December is going to be a whirlwind of HSF posts and posts about events, so I need to hurry up and get started by sharing pictures of an event that actually happened in November but which I haven’t shared pictures of yet. The event was a 1860s Intensive Dance Weekend, hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, featuring two days of dance classes, two evening balls, and a German (an after ball party of fun dance games). I’ve got lots of pictures, so I’m going to split this up into two posts. In today’s post, I’ll share pictures of the Saturday of the dance weekend and Part II will be pictures of the Sunday of the dance weekend.
Taking some photos before the ball.I wore Evie. This is a nice photo of the bodice with recently added sleeve trim.Plaid dresses!Something exciting was being said, though I don’t remember what! This is good proof, though, that my Evie hair wreath does often take on a very green hue in contrast to the sometimes gold-ish brown that it looks in pictures.In lines, dancing Le Tourbillion.Dancing in a large circle. This is either Spanish Dance or Soldier’s Joy. I always get them confused since they start out similarly!Lines of ladies and gentlemen dancing Gothic Dance.Ladies passing under the “Gothic” arches!Wondering what this odd scene is? This is one of the dance games in the German. You’ll have to forgive me for not remembering the names of them. In this one, a lady sat in the chair with a mirror and cloth. She could see the gentleman standing behind her in the mirror. She would wipe the mirror to dismiss them until she found one she wanted to dance with.In this dance game, the lady presented one of the two gentlemen with a glass of “wine.” She then danced with the other gentleman.For this dance game, the gentlemen were blindfolded (I was dancing as a gentleman…). We all stood in a circle with ladies in between gentlemen and then would begin to give hands, right then left, around the circle. Because the gentlemen were blindfolded the ladies had to be sure to catch their hands to keep them from wandering out of the circle. At the sound of a whistle, you would dance with the person whose hand you were holding. Something must have been mixed up, because two of us blindfolded “gentlemen” wound up dancing together, to the great amusement of all onlookers. Lucky for us we’re both proficient waltzers, and being blindfolded isn’t much of a challenge. People were quite impressed and amused.Another dance game, with 5 each of ribbons, ladies, and gentlemen. Once the center of the ribbon was released each person found the person holding the other end of their ribbon and danced with them.This dance game involves two people trying to capture one of the dancing couples in the sash. When they’ve caught someone they switch around so different people are the ones holding the sash. The people dancing have to try to dance away from capture.It’s hard to see, but the couple with the plaid dress is holding a top hat. The object of this dance game is for the second couple to dance close enough to the couple with the top hat to drop a glove into it. When that happens then the couple with glove becomes the couple with the hat. Only dancing, not running, is allowed to elude the couple with the glove.
All in all a fun and energetic day and night of dancing, especially with the German that was directly after the ball. I hope you enjoyed these.
The theme of this HSF challenge is Re-Do, in which you re-do a previous challenge for a second time or you re-do a challenge you didn’t complete the first time around.
The muff and hat are super soft. In addition to keeping my hands in the muff, I also spent a fair amount of time hugging and patting it.
I’m using my recently completed 1917 fur hat and recently revised matching muff as my entry for this challenge. I think the hat and muff best qualify for a re-do of Challenge #20: Outerwear, which I did complete with my 1822 Walking Dress (so this would be a re-do of a challenge I already completed). So, the facts:
Fabric: About 1/4 yd of faux fur and about 1/4 yd cotton flannel.
Pattern: Created by me.
Year: 1917.
Notions: Thread, polyester batting.
How historically accurate?: 90%. Tall round hats of this sort were popular in 1917, though they were likely made of real fur rather than faux fur. The revised muff has a great shape for lots of periods, including this one, and is pretty accurate, aside from the fact that it is also faux fur. Oh, and neither hats nor muffs were insulated with poly batting… but it is so warm! And no one will know except me, and those of you reading this!
Hours to complete: Unknown. I was pretty tired while working on the hat, so I know it took longer than it should have. The muff was quick (like 2 hours) but that’s just the revision. I don’t remember how long it took to make it originally.
Total cost: None, since I bought the fur and the flannel specifically for the muff over two years ago I count it as a stash project.
Here’s my inspiration for the hat. I was aiming for the exaggerated shape on the right. I don’t think I quite achieved that, unfortunately. I did actually spend a lot of time patterning the hat so it would look right sitting at an angle rather than straight. I think I was so cold when I was wearing it that I pulled it down to cover more of my head and thus pulled it off of its angle. Sad! But also, the thick fur rather obscures the shape anyway. I chose not to do the sticky-up bit, partly because I ran out of time, and partly because I just didn’t know what to make it out of, since the hat was already fur. Oh well. I really like that middle hat, too…
1915. In the collection of the NYPL.
I originally made the muff for an 1860s event a few years ago. I had a plan to use gathered silk for the two ends, but it turns out it looked cooler in my head than when I executed the plan. Also, the muff was a little longer than I liked, so I decided that for this event I would shorten the muff by taking off the silk ends and folding the fur over to cover the ends. Here’s my Pinterest board of inspiration for this project. You’ll see that there are various shapes and sizes of muffs c. 1917. Mine is somewhere in the middle in terms of size and shape.
This is sort of what I was envisioning with the silk on the ends, but it is a little underwhelming. You can see the cotton flannel lining in the middle. It holds body heat, so it doesn’t feel cold when you put your hands in!This is the other side. It’s pretty twisty and sad.
But as I said, I took the silk off, folded the fur down over the ends, and sewed it directly to the flannel. (I have plans to use the silk for a Regency reticule at some point in the future… yay recycling!) You can see the results in these next few pictures. I’m quite happy with the results! The muff is about 3″ shorter and I like the look of the fur on the sides.
See the fur on the sides? That used to be the silk part.This was our silly shot and it shows off the new muff end well.Another silly shot, just for fun. I think maybe I was trying to keep my face warm?
If you saw my last post, you were left guessing as to what event I was furiously sewing for. I think most you guessed that it had to do with women’s suffrage… Yay you! The entire event wasn’t really about suffrage, but suffrage was a part of it. We went down to Plymouth, MA to be a part of a historic village event that was linked to the main Thanksgiving parade in town.
The historic village contained various groups from the early 17th century, groups from the 18th century, Marines from 1812, a unit from the Civil War, my usual dancing friends and I representing women’s suffrage c. 1914, and paratroopers from the 1940s. The parade was…a parade. There were historic groups in it (including some of the military groups I just mentioned), there were marching bands, there were floats, there were unicycles, and there were horses doing various things.
And I’ve got pictures! To start, here are some images of the parade:
Happy Thanksgiving! The giant inflatable turkey was pretty amusing, especially when he had to slightly deflate to get his head under the power lines!Often these guys are dancing with us, but at this event they were hanging out in the 1630s as the Salem Trayned Band.Some of our other friends: 1812 Marines.8 beautiful (and large!) Budweiser Clydesdales.4 spirited horses pulling…A fancy Wells Fargo stage coach!A super snazzy green car, with bright green trim!Red, white, and blue confetti in the cold, clear air near the end of the parade route.
Next, here are some images of our representation of Suffragists and our setup in the historic village:
Setting up our tea table. Other setups included tents and smoking fires (it had rained the day before and everything was damp and mushy, so the fires didn’t really work…).Yes, we really did drink tea. In china cups. It actually was very nice to have hot beverages throughout the day given how cold it was outside!See, we’re drinking our tea!We didn’t march in the parade or parade around the historic village, but we did serenade the ducks in the creek behind us (and visitors walking by) with suffrage songs.Here we are making “serious suffrage” faces.Ok, smile for the camera.
The best part is that in addition to sharing a little bit about history with the public and getting to watch the Thanksgiving parade in all its glory, I was able to use this opportunity to build and wear an outfit showing off my recently completed 1917 Knitted Sweater of Angorina. I had to plan for cold weather, but I didn’t want to cover up my sweater! So I planned a faux fur hat to match an existing muff, a wool skirt, a polyester crepe blouse (in this case, the polyester was a great choice, because the fact that it wouldn’t breathe would help me stay warm and use up a random bit of fabric in my stash that had no other project in its future!), and did a mostly unnoticeable revamp on my 1860s/can-look-like-other-decades fur muff (which was essential, it turned out, for keeping my hands warm!). And to look stylish, I made gaiters to turn my 1920s American Duchess Gibsons into 19-teens looking spat-boots. And all of the fabrics were from my stash! The gaiters might just be my favorite part of the outfit, and both they and my fur hat will qualify for the next two HSF challenges, so you’ll see more detailed information on those soon! All in all, I managed to stay warm, except for my feet! I wore thick tights, but I didn’t think to wear extra socks, and my toes and feet were SO cold! Note to self: wear thick socks next time an all day outside event in the cold is on the horizon…
And here is my brand new 1917 outfit:
Yay! New hat, revised muff, new blouse, hand knit sweater, new skirt, and new gaiters, worn with my Gibsons, my modern cashmere lined leather gloves, my 1913 petticoat pinned up to shorten its length, and a golden yellow ribbon in support of women’s suffrage. I was able to completely finish my accessories, but the blouse and skirt didn’t get as far as closures. You can’t tell of course, but safety pins are great sometimes. These two garments now live in the “need to be finished” section of my sewing list.One of the only back views. The blouse has neat collar details (see those cute points?) and neat cuff details you obviously can’t see. When I eventually finish the blouse and skirt I’ll post more details about their design and construction.
Despite last minute sewing for all of us, we all looked good and had fun wearing clothes from the 1910s while sharing a bit of important history with the public:
The 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in the US, was ratified in 1920, after over 70 years of struggle. I think it’s fitting that Thanksgiving and women’s suffrage were related events for us ladies this year. In addition to many other things, we’re thankful for those who fought to get women the right to vote!
Product links in this post contain an affiliate code, which provides a small benefit to my shoe fund. This does not affect my impressions and reviews of this product.
Refreshing in a tiara and apron.While preparing the refreshments someone realized we didn’t have a knife to cut the pound cake. That didn’t stop us for long, though, because it’s entirely normal for the men in our group to have swords in the car. All that was required was a quick walk out to the car to get one, and just like that we were back in business!One of the pretty cards labeling the refreshments.
The ball was a huge success. I think there were about 70 attendees, which quite filled up the room we were in. There was live music played on a piano, cello, and violin. People seemed to really enjoy themselves.
A view of the crowded room.Dancing a country dance.I was so busy dealing with refreshments I didn’t get to dance much, which was a little sad, but this was one of the dances I was able to dance.Couples dancing a Regency waltz.More waltzing.People were very well dressed and it’s always fun to look at the clothing people who are new to one’s acquaintance.One of our friends made a new dress for herself as well as a friend who was visiting and attending the ball. So kind!And there were a surprising number of new faces. This group of young men requested a picture with us, and we obliged.I’ll leave you with this further, slightly artsy, proof of my new tiara being worn.
After eating brunch at a 1950s themed diner, stopping along the side of the road to take lovely autumn color pictures, and spending some time at a thrift store before the roller rink opened, we finally headed out to go roller skating! I had been jokingly warned that we were likely to be at the roller rink with a whole lot of 8 year olds and the warning was pretty accurate. There were a few adult couples on dates and a few by themselves, but mostly there were a ton of 5-13 year olds and their adult chaperones. It was a Saturday afternoon, after all, so it was to be expected that there would be a lot of birthday parties… It didn’t bother us, though, we’re used to being unique. And lots of the girls called out that they liked our dresses as we skated by. Perhaps one day they’ll be inspired to make or wear historic clothing!
Some of us had been more used to roller blading, but in the spirit of trying to be 1950s-ish, we all rented roller skates. Granted, the roller rink and the skates are obviously modern and not 50s, as you’ll see, but we had so much fun it didn’t matter at all!
Putting on skates under a black light.Things started off a little shaky for some of us.But we were there to support each other.In fact, I almost fell over before I even made it onto the rink… But I managed to keep my balance, and here I am, successfully skating!Our confidence rose pretty quickly, and soon we were all making it around the rink.We were even managing to be graceful sometimes.And possibly even in sync…I did still lose my balance sometimes and make crazy faces…But they were balanced out by the successful moments.Look, here’s another successful moment!On a roll!This picture amuses me, because we might be dancing, or we might just be loosing our balance…Group shot (with fun lights!).Another group shot…You might remember our “raise the roof Charleston”… We just like to throw in raising the roof any chance we get, and this was a perfect opportunity.It almost looks intentional that we’re all in a line!Full circle. Returning my skates under the black light.
Fun, right? We really enjoyed ourselves and no one actually fell! But the day wasn’t over… we still had a Regency ball to run/attend that night. I’ve got pictures of that coming soon. It sure is a transformation from 1950s!
Back to 1950s adventures! I started the adventures with my previous post about the beginning of our day at a 50s themed diner. After leaving the diner we wanted to get some pictures with the beautiful New England autumn colors in the background, so we thought we’d find a place along the side of the road. We took a wrong turn over a bridge and got a little confused, but the confusion wound up with us driving past a lovely side road/private drive with lots of lovely trees and rock clumps. Rather impulsively, we pulled over a hopped out to take some pictures… and here are some of the results!
Autumn in New England!Striking a pose at the base of the road we stopped on.There’s a song that used to play on the Oldies radio station when I was young: “Secret Agent Man”–when I look at this picture I start singing that song in my head… “They’ve given you a number, and taken away your name… (instrumental: doo da doo da doo da doo da doo da doo…) Secret Agent Man!”This looks like it’s straight out of the autumn edition of a clothing catalog.We were playing pass-around-my-petticoat so no one would feel left out.Petticoat!There were so many fun places to take photos!Group shot on the rocks.Serious faces. It has since been determined that if we were to start a hipster band named Queens of Rock, this would be the cover of our first album “Colors of Fall.” Of course, we’d be super obscure and you wouldn’t have heard of us…The colors are so complimentary! And the glasses are cute.Showing off my more casual, modern footwear… purple crocs that match my dress!
So there you go. I hope you enjoyed all the leaves! Next stop is the roller rink…
I’m taking a quick break from the 1950s adventure posts to insert my HSF #21 post into the mix. More 1950s coming soon!
It’s been on my sewing list for a few months to add a bit more trim to the sleeves of Evie, my most recent Civil War era dress, but I’ve been working on knitting my sweater and completing other projects, like my 1822 Walking Dress, so I hadn’t really been inspired to complete the trim. However, the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers were asked to run a ball as part of recent Civil War reenactments in Worcester, MA, and that gave me the perfect incentive to finish up trimming Evie! She also happens to be green, so this is my entry for the HSF Challenge #21: Green.
Oh yes, I forgot I had some other minor changes to make to Evie since I last wore her in March as well. Boring things, like changing out the boning at center back, and enlarging the armsceye a bit under the arm, and adding hooks and bars to connect the bodice to the skirt. I got all those things done, too, though they don’t get their own photographs. I really like the added trim. It gives the bodice a little bit more interest and helps balance out the immense skirt.
Here is Evie, with her new sleeve trim.Another view. The sleeve trim is a smaller scale version of the trim on the skirt.A cropped version of the picture above. I can’t decide which way I like it better, so I’m including both.And here is what the bodice of Evie looked like before I added the sleeve trim.
Most of the trim on this dress is based on two images I discussed in this previous post: a fashion plate from 1864 and a costume made by Tirelli Costumi. The sleeve trim is based off of yet a third inspiration source: the painting, below, of Princess Helena in the Royal Collection. It’s perfect that it’s from 1864, just like my inspiration fashion plate. It’s even better that it echoes the bertha trim I already had and the zig zag on my skirt.
This is a copy by William Corden (1819-1900) of the portrait of Princess Helena by Albert Graefle (RCIN 403988). The original was painted for Princess Helena as a birthday present for Queen Victoria on 24 May 1864. Princess Helena (1846-1923), nicknamed Lenchen, was the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was lively, outspoken and something of a tomboy. In 1866, two years after this portrait was painted, she married Prince Christian of Schleswig Holstein and in 1916 they celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary; she was the only child of Queen Victoria to do so. Queen Victoria recorded in her Journal that ‘Lenchen’s picture by Graefle, is extremely good & pretty’.
Now, the facts:
Fabric: small bits of leftover gold silk shantung and green silk taffeta from the construction of the dress.
Pattern: none.
Year: 1864.
Notions: only thread.
How historically accurate?: Well, shantung is not accurate, but silk is (and this doesn’t look very shantung-y). I give this trim a 98% on accuracy.
Hours to complete: 4? All hand sewn.
First worn: With the new trim, on October 11, to a Civil War ball.
Total cost: $0, because it’s leftovers!
Now for the bonus part of this post where I include pictures from the Civil War ball.
The entrance to the building had these fabulous doors.Each section looked like this.Dancing a waltz.Swinging skirts are fun!People looked very nice.And it was nice to see unfamiliar faces and meet new people.There was a constant swishing sound of skirts brushing against one another.The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers interspersed short performances throughout the evening.This is the Triplet Galop Quadrille.The ball room had large, dark, seriously-faced portraits around the perimeter. I’m not sure they approved of all the dancing!There were also Civil War era flags that the reenactors had brought to help decorate the room. And here’s a full length shot of Evie with her new sleeve trim.
I had a lovely time. This ball was nicely different than our usual evening balls with all the new faces. My senses were most struck by the abundance of rather more sturdy and thick wools worn by the military gentlemen than I am used to feeling at most balls, when there are more gentlemen in smoother wool tailcoats. The occasional feel of the thicker wool on my left arm was a tangible, and rather transporting, connection to the past. It seems quite likely that at a ball held during the Civil War a lady would have felt more thick wool on uniformed gentlemen than she might have felt at a ball pre or post war when there would have been more civilian tailcoats at a ball.
Have I inspired you to want to learn 1860s dancing and attend a ball? I’ll end with this small encouragement for your attendance at the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers’ next Civil War events. The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers have a Civil War Dance Weekend coming up in November, 2013. It’s super reasonably priced and includes lots of dance classes, two balls, and a German. There’s no experience necessary. If you’re at all interested and in the New England area you should check it out, because we’re doing lots of awesome Civil War dancing in 2014 as well (they are listed at the bottom of the Civil War Dance Weekend link, above), and why not get started learning or brushing up sooner rather than later? I’d love to see you there!
Remember when I posted the details about my 1953 dot dress, I mentioned that I was waiting to participate in a grand adventure to get photos of the dress on me? It worked out recently that schedules were free on the same day, so we were able to have a 1950s adventure! We started out going for brunch at a 1950s themed diner, then stopped by the side of the road to take fall color pictures on our way to go to a thrift store (where I purchased a flip top picnic basket for $4!), followed by roller skating, and then we finished off the evening with a Regency ball. It was a long, awesome day. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it.
But I’ve got lots of fun pictures to share! Yay! I’m going to break up the 1950s pictures into three parts: photos at the diner, fall color photos, and photos of roller skating. There will be a separate post about the Regency ball (which includes pictures of my Refreshing Apron in action and my new tiara!).
Our 1950s group at the diner. We had another patron take the group shot and she sort of cut off people’s heads, but we’re grateful for the photo nonetheless.I rather loved the aqua and pink color scheme, which included the aqua/green coke water glasses.
I noticed crayons on another table the waitresses were clearing off and asked if we could have them… because you never really stop being a child! Though I have to say I was more easily inspired when I was a child. It was hard to come up with something to draw!
Crayons!“My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to dye.” The crayon color was Indigo, and the reference is from The Princess Bride.Doodling away. We were competing to see who could draw a better record.Here’s mine. It’s hard to draw a record with crayons! Do the music notes help?And here I am, drawing away. I really like this picture! (I’m not making a crazy face!)
Now is as good a time as any to talk about my hair and accessories (especially since I’m about to subject you to a series of me-shots). I tried to do rolls with my hair. I think they were quite successful, though they did take a very long time. I had to dry my hair, straighten my hair, then curl my hair while adding hairspray and trying to contain the waves and the frizz… I aimed for an asymmetrical style but in some pictures it looks like I just have an odd halo of hair on one side of my head and not the other. I ran out of time and inspiration for the back, so my hair is just in a bun. It’s the first time I’ve attempted this sort of hair style, so I certainly don’t have lots of practice. Ah well, I like that I look very put together and made up–that just seems like a 50s way to be.
Unfortunately, the juke box isn’t functional. But it’s a great photo opportunity!
Oh right, and accessories! Well, I’ve got a modern sweater from Old Navy. I’ve got Nine West brown heels (a little tall for the 50s, but other than that they have a great shape). And I’ve got a faux pearl and jewel bracelet (another of the costume jewelry presents from my mom). Thanks mom!
Posing with someone else’s shake. But it’s pink, so it had to be done. I’m pretty bad at posing. There are lots of pictures where I’m just making awkward faces…One of my favorite pictures! I love the painted people in the background, and that I’m not making a crazy face.See? Half halo head. Anyway, I like this picture, too.The actual owner of the pink shake also posed by the juke box. That guy on the wall is pretty funny.Gumball machine!
Finally, step outside and there’s a cute scarecrow waiting for you (at least during the month of October…)!
Shaking hands with Mr. Scarecrow.Ditzy faces. Oh hey, my hair looks less dorky in these scarecrow pictures. It really depends on the angle!
See? So many smiles. Next stop will be the side of the road where we stopped to take fall color pictures…
A few weekends ago I participated in a picnic and dance performance at the Commandant’s House. You might remember that we danced there last August? It was great fun last year and we were pleased to be able to participate in another event at this lovely location.
This time around we were there mostly to picnic, so that’s what the majority of my pictures are from. But we did dance a little in the house and lounged around to take a few pictures. Enjoy!
I love how picturesque we all look in this photo! It’s sort of funny how the white dresses all clumped on one side and the colored dresses on the other.After eating we played Graces.It’s much more fun with lots of people and lots of hoops!We played it in a big circle and would just call someone’s name to get their attention (hopefully) before flinging the hoops at them.There were some really good catches and really close misses.We had a great time and laughed a lot!With trees around, I’m sure you can guess what happened…I didn’t want to do a boring bun, so I opted for two rolls of hair instead.We were called from Graces to dance inside the house. I was particularly appreciative of this wallpaper this time around. It’s in the entry hallway. You can see other interior pictures of the house in this post from last year.The curtains in this room have a lovely glow when the sun shines on them.Looking for Mr. Darcy, perhaps? I just love the shadows and the glow.
Well, not me, exactly… (But please, tell me you know what movie the title of this post is referencing! I love that movie!)
Anyway, let’s start at a place that’s not at the beginning (yikes, I’m full of movie references right now!) and explain about the church, and getting there on time.
It’s hard to see, but right there in the middle of the board is the Parish Church.
This is the Pride and Prejudice board game, one of the amusements we took part in at a somewhat recent Regency picnic! There are four players who each control two characters (a male and a female). The goal is to collect various tokens either by visiting different places on the board or answering trivia questions and then, finally, to be the first person to get both of your chracters to the church. Now does the title of this post make more sense?
I was Jane and Mr. Bingley.
The game was quite fun and amusing, though I could imagine it would be a lot slower and less interesting if the players had a very low level of knowledge about Pride and Prejudice.
To back up to the beginning, though, the game followed food eating time at the picnic. We had a pretty elaborate picnic set-up with vases, and silver, and vinyl lace table cloth…
Food!Flowers, lemonade, sparkling cider…Sandwiches, muffins, cupcakes, pastries…Obviously, Newman was around in the Regency.
After food and board games, we took a walk around the park we were picnicking at for some photos. The park is full of lovely little dips, stone walls, creeks, waterfalls, and plants. It’s quite lovely!
So picturesque! This could totally be out of a Jane Austen scene.Group shot. I wore my 1815 Tree Gown and bonnet, accessorized with a sapphire cross necklace, my stripe-y reticule, blue American Duchess stockings, and pointy tan shoes.I didn’t bring a fan, but the other ladies did. Aren’t they all lovely?
Ok, so if you have read to the bottom of this post and you’re still wondering what movie the title is referencing, I’ll give you the answer. It’s My Fair Lady. Fabulous hats, gorgeous jewels and tiaras, cups of tea, fun and funny songs, Audrey Hepburn, and Rex Harrison. Please go watch it, if you like these things and have never seen it! (Oh, and the second movie reference is The Sound of Music. Another amazing movie you should watch many, many times!)
