Join us for a captivating talk by award-winning costume designer Dinah Collin, in conversation with costume historian Keith Lodwick.

In the beautiful and intimate surroundings of the Drawing Room at Jane Austen’s House, where Jane herself read aloud from her first published copy of Pride and Prejudice in 1813, we will host a small audience to enjoy this exclusive event as the ultimate winter afternoon treat!

Dinah Collin is perhaps best-known for creating the beautiful and memorable costumes worn in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, starring Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth. Her costumes are acclaimed as one of the many reasons why the adaptation was so successful and is still so beloved by fans thirty years after it first aired.

In this informal conversation, film costume curator and historian Keith Lodwick will interview Dinah about how the adaptation came into being, her design process and inspirations, and how the costumes helped shape the production.

This event will be filmed for an online audience (watch this space for details!), but a small number of tickets are also available for the live event! As our live audience you will enjoy special access, you’ll be invited to ask questions, and you’ll enjoy the unique atmosphere of Jane Austen’s House out of normal opening hours.

After the talk, join us for tea in the Historic Kitchen.

Details:
Date: Tuesday 14 January 2025
Time: 2.30pm – 4pm (GMT)
Location: This event will take place at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton. Find us.
Tickets: £35 

🍷 This event will include tea or coffee. Please let us know of any dietary requirements upon booking.

🎥 Capacity for this event is very limited, to allow for the event to be filmed in our historic Drawing Room. Seating will be arranged around the filming equipment.

🕓 As this event will be filmed, unfortunately latecomers cannot be admitted. Please arrive in good time to take your seat.

🏠 The House will be closed for this event so access will be restricted to the Drawing Room, where the talk takes place. General House entry is not included with the event ticket.

Take a deep-dive into the extraordinary journey of Jane Austen’s most beloved novel, from first draft to publication and beyond.

This talk follows the extraordinary journey of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen’s most beloved novel, from first draft to publication and on through some of its most important and influential editions and incarnations. 

It draws on a wealth of glorious Pride and Prejudice material from the museum collection, from a rare first edition through to the first American edition, Hugh Thomson’s gorgeously illustrated “Peacock edition”, and on to the first paperback edition in the 1930s. It also dips into adaptations of the novel, from the first theatrical adaptations to the first film released in 1940, and BBC TV adaptations from 1938 – 1995.  

Along the way we’ll explore reactions to the novel through the ages, beginning with a letter Jane Austen wrote to her sister on the novel’s first publication, and take a look at the novel’s critical reception and legacy. 

Details: 

Date: Sunday 26 January 2025 

Time: 11.30am – 12.30pm 

Location: This event is at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton. Find us 

Tickets: £12 

🎫 Tickets for this event include House entry for this day only. 

📖 This event is part of our Pride and Prejudice Festival, 23-28 January 2025.