Picnic at Hanging Rock

my interpretation of the dreamlike classic

picture from this edition

Do you have your tea? Are you settled?

I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I was only vaguely aware that the film ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ was BASED ON A BOOK published in 1967 (written by Joan Lindsay - read this to find out more about the rather sad reasons by which she came to write the novel). So all encompassing an experience is Peter Weir’s masterpiece of a movie, I’m going to hazard a guess that I’m not alone in my ignorance in forgetting and/or not knowing that Lindsay’s novel exists as source material. (but it’s ok if I am indeed alone in my ignorance, ha)

I came across the book at Barnes & Noble a couple weeks ago, and gasped (loudly) to my husband and Julia, “Look! There’s a BOOK!”. It of course came home with me, and I immediately began reading - and realized I need to watch the movie again - and realized that poof! A Mini-Obsession of sorts had arisen - and I had to create a post about all of this.

Photo: Atlantic

If you’ve neither seen the film nor read the book - the general story is this: four teen girls from a Posh & Very Expensive boarding school in 1900-set Victoria, Australia, as well as a teacher chaperone, disappear from a field trip outing after ascending the ancient monolithic stones of Hanging Rock (a real site north of Melbourne). Although one student mysteriously returns, no traces of the others are ever found, and there is the suggestion that something….unknowable….is at work.

BIT OF SPOILER: (Lindsay wrote a deleted chapter spelling it all out - but her editor encouraged her to leave the chapter on the cutting room floor so as to keep the cause of the disappearances more ambiguous - the missing chapter was published after Lindsay’s death. If you want to know more about what it contains, you can check out this article from LitHub and this piece here. Personally I think this all sounds COOL AS HELL and I wish it has been included in the original novel!)

Husband Andrew’s comment: “120% correct choice to cut that from the original book - the ambiguity is most of the point.” OH WHATEVER.

LOVE this edition of the book but HATE that publishers keep advertising television shows and movies with hideous non-removable markings. PLEASE STOP DOING THIS.

via The Criterion Collection

Highly recommend this article (again thanks to the Guardian) that gives great context to the story and how its creation (both the book and Peter Weir’s film) was affected by societal influences during the time of the novel’s writing and then Australia’s New Wave cinema movement in the 1970’s.

Finally reading the book after many viewings over the years of the film made me realize that director Peter Weir perfectly distilled the story to its essence by focusing on the ghost-like state of the girls as they move through the school, each other’s lives and affections, and the Hanging Rock area. Almost entirely gone is the novel’s subplot involving a neighboring family close to the school. This works for the movie. He took the best parts of the book - Lindsay’s descriptive language of the girls’ interactions with each other and the sentient-seeming landscape - and created a work that evokes a waking dream.

Now that our literary discourse is out of the way, I’ve collected various wares to share that fall in line with the ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ theme - clothing, tea, biscuits, other books with a similar vibe:

Because if OUT OF THE BLUE the inspiration to dress 100% ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ hits you, you need to see the blouse and the dress below HERE and HERE. (They also have loads more similar styles)

Or you could go for just this top, (see below) if you want the vibe but the above styles are a wee bit much:

Modern Victorian summer trekking outfit HERE :

And here:

This dress looks like a dreamy swirly silky shimmery confection :

Modern Victorian/Edwardian Teacher Vibe with this top below: (I actually own this shirt plus brown cotton shorts — I don’t peekaboo my belly button tho.)

(NOTE OF MINOR INTEREST PERHAPS: The Victorian era ended in 1900, and the Edwardian era began in 1901. The book is set in February 1900, so I guess it’s technically Victorian era, but the very tail end. Anyway, I thought you might want to know that.)

Oh look at this top with another belly button peekaboo! Is this a thing in advertising? What’s happening?

(Absolutely adore Doen but their price point eludes me unless I win the lottery. Still pretty though.)

Both student and teacher dress vibes here below: Strappy muslin dress | The House Dress

(Also more white dresses than you can shake a stick at HERE.)

via The Village Green

Shimmering claw clip for holding back one’s hair in the heat. Perfect for the Picnic at Hanging Rock vibe methinks. Any mother of pearl clip would suit the look.

Do we need parasols? Let’s be real, if I were indeed trekking in the Australian outback IN THE SUMMER, it’s a cute idea that I could just walk around with a parasol and some SPF 50 and call it a day — I’m pretty sure I would actually burst into flames so spectacular as to be seen from space. Like, I’d put a vampire’s sun intolerance TO SHAME.

(via)

This Grapefruit Chamomile Mint tea from Bellocq’s iced tea collection is the right choice for a hot summer afternoon.

This Sanderson pattern scalloped wicker insulated picnic basket that you see below is very fancy. A posh boarding school girl in Australia would totally have it. (And check out the Sanderson waterproof ruffle blanket accessory! Available monogrammed, because of course.)

This picnic basket BACKPACK for four people seems a little more efficient for intrepid eating outdoor soirees, however. This blanket is included!

I imagine that Heiress Irma, the wealthiest girl in the school, sleeps in a bed like one:

Ok so these biscuits. THESE BISCUITS.

I found them in a shop years ago and was flabbergasted at how much flavor had been packed into what is essentially a very plain looking shortbread cookie. These are the best tea cookies I think I’ve ever consumed. Let me repeat. THE BEST TEA COOKIES.

Amazon was carrying them for a hot minute several years ago, but as is often the case with Amazon…amongst its many many problems is that if something truly wonderful happens to float through their warehouse, REST ASSURED it won’t float through for very long. These cookies are really hard to get your hands on, unless you’re U.K. based, but I did find a few websites that sell them in the U.S.

Spindlerconfections.com appears to carry the full line here for a very reasonable cost and shipping rate (see their photo of the different flavors up above). I also found the cookies for good pricing & delivery costs HERE.

Next I’m going to show you a couple of books that pair well with the ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ vibe, and the first is from one of my favorite series ever.

I ADORED ‘A Great and Terrible Beauty’ (the Gemma Doyle series) by Libba Bray when I read it……probably about fifteen years ago? Re-read the books several times (it’s a trilogy). Some of you might know from my early blogging days that I’ve always been a huge boarding school story fan. Show me a book about boarding schools and I’ll show you my money. A gothic 1895 Victorian-era boarding school, as well as intense teen girl friendships, as well as an alternate world parallel to our own. (I’m still not sure WHAT kind of place it is….fae? Just weird and magical? I’m really not sure lol. This otherworldly landscape is called ‘The Realms’.)

Anyway, BIG BIG fan of this series.

Oh and while we’re talking about Libba Bray books, and while I’m thinking about the upcoming autumn (yes I’m moving on in my mind already)….let me give a big endorsement to her book ‘The Diviners’ — 1920’s New York City-based psychics and a very scary antagonist and OMG JUST REALIZED that it’s also a trilogy! And I only read the first book! Looks like I have my autumn spooky season reading TAKEN CARE OF.

Back to ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ though…..pretty sure that ‘Floriography - An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers’ by Jessica Roux should belong to every mysterious and romantic boarding school girl.

Alright I need to wrap this up…but I have to chat with someone besides Andrew The Husband about all this:

Are you still here?

Have you read the original ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ book?

Did you know it WAS a book? Lol.

Did you think, like I did for awhile, that it was based on a true story?

Have you seen the film?

If yes, do you love it?

What do you think happened to the girls? Aliens? Murdered? Ran away?

And have you seen the miniseries? Oh. Should have mentioned earlier! There’s also a miniseries that came out just a few years ago and I watched two episodes and never progressed…..NO IDEA WHY. Since it’s a miniseries, I assume it has more plot lines from the book. Well, now that I have a Full Blown Obsession, off I go to pick up with it!

Yours in pantaloons and corsets,

Melissa