Austen Addicts Anonymous

Are you all Austen, all the time? Not only am I an Austen addict, but even worse, I'm also an Austen design addict. Being that my blog is founded on a quotation by Jane (I like to use the informal when talking about her), I think it is only fitting that this post deal specifically with Austen-related design, because there is actually a lot of it.....

Obviously, book jacket design is a significant aspect which I already touched on in other entries. Along with the recent revival of appreciation from Austen purists, there is even more from fanfiction, as with the popular Pride & Prejuduce & Zombies, in which the heroine Elizabeth Bennet and her five sisters must use their ninja fighting skills to find husbands before they are overcome by a zombie epidemic. The cover design cleverly takes a seemingly benign 19th century portrait and covers it with a gruesome flesh-eating disease and demonic red eyes. It's fantastic!

Jane & the Damned follows a similar formula, as does the hilariously titled Mr. Darcy, Vampyre; it sounds so bad that I just have to read it!

So if you enjoy reading Austen, then it logically follows that you would carry your copy of Emma around with you in clutch that looks exactly like the novel Emma. Or at least I would. Kate Spade apparently thought so too and that is why they designed just that.....does it get anymore adorable than that?















Also in the realm of fashion design, Dolce & Gabbana's Fall collection way back in 2006 clearly references the Regency period in which Austen lived and wrote. I remember going gaga over their gorgeously styled ad campaign, photographed by Steven Meisel.

One of my favorite blogs is Textbook: A Style Blog for Literature & History, a blog for avid readers, history buffs, and clothes horses. As if that wasn't enough, John Jannuzzi, the blog's creator posts style entries creating modern-day ensembles for some of history's and literature's most renowned characters.  Readers post questions like, "What would Holden Caufield wear today?"  It's super fun to see how he has interpreted each persona. Of course, Austen takes up a lot of real estate on the blog, with looks styled for Elizbeth Bennet and her sister Lydia Bennet (Pride & Prejudice), Emma Woodhouse (Emma), and Elinor Dashwood (Sense & Sensbility). I think they are pretty spot on!

There is even a Jane Austen typeface, based on her actual signature and written letters.

I set my name in it. Just for fun....