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I think when I'm reading her | 0:00:04 | 0:00:09 | |
I can't help but smile. | 0:00:09 | 0:00:11 | |
You feel elegant when you're reading it, I think. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:14 | |
My ultimate goal is to be able to walk into a ballroom and go, | 0:00:14 | 0:00:19 | |
"Ah, excellent, all the men are properly dressed." | 0:00:19 | 0:00:22 | |
She is my hero in every way. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
She's witty, she's brave, she's fond of a good laugh. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:30 | |
I think that the manners and the courtesies that people | 0:00:32 | 0:00:35 | |
showed each other then, it was a nice way to live. | 0:00:35 | 0:00:39 | |
How big of a fan am I? | 0:00:39 | 0:00:40 | |
I try to explain it this way. On a scale of one to ten, I am a 12. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:45 | |
I do often think, "What would Jane Austen think of what I'm doing?" | 0:00:45 | 0:00:49 | |
I should imagine she'd make comments such as, | 0:00:49 | 0:00:51 | |
"I do wonder what is missing from these people's lives that they | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
"should hark back to old days, rather than modern ones." | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
When I pick up a book by Jane Austen it is like catching up | 0:00:57 | 0:01:01 | |
with a really good friend. | 0:01:01 | 0:01:03 | |
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man | 0:01:11 | 0:01:15 | |
"in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." | 0:01:15 | 0:01:19 | |
It's just a brilliant quote. It's such a good opening line. | 0:01:19 | 0:01:23 | |
I am starting to write my invitations to my ball. | 0:01:23 | 0:01:28 | |
I've got 40 to get through, so it might take a while. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
I would consider myself a Janeite. | 0:01:33 | 0:01:36 | |
You've sort of got people like me who have read all the novels, | 0:01:36 | 0:01:40 | |
the unfinished work, the lesser-known works, | 0:01:40 | 0:01:42 | |
read her letters, read everything, | 0:01:42 | 0:01:44 | |
seen all the films. | 0:01:44 | 0:01:46 | |
But there's not, like, a checklist of things you have to cover | 0:01:46 | 0:01:49 | |
to be a Janeite. | 0:01:49 | 0:01:50 | |
If you've just seen Pride And Prejudice, that's fine. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:54 | |
-I'm not fussy. -SHE LAUGHS | 0:01:54 | 0:01:56 | |
Oh, no, don't put that in! | 0:01:56 | 0:01:58 | |
My name is Sophie Andrews, | 0:02:01 | 0:02:03 | |
I am one and 20 years old, | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
and I have been a fan of Jane Austen since I was 16. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:10 | |
I quite enjoy the motions of writing with this quill pen, | 0:02:12 | 0:02:15 | |
although I can't imagine writing a whole novel like this. | 0:02:15 | 0:02:18 | |
It would take forever. | 0:02:18 | 0:02:19 | |
This is my bedroom. | 0:02:22 | 0:02:24 | |
I'm not allowed to have too much of my Austen stuff | 0:02:25 | 0:02:28 | |
around all of the house, so I have to limit it to just my bedroom, | 0:02:28 | 0:02:31 | |
plus I've spread into my sister's old bedroom as well. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:34 | |
I've got this lovely artwork, | 0:02:34 | 0:02:37 | |
and then Mrs Bennet Bear, | 0:02:37 | 0:02:38 | |
made for me by my friend. | 0:02:38 | 0:02:40 | |
These are very pretty editions of my Austens. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:44 | |
They're my personal favourites. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:46 | |
These are my older editions that I've collected of her works. | 0:02:46 | 0:02:49 | |
No first editions. I wish. Far too expensive. | 0:02:49 | 0:02:52 | |
Artwork done for me by a friend for my 18th birthday. | 0:02:52 | 0:02:55 | |
Cross-stitch done for me by a friend for my 21st birthday. | 0:02:55 | 0:02:59 | |
Oh, there's all sorts of things going on. | 0:02:59 | 0:03:01 | |
That's all my gloves, that's my fans, that's my shawls. | 0:03:01 | 0:03:05 | |
Some more bonnets going on. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:06 | |
That's all my jewellery. | 0:03:06 | 0:03:08 | |
Anything that comes up on eBay that I just, I don't know, | 0:03:08 | 0:03:11 | |
I just have to grab it. | 0:03:11 | 0:03:13 | |
I could probably open up my own museum, I think. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
I always had a bit of a hard time at school, being a bit | 0:03:23 | 0:03:26 | |
sort of "different", | 0:03:26 | 0:03:28 | |
and struggled with bullying and all sorts. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:32 | |
My home life at that time was just not nice, | 0:03:33 | 0:03:39 | |
not enjoyable at all. | 0:03:39 | 0:03:40 | |
It was not somewhere I wanted to be, | 0:03:40 | 0:03:42 | |
and not something I like to remember. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:45 | |
It was amazing to have Jane to escape into. | 0:03:45 | 0:03:50 | |
A quote was, "Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery." | 0:03:50 | 0:03:54 | |
And that's what she does, | 0:03:54 | 0:03:56 | |
she doesn't include all of that in her stories. | 0:03:56 | 0:03:59 | |
It's very nice to imagine yourself there | 0:03:59 | 0:04:01 | |
and forget about the rest of the world. | 0:04:01 | 0:04:04 | |
Through Jane Austen I found myself, I found who I'm supposed to be. | 0:04:06 | 0:04:12 | |
When people do look, I mean, I really don't notice it any more. | 0:04:19 | 0:04:22 | |
When I'm with other people they notice, simply cos it's unusual. | 0:04:24 | 0:04:28 | |
The thing I particularly like about the Regency period has got | 0:04:30 | 0:04:34 | |
to be the sheer elegance of it. | 0:04:34 | 0:04:36 | |
People say, "Does it take you long to get dressed in the morning?" | 0:04:37 | 0:04:40 | |
And I go, "No, it's just part of my routine." | 0:04:40 | 0:04:44 | |
My name is Zack Pinsent, I'm 22, and I'm from Brighton, | 0:04:44 | 0:04:47 | |
well, Hove, actually, down in Sussex, | 0:04:47 | 0:04:50 | |
and I'm a period tailor. | 0:04:50 | 0:04:52 | |
The only time people ever stop me is to sort of | 0:04:53 | 0:04:56 | |
comment or ask, you know, | 0:04:56 | 0:04:57 | |
"Are you in a play? Are you in a film?" | 0:04:57 | 0:04:59 | |
And I'm just like, "No, this is just me generally." | 0:04:59 | 0:05:02 | |
And they never believe me! | 0:05:02 | 0:05:04 | |
What cup do you want? | 0:05:07 | 0:05:08 | |
-Do you have my dog mug? -Your dog mug? | 0:05:08 | 0:05:10 | |
The one with the Chihuahua. | 0:05:10 | 0:05:12 | |
People will say, | 0:05:12 | 0:05:13 | |
"Well, don't you ever feel like throwing on jeans and a T-shirt?" | 0:05:13 | 0:05:16 | |
And I go, "You know what? No. | 0:05:16 | 0:05:17 | |
"I'd much rather wear an 18th-century banyan | 0:05:17 | 0:05:20 | |
"if I'm going to slum it at home." | 0:05:20 | 0:05:21 | |
Why dress up in jeans and a T-shirt when you can go along to Tesco's | 0:05:21 | 0:05:26 | |
dressed as, you know, Napoleon or something? | 0:05:26 | 0:05:31 | |
-Milk? -Yes, please. | 0:05:31 | 0:05:32 | |
I've always loved period clothing and all of this. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:35 | |
From a very young age I've been fascinated with vampires, | 0:05:35 | 0:05:37 | |
you know, the old Christopher Lee Draculas. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:40 | |
A lot of the time when I'm out with the family they'll sort of forget | 0:05:40 | 0:05:42 | |
that I'm dressed in period clothing and go, "Why is everyone staring? | 0:05:42 | 0:05:45 | |
"Oh, yeah. You're wearing a top hat." | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
I went through a phase of wanting to be an undertaker, | 0:05:48 | 0:05:50 | |
which was weird. | 0:05:50 | 0:05:51 | |
There aren't many seven-year-olds who are saying, | 0:05:51 | 0:05:54 | |
"I want to be an undertaker!" | 0:05:54 | 0:05:55 | |
I think it was more the pomp and ceremony that I enjoyed. | 0:05:55 | 0:05:58 | |
Well, a lot of people would say what I make is costume, | 0:05:59 | 0:06:02 | |
and, in the very essence, they're correct, in a way. | 0:06:02 | 0:06:05 | |
But I'd say what I do is I make period clothing. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:08 | |
I'm using 200-year-old tailoring systems to draft patterns | 0:06:08 | 0:06:12 | |
and then using historical cloth and construction methods as well. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:17 | |
Jane Austen's interesting, and she's funny. | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
She's a very, very funny lady. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:21 | |
And she describes what people are wearing in such detail. | 0:06:21 | 0:06:25 | |
Well, you realise that this woman knew what she was on about | 0:06:25 | 0:06:27 | |
when it came to fashion. | 0:06:27 | 0:06:29 | |
BELL RINGS | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
I still get really nervous whenever a client's coming over. | 0:06:31 | 0:06:34 | |
Even if it's the toile fitting, you know, the first stages. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:38 | |
-Hello. -Hello. How are you? | 0:06:38 | 0:06:39 | |
You're putting yourself on the line there. | 0:06:39 | 0:06:41 | |
It's your work they're wearing. | 0:06:41 | 0:06:43 | |
Gosh, thank you very much. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:44 | |
-Oh, are these from your garden? -Yes. | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
You need to make sure it's right because once you cut the cloth | 0:06:46 | 0:06:48 | |
there isn't really much going back from it. | 0:06:48 | 0:06:50 | |
I've got the tail coat laid out over here. | 0:06:50 | 0:06:53 | |
-It's in bits, clearly. -Yeah. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:57 | |
I think my clientele, the reason they come to me is | 0:06:57 | 0:07:00 | |
because I will do it accurately, and they trust me to do that. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:04 | |
-So we're going for three-button closure. -Nice. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:07 | |
If you're going to spend money on an outfit, | 0:07:07 | 0:07:09 | |
why not do it properly? | 0:07:09 | 0:07:10 | |
I think you've lost a little bit of weight. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:12 | |
It's like you wouldn't build a Formula 1 car | 0:07:12 | 0:07:14 | |
and not use carbon fibre. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:16 | |
You know, I wouldn't make a Regency tail coat without using broadcloth superfine. | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
-It's got the great big puff going on it. -Yes. -Yeah. -Yes. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:23 | |
Because you wanted the puff. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:25 | |
-It's always easier to take things off than add. -Yes. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
I've got a lot to thank Jane Austen for because without her | 0:07:28 | 0:07:32 | |
we wouldn't have the sort of focus on the Regency period that we do in this country. | 0:07:32 | 0:07:37 | |
You've got decorative flaps. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:39 | |
-I love the collar. -Oh, thank you very much. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:42 | |
-Do you want to have a look at the buttons as well? -Yeah, sure. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
We've got some lovely, lovely brass buttons from Savile Row! | 0:07:45 | 0:07:48 | |
That fits quite nicely under there. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:51 | |
He's got to get it right! | 0:07:51 | 0:07:53 | |
Cos every single eye in the room will be on me. | 0:07:53 | 0:07:58 | |
It is important, because if you roll up looking like you've | 0:07:58 | 0:08:02 | |
made something out of curtains... | 0:08:02 | 0:08:04 | |
Yeah. | 0:08:06 | 0:08:07 | |
How's that feeling weight-wise? | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
-Nice. -Yeah? -Nice. Balanced. | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
Balanced. Thank you. I do try. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:13 | |
"I'm not fond of the idea of my shrubberies being always approachable, | 0:08:24 | 0:08:28 | |
"and I should recommend Miss Elliott to be on her guard | 0:08:28 | 0:08:31 | |
"with respect to her flower garden." | 0:08:31 | 0:08:33 | |
He's just such a snob. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
And taking the arms up above the head, | 0:08:38 | 0:08:41 | |
if that's OK for you. | 0:08:41 | 0:08:43 | |
My name is Yasim Zaman, | 0:08:46 | 0:08:48 | |
and I work as a mindfulness and yoga teacher. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:53 | |
Expanding the breath with this wide-focus lens of attention. | 0:08:53 | 0:08:59 | |
My understanding of a Janeite is someone who really enjoys | 0:08:59 | 0:09:03 | |
everything that she's written, | 0:09:03 | 0:09:05 | |
her family, where she lived, | 0:09:05 | 0:09:08 | |
how that had an influence on her writing. | 0:09:08 | 0:09:10 | |
She has a way of getting people to just expose | 0:09:12 | 0:09:17 | |
themselves as being ridiculous or hypocritical | 0:09:17 | 0:09:21 | |
or totally heartless. | 0:09:21 | 0:09:24 | |
"Being the means of bringing persons of obscure birth into | 0:09:24 | 0:09:28 | |
"undue distinction, and raising men to honours which their fathers | 0:09:28 | 0:09:31 | |
"and grandfathers never dreamt of." | 0:09:31 | 0:09:34 | |
You always get to know them better with each reading. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:38 | |
It's like watching a rerun on TV, you know, | 0:09:39 | 0:09:45 | |
you just come across the same scenes and really look forward to it. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:50 | |
I used to have a job that took me all over the world | 0:09:52 | 0:09:56 | |
and sometimes I would be sent into quite difficult situations, | 0:09:56 | 0:10:01 | |
quite tense or politically fraught. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:03 | |
One particular posting I had, it was to North Korea. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
My room in the hotel I stayed in, it had, probably, a two-way mirror. | 0:10:08 | 0:10:13 | |
You knew you were always been spied on. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
Um, and just for comfort, I used to just get into bed | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
and just open my complete volume of Jane Austen and just lose myself, | 0:10:20 | 0:10:25 | |
so I could forget how uncomfortable it was. | 0:10:25 | 0:10:29 | |
"As it cuts up a man's youth and vigour most horribly, | 0:10:29 | 0:10:32 | |
"a sailor grows old sooner than any other man." | 0:10:32 | 0:10:35 | |
I'll always have, if not the complete volume, | 0:10:35 | 0:10:39 | |
then I'll have something that can fit in my backpack or into my | 0:10:39 | 0:10:42 | |
handbag, that I can just pull out and find my place, back into sanity. | 0:10:42 | 0:10:47 | |
SHE CHUCKLES | 0:10:47 | 0:10:50 | |
So I'm very excited, because I've got my first ball | 0:10:50 | 0:10:53 | |
which I'm hosting myself | 0:10:53 | 0:10:56 | |
coming up soon. | 0:10:56 | 0:10:57 | |
It is a big year for Jane Austen, 200 years since she passed away, | 0:10:57 | 0:11:01 | |
so I wanted to link into that a celebration of her life. | 0:11:01 | 0:11:04 | |
I kind of feel obliged to wear it, you know... | 0:11:06 | 0:11:09 | |
Having attended many myself now, I know what's involved, | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
and what should be expected of me as host. | 0:11:13 | 0:11:15 | |
-LAUGHTER -I'm quite nervous. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:18 | |
A cushion. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:19 | |
We are here at Basildon Park in Berkshire, | 0:11:19 | 0:11:22 | |
and I'm having a picnic with all my friends. | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
-..the pineapples fancy or pineapples delight. -Aawww! | 0:11:25 | 0:11:28 | |
A bit of a pre-get-together before the ball in a couple of | 0:11:28 | 0:11:31 | |
weeks' time. | 0:11:31 | 0:11:32 | |
Just talking about the dances and what everyone's going to wear. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
-Oh, the bonnet's off! -Bonnet's off! -LAUGHTER | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
Basically, the idea with the ball is that we're trying to dance | 0:11:42 | 0:11:45 | |
-dances that were Jane's period. -Can we dance cat in pattens? | 0:11:45 | 0:11:50 | |
-We are dancing cat in pattens. Yes. We are. -CHEERING | 0:11:50 | 0:11:54 | |
But we did a dance at your birthday which had a little... | 0:11:54 | 0:11:56 | |
-Ship's cook! -That's the one. -Yeah, it was great fun. | 0:11:56 | 0:11:59 | |
We just want to come here and have fun and talk Jane Austen among | 0:11:59 | 0:12:03 | |
other people that really appreciate Jane and love her in the same way. | 0:12:03 | 0:12:08 | |
-Are you making a new dress for it? -No, I'm just... I'm adjusting... | 0:12:08 | 0:12:12 | |
REGENCY ERA DANCE MUSIC PLAYS | 0:12:12 | 0:12:16 | |
-We're all really close. -LAUGHTER | 0:12:16 | 0:12:19 | |
It is quite surprising how close I feel to some of them. | 0:12:19 | 0:12:23 | |
The fact that we've got the Austen love in common, | 0:12:23 | 0:12:26 | |
that immediately connects us. | 0:12:26 | 0:12:29 | |
-Oh! -LAUGHTER | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
I'm so sorry. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
You wanted some outtakes, right? | 0:12:33 | 0:12:36 | |
You did want some outtakes, didn't you? | 0:12:36 | 0:12:38 | |
All of her characters are still totally relatable today. | 0:12:38 | 0:12:42 | |
I know plenty of flirts like Lydia Bennet | 0:12:42 | 0:12:45 | |
and chatterboxes like Mrs Bennet, I know all of those. | 0:12:45 | 0:12:47 | |
TYPING | 0:12:52 | 0:12:56 | |
"Darcy sighed. | 0:12:56 | 0:12:58 | |
"The task before him was as daunting as he had anticipated. | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
"But at least she was not feigning ignorance as to his meaning." | 0:13:01 | 0:13:05 | |
Jane Austen fan fiction, or JAFF for short, | 0:13:05 | 0:13:08 | |
is a huge number of books, written by | 0:13:08 | 0:13:12 | |
and for people who just can't have enough of Elizabeth and Mr Darcy. | 0:13:12 | 0:13:16 | |
So far, I've written seven Austen-related novels, | 0:13:18 | 0:13:23 | |
I'm working on my eighth now. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:25 | |
One thing I can...I can say about myself is that I never thought | 0:13:25 | 0:13:29 | |
I would do what I do now. | 0:13:29 | 0:13:31 | |
I started off with a career in the sciences. | 0:13:33 | 0:13:36 | |
I had trained as a doctor, worked as a data analyst in clinical trials. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:40 | |
The career break after my son's birth changed all that. | 0:13:40 | 0:13:45 | |
"She stopped and turned towards him, waiting. | 0:13:45 | 0:13:48 | |
"He did not keep her waiting long." | 0:13:48 | 0:13:50 | |
The genre is absolutely huge. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
Something in the region of 30-60 new ones are published every month, | 0:13:53 | 0:13:59 | |
either on Amazon or on other platforms. | 0:13:59 | 0:14:01 | |
I literally can't wait for the day to start. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
On a couple of occasions, I stayed up at night, | 0:14:05 | 0:14:09 | |
caught into this scene, and before I knew it, it was actually daylight. | 0:14:09 | 0:14:13 | |
I've been writing all through the night. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:16 | |
It's absolutely... | 0:14:16 | 0:14:18 | |
tremendously exciting. | 0:14:18 | 0:14:20 | |
-Oh, maybe a coffee. -OK. | 0:14:21 | 0:14:23 | |
Yeah, yeah. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
My definition of a Janeite is someone who passionately | 0:14:25 | 0:14:28 | |
loves Jane Austen and makes a conscious decision to live | 0:14:28 | 0:14:33 | |
with Austen in his or her life in a purposeful way. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:38 | |
CAMERA CLICKS Ooh! | 0:14:38 | 0:14:41 | |
How big of a fan am I? I try to explain it this way. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:43 | |
On a scale of one to ten, I am a 12. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:46 | |
My name is Claudine Di Muzio. | 0:14:49 | 0:14:51 | |
I am from Long Island, New York. | 0:14:51 | 0:14:53 | |
I am an elementary school principal. | 0:14:54 | 0:14:56 | |
And I am an avid reader and a Janeite blogger. | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
I choose to blog about Jane Austen and think about Jane Austen | 0:15:00 | 0:15:04 | |
and connect with other people who love Jane Austen in so many | 0:15:04 | 0:15:08 | |
different ways that carry, really, many threads throughout my life. | 0:15:08 | 0:15:12 | |
Look at that wallpaper. That is pretty, isn't it? | 0:15:12 | 0:15:14 | |
Jane Austen fan fiction really appealed to me | 0:15:14 | 0:15:17 | |
because I always wondered, "What happened to Darcy and Elizabeth? | 0:15:17 | 0:15:20 | |
"What was their story after they were married?" | 0:15:20 | 0:15:23 | |
We know how Jane brought them together, | 0:15:23 | 0:15:25 | |
but I really wanted to read about them as a couple. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:28 | |
We first came across each other online about two years ago, | 0:15:28 | 0:15:33 | |
when she wrote to tell me how much she enjoyed my first book. | 0:15:33 | 0:15:37 | |
I then discovered that she had many other books, | 0:15:37 | 0:15:40 | |
so I started devouring all of her variations. | 0:15:40 | 0:15:42 | |
I think I read them all consecutively. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:44 | |
And I thought, "Wow, this is top-tier JAFF, | 0:15:44 | 0:15:48 | |
"I want to reach out to this author | 0:15:48 | 0:15:50 | |
"and just let her know she is amazing." | 0:15:50 | 0:15:53 | |
We started communicating on social media, | 0:15:53 | 0:15:55 | |
and for a long time I was hoping that she'd come over | 0:15:55 | 0:15:57 | |
and we can do a Pride And Prejudice pilgrimage tour together. | 0:15:57 | 0:16:01 | |
And I was just so excited that... | 0:16:01 | 0:16:04 | |
it's going to happen very, very soon. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:07 | |
Just knowing that she is going to be right next to me soon, | 0:16:09 | 0:16:12 | |
and I'll be able to have a real face-to-face conversation with her, | 0:16:12 | 0:16:15 | |
it's just incredible. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:18 | |
Today, here, of all places, at Jane Austen's house, it's | 0:16:18 | 0:16:22 | |
a very good moment. | 0:16:22 | 0:16:23 | |
People who never would have met otherwise | 0:16:23 | 0:16:26 | |
and they're brought together by their love of Jane. | 0:16:26 | 0:16:29 | |
-So wonderful to meet you! -You're here! Oh, my goodness! | 0:16:33 | 0:16:39 | |
I'm so excited to see you! So excited! | 0:16:39 | 0:16:42 | |
I'm never going to let you go. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:44 | |
We're going to take you with us. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:47 | |
-Oh, I'm going to keep you here. -LAUGHTER | 0:16:47 | 0:16:50 | |
Oh, wow! | 0:16:53 | 0:16:55 | |
This is incredible. Look at this. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:02 | |
Wow. Amazing. | 0:17:04 | 0:17:07 | |
-This is amazing. -It's wonderful, isn't it? | 0:17:07 | 0:17:09 | |
Just to think that she lived here, wrote here, | 0:17:09 | 0:17:12 | |
had her breakfast here. | 0:17:12 | 0:17:14 | |
Just unbelievable to think she could sit there and write so much. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:21 | |
My real-life friends who are not Austenites don't really | 0:17:21 | 0:17:25 | |
get it, but people like Claudine just get it 100%. | 0:17:25 | 0:17:29 | |
To think that just | 0:17:29 | 0:17:31 | |
so many of the stories that millions of people loved for over 200 | 0:17:31 | 0:17:34 | |
years were generated at this very place, at this very view. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:40 | |
I kind of see so many things in my life through this lens of | 0:17:40 | 0:17:44 | |
how Austen experienced things as a woman. | 0:17:44 | 0:17:47 | |
She was able to persevere throughout her life, even though she lived in a | 0:17:47 | 0:17:52 | |
time when the course of her life was really very different | 0:17:52 | 0:17:56 | |
from what most women either wanted or chose for themselves. | 0:17:56 | 0:18:01 | |
-The ring. -The ring. | 0:18:01 | 0:18:03 | |
Jane's famous ring. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:05 | |
She didn't have a lot of possessions. Right? | 0:18:05 | 0:18:08 | |
-I mean, compared to what we have today. -Mmm. No. | 0:18:08 | 0:18:11 | |
-Just the average person. -Absolutely. | 0:18:11 | 0:18:13 | |
It's very unpretentious jewellery, just...just like her. | 0:18:13 | 0:18:17 | |
Simple. Beautiful and simple. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:19 | |
Right, next at the top. One... | 0:18:28 | 0:18:30 | |
The thing that struck me, reading Jane Austen's novels, | 0:18:30 | 0:18:34 | |
was that the society she wrote about, the genteel society, | 0:18:34 | 0:18:39 | |
was exactly like the Bangladeshi Indian society that I grew up in. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:46 | |
And start again. | 0:18:46 | 0:18:49 | |
We are at my weekly Regency dance class, | 0:18:49 | 0:18:53 | |
with the Duke of Wellington's Dancers. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:55 | |
Ladies, right-hand... | 0:18:55 | 0:18:58 | |
Men, slide. | 0:18:58 | 0:19:00 | |
We're really being put through our paces today. | 0:19:00 | 0:19:02 | |
Garth's being particularly picky about our footwork. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:06 | |
Ronde, ronde. | 0:19:06 | 0:19:08 | |
It's a marriage market, when I was growing up. | 0:19:08 | 0:19:12 | |
And exactly like in Jane Austen's time. | 0:19:12 | 0:19:16 | |
You were a commodity, passing from your... | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
from your father to your husband. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:23 | |
Reading the books, I just thought, "Wait, I've been there. | 0:19:23 | 0:19:25 | |
"I know this situation." | 0:19:25 | 0:19:27 | |
Men, moulinet. | 0:19:28 | 0:19:31 | |
We've been together a very, very long time. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:47 | |
As one of my friends once said, "Life's too short to train two." | 0:19:47 | 0:19:50 | |
-Yeah. -So, we remain married. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:53 | |
Yeah, OK. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
We were married in 1980, | 0:19:58 | 0:20:00 | |
and our courtship was fraught with problems. | 0:20:00 | 0:20:05 | |
Every time I went along to Ros's flat, thinking, | 0:20:05 | 0:20:08 | |
"Oh, yes, this is it," there'd be a bloke there... | 0:20:08 | 0:20:10 | |
-SHE LAUGHS -..playing the guitar or playing the saxophone, | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
-while she played the piano. -This is true. | 0:20:14 | 0:20:16 | |
And I used to think, "Well, she's just giving me a bit of a hint, | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
"isn't she?" So... | 0:20:19 | 0:20:20 | |
I would leave it alone for a few months, and then think, | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
"Oh, I really do like her." | 0:20:22 | 0:20:24 | |
I'm a solicitor, and my work is to work in the Crown Courts | 0:20:28 | 0:20:32 | |
in fairly serious criminal trials. | 0:20:32 | 0:20:35 | |
These are called front fall breeches, and when the gentleman | 0:20:35 | 0:20:39 | |
wanted to go to the toilet, he undid these two buttons. | 0:20:39 | 0:20:42 | |
I'm a bit of a show-off. It's part of my job. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:44 | |
HE LAUGHS | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
I mean, I wear a wig on my work days! | 0:20:46 | 0:20:49 | |
And this flap folds down, | 0:20:49 | 0:20:52 | |
enabling him to do what he wants to do. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:54 | |
SHE PLAYS REGENCY ERA MUSIC | 0:20:57 | 0:21:00 | |
My passion for music has always been there. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:05 | |
I always wanted to play the old instruments, and I don't know why. | 0:21:05 | 0:21:09 | |
I just knew I always wanted to. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:11 | |
I managed to buy a spinet, which I absolutely love | 0:21:13 | 0:21:16 | |
and is like a baby harpsichord. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:19 | |
I just adore it. | 0:21:19 | 0:21:21 | |
Having the sounds of that echoing round the house is absolutely | 0:21:21 | 0:21:24 | |
-wonderful, isn't it? -Mmm. | 0:21:24 | 0:21:26 | |
This is the only piece of music that's referred | 0:21:28 | 0:21:32 | |
to in the Jane Austen books at all, and that's Robin Adair. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:37 | |
My father was an engineer. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:45 | |
I've had a practicality inherited from him. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:49 | |
And I always liked the idea of having something to | 0:21:49 | 0:21:51 | |
show for my efforts. | 0:21:51 | 0:21:53 | |
Well, I'm the luckiest woman in the world, | 0:21:54 | 0:21:56 | |
cos my husband makes my clothes. | 0:21:56 | 0:21:58 | |
I started making the first one. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:03 | |
Well, yes. | 0:22:03 | 0:22:05 | |
Because I do know how to make clothes from normal modern patterns. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:08 | |
And you said... You looked at it, and you didn't actually say it, | 0:22:08 | 0:22:11 | |
but you obviously thought, "Crikey, she's making a mess of that!" | 0:22:11 | 0:22:15 | |
To me, it was no more than engineering with cloth. | 0:22:17 | 0:22:20 | |
But then, of course, Ros can't wear the same thing twice, | 0:22:22 | 0:22:24 | |
can she? So we had to have new dresses all the time. | 0:22:24 | 0:22:28 | |
And now we've got several. | 0:22:28 | 0:22:30 | |
What do you think Jane Austen would think of this passion? | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
It's a brilliant question. I don't know. | 0:22:35 | 0:22:37 | |
-It's a very good question. -LAUGHTER | 0:22:37 | 0:22:39 | |
She'd probably think we were a bit sad, really, wouldn't she? | 0:22:39 | 0:22:42 | |
She probably would. | 0:22:42 | 0:22:43 | |
I mean, if you read some of the things she says in her novels, | 0:22:43 | 0:22:46 | |
they're very cutting. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:47 | |
I should imagine she'd make comments such as, | 0:22:47 | 0:22:49 | |
"I do wonder what is missing from these people's lives that they | 0:22:49 | 0:22:53 | |
"should hark back to old days rather than modern ones." | 0:22:53 | 0:22:55 | |
SHE LAUGHS Yeah, she may well say that. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:58 | |
I have to say, the balls are what I enjoy the most. | 0:23:12 | 0:23:17 | |
So, it's a big day today. | 0:23:21 | 0:23:23 | |
The ball has arrived. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:26 | |
I can't believe it's here. | 0:23:28 | 0:23:30 | |
It's been a long time, sort of all the preparations and everything. | 0:23:30 | 0:23:34 | |
I just hope it all comes together today. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:36 | |
It's going to be different to the sort of, you know, | 0:23:37 | 0:23:40 | |
the hostess in the centre of attention. | 0:23:40 | 0:23:43 | |
Mostly I just want everyone to enjoy themselves. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:46 | |
The hair I am going for today is inspired by Jennifer Ehle's | 0:23:48 | 0:23:52 | |
hairstyle in the 1995 production of Pride And Prejudice. | 0:23:52 | 0:23:56 | |
We'll welcome them in with a bowl of negus, which is | 0:23:57 | 0:24:00 | |
a traditional Regency era sort of punch. | 0:24:00 | 0:24:04 | |
Just got to get the hair finished, get the dress on, | 0:24:04 | 0:24:07 | |
and then I'll be... | 0:24:07 | 0:24:09 | |
ready to hostess. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:10 | |
Going to balls is really an amazing experience. | 0:24:16 | 0:24:20 | |
It's completely different from normal life. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:22 | |
Welcome. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:24 | |
When you introduce yourself to people, | 0:24:24 | 0:24:25 | |
you just kind of automatically curtsy, and the men bow back to you. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:29 | |
-LAUGHTER -I'm going to hug you. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:31 | |
I suppose my ultimate goal is to be able to walk into a ballroom and | 0:24:31 | 0:24:35 | |
go, "Ah, excellent. All the men are properly dressed." | 0:24:35 | 0:24:40 | |
Nice to see you again. | 0:24:40 | 0:24:42 | |
People will start to talk, as well, in a more Regency way. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:45 | |
Hello! Welcome. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:48 | |
I think that the manners and the courtesies that people showed each | 0:24:48 | 0:24:52 | |
other then, it was a nice way to live. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:54 | |
It's just amazing that all these people are stepping back in time. | 0:24:57 | 0:25:02 | |
I actually find it quite bizarre. | 0:25:02 | 0:25:04 | |
It's wonderful, but it's bizarre. | 0:25:04 | 0:25:06 | |
Hello! | 0:25:07 | 0:25:09 | |
I am just so excited and a little nervous, | 0:25:09 | 0:25:12 | |
because it's my first time at an event like this. | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
Hello! Oh, my gosh, hello! | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
It's going to be such fun. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
It's the first ball that we are going to together, | 0:25:21 | 0:25:23 | |
and hopefully one of many. | 0:25:23 | 0:25:24 | |
Everybody, to a certain extent, is trying to recreate 200 years ago. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:31 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:25:31 | 0:25:34 | |
I'm thrilled to welcome you all here today, | 0:25:34 | 0:25:36 | |
to my "Gilder Of Every Pleasure" ball. | 0:25:36 | 0:25:39 | |
My sincere thanks to all of you for coming here, | 0:25:39 | 0:25:43 | |
and enjoy your dancing as we honour our friend Jane. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:47 | |
APPLAUSE | 0:25:47 | 0:25:50 | |
THEY PLAY REGENCY ERA MUSIC | 0:25:50 | 0:25:52 | |
To the right. And turn to the left. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:55 | |
And back again. | 0:25:57 | 0:26:00 | |
First couple, down the dance. | 0:26:00 | 0:26:03 | |
And back. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:09 | |
And pass. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:10 | |
A lot of dress-comparing and "Who's got the biggest fashions | 0:26:10 | 0:26:14 | |
"and things?" goes on. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:16 | |
The first thing you do is look at what everybody's wearing. | 0:26:16 | 0:26:18 | |
I mean, that is the first thing. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:20 | |
Well done. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:21 | |
So, I've been talking to the chap who's really keen on clothes, | 0:26:21 | 0:26:24 | |
and of course it makes me feel completely inadequate, | 0:26:24 | 0:26:26 | |
wearing this, you know. | 0:26:26 | 0:26:28 | |
You really put yourself on show, | 0:26:28 | 0:26:30 | |
and you open yourself up to a lot of criticism. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
I wouldn't say it's quite as malicious or competitive... | 0:26:33 | 0:26:38 | |
Hmm, no, competitive, it can be competitive. | 0:26:38 | 0:26:41 | |
He came up to me and he said, | 0:26:41 | 0:26:42 | |
"Oh, no, that's a Laughing Moon pattern, isn't it?" | 0:26:42 | 0:26:44 | |
Just... "How did you know?" | 0:26:44 | 0:26:46 | |
"Oh, you can tell them a mile off." | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
You need to be all-inclusive, you know, which is exactly what we do. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
You know, we don't discriminate against anyone in this hobby. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
It's fantastic. | 0:26:54 | 0:26:55 | |
It all seems to be going really well. | 0:26:57 | 0:26:59 | |
Everyone seems to be having a really good time. | 0:26:59 | 0:27:01 | |
I still get that real thrill each time, with everyone dressed like | 0:27:01 | 0:27:03 | |
this and the music, and it feels, you know, a little bit like you're | 0:27:03 | 0:27:06 | |
200 years ago, in one of her novels. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:08 | |
It's great. | 0:27:08 | 0:27:10 | |
I loved it. | 0:27:11 | 0:27:13 | |
I loved the dancing so much more than I ever expected to, | 0:27:13 | 0:27:16 | |
even though I am not nearly as refined or as practised | 0:27:16 | 0:27:19 | |
as the ladies and gentlemen inside. | 0:27:19 | 0:27:21 | |
I think Jane would be absolutely amazed that, 200 years later, | 0:27:34 | 0:27:39 | |
we're all dancing jigs and having a wild time. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:44 | |
You know, she said she was wild for dancing. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:47 | |
So here we are, wild for dancing as well. | 0:27:47 | 0:27:50 | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | 0:27:52 | 0:27:56 | |
Thank you all for coming. | 0:27:56 | 0:27:58 | |
"The person, be it gentleman or lady, | 0:28:01 | 0:28:03 | |
"who has not pleasure in a good novel must be intolerably stupid." | 0:28:03 | 0:28:08 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:28:08 | 0:28:09 | |
I think Jane would be thrilled that her novels are still | 0:28:09 | 0:28:13 | |
enduring as much as they are. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:16 | |
I think she would approve of the way that we celebrate it, | 0:28:16 | 0:28:19 | |
and think that we're just having a good time. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:22 | |
What we do now, having picnics, going to balls, all of this, | 0:28:22 | 0:28:26 | |
it's all escapism. | 0:28:26 | 0:28:29 | |
It's your little sort of happy world to jump into. | 0:28:29 | 0:28:33 | |
You know, pop along to a ball every now and then | 0:28:33 | 0:28:36 | |
and just forget the modern world. | 0:28:36 | 0:28:37 |