Episode 3: What In The World?

Sparkly dresses, stowaway sailors, and creating fictional worlds... 📚

Welcome to the Pub Dates newsletter! We’re so glad you’re here.

This newsletter is released as a companion to each podcast episode, and we use it to share the visual elements of our discussion — from mood boards to design sketches, from photos to secret giveaways just for subscribers.

In episode three, we talked about how we created the worlds where our stories are set. We discussed why worldbuilding matters, and revealed some of our favourite parts of our own worlds.

We also talked about what historical time period we’d travel to, if we could go anywhere and anywhen in time — we’d love to know yours, so please leave us a comment and tell us!

We promised pictures and links, and as always, we deliver. Here’s some of the stuff we mentioned during this episode…

First, we talked about how Kate sews her own clothes, and we thought it was past time for some proof. Check out these jeans she made!

She also weaves. On a loom. She wove this scarf. Just like normal people do. (It may be apparent at this stage that your newsletter narrator is Amie. Honestly though, who decides to acquire a new skill and then just… does it? And gets good at it? Am I the weird one here?)

Now, this is a picture-heavy newsletter, so we’ll hit you with the links we promised first, then you can kick back and scroll through all the excellent photos that await you.

First up, we promised links to Amie’s worldbuilding episodes, so here you go:

1. Worldbuilding Is For Everyone

2. How To Show Your Worldbuilding

3. Four Ways to Visualise Your Setting

4. Weaving Setting Into Your Story

We also promised links to the documentary Kate used during her worldbuilding. It’s called Ken Burns: Prohibition, and you can find it here on PBS, or on Netflix elsewhere. And below, you can find a few of the notes that Kate took while watching the documentary… some of them made it into Nightbirds! (You can click on any of the pictures to see a larger version.)

Now, onward to the pictures! Amie promised some photos of windjammers — these were taken by Alan Villiers, an incredibly talented sailor, adventurer and photographer, who documented these incredible boats as they were fading from use in the 1920s and 30s. Here are just a few of her favourite pages…

First of all, can we talk about how this guy would fit right in as a 2022 hipster? He might have played that accordion a century ago, but history isn’t as distant from us as we sometimes like to believe.

Next up, we have a picture that Villiers took of Elisabeth Jacobson. Ladies weren’t welcome aboard windjammers, a problem she solved by stowing away. Is she not a total badass? Don’t you want to nap in the sun just like Elisabeth?

And finally we have this incredible shot, taken during heavy seas, the water washing in across the deck. Windjammers were built to swallow up the miles in weather like this.

We talked in the episode about how so many of the pictures we found feel like they were taken of someone we could walk past on the street today — just in an outfit you wouldn’t see today. Here’s an example from Kate’s stash, to go with the sailors you see above.

Still in a 1920s mood? Let’s head to Rippon Lea, a beautiful old estate in Melbourne, Australia, run by the National Trust. This was where we took in the Miss Fisher exhibit — and we’ve got a few snaps from the day.

First, the outside of the estate itself, with our picnic in the foreground. Wherever we go, whatever we do, there’s always cake.

The house is pretty fancy inside, too. Can you imagine making a sweeping entrance down this staircase? We definitely did — made an entrance, that is, not pretended.

Now behold the capelet! That’s right, the very one that Kate loved so much that she pinched it and put it on Sayer for a pivotal scene.

This next picture is just because we loved this sparkly dress. Amie was really inspired by the beadwork, which shows up in a green dress that plays a very important part in The Isles of the Gods…

And finally we’re leaving you with these wide-legged pants mostly out of sheer admiration. Is there any outfit Phryne Fisher can’t rock?

And that’s it for this episode! We hope you’ve enjoyed following along — we’ll see you next time! Have you ever gone anywhere for research that really set your brain on fire? We’d love to hear about it.