My husband grew up in the northwestern English city of Lancaster. It is not my favorite place.
The weather is frequently dank and drizzly: Once, I spent three weeks there and never saw the sun. And for a municipality with a population of more than fifty thousand, it is surprisingly free of diversions. I have on occasion described it as the most boring provincial town in all of Great Britain.
This is unfair of me. Lancaster has an interesting medieval castle, a lovely park with a glorious Edwardian monument at its heart, a decent theater/cinema, a few pretty good restaurants, and some attractive sixteenth-to-nineteenth-century architecture—all the ingredients for a delightful afternoon of tourism. Unfortunately, I experienced that delightful afternoon in 1988, and I’ve been back many times since.
And yet, I’m now looking forward to my next visit, assuming I can squeeze it in by the fall. Because Lancaster, of all places, has mounted what sounds like a highly enjoyable exhibition of Regency clothing, “inspired by the fashions of Jane Austen’s novels.” (Since Jane Austen’s novels have relatively little to say about fashion, we’re probably talking more about inspiration from movies of Jane Austen’s novels, but never mind.)
The exhibit, “Style and Sensibility,” runs through November 17 at the Judges’ Lodgings Museum, which is housed in a seventeenth-century building—one of the aforementioned examples of attractive architecture, located a short distance from the aforementioned castle.
It’s not clear how big the exhibit is, but the publicity materials and BBC coverage mention ball gowns, day dresses, fans, and waistcoats, along with contextualizing archival materials like letters and fashion plates.
Sounds like fun to me! And in Lancaster! Who knew?
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