's World, personal hygiene, Regency Life, Regency Period, Regency World, tagged 18th century dressing rooms on September 30, 2011 | 26 Comments »
The Emergence of Forks as Refined Cutlery
Posted in 18th Century England, 19th Century England, History, Jane Austen's World, Regency Customs, Regency Life, tagged Forks, Historical food, Regency food on September 27, 2011 | 17 Comments »
Poor Miss Manners is always having to explains why Americans hold forks in their right hands as opposed to Europeans, who use their left hand to spear their food. Have American table manners deteriorated? Or are we following an historic tradition? To answer that question we need to go back to ancient times when two-tined [...]
Downton Abbey: Preview of Season 2
Posted in Movie review, PBS Movie Adaptation, Jane Austen's World, tagged Downton Abbey Series 2, Preview Downton Abbey on September 25, 2011 | 16 Comments »
Downton Abbey Season 2 has been airing in Great Britain and word is leaking out about the series. (U.S. viewers can watch Downton Abbey online on PBS until October 2.) While the second year of this award winning series won’t air in the U.S. until this winter, we are receiving glimpses of the reviews, such [...]
Sea Dippers in Brighton
Posted in 19th Century England, jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Regency Customs, Regency Life, Regency World, Sea bathing during the Regency era on September 17, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Gentle readers: I am on vacation at the shore. The hot weather has cooled and the crowded beaches are empty, except for a few bathers and the shore birds. Yet, somehow my Internet connection is spotty and my ability to add images is nil. So, here is a link to an article I wrote for [...]
Dowagers and Widows in 19th C. England
Posted in jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Primogeniture, Regency Customs, Regency Life, Regency society, Regency World, tagged Dowager Rights, dowagers, Dowries, Gretna Green, regency widows on September 14, 2011 | 14 Comments »
“The Bath paper one morning announced the arrival of the Dowager Viscountess Dalrymple, and her daughter, the Honourable Miss Carteret. . . ” – Jane Austen, Persuasion I have often wondered about dowagers and their status in Regency society in relation to widows. When did a widow become a dowager? Did all 19th century widows [...]
The Strange Wax Effigy of Sarah Hare, 18th Century Spinster
Posted in 18th Century England, Georgian Life, Jane Austen's World, tagged Sarah Hare, Wax effigy on September 12, 2011 | 19 Comments »
Poor Sarah Hare died in 1744 at the age of 55 of a commonplace accident. It was said that she “used to sew on a Sunday and as a punishment died from pricking her finger. “ Sarah did indeed die after injuring herself while sewing – from septicemia, or blood poisoning. Sarah made no extraordinary [...]
Muslin: A Beautiful & Versatile Cloth for Regency Fashion
Posted in jane austen, Jane Austen's World, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey, Regency Life, Regency Period, Regency World, tagged muslin fabrics, muslin gowns, Regency fabric, Regency Fashion, regency muslin on September 8, 2011 | 34 Comments »
We’ve all come to associate Regency women’s fashion with delicate white muslin fabrics – sprigged muslin, spotted muslin, checked and striped muslin, and embroidered muslin. Henry Tilney, the hero in Northanger Abbey, was well-acquainted with muslins through his sister, who wore only white. In the 17th century and until the late 18th century, England imported [...]
Murder Most Persuasive by Tracy Kiely: A Review and Book Giveaway
Posted in Austenesque novels, Book review, Jane Austen's World, Popular culture, tagged Murder Most Persuasive, Tracy Kiely on September 5, 2011 | 54 Comments »
Murder Most Persuasive is Tracy Kiely’s 3rd mystery based loosely on Jane Austen’s novels. One can readily guess the influence from the title. Elizabeth Parker makes her third appearance as a sleuth. Much like Miss Marple she finds herself at the right place at the right time. Like Miss Marple, Elizabeth understands that she has [...]
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Hello, my name is Vic and I live in Richmond, VA. I work in program and professional development at Virginia Commonwealth University, and I have adored Jane Austen almost all of my life. I am a proud member of the Jane Austen Society of America. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I do not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, I do accept and keep books, DVDs and CDs to review.
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Regency Fashion: Ladies Outerwear and Shawls
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The Distinctions of Regency Dress: Undress, Half Dress, Full Dress and Their Meaning
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Irresistible Attraction
My Regency Tea Cup Review Ratings
- Five Regency tea cups: The book is not perfect (few books are), but it was well worth its purchase and possesses many outstanding qualities that makes it stand head and shoulders above its counterparts.
- Four Regency tea cups: This book offered many hours of pleasant reading, and I found I could not put it down.
- Three Regency tea cups: Damned with faint praise. I put the book down often, but was intrigued enough to finish it. In this instance, the movie might be better.
- Two Regency tea cups: This book required major changes that the author and editor should have fixed before publishing deadline.
- One Regency tea cup: Oh dear. I do so feel for the trees that sacrificed their lives for this verbal garbage.
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