A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Went to a Fountains and Fireworks show at Longwood Gardens tonight - it was set to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition/Night on Bald Mountain, and the slightly creepy drifting clouds in front of the bright moon were just too perfect! An autumn moon on a cool evening is very high on my list of enjoyment, and I got that tonight (yes it's still technically summer so there isn't that crispness in the air you get later in the season, but still, so nice! let me read you my love letter to fall weather...).

I wore one of my new pairs WKD of stockings with an old-ish dress, so I had to document it. ;) Fully-fashioned period-correct stockings appeal to the historian in me, but the fun-colored-seams on stretch nylons are half the price, and I've had to tell myself more than once that I don't have to be period-accurate in my everyday clothes if I don't want, sheesh. (Yes, self, it is okay to wear a hairnet with a 1950s outfit if you want, the world will not end. etc. etc.) Pink seams are decidedly not period, but now that I've bought a pair - OMG so fun, I want them in alllllllllllll the colors!
 
A shoe aside: yes, I walked all around the gardens in those highly impractical shoes. But it's all paved...! Thus far in my life, I've got feet that have cheerfully worn all manner of cheap heels, for which I am very grateful! These were I think $8 on ebay. (I haven't been buying as many in the past few years, what with working retail so what's the point? but I am totally a Shoe Whore!) Almost always have to have some kind of strap, though, as I have a tendency to walk right out of regular pumps. I learned my lesson after dropping a cute little kitten heel down the stairs one too many times walking up to a second-floor class in college!

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I did actually sew today, too; I hand-tacked down all the seam allowances on the chartreuse bodice and sleeves. Except for the side-back seams, because I think I should re-sew them with a sliiiiiiiightly smaller seam allowance, as I think I used a smaller allowance last time I made this pattern. But this silk is so damn fray-ish! Taffeta, my ass - I knew it wasn't taffeta when it showed up in the mail, and in case I had any doubts, my floor is covered in puffs of yellow silk thread to make me doubly sure. I've never met a taffeta that frayed like that! Fabric Mart, you are lying liars who lie. (If I hadn't been so set on the color, it would have gone right back, sale or no sale.)

Major accomplishment for the day was opening my American Duchess parcel and trying my new shoesies on. (I didn't say it was an impressive accomplishment...) I bought the Nankeens and the black Stratfords last time she had a big sale, and put them on Easy Pay, so I'd basically completely forgotten about them when I got the shipping email. Yay shoes!

I ordered 7s in both, and they emailed and asked if I wanted to size up as the Stratfords ran small (yes, I did, thank you for noticing because clearly I didn't), and it transpires they sent a 7.5 in both styles. The Stratfords fit perfectly; the Nankeens are a smidge on the roomy side (unsurprisingly, as they aren't supposed to run big), but as they were clearanced out months ago and of course there aren't any left, I'd rather keep them as-is. They're quite adorable! And hey, I can wear thick stockings with them in the winter. ;)

But I loooooove the Stratfords! They're so smart! They make me want to do late 16thc - which I probably won't, but I think they're also reminiscent of some 1930s/40s shoes I've seen (well, vice-versa I guess!), which is really why I bought them, to wear with modern clothes. Massively tempted to acquire a red pair, I won't lie.

It's so awkward trying to take pictures of your own feet...

No sewing today! I went shoe shopping, and then I went out for an extended late lunch with a college friend.

I did wear my new gathered skirt and took pictures of it though! It is quite obnoxious. I didn't intend it to be worn with a green shirt (since the waistband's green, obvs), but the weather was a little chilly today and I've packed up most of my winter wardrobe so I didn't have much to choose from.

(Also, pretty sure I need a more serious petticoat. This ones alright but I like FLUFF. And that's one thing I flatly refuse to make! Well worth splurging for a nice one. This isn't actually a nice one. $25 or so?)

In other news, shoes! I hit up Payless today because I have holes in my work sneakers and they've needed replacing for a looong time (and because I'm a cheap bastard and my feet are happy with cheap shoes!). To console myself for having to spend more than I wanted on shoes for stupid Joann's, I consoled myself with spending the same amount on Fun Shoes. To wit:

The suede and patent heels also come in white and black on the website, and depending on how comfortable these are after a few wears, the black and white might need to come live with me too. I love a T-strap shoe...clearly. The Regency sandals were hiding all the way down on the bottom shelf in a corner, but I spotted them and got a little squeaky! Because obviously they're Regency sandals! And $19 Regency sandals, too. (The vamp's just a wee bit too low, as is common in 99% of modern flats, but they don't actually show any toe cleavage, so I'm pretty happy.) They only come in beige, which is nice and serviceable and far too boring for me, so I'll be painting them. Some color I can wear modernly too, because they are in fact very cute and seemingly comfortable little shoes. There are a few occasions in which my 3.5" pumps aren't appropriate...a very, very few occasions. xD

Well, I ended up spending most of the day outside, between walking a package to the post office, and messing about with plant-things. Might as well enjoy spring weather while it's here, right? I planted a coleus that's been in a pot inside for the past year and a half, and has reached a completely ridiculous size to have indoors. I don't care if it dies later (or sooner), I just feel wildly guilty about throwing out a houseplant that isn't totally dead!

Also spent some time dealing with the completely insane rosebush that decided it was going to sprout directly next to the front steps. I have no idea where it came from, and could have sworn it wasn't there last year...except that it must have been, to have gotten to this size. Had a very enjoyable time getting scratched while tying it back (if only my gardening gloves went to the shoulder...), and dug another extremely random rose sprout out of the lawn, so I could replant it in a place it's less likely to get, you know, lawn-mowed. (Where are these things coming from?! The rose fairy?)

I did paint the heel of my 1790s shoes - I was going to paint the heel in contrast and cover the shoe in fabric (and it seemed wiser to do it in that order)...but I may have decided to buy more textile paint and just paint the damn thing. So much easier! It's satin, so it looks fairly legit when painted. I'll have to do a white base first, as it's a very, uh, vigorous print that I need to cover...the black heel was fine with two coats but I don't think a lighter color will be.

Somebody please tell me that I'm not the only one who looks through their online costume blog rather than their actual costume closet when deciding what to wear for an event...

(For Jockey Hollow on Sunday. It's fairly far but the reenactments in North Jersey seem to be better attended than the Philly area ones. Indian King and Brunswick are Saturday.)

Had a very bad case of laziness combined with errands to run, so I have only not-quite-finished the lower sleeves for the Brunswick, and haven't touched the trim yet. Off tomorrow though, so we'll see if I can knuckle down and get it done.

And I finally spent my American Duchess gift certificat that I've had for over a year (I kind of want ALL the shoes, is my problem, and had a hard time deciding which would be most "practical".), and to that end, got the black wool Dunmores in the mail today. Very pleased, as always! I'll reserve final judgement til after I've worn them for a good part of this weekend, but both my Kensies and Renoirs are very comfy so I'd be surprised if these aren't.

Got my Renoir boots in the mail today, yay! They seem to be very comfortable - although I can't tell for certain because I can't button them without a buttonhook (they were sold out of them when I ordered, and I wasn't terribly excited about paying $20 for a buttonhook anyway. To ye olde Ebay!). Too stiff. But they're very comfy in the toes! Will dye them sometime in the next few days...maybe Sunday. Don't think I'm busy then.

And I did all the machine sewing on the bedgown, which is not that impressive since there are only four seams, and hand-finished the two short seams.

Good mail day! I got my striped silk Regency boots today, and they are darling. I've had one on my right foot and one on the table for the past hour (so I could admire it closely, you see). I'm in love! The color doesn't come up great in these shots, as I just took them now and the flash is ick, but they're absolutely that shade of dark cranberry-red that I so admire. And they're very comfortable!

Oh, and I started thinking that the yellow and red and green striped silk I bought yesterday might go very well with these boots, actually... *shifty eyes*



And my new friend Tessa from Belvidere took my advice (I love when people listen to me!) and joined LJ. HAH the Jersey girls are growing in number! She's misspeachum on here.

The booties are fully painted, mostly satisfactorily. You can still see a shadow of the original design at a certain angle, but I suspect if I put any more paint on these bastards, they'll start getting stiff, and we don't want that. They do look rather painted (well, they are), and I'm not terribly impressed with them, really...but they're perfectly adequate and eminently wearable, anyway!

My bonnet, proper, was finished this afternoon, and I need to trim it tonight so I can work on the spencer tomorrow! That means I have to finish hemming this horrible endless strip of silk shantung that I'm using because I'm too cheap to buy actual ribbon. Plus I can get much more varied colors and widths when I use silk scraps...but wow, the actual hemming is annoying! This "ribbon" will probably be the extent of my trimmings, as it's a rather brightly-colored bonnet, plus it's early Regency so it doesn't need loads of frou-frou. Maybe a couple of little flowers. We'll see how I feel about it when I'm cross-eyed and judgement-impaired at 2am.

No sewing today, but fun things in the mail! Got both my boots and my Truly Victorian patterns today. The boots fit, which is good; the 1882 tea gown pattern is going to take more futzing than I'd anticipated, which is not as good (seam placement, blah blah blah. More on that when I actually post about the dress design), but the underskirt and petticoat look mostly good.

Although the petticoat pattern does want me to use netting to pad out the back of it, and I'm going BUT BUT BUT I don't WANNA use icky nylon net! Trying to think of something that would be stiff but not nylon.
...Organza? That's stiff.
...I'm not using my silk organza. No.
Oh. Cotton organdy's stiff, huh? I did just learn that.
Okay! Barring any Better Ideas...some kind of organdy nonsense it is!

Finally.

And they are...well, done. Feeling very "meh" about the hat in particular, but I don't actively dislike it, so unless some genius idea strikes me, I'm leaving it as-is.

( I didn't *mean* to make it a Gibson Girl hat, I swear... )