From Regency fashion and stately visits to online talks and new series, commemorate Miss Austen with these inspiring ideas …
Rent A Regency Costume From The Abbey Theatre Dublin
The Abbey Theatre production of Emma earlier this year thrilled audiences with its period-but-playful retelling of the classic comedy of manners, and its contemporary soundtrack. Adapted by Kate Hamill and directed by Claire O’Reilly, the theatre collaborated with Charlotte Tilbury for the beauty looks (using Pillow Talk).
Did you know that you can borrow costumes from The Abbey should you be hosting or attending a Regency ball? Once theatre productions end, every costume is sent to a warehouse to live another life in future productions, both in Ireland and abroad. It holds over 30,000 pieces available for hire. www.abbeytheatre.ie
Online Talks – All Things Austen
Catch up on the National Library of Ireland‘s illustrated online talk with the director of Jane Austen’s House on the links between her work and Ireland, while The Arts Society of Worcester is holding an online lecture in May titled, Material Girl: Jane Austen’s Things, discussing artefacts from the period including print culture to the decorative arts.
In December, the Costume & Textile Association is hosting Dr Hilary Davidson, dress and textile historian, curator and archaeologist, drawing on five years of research for her groundbreaking 2019 book, Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion (Yale University Press).
Expect a boom for real-life Regency style and pastel colours. There’s even a new collection of pretty wallpapers from Hamilton Weston reproduced from fragments found in Jane’s home at Chawton, Hampshire.
Montblanc Writers’ Edition Homage to Jane Austen
Stationery addicts will love Montblanc’s Writers’ Edition Homage to Jane Austen at the Dublin boutique. I learned so much from this collection such as the wax seal that she used for the thousands of letters she wrote during her lifetime inspired the shape of all four editions.
Three of these editions feature the words “By A Lady” on the cap top, reflecting how her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, was originally anonymously signed, while the fourth edition reveals her real name. The design on the nib features a silhouette of Jane, while the writing instruments’ clip shape draws inspiration from the band of a reticule, a pouch-like ladies’ handbag from the Regency era. A worthy gift for any fan. www.montblanc.com
SEE MORE: Timeless Gifts To Last A Lifetime
Visit Regency Hotels In Ireland
Carton House in Co Kildare is in stately condition after an extensive two-year refurbishment as a Fairmont-managed Hotel. Once the ancestral home of the Earls of Kildare and the Dukes of Leinster, this walled garden Georgian estate is surrounded by 1,100 acres of ancient woodlands, lakes and the River Rye.
Raise a toast to Jane in the resort’s newest fine dining restaurant The Morrison Room, the more relaxed Carriage House and Kathleen’s Kitchen, or in the atmospheric Whiskey Library and unique wine room, The Duke’s Rest. www.cartonhouse.com
SEE MORE: The Best Georgian Gems For Regency Style Breaks In Ireland
Watch Out For
A Dolly Alderton adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is coming to Netflix, while The Other Bennet Sister, a fresh spin on Jane’s sister Mary (adapted from Janice Hadlow’s book) is in the works.
I also recommend Miss Austen, a literary thriller starring Keeley Hawes as Jane’s older sister Cassandra in a fictional account of why she destroyed her beloved sister’s letters after her untimely death. And Sanditon, starring Rose Williams as Charlotte Heywood, is a coming of age story based on an unfinished manuscript.
These should nicely fill the break in the Bridgerton transmission.
