I was pleased to be able to return to Newport this year for the Greater Boston Vintage Society’s Newport Weekend event! It was a joy to be just a block away from The Breakers, hanging out with friends both new and previously-encountered.
This year my outfits leaned towards the 1950s, which was a fun change. I wore my Fortescue Frock with a sporty-looking coordinating cardigan tied over my shoulders to fit the ‘collegiate’ theme.
The clear blue skies made for toasty weather, but it was reasonably cool in the shade, which was perfect for croquet during the picnic!
Sunday’s outing was to Rose Island, a location that I had not been to before. It was fun to learn about the island’s history! And the breeze on the island made for a very comfortable temperature!
How lovely, to be able to lounge in an Adirondack chair with my feet up and have a charming conversation with a friend while watching the seagulls glide on the breeze!
The birds on Rose Island are quite at home. In fact, most of the island is a preserve for them for most of the year. They had young ones while I was there and they were quite territorial, but I was able to zoom in to get this next photo without getting too close. The fuzzy young gull is cute!
All in all, I greatly enjoyed another lovely summer escape!
Earlier this year, The Footwork and Frolick Society hosted an early 19th century themed Masquerade Ball. I enjoy fancy dress themes, and so the idea of a masquerade (which takes the idea of a costume to another level by adding a mask) seemed like a lot of fun. But what was I to do to about a costume?
The dress: I had already decided that I wanted to wear an oldie-but-goodie dress to the ball — my ivory 1819 ruffle dress, finished in 2012 (and resized at some point, though I don’t seem to have a post about that on the blog).
The mask: I don’t really enjoy wearing masks (unless they are on a stick, like this, but that’s not good for a ball when you need your hands!). I find that masks irritate my face, but at some point I did buy a black lace mask for a fantasy masquerade that is very malleable and irritates me less. So I knew that I wanted to incorporate that mask into my outfit.
The costume: I wasn’t sure… my creative problem was to figure out what kind of costume would unite an ivory dress and a black mask!
I liked the idea of choosing something historically plausible and I know that themes like flowers, seasons, and historical periods were all popular for Fancy Dress costumes (and therefore, I figured, for masquerades), but I couldn’t think of a good theme that made sense with my color choices.
So I started doing some research, and came across the idea of a domino. Not a numbered playing piece from a game… but a mysterious, historical domino!
What Is A Domino?
What is that, then? A mysterious, historical domino?
A domino is traditionally a voluminous black robe-like hooded cape worn with a black half mask as a disguise during Venetian Carnival. Dominos were popular during the 18th century at masquerades and it seems that hooded capes in this century were sometimes just generally called dominos (such as this one, perhaps, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art). By the 19th century, dominos were occasionally seen at masquerades, and even less often at fancy dress events (a costume party without masks).
Examples Of Dominos
Below is an example of an 18th century domino in the collection of the Victoria and Albert museum. In this case, the idea has been reimagined in pink, rather than the usual black. The museum gives this information regarding a date: 1765 – 1770 (sewing), ca. 1775 (altered) (accession number T.195-1968).
Below is another example, from the late 18th or early 19th century, also pink. This domino still shows evidence of 18th century construction styles — particularly the large gathered hood and what appear to be rectangle shaped sleeves. The extant example below is from Augusta Auctions. They labeled it as a Two Piece Shot Silk Domino, c.1800.
Below is an example of a mid-19th century take on a domino. This is a costume idea for a masked ball (or masquerade). This plate is from Thomas Hailes Lacy’s “Female Costumes Historical, National and Dramatic in 200 Plates,” London, 1865 (from Getty Images).
Susan de Guardiola has collected later 19th century descriptions of dominos that are available here, as well.
Though less common, dominos were still in use for masquerades even in the early 20th century. While looking for other unrelated research, I came across a mention of them from January 1920, when the accomplished fashion designer Erté wrote in a letter he was asked to write from Monte Carlo to the editor of Harper’s Bazar:
This winter will mark the first organized effort at gaiety since the dark night of war… Already we are planning to revive the masked ball in all its mad gaiety…
The domino–aha! … In Venice until the fall of the Republic, it was commonly worn in the streets. There reigned in the enchanted city at this decadent epoch a strange corruption of manners, and the mask was a necessity. At every entrance hung the black domino. Rich and poor alike donned it, in order that they might sally forth enveloped in anonymity…
“But,” argue some, “the domino gives to the fête an air of mystery.” I reply, “Then one may attain this illusion by means of a domino of distinguished cut, a domino which shall not make one’s figure look like a shapeless bundle.”
(From Designs By Erté: Fashion Drawings & Illustrations From ‘Harper’s Bazar’ Including 8 Covers In Full Color By Stella Blum)
I think this is a great place to pause. I’ll continue sharing in my next post, which will focus on how I whipped up a quick domino and what it looked like when worn!
I am super belated in posting about this event, but the one benefit of being so slow is that we’ve come full circle back to the appropriate season for these photos! I hope you enjoy recalling this lovely walk with me.
In June of 2024, I attended a 1920s themed Gala Day celebration at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers, MA. (More about Gala Day can be read here, on the Rebecca Nurse Homestead site.) It was a beautiful day with sun and blue skies. Not hot, but pleasantly comfortable. And windy!
Hang on to your hats!
One of the parts of the event I enjoyed most was exploring the grounds, which afforded a number of lovely vistas for photos.
I’m very pleased with my finished 1940 Schiaparelli Inspired Dress! The relatively simple style is set off by the pink and green sequined appliqué on the front of the dress.
This post is going to be all about wearing the finished dress. There is a separate detailed post telling all about how I made it that you can read here.
This dress is dramatic, yet simple, and completely different from anything else I have. And, it lends itself to elaborate and large hair which always amuses me.
I chose to do victory rolls, which I’ve posted about doing with my curly hair type in the past. (Not all rolls are technically victory rolls, but if they make a V there is a good argument for calling them by this name. In this case, I’m arguing that the dip between my two rolls makes a V and that’s why I’m calling them victory rolls. You can read lots more about the history of this hairstyle here, on the Bobby Pin Blog.)
The particular roll pattern and shape I chose to do was mainly inspired by this. My hair has enough volume to sustain the rolls on its own, but I cheated a bit on the teasing and stuffed the larger roll with small hair rat to help maintain the height and shape.
I’m very pleased with how the rolls turned out. They were dramatic, just like the dress and they made me super tall looking in combination with my trusty American Duchess black Seabury shoes and the columnar dress.
The V shaped rolls of hair complemented the V shaped sequins on the front of the dress AND the V shape of the back bodice with its V shaped pleats. There are all sorts of V’s in this outfit!
And, not only did I get to wear a fabulous, formal dress with large and fun hair, I was able to have a great time at Club Drosselmeyer with friends while wearing both!
(If you’re in the New England area and you haven’t heard of Club Drosselmeyer before, I suggest you check it out! I’ve been performing at and/or attending for years. It’s really special and fantastic for all sorts of people and interests. Personally, I really enjoy the live Christmas swing music, puzzles, and fabulous clothes, but there are also interactive actors, special performances, an open dance floor, and more!)
I finally open my rereleased new copy of Patterns of Fashion 2 (Pof2) last summer and had great fun looking through all of the previously included garments (from the original edition) as well as the newly included ones. I remember seeing one dress (picture below), in particular, and thinking that it would be fun to recreate it, but that the beading seemed like it would be quite a challenge!
1940 Evening Dress designed by Elsa Schiaparelli. The Victoria and Albert Museum. T.48-1965
A few months later, I was at Joann Fabrics and saw a fabulous magenta and green sequined net poking out of a shelf. I pulled it out and immediately thought that the colors were very me. But did I have a use for it? Not really… Except… What if I used that fabric to recreate the beaded idea on that dress from PofF2??? Schiaparelli’s designs often made use of magenta pink as a Surrealist inspired color, so it didn’t seem too far fetched for me to include that color in my version of the dress.
So, I bought some. ¼ of a yard, to be exact. Not too much, but enough to be able to pick and choose different parts of the flowers to create a pattern similar to my inspiration. Below is a photo of the inspiration fabric: magenta and green sequins on black net.
Not too long after that, I decided that instead of wearing my updated 1933 Dramatic Evening Dress to a December event, I would instead make a new one–the 1940 Schiaparelli dress!
The first step after my decision was to find black fabric. The original is silk crepe, but I wanted to keep the cost down a bit more than what silk would allow for. I ordered a few swatches of rayon crepe and also went to stores to look at other options. I’d almost decided on one when I came across another random fabric at Joann that stood out to me. I debated for awhile, but decided the Black Shimmer Twill was more interesting than plain black crepe (the shimmer twill is visible in the above photo underneath the sequined net).
The next step was to size up the pattern in PofF2 and adjust it to be not tiny. I am definitely not the measurements of the original! I did those things and made a mockup:
The dress skirt worked, but I wasn’t happy with what the sleeves were doing.
The neckline needed some work to fit comfortably.
I changed the grainline of the back piece. On the original, the back bodices are cut on the bias, but I decided that they would lay better if I cut them on the straight of grain.
Then, another mockup. I made a few more changes and finally it was time for the real fabric!
Cutting out the pieces was pretty easy. There actually aren’t too many of them, especially because the facings are cleverly cut on with the front and back bodice pieces. The pieces are: back skirt, back bodice, front bodice/skirts, and sleeves.
Below is a photo of the finished garment showing the clever front facings and the shimmery quality of the black base fabric I chose. (The photo also shows the fun back element of this dress: three v-shaped pleats that meet at the center.)
I sewed up all of the seams I could (so that was the center front seam, the sleeves, and the back waist seams) while still keeping the front flat, so that I could replicate, or at least imitate, the floral V-shaped beading on the original.
The next big step was using the sequined fabric to create a design similar in shape to the beading on the original. I cut out individual flowers and vines, arranging them on my assembled front pieces and pinning them in place until I was happy with the layout. Below, a photo of my cut out flowers, leaves, and vines while I was deciding on the layout.
Every piece had some net left around the edge so that I could flip them under and appliqué stitch them on. Below is an in-progress photo showing the top right flowers sewn on and some pieces pinned out of the way while I sewed bits that overlapped.
I get great joy out of taking tiny stitches, so I found it fun to catch every sequin as I went around all of the edges of all of the flowers! Here is a view of what all of those stitches look like on the inside of the dress! I didn’t think ahead to put anything to help stabilize the fabric on the inside… I wonder if it would have been less comfortable to wear if I had. Thankfully, the shimmer twill holds its own pretty well and doesn’t show puckers on the outside!
Eventually, all of my sequined bits were sewn in place. And then it was time to finish assembling the dress! The machine sewn seam allowances are all left raw on the inside.
And the top back pieces and back skirt have a fun period way of attaching to each other, which is with a top stitched seam (shown in the photo below). This is pretty common on bias cut dresses I have seen. I understand that this helps to stabilize the seam and is easier to match and line up than it would be to put right sides together in the usual method.
For closures, there is an exposed zipper (gifted to me) on the proper left side of the dress. This method and style was taken directly from the original dress information in PofF2. Below is a photo of the zipper, which is hand stitched into place.
The sleeves and skirt hem are stitched by hand, also following information in PofF2. Here’s a closeup of the sleeve. It is shaped with gathers at the top and two darts at the bottom. The hem is slip stitched into place by hand.
The only other thing that this dress needed was shoulder pads. I don’t think the original has them, as the shoulders look very sloped to me, but they were needed to make the dress sit properly on my body (and they add a very 1940s square shouldered look!).
Conveniently, I had a pair of shoulder pads in my stash that worked well. They were, however, light colored and I thought it would be nice if they matched my dress better, so I covered them with scraps of the dress fabric before tacking them in.
Below is a photo of my covered shoulder pads followed by a photo of the shoulder pads sewn in place on the gown, with bra strap keeps added as well.
And that’s it for now! This post is long enough, so pictures of the full ensemble will be in another post!
Just as with my post about the 2022 Greater Boston Vintage Society Newport Weekend, I’m posting about an event from last summer in the middle of winter. Sometimes it takes awhile to get to posting! Well, as before, late is better than never.
This year the weather was not as cooperative as in the past. It was raining on Saturday, the only full day of the event. Nevertheless, we made the best of it, choosing to still picnic outside, but in the covered areas of the porch.
It was a bit cooler than summer usually is, also due to the rain, so we added hot tea to our picnic spread. Yum!
Who doesn’t carry around a teapot in a picnic basket?
There was a break in the rain long enough for a few outfit photos. For Saturday I chose to wear my 1928 Egyptomania Inspired Dress and American Duchess/Royal Vintage Ginger shoes. The pop of color was nice on the rainy day.
For the Saturday evening ball, I wore my 1927 Blush Sparkle Evening Gown and black American Duchess Seaburies. It’s always neat to wear these shoes in Newport — they are designed based on shoes in the collection of the Newport Historical Society!
On Sunday, I decided to go to a behind-the-scenes tour of The Elms. As with all of the Newport mansions, this one has a grand facade and all sorts of interesting (and expensive!) details to learn about.
For example, the rounded area of greenery (below) actually conceals a sloping driveway to the basement and servants’ entrance. This is where deliveries were dropped off, as well. With the greenery growing on a lattice above this area the family could carry on without needing to see the servants or delivery people come and go.
The servants had very nice quarters on the top floor of the house. They also had access to roof space that ran around the entire house — but of course this was concealed by a parapet. Just as with the servants’ entrance, the family wouldn’t want to see the servants taking leisure time on the roof.
For modern tours, there is a platform that lifts you above the level of the parapet so you can see the view of the grounds and harbor. It’s quite lovely!
Back at the entrance, I was very amused by the shaped trees. They reminded me of mushrooms!
So instead of the usual outfit photos, I chose to take some highlighting the trees and pretending to be a mushroom! The weather had completely changed from the rain the day before! It was warm, and I chose to wear my 1953 Dot Dress with comfy Crocs flats.
In addition to the servants’ area in the basement and on the upper floor, we also toured the boiler room in the house. It’s massive, with multiple boilers! Well, I guess it is a huge house!
Along the lines of the concealed delivery entrance I already shared, this house also has a tunnel that runs from a side street to the boiler room in order to move coal without the family seeing. This is the entrance to the tunnel in the boiler room. Look at the floor! They had ways to turn the carts around and everything!
Finally, after lots of walking around the house and up and down stairs, I finished the trip with a picnic lunch by the water in a new-to-me area in Benton Point State Park. It was lovely, breezy, and the geologic formations in the rocks are beautiful.
And that’s it! After that it was time to head home to await another future adventure.
The accessories included long black gloves and my oft-worn black American Duchess Seabury shoes as well as a lustrous pale yellow collet necklace and earring set from In The Long Run Designs. This dress, with my giant fluffy petticoat, is always fun to wear and was particularly enjoyable with these new-to-this outfit accessories.
As you can see, the museum really is just that–not only is there a rotating exhibit where these photos were taken, but there is also a standing exhibit of early 20th century vehicles as well. It’s always a treat to see them and imagine traveling or going for a spin in old car style!
The gallery wall in the photo below shows the sorts of vehicles that are on permanent display, as well as glamorously dressed friends. We didn’t coordinate our outfits, but it certainly looks like we might have!
I chose to take most of my outfit photos in front of a 1956 Ferrari 410 Superamerica Series I Coupe. It matched my dress! And wouldn’t it have been fabulous to have arrived at the event in one of these?
I do enjoy cars, but not enough to have remembered the full name of this one! I took a photo of the information about the car in order to reference, and to provide some extra context.
It was fun, as always, to have a reason to wear fancier-than-usual dress and hang out with friends while listening to great music in an unusual and interesting setting!
I didn’t make a new dress… but I did update an old one! In fact, this is the second round of major updates to this dress! The first round, pictured below, is explained in this past post from 2017.
While the dress with the first round of updates was certainly better than it had been in its initial form, I still wasn’t super pleased with the fit. Despite that, it has come in handy for a number of events and just keeps getting worn. So, for an event late last year I decided to do even more updates to the dress to try to feel happier about how it looks on me.
Here is a rundown of the most recent alterations:
Maxed out the hem, using 3 different bits of vintage lace hem tape in various shades of ‘navy’ blue that were gifted to me over the years. It’s so nice to be able to use these gifted vintage finds. I appreciate seeing the prices on the packaging changing over the years!
Stiffened the hem of the back velvet drape with horsehair hidden under a facing of leftover velvet scraps (during and after photos, below).
Added small horizontal tucks at the sides to try to get the hem to be a little more of an A-line shape.
Took in the sides under the arms even more than I had previously and tacked down all of the flapping bits.
Added a 1″ belt, made from scraps of the fabric, with a rhinestone buckle at the center to help create more of a 1930s and less of a modern look.
Opened center front between the two bust pieces to create a deeper V neckline.
Added bra cups, covered with scrap fabric and tacked inside.
Added tacks as well as hooks and bars to the back velvet drape to help it hang nicely.
I hope to wear this again later this year and get photos of this second iteration of updates!
When I made my vintage-inspired Plum Pants With Pointed Pockets in 2020, I didn’t have a great opportunity to get photos of them right away. I made do with photos taken in my yard, with my phone balanced on my lawn mower in lieu of a tripod!
Since then, I’ve worn them relatively often in warm months for ‘real’ life and historical events. I thought I would intentionally wear them for the GBVS Newport Weekend in 2022 because of their comfortable nature but also in order to get pictures of them in fabulous places that have far more glamour than my backyard!
The opportunity presented itself on the grounds of Rosecliff. The grand windows and patio with the lion statue were too much not to pass up!
Accordingly, there is a whole serious of photos showing off the wide legs of pants in the bright summer sunlight.
I can’t decide which pose is my favorite! I do like the ones where the points of the pockets are in the sun rather than the shade, such that you can see them. But some of the photos with the points in the shade have such great attitude!
The side of Rosecliff is beautiful as well, in terms of architectural details and gardens. It was also a lovely place to get photos.
And a closer view with the sun highlighting the pocket points.
Thanks for enjoying this summer-y photo shoot with me!
It’s 2023 now, so that alone is an indication that is post is belated. It will seem even more belated when I share that this event happened in Summer of 2022. Better late than never, though, and I am actually quite excited to share my adventures at this event hosted by the Greater Boston Vintage Society.
To start, a short post sharing some outfits and a brief overview of the weekend’s events. The next post I’ll devote to Newport mansion tour highlights.
The Newport Weekend is a recurring event that takes place in Newport, Rhode Island. In 2022, participants could choose to attend for a single day or stay overnight in the dorms at Salve Regina University. I chose to stay overnight, which allowed for a lengthier stay and therefore more adventures.
On Saturday, I wore my 1925 Blue Coral Dress, a tried and true favorite for hot summer days. Being made of opaque lightweight cotton that doesn’t show wrinkles, it’s an excellent choice for lounging, picnicking, dancing, and being swept about in the occasional breeze. With this dress I wore my Royal Vintage/American Duchess Ginger shoes and 1920s Wide Brim Hat. It’s been awhile since I wore any of these things and the hat, in particular. The large brim is dramatic and enjoyable!
These photos were taken inside and outside the Fairlawn Estate at Salve Regina, which was built in 1852-1853. You can read more about it at the Salve Regina Library site, here.
After various hijinks and shenanigans during the day, I changed into my 1950 Baroness Dress for the evening ball, which I accessorized with sparkly silver jewelry and my silver American Duchess Seabury shoes. I love the dramatic color and massive bow feature on this dress! It was fun to get it out of the closet and wear it again!
Sunday had a bit of picnicking as well as Newport mansion tours. It’s been years since I toured The Breakers, pictured below, so that was fun to do again. The immense expense of Newport ‘cottages’ is jaw dropping, every time. I also chose to visit some of the other mansions that I haven’t visited before. I’ll share photos of those in a separate post.
For now, here’s an outfit photo as though I’m ‘visiting’ The Breakers. I wore my 1930s vintage-inspired Plum Pants with Pointed Pockets, paired with a modern blouse and my Gingers, again. I’ll admit that it was a lot of walking for heels, even comfortable ones… but, they go so well with my outfit that I couldn’t resist!
And that was the weekend! It was fun to see old friends, meet new acquaintances, and make new memories with everyone. Plus, fabulous locations and historical clothes!
The Quintessential Clothes Pen 