After afternoon tea with Mr. Darcy

Wow, that was a fun afternoon! Although when I first turned up at the venue I thought that no one else had come in costume... {argh!} but thankfully 2 women a few cars up got out and voila! they were wearing Regency fashions!!

The afternoon tea & 'lecture' was held in the Abbey Museum, and had 2 display cases full of antique fans dating from the late 1700's through to the late 19th century and they were truly stunning. I would have loved to take the little 1820's fan home with me.

I ran across 2 ladies, Donna & Kerry (the same 2 who I first came across in costume) and they were part of the Australian Costumer's Guild. Their gowns were simply gorgeous! I only wish I was that petite! (they don't make patterns for more than a D cup so I had to get creative!) and I found that there were more than a few Georgian/Regency afficianadoes that had travelled up from the northern suburbs of Brisbane.

Now a nice cup of tea, a scone and more than 1½ hrs later, I finally had to call it quits and head home.

If you would like to know more about the Australian Costumer's Guild, check out the website at http://www.australiancostumersguild.com/

I'll add a picture of my costume (with me in it) next time as the wind just whipped my hair all out of shape... (I looked like I'd been dragged backwards through the hedgerow!)

Going Regency Today!

Well, today is the day of the 'Afternoon with Mr. Darcy' lecture at the Abbey Museum! I've been hanging out for this for a while now. The only hitch was that they would like everyone to come in costume... Thankfully I had everything BUT the dress. So it was a mad dash to my wonderful neighbour who also happened to be a wonderful seamstress. So between her and my mother, and over 4 days of 10hrs plus each day sewing and fitting, the dress and stay were done! {remind me that if I ever want to go through that again I'm an idiot!}

So this afternoon I get to don my best afternoon dress and meet with other Regency ladies and gentlemen. Should be great. I'll have to take some pics and post them later.

Ok, onto the books - and as you can imagine, my reading has been listing slightly into the Regency. So it was back to the fantastic Stephanie Laurens and her 2 delicious series, the Bar Cynster (about 14 books so far) and the intriguing Bastion Club (all 6 of them, with 2 to come). If you're looking for a bit of mystery and murder in your Regency romances, then do read her. As a homegrown author (a Melbournite) she is a breathe of fresh air into the genre.

Anyhow I must dash. Have to prepare for my afternoon with Mr. Darcy!