Wentz farmstead: School of the Soldier

[mandie_rw]

(Or, In which I am still too much of a sewing failure to even finish a petticoat! I actually had it 90% sewn Thursday night - and then realized the pleats at the back were really, truly unacceptable! And I wasn't staying up any later to redo them! So, no petticoat! Maybe if I'm able to make Ft Fred...)

Friday evening I went to a dreadful club with one of my best friends for her birthday (let's try something new where no one's ever been! It sounds like fun! It wasn't); I only had one drink, but between staying out rather late and only getting about two hours' sleep because of Female Complaints, I very nearly decided to bag the Wentz event Saturday morning when my alarm went off at 7.15!

I was very glad I did go, though, because 1/ I like playing dress up (NO WAY), and 2/ I like getting to see friends even more! dragoneyes19, hiraimi, and I had a very enjoyable few hours together.

It was kind of an awful day, though, weather-wise. Wind, intermittent rain, and cold: I might have liked my cloak, and I definitely would have liked my mitts (even idiotically thumbless as they are)!

Robin's done a bit more of a write-up, with some pictures taken back at her apartment (please note my Very Smart new black straw hat in those pics!). Also please don't note my bizarrely considerably-longer-in-back petticoat...I realize now I may have originally made it to wear over a small rump? Or my scoliosis has gotten that much worse? I don't even know. Ew.

And yes, we're famous. That is, we made it into a local paper. (Clicky the photo for the link to the article)

And re: their caption: Uh...no, we're not the reenactors! Those are all the people you're not taking photos of in the background of that shot!

Comments

[heidilea.livejournal.com]

They didn't take a picture of the real reenactors because they probably look like crap. And I don't mean in a typical "look like crap because I've been following the army", probably more a "Look like crap because I don't know what I'm doing."

[sewloud.livejournal.com]

for the most part it was hard to tell. They were pretty bundled up in layers of cloaky woolyness. And most were in decidedly drab colors, I think that's the real reason.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

"Bundled up in layers of cloaky woolness"... because they were smarter than we were, I think! ;) Psh, I will suffer for my fashion!

And yeah, the bright colors. That's what it was, I agree. you could probably see us coming miles away.

[heidilea.livejournal.com]

I don't get why they always go for the drab. Look at any genre painting or read any runaway description and the colors abound. And don't match. I think this is why my kit contains every color except blue and brown.

[padawansguide.livejournal.com]

You guys look great! Sorry you didn't have better weather! I didn't even notice your petticoat!

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D I guess it was actually kind of a good thing it wasn't really nice weather - Alice and I both would have had to leave early to go to work anyway, and so we didn't have to wrench ourselves away from a really great event!

[sewloud.livejournal.com]

1. It was AWESOME to see you as always :-)

2. Your petticoat ain't as crooked as my gown hem!

3. We even TOLD them we weren't re-enactors. Silly reporters who don't listen.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Likewise! If I lived closer, we would totally hang out more and have sewing dates. :D As it is, you let me know whenever the Wentz place is having an event! And if at all possible - we are doing Ft Fred!!

Hahaha - I think it might be the first time I've seen the petticoat at that angle in a pic, so I was just like WHAT.

Silly reporter indeed! I was kind of afraid of that after he kind of waved aside my comment that we were The Public. No, Mr Reporter, I don't mean 18thc Publick, I mean...we're visitors. Not reenactors. Nope, didn't listen!

[clarey-h.livejournal.com]

Love the fact you got in the local paper. It's a great photo.

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It was pretty funny - the photographer was attempting stealth-shots from behind before he came to talk to us, but when you do this a lot, you notice those "sneaky" photo-takers pretty quickly...so we all hid our very modern lunches! There's a glazed doughnut and a plastic bottle of lemonade on my lap at that very moment. xD

[sadievale.livejournal.com]

SO fun, thanks for sharing! you all looked great, and congrats on the photo in the paper: awesome!

[mandie-rw.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Crashing these little local events at historic houses is always fun (eve in crap weather!) - no pressure for a new silk frock, but still the fun of seeing friends and playing dress-up for a little while. :) (And apparently bright colors are good for impressing the local paper's photographer!)