A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

Well, not that it isn't fun to make something new for an event...obviously I adore last-minute sewing! But sometimes it's nice to just pull from ye olde costume closet and drive five minutes down the road! Well, five minutes down the road from me. A little more for robinsnest  and miss_philomena ! (But it has been officially dubbed an excellent costume-shoot location; if one building isn't of the right date for your dress, just walk down a few houses!)

We invaded the (long-suffering, no doubt) Indian King tavern again today; there was a guest speaker/interpreter who gave a presentation on tea in the 18th century. Very interesting, but a little long. We then wandered over to the perennial favorite, The British Chip Shop, for a meal, and then strolled round Haddonfield's lovely historic downtown. Took pictures and got honked at all up and down Kings Highway, which was very amusing. And then treated ourselves to some really delicious gelato, which will ensure all present parties can be bribed to return. Yum, indeed.

Got rained on a bit here and there, but nothing too damaging, and temperature-wise it was just about ideal for costume-wearing! Robin and Adrienne both had new dresses, which were properly documented; I wore my old traffic-light-striped silk, since it was Silk Sunday (as we determined). I still like that dress though! Robin finished her dress that we'd started last weekend for our demo at the tavern, so it was fun to get pictures of it in the tavern! Especially fun since there were a few visitors in the crowd that had been there for our demo, so they got to see the dress finished on a person.

We couldn't be in Haddonfield and not visit the town dinosaur!


A slightly more traditional setting.


And a shot that I couldn't resist playing with in photobucket editor! Ghosts in the mirror! ;)

Adrienne and Robin both took a bunch of photos of us misbehaving about town, so I'll just link their albums here, for my own ease. And I'm sure they'll both post more detailed dress writeups, so I won't natter on any more here!

OH, and I exploded my stays. Um, oops? I was undressing and Robin was like...uhhh I see your shift in a place I shouldn't... Right side seam started splitting under the arm. Could re-sew, but new 1770s stays were on the docket anyway; now they just got bumped up the list! Good thing I don't have any 1770s events for the rest of the year...

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Merry Christmas! Somewhat belatedly!

I decided against more trim on the striped taffeta; when I wasn't dealing with relations or things relating to feeding said relations, I was either curled up on the sofa reading Dita von Teese's new book, or watching Wives and Daughters (since I asked for the Elizabeth Gaskell DVD set for my pricier gift).

So, ball tonight with a slightly under-trimmed dress, but with lots of lazing time! Which is what my holidays are all about, personally. ;) My sis was running around to five different places yesterday, which is not really my thing.

I'll try and remember to get pictures of the puffs tonight, but I make no promises, haha.

Finished the petticoat trim puffs last night, and despite doing mostly a whole lot of nothing today, should have no problem getting the neckline puffs stitched on tonight. These puffs are the most instant gratification I've ever had with 18thc trim!

In other news, this weather sucks. Hot and rainy for Christmas! I didn't realize I lived in a jungle swamp.

Yesterday I had a very long, but very enjoyable day! Even if six hours of it were spent in a car...not entirely intentionally. You see, I got up at five to get dressed and do my hair so I could be in north Jersey by 8.30. And then spent two-and-a-half hours trying to go fourteen miles. At least I wasn't driving then! (Well, I won't drive in NYC. I'm a weenie.) Had so many curses for everyone involved in the triathlon yesterday...they shut down half the streets in the city so we couldn't even get to the Historical Society. Ended up parking about six blocks away and pack-muling it over. Which was something less than fun.

Recovered and watered, though, I had a very good time! See, I've finally got an in with reenactors. ;) I actually met Eliza briefly at the Trenton ball, and then we really properly met at the first event I did at the Indian King Tavern; she and her BF Erik do 18thc living history demonstrations, usually involving music (they're the Ministers of Apollo on FB, go like them! Yes, shameless plug). They were scheduled to go to the NYHS on Sunday and had a regular back out, so Eliza asked if I'd like to join them. You mean I can sit and sew and yap to the Public about it? Sign me up!

Eliza and I were the Fancy Half of the table; she specifically asked for that, as these living history demonstrations tend to gravitate toward soldiers rather than civilian life...which is all well and good, but you don't need six guys all standing around talking about their guns, haha. Eliza had a setup with cosmetics and hairstyling (and real 18thc teacups! I then stole her teapot inadvertently because it was in my basket, ooooops), and I was making a Fancy Cap. Apparently we were both eclipsed by the kid next to us doing a tailoring demo with a waistcoat. Hmph. ;) I declared my intention of Bringing A Gown Next Time Because That's More Impressive. I think I may have insulted one woman by informing her that Philadelphia Was Better Than New York In The 18th Century, Sorry-Not-Sorry (and I still vastly prefer it, personally! What can I say, I'm such a South Jersey girl, haha!). Her face was really funny when I told her that...not in quite those words, but...

We also had a woman with a cooking demonstration (who was not wearing a Fugly Bedgown so I liked her immediately), and the rest of the guys were doing their bit with the drumming...outside. Poor bastards. They did come in every so often, but that's dedication! For those of you out of the are, it was 95 with a real-feel temp of over 100 yesterday! No....no. I am not that dedicated. At least, not in silks! Which I sweat through anyway, natch, because of the hike there. :P

( A few pictures! )

I'm going to be really industrious, you guys, and write an LJ and blog post, when all I want to do is go to sleep on the couch. Be proud of me.

dragoneyes19, hiraimi, miss_philomena, and I went to the Colonial Ball in Trenton last night (hosted by the Old Barracks Museum), and I think it was a fun time! Hopefully everyone else did too!

( Read more... )

Did all sleevey things on the striped taffeta dress today! The sleeve from the cranberry wool dress fit perfectly, which made things a lot easier. I ended up pieceing one sleeve, so I could keep my last three-yard piece intact for trim. And no, the stripes on the sleeves don't match.

So all I have to do to make the gown wearable is make the pocket slits, and put the loops and ribbons in to tie up the skirts. Of course I'd very much like to get to more than that!

Got the skirt pleated and sewn, and hemmed up the bodice fronts. Next up is to fit the shoulder straps, which I need to actually suit up for, and I didn't have time to do that before work.

Tried it on without stays just to see how the skirts were looking, and I like it - very fluffy! I still might want to hem the petticoat shorter, but then I'll have to hem the quilted petticoat shorter (with pins, natch), and that would be kind of annoying. Possible, though.

So...petticoat's finished apart from the trim! It'll be getting a ruffle, hopefully obviously, the exact width of which has yet to be determined. I thought I'd be smart and wait til I've got the gown all cut out before cutting any trim.

The cheater band is more of my cheap silk shantung...although the taffeta was almost as cheap! It's to be worn over my small roll, which has some width at the sides as well as the back, and looks rather unimpressive here. I tried it on over the roll and my quilted petticoat, which gives it a nice bit of fluff, so I might wear it over that too. Provided I don't want to hem this petticoat any shorter, which I might. It's not quite at that cute '70s short-skirt-height that I wanted. But will make gown first!