Category: Accessories

Ep102: The Thing About Lady Bertram's Shawl with guest Laboni Islam

3/6/2025

Fanny's brother is headed back to sea, and Lady Bertram has a request (or two) for him. Poet and arts educator Laboni Islam joins us for this episode as we discuss Lady Bertram and her requested shawl(s). In addition to delving into the history and context surrounding these shawls, Laboni also shares details of her related project from her time as a Reimagine Resident at Jane Austen's House.

Thank you so much to Laboni for joining us for this episode! You can find Laboni's poetry project here and learn more about her other work here.

Ep88: The Thing About the Bennet Sisters' Shoe-Roses

4/24/2024

Grab your dancing slippers and your shoe-roses because the Netherfield Ball is right around the corner, and the Bennet sisters are ready to party. This episode we take a look at the fancy footwear frills of the 17th and 18th centuries and the ways in which those trends transitioned into the Regency era.

Selected Sources

Cunnington, Cecil Willett, and Phillis Emily Cunnington. Handbook of English Costume in the Eighteenth Century. Boston, Plays, 1972. http://archive.org/details/handbookofenglis00cunn.
———. Handbook of English Costume in the Nineteenth Century. Boston: Plays, inc, 1971. http://archive.org/details/handbookofenglis0000cunn.
Davidson, Hilary. Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2019.
Earnshaw, Pat. “Lace for Your Shoes: The Impractical Vanity.” The Bulletin of the Needle and Bobbin Club 70 (1987): 22.
Fairholt, Frederick William. Costume in England: Glossary. G. Bell and sons, 1896.
Lester, Katherine, and Bess Viola Oerke. Accessories of Dress: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Courier Corporation, 2013.
Pendergast, S., T. Pendergast, and S. Hermsen. Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear Through the Ages. Vol. 3. UXL, 2003. https://books.google.com/books?id=-tIZAQAAIAAJ.
Poppy, Pat. “The Clothing Accessory Choices of Rachel, Countess of Bath, and Other Mid-Seventeenth-Century Women.” Costume 54, no. 1 (March 2020): 3–29. https://doi.org/10.3366/cost.2020.0141.
Severn, Bill. If the Shoe Fits. New York: McKay, 1964.
Wallace, Beth Kowaleski. “Traveling Shoe Roses: The Geography of Things in Austen’s Works.” In Jane Austen’s Geographies, edited by Robert Clark, 115–27. Routledge, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351235341.
Webster, John. “The White Devil.” In The Dramatic Works: The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfi., London: Reeves & Turner, 1612.
Wilcox, R. Turner. The Mode in Footwear: A Historical Survey with 53 Plates. Courier Corporation, 2008.

Ep69: The Thing About Lizzy's Needlework with guest Dr. Jennie Batchelor

6/16/2023

Needlework in Jane Austen's novels is commonly referred to as simply "work." But what exactly does this work entail, and why is it important to characters like Elizabeth Bennet? Guest Dr. Jennie Batchelor is here to answer these questions and more. We discuss the difference between plain and fancy needlework, the significance of needlework in the pantheon of ladylike accomplishments, and the ways in which needlework functioned as a Regency woman's CV.

Thank you so much to Jennie for joining us for this episode! You can learn more about her and her work at www.jenniebatchelor.net. Jennie's digital catalogue of embroidery patterns from the Lady's Magazine can be found at ladysmagazine.omeka.net. You can find Jennie on Twitter @JennieBatchelor and on Instagram @BatchelorJennie.

Ep56: The Thing About Robert Ferrars' Toothpick-case

12/10/2022

We're out running errands with Elinor Dashwood, which means we are headed to Gray’s in Sackville Street. There's a gentleman there inspecting all the toothpick-cases, and Elinor is not impressed. This episode we are taking a closer look at Robert Ferrars, Elinor's future brother-in-law and a man with exacting taste in dental hygiene accessories.

Selected Sources:

Adkins, Roy, and Lesley Adkins. Jane Austen’s England. New York: Viking, 2013.
Comyn, Sarah. “‘Bringing Her Business Forward’: Jane Austen and Political Economy.” In The Routledge Companion to Jane Austen, by Edited by Cheryl A. Wilson and Maria H. Frawley, 193–204, 1st ed. New York: Routledge, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429398155-15-18.
Dadlez, E. M. “Form Affects Content: Reading Jane Austen.” Philosophy and Literature 32, no. 2 (2008): 315–29. https://doi.org/10.1353/phl.0.0024.
Graber, Maura J. What Have We Here?: The Etiquette and Essentials of Lives Onced Lived, from the Georgian Era through the Gilded Age and Beyond…, 2021.
Miller, D. A. Jane Austen, or, The Secret of Style. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2003.
White, Laura M. “From Jewelled Toothpick-Cases to Blue Nankin Boots: Austen, Consumerist Culture, and Narrative.” In The Routledge Companion to Jane Austen, edited by Cheryl A. Wilson and Maria H. Frawley, 180–92. New York, NY: Routledge, 2021.

EP02: The Thing about Captain Wentworth's Umbrella

10/3/2021

This week we talk about the history of umbrellas and why the English were so reluctant to adopt them, and then finally get into the gallantry of everyone's favorite sea captain, Frederick Wentworth. If you've ever pined for someone whilst the rain lightly drips down your face, this episode is for you. Also, please consider this episode our official request to have "Umbrella" by Rihanna on the next Persuasion soundtrack.

Selected episode sources:

Davidson, Hilary. Dress in the Age of Jane Austen: Regency Fashion. New Haven ; London: Yale University Press, 2019.
Hill, Georgiana. A History of English Dress from the Saxon Period to the Present Day, 2017.
William Sangster. Umbrellas and Their History. London: Effingham WIlson, Royal Exchange, 1855.

Episodes

Ep102: The Thing About Lady Bertram's Shawl with guest Laboni Islam

Ep88: The Thing About the Bennet Sisters' Shoe-Roses

Ep69: The Thing About Lizzy's Needlework with guest Dr. Jennie Batchelor

Ep56: The Thing About Robert Ferrars' Toothpick-case

EP02: The Thing about Captain Wentworth's Umbrella

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