Jane Austen Festival 2025: A costuming guide

It was this time last year that I began to sew my wardrobe for my much anticipated trip to Bath, England, for the 2025 Jane Austen Festival! This festival had been on my bucket list for many years and since my parents were both newly retired, it was a perfect time to take them on an adventure. I had already explored 16th century, 17th century, and 18th century dress, so it was time for the 19th century! In this post I’ll chronicle my preparations and a little about my experiences at the festival to help provide a costuming guide for those gearing up for their own adventure.

Preparation

Tickets

This may have passed by the time I post this, but definitely be at your computer the moment ticket sales open! I went on the 250th anniversary so hopefully it was particularly tough and this year will be better, but things fill up within minutes. Come prepared with second and third preferences for balls, and if you are signing up for more than one event, consider using more than one person to sign up.

Lodging

This was a splurge trip for us, so we didn’t prioritize budget friendly options and I understand that may not be an option for everyone. With that in mind, we did really enjoy our stay at the Queensbury hotel. It was lovely and not too far away to walk to most events.

Wardrobe Planning

Hopefully this section will provide a valuable place to start as a costuming guide for the Janes Austen Festival. In terms of inspiration, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest looking at contemporary fashion plates to get inspiration for my outfits. I also heavily utilized youtube resources, such as recommendations for capsule regency wardrobes for events (Venerable Fashions), as well as turban (Lauren Stowell) and hairstyling (BlueLadyCouture) tutorials.

As pattern drafting is not my strong suit, I spent a lot of time combing through pattern resources to try and find dress styles that fit what I wanted as well as matched my skill level. I narrowed in on Laughing Moon Mercantile as the pattern provider for most of my needs. Their patterns were very well written and suited my level of sewing expertise (solid intermediate). Here is a list of the places I either sourced patterns from or purchased items:

Evening dress: LMN-132 for under-layer (petticoat); LMN-126 View C for dress; LMN-137 cutout sleeves

Day dress: LMN-126 View B

Spencer: LMN-137 View B (plain sleeves, standing collar)

Stays: Red Threaded 1810’s Short Stays

Fichu: Oregon Regency Society

Chemisette: Fashionsrevisited

Shoes: American Duchess Emma

Stockings: American Duchess, Burnley and Trowbridge

Fabric resources: Burnley and Trowbridge (cottons/linens/silks), Renaissance Fabrics (silk taffeta), Fabric Wholesale Direct (silk chiffon), Mood Fabrics (trim)

Sewing

I admit to not documenting as much as I may have wanted due to time pressure. However, I can talk a little about the adjustments I made to some of the patterns.

Day Gown

Inspiration

Adjustments

I followed the pattern for this one almost exactly. The only adjustment I made was to add the ruffle underneath the band below the puff part of the sleeve.

Things I never got to

I wanted to either add embroidery or embroidered ribbon to more closely match the inspiration gown, but ran out of time. Since I like this dress so much I will probably do this for a future occasion.

Spencer

Inspiration

Adjustments

In terms of the spencer itself, this was the most straight forward. The only adjustments I made was to omit the belt at the bottom and shorten the standing color a little bit.

Things I never got to

I really wanted to mimic more of the fashion plate to create a cohesive look. Originally, I intended to make the chemisette and top hat as well. In fact, I attempted to make the chemisette and got pretty close but it didn’t sit right underneath the spencer so I never wore it. I ran out of time to make the top hat and so substituted a strip of leftover silk as a turban.

Evening Gown

Inspiration

Adjustments

This was the most thinking I had to do in terms of pattern adjustments. None of the patterns matched my inspiration exactly of course, so I had to improvise. The basic construction was the LMN-126 View C with added improvised trim and the cutout version of the sleeves from the LMN-137 spencer pattern. In order to achieve the sheer effect of the skirt, I wore a white silk petticoat underneath and made the skirt of the gown in a silk chiffon.

I also used this tutorial from Festive Attyre as the base of my turban cap design, but made some adjustments to get the exact look I needed.

Things I never got to

I meant to add pom pom or tassle trim to the bottom to complete the look but ran out of time. I also wanted to purchase a white scarf but never got around to it (it would have come in handy during the evening event as it was a little chilly). The sleeves were a bit tight and I didn’t hem the petticoat quite enough but none of that made it unwearable.

The Trip

The events that I signed up for were the following:

• Opening promenade
• Theatrical tour
• Letter writing workshop
• Parasol making workshop
• Ball
• Pleasure garden
• Croquet

I won’t spoil the events too much, but I will say that I enjoyed every single one. They were all well organized and run by wonderful people. We went for the opening weekend and a few days after, averaging about two events a day, which I think was a good use of time. The promenade was a lot of fun and we made friends with those around us. We were able to connect with them at other events as well! Definitely come prepared for changeable weather! An umbrella, shoes that won’t melt in water, and a spencer/pelisse were must-haves during our trip.

Final Thoughts

In truth, I didn’t complete everything I wanted to do. My promenade outfit never really materialized, as I didn’t have time to perfect my chemisette and make the top hat. I had little fit issues with my evening gown I would have liked to fix. I would have loved to add the ribbon/embroidery on my day gown. However, none of this stopped me from having the time of my life and feeling like I had temporarily transported into the regency era. In terms of providing a costuming guide for the Jane Austen Festival, my most important pieces of advice is this:

• If you are making your wardrobe from scratch, don’t expect to get absolutely everything you want to get done. It’s okay if things aren’t perfect! In the same vein, don’t be afraid to purchase items you don’t think you will enjoy making/have the time for.

I hope this was helpful to anyone reading, and good luck!! Try to enjoy and don’t stress too much, the preparation is half the fun!