Undressing Mr Darcy
On the 6th May, when it seemed that the world outside had gone almost mad with election fever, the lucky audience in the Henry Mitchell 
Hall escaped for a thrilling encounter with a Regency gentleman courtesy of the costume experts at History Wardrobe.
As expected, our third History Wardrobe presentation was an absolute treat for all lovers of history, literature and costume. This one differed from the two events we have enjoyed already, where Lucy Adlington and Gillian Stapleton have used a mixture of original and replica garments to recount the social, cultural and historical aspects of a period in a unique and entertaining style, as Gillian was joined by accomplished actor Oliver Ashworth.
Since this topic dated back to the late eighteenth century when Jane Austen actually wrote Pride and Prejudice, the costumes were all were perfect copies created from costumes in museums and original patterns of the time. We could only marvel at Gillian’s remarkable skill in producing all these garments herself.
Gillian explained that readers of Pride and Prejudice were told about the female character’s clothes but not about the men’s, as they would all have known what the gentleman of the day wore and the rigid rules this involved. As Mr Darcy strode into the hall with his boots, swirling greatcoat and directoire top hat, a few hearts missed a beat.
We learned all about the etiquette, expense and energy required to cut a fashionable figure at the time, and as the layers of his apparel were removed, we became privy to sights that only his valet and Mrs Darcy might expect to see!
The audience lapped up the serious and incredibly detailed historical and textile research, were astonished and highly amused by the fascinating readings from novels and newspapers of the period, and were rather taken by dashing Mr Darcy!
This gave us an appetite for Austen, which we look forward to satisfying when History Wardrobe return to tell us all about Jane Austen’s Christmas on 14th December.