Last post, I left you just at the completion of our young set’s Speed Virginia Reel. This post is going to be a continuation of Ochre Court pictures, because there were too many I wanted to share for just one post. At the end of the ball we decided to get some young people pictures on the fabulous red carpeted stair case in the entry way, so that is where we begin Ochre Court pictures: part II.
Congregating on the stairs. If you look closely, you can see the flower clump casualty on my dress.Such a lovely group of young people.Of course, we’re all very tired after our exertions…But that doesn’t stop us from taking animal pictures!Which made us laugh pretty hard.Bill Cunningham caught us taking photos on the stairs and was very excited. BUT… We caught Bill Cunningham taking pictures of us on the stairs!Halfway up the stairs, pretending to jump!A close up…Another view. It was particularly amusing to us because we were tired and the floor below the stairs is marble, so obviously one would not actually want to jump over the railing…Okay, now we’re trying to be serious and look like we’re having casual conversations.And now we’re being elegant. Look! Bill Cunningham!Descending the stairs with camera flashes going off as though I was a celebrity!But I’m not… I’m just me, missing a flower clump… backed by young men in tails…Momentary relaxation between photos…This was the skirt puddle pose which followed the traditional jellyfish dance… (aka all of us jumping up and down in a clump and moving through the rooms before suddenly plopping and letting our skirts billow around us).While being a jellyfish I lost a second clump of flowers! I didn’t think I had sewn them on so loosely!So sad. You know it’s a good ball when your dress suffers injuries not once, but twice!Oh my! Tartan drawers to match the tartan dress!I was so happy to just BE in Ochre Court. Do you get that feeling from this picture? I’m just soaking it all in.Exuberant might be a better word for me.“I love Ochre Court THIS much!”Posing by the fireplace in the white room. Isn’t it lovely?Don’t we look fabulous???The necessary bum picture, particularly amusing when wearing hoops.One last glimpse of the back lawn before we pack up to leave.I LOVE Ochre Court. I just wanted to drink it in as much as I possibly could.
That was a long one! But you made it! Thanks for sticking with me through all those photos. I sincerely hope that you were able to get a feeling of excitement and unrestrained happiness from the pictures that matched even half of my feelings from that night. It was truly spectacular. Thanks to all my lovely friends for assisting me in having such a marvelous time.
Final tally: 66 pictures from this event between two posts out of 1047 possible Ochre Court pictures… Honestly, I don’t think I did too terribly narrowing them down, considering the possibilities!
As you may already know if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, the 1860s are my favorite period. I get super excited about them–especially the clothes! So you can imagine my absolute joy at being able to attend an 1860s ball during Newport Vintage Dance Week. But to make things even more amazingly wonderful, this particular ball was held in one of the most beautiful places we visited during the week! You can see pictures of last year’s 1860s Ochre Court Newport ball here, in an earlier post. In fact, Ochre Court is my favorite of any Newport venues I have ever entered, except maybe the Breakers… but we didn’t have a ball at the Breakers (because it is no longer open to the public, as far as I know), so for Newport 2012, Ochre Court was my top most favorite place!
Ochre Court was built in 1892 as a summer home for Ogden Goelet, a wealthy New York banker and developer, for $4.5 million. It was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, who also designed the Breakers, which is just down the street. In fact, Ochre Court is the 2nd largest Newport “cottage,” the Breakers being the largest. (All of this information came from the Newport Mansions website, which you can access by clicking the link at the beginning of the paragraph. It also has fantastic pictures, which you should check out if you’re at all interested!)
We came up the side road to enter Ochre Court. This is the side gate.As you walk in the side gate you are greeted by the grand front drive to the right.Looking down the main drive. Directly behind the camera is Ochre Court.The grand main drive is just to the right. To the left is the entry to Ochre Court.Looking up at Ochre Court. The arch at the bottom of the picture is the front entryway from the last picture.This is the grand ballroom: the first room reached upon entering Ochre Court! It is three stories high with arched galleries on the second and third floors, which are reached by means of a fabulous red carpeted staircase (pictures of that are coming soon).Pass through the grand ballroom and you emerge onto the back lawns which slope gently down toward the cliff and the water.
The neat thing about many of the balls at Newport is that multiple rooms on the same level of the mansions are open and available to us, and we are able to dance between rooms during the course of one dance!
This is the library, which is just off of the grand ballroom.The grand ballroom.Another view of dancers in the grand ballroom.One more because it’s pretty!This room wasn’t open last year! In my head it is the white room. It is also just off of the grand ballroom. We are dancing the Newport 2012 quadrille: Les Rats.We’ve just finished a figure of the quadrille! Yay us!Taking a break in the entryway.
Okay, this next bit takes a bit of explaining. Antonia expressed it very well in her post “Speed Virginia Reel at Ochre Court.” You can read the whole description by clicking the link, but here’s the short version: “The Virginia Reel is an interesting dance…there are always people who refuse to wait for the music and push the speed…Speed Virginia Reel doesn’t even try that hard, and instead strives to be insane. It was invented by teenagers a couple of months ago…and it doesn’t even pretend to be dancing to music.” Is your interest peaked?
I hope so, because it was some of the most fun we young people had at this particular ball! It included many sweeping hoop skirts showing scandalous views of ladies’ drawers as well as a slide and fall on her bottom by none other than me! Unfortauntely, there are no pictures of me actually on the floor, so you’ll have to take my word for it (and I’m sure my fellow dancers would back me up!). Lucky for me I had two factors in my favor such that I didn’t hurt myself at all: 1-I wear a pretty hefty bum pad with my 1860s clothes to help my hoop stay paralell to the floor (I’m pretty sure I landed on this, because the floor is marble, and the fall didn’t hurt) and 2-there was so much adrenaline going around that even if it did hurt I didn’t feel it…I remember lying on the floor thinking “Yikes, I am lying on the floor,” and then jumping up again and continuing the dance! This dance was so much fun I really couldn’t rule out very many pictures, so I do hope that you don’t mind seeing a lot of Speed Virginia Reel, the all new 1860s dance craze!
Hoops and tails are flying! This is part of the grand ballroom, looking toward the dining room. We stationed ourselves in an uninhabited section of the room so as not to endanger others…Just look at those hoops flying!The corner people dance (or run…) various things together to begin the dance.Flying tails!Run!!!You can see the momentum in the swinging hoops!This part of the dance is called strip the willow. It involves the top couple turning each of the people below them till they meet at the bottom…The top couple is just beginning to run to the top to start follow the leaders.Scandalous drawers!Even more is showing in this picture. I think this is the highest any skirt went…The top couple runs down the middle of the other four couples, and the other couples have to spring apart to make space!Really, the top couple just goes all out down the middle and hopes for the best (at least in the speedy version of this dance).This picture is pretty awesome. The wind is ruffling my sails (skirt…) and I am clearly running, as I wouldn’t be able to stand at that angle without falling over otherwise…More obvious evidence of running…Look at those hoops sway!Another favorite running picture! I’m sure you can see why!I had to include this, because look at how high my skirt was swinging! It’s pretty epic!Run, run, run!Clearly, there was a lot of running and momentum in this dance.Forward and backward, all while running.Down the middle!Follow the leader!This is what was happening while the top couple circled the people below them.Evidence of my fall! You can see one of my flower clumps on the floor that’s about to be picked up so it is out of danger!Follow the leader around the column…running as fast as possible and missing a flower clump…We made it, corsets, falling and all! I’m obviously excited, because look at how far off the floor I am! I LOVE this picture! Don’t you?
There was nothing sedate about this dance. What else is there to say? I have more fabulous pictures from the end of this event… but I think I’ll do a second installment post about this event to share them. So stay tuned!
On this blog right now, however, we are going to continue the marathon of awesome-ness that was Newport and reminiscence about the Formal Tea on the Lawn at Roger Williams University. This event, being an afternoon event, did not have a specific time period, so you’ll see a variety of clothing styles. Here we go!
On our way to the official lawn for the tea, we stopped to take pictures here by the boats.Here I am: 1903. The blouse was made last year and the skirt earlier this summer (though I haven’t posted about that yet…). The bolero and hat were additions to complete the look.A side view. You can really see the silhouette.It’s like Where’s Waldo. Can you spot one of our faithful photographers caught on camera? He blends in with the boats.Another beautiful distraction before we even made it to tea.I wish there weren’t modern buildings behind the pond… but there were fish in pond!Looking picturesque. Again with the modern buildings…Close up. Such a lovely line with the skirt and all! And the buildings are much less obvious.Finally we stopped getting distracted and made it to the tea, where we saw this lovely group of people playing croquet!This is only the beginning of the croquet poses…So we didn’t actually play croquet… we just borrowed the mallets for our photos!Throw them over your shoulder?Hard to see that they are different lengths in the last photo, but not in this one!The long one was great for striking a pose that didn’t involve bending over.I rather like this pose.I’ve whittled it down to just this one close up hat picture…We got our young ladies together to take pictures in a line. We do love back side photos!Swirling skirts and stunning backgrounds. What more could we ask for?Silly moment! We like to try and walk toward the camera slowly, which always means walking like we’re either zombies or underwater, depending on your inclination.Awww. Aren’t they lovely together? Look at those trains!The neat looking knot-thing to finish off this particular sash–finishing off sashes in neat ways this was a theme of the week for me!Sitting with one of the little girls for a photo. We had to bribe her with lemonade… shhh!It’s possible that we were also distracted by cattails on our way out…I really wanted to reach them, but they were just out of reach.So lovely!We had to return to reality–the modern world. But did we walk on the sidewalk? NO! Up the middle of the road is the only way.More silly! Lifting the skirts and walking is always essential for sillyness. We are on our way to get ready for the evening 1860s ball at Ochre Court!
Final tally for this event: 27 pictures out of 298 total. Whew!
Here we are again, for the second installation of the Newport marathon of awesome-ness. If you missed it, you can view the first installation, the 1920s Gatsby Ball at Rosecliff, here.
The Seaside Tea Dance took place on Tuesday. It was held at a venue right on the beach that also houses a operational carousel! In fact, the carousel was shut down for the public so that those of us at the ball might ride it with our other costumed companions. If you’ve ever been to Newport, this beach area is the one just down the hill from Bellevue Avenue (where many of the mansions are). Actually, many of the mansions along the left side of Bellevue Avenue actually have a view of the beach area where this event was held. The day events did not have specific time periods, thus you’ll see a variety represented in the pictures. It’s nice to be able to choose, but I enjoy the atmosphere most when everyone is wearing clothes from a short time span (as is the case at the formal evening balls).
It wound up being a rainy afternoon, which caused some stress, but we managed to overcome our various situations and have silly, fun time anyway. You’ll have to look through the pictures to see the adventures! Onward!
I hardly danced at this event–I wasn’t in the mood. BUT, I did ride the carousel!Carousel!Hm… not actually smiling, but with the same look on their faces.More of the fabulous young set…Being proper ladies, we were obligated to ride side saddle! (And you can see the back of my newly decorated hat.)Now you can see the front of my hat.This was ride number two. I was practicing my princess wave.As I mentioned in an earlier picture: we didn’t dance much. We did spend a lot of time sitting and discussing things (I don’t remember what things… I think mostly that we didn’t feel like dancing…). You can also see the fabulous knot I made on the blue belt! It was all pinned in place at the last minute, but I do like it.We, the young set, might not have been dancing, but that didn’t stop other people!If you’re going to wear matching bathing suits, you must take pictures on the beach!Oh no! The picture has been crashed by a random modern guy! Eep!Single occupant pictures are always essential.Here I am: 1900. New skirt, blouse from 1913 (shhh…), new belt, and newly trimmed hat (that appears to be listing to one side… oh well, it’s jaunty, right?).From the back.Close up. I love that I finally have a picture of this blouse that shows the details!Another good blouse shot. I can’t resist including lots of pictures of new clothes!Silly fun! We went wading in the ocean, in the rain! It was pretty warm, so the water didn’t feel cold.It is for spur of the moment events like this that it is always useful to wear historic underthings… You never know when your combination legs might be seen!Look, you can see one of our faithful cameramen!After getting our feet all sandy, we had to hose down a little bit.My ostrich feathers were rather bedraggled when we finally went inside… but I fluffed them and they dried looking just as wonderful as before the rainy sea adventure.Walking to the car. More petticoat ruffle is always better!
Final picture tally: 22 pictures out of 655 total from this event… You made it!
My friends and I took a whopping 4,796 (ish) pictures during the week!!! Yikes! I promise I won’t put up ALL of them… but even after sorting, there are still mounds of great ones to share. Get ready, because a marathon of awesome-ness is beginning… right now!
Commissioned by Nevada silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs in 1899, architect Stanford White modeled Rosecliff after the Grand Trianon, the garden retreat of French kings at Versailles. After the house was completed in 1902, at a reported cost of $2.5 million, Mrs. Oelrichs hosted fabulous entertainments here, including a fairy tale dinner and a party featuring famed magician Harry Houdini. (From the Newport Mansions website about Rosecliff. The site also includes really beautiful pictures of the mansion. I encourage you to click the link to look at them!)
The setting: Rosecliff as we arrived in the twilight. (Rargh, lions!)Ready Newport? We’re here and it’s the 20s!The yawning red carpeted grand staircase just inside the entrance.It turns out that we were wearing complementing shades of green and gold!
I made a new green dress for this ball–my first 20s dress. I’m not really a huge fan of this particular period, but it was fun to branch out and build something different. In fact, I know at least 4 of the 5 dresses we were wearing were built new for this ball (some were finished just before the ball…). It’s really neat that without realizing it we all coordinated, but each of us managed to incorporate different design pieces into our dresses: one has panels, one has beads, one has asymmetrical draping, one has fringe, and one has an overskirt. All similar 20s shapes, and all totally different and entirely unique!
The staircase required lounging and looking elegant.More lounging… we lost a few people from the last shot. Oh well!Just practicing a bit of Charleston before entering the ballroom…I’m not sure what we’re discussing, but we look rather intent on the topic…The ceiling of the ballroom!The live orchestra (I believe this ball had music by the New River Orchestra).Looking in on the ballroom from the lovely patio.Contrary to the impression in the following pictures: there were actually lots of other people at the ball in addition to us…We really enjoyed the Charleston and more importantly, we enjoyed Charleston-ing together!More Charleston!Kicks and flying Charlestons were not to be left out! I am particularly amused that this picture captured some of us in midair!Look, we’re all kicking the same way at the same time! How cute!This became one of our signature dances for the week: Charleston in a line!It accompanied one of our other signature dances: the Raise the Roof Charleston (which I don’t think I have pictures of at this ball–but perhaps at another ball I’ll find some). Raise the Roof Charleston is simply regular Charleston footwork while raising the roof with your hands–it’s super silly and super fun!I think we took most of those Charleston pictures during mid-ball refreshment time, which is why the ballroom is empty behind us. But here is more proof that there were other people at the ball, too!There were other lovely rooms in addition to the ballroom that we could wander through… isn’t this one cosy?And this one, which is grand and fabulous! I love the curtains!Okay, part of my love of the curtains is related to my love of tassels, especially giant upholstery/drapery tassels!It was, of course, essential that I have my picture taken with the fabulous drapes!There were a lot of poses… this is only a few!Trading places: I’m behind the camera now…!Another view of the same room. Isn’t is wonderfully fabulous???Here I am, be-feathered, be-pearled, be-gloved, and enjoying the mirror doors!Mirrored doors are mesmerizing and fantastic photo opportunities! More feathers! More jewels! More pearls! More gloves! More awesome! (Moreadequate! Inside joke…)Just one of the many fabulous chandeliers hanging from one of the fabulous ceilings!
It was essential that every day include at least one super silly moment. Most days, of course, there were many silly moments…
This was just one silly moment from this ball (in case you can’t tell what’s happening–and I don’t blame you, because honestly, I can’t really tell either… I only know because I was there–we are attempting to imitate the statue behind us).Another silly moment, diving into the fountain!Ok, so we didn’t actually dive into the fountain… but we did briefly consider it!Strike a final pose before the night ends!
Congratulations! You made it through all the pictures!
Final tally: 35 pictures out of 890 from that event.
I leave you with vicarious memories of a window into a glorious evening of the past–tonight, the 1920s.
As you might recall from my last post, I have more Regency picnic game pictures to share with you! I’m excited! I hope you are as well… We left off with the four of us playing “Graces” and coming up with innovative methods of playing to keep us amused and challenged… let’s just see where that led us! I had a hard time condensing the photos… I hope you’re not overwhelmed!
Lost my bonnet, but I caught a hoop on each arm! Success!Yes! Bonnet still on head and two hoops! Wow!Double hoop-age and a silly looking action shot! What could be better?Reach! Somehow, I think this is much more graceful looking than the last photo…
Okay… now we get silly!
Wand attack pose. Not very Regency-like, but amusing, nonetheless!Strike a pose! Conduct an orchestra! ???
Attempts at being graceful and Regency-like…
Very graceful hoop catching.Waiting to catch the hoops.Gracefully catching the flung hoop.Another graceful pose. Okay, okay, so I wore my sunglasses for much of the picnic. Shhh!
Bloopers?
Graceful, certainly, but I don’t think I caught the hoops that time…This certainly looks like one time when the hoops are going to hit the ground…(More sunglasses… didn’t they have those?)I think I’m confused about why the second hoop is on the ground by my right foot…
Vacationing is lovely while it lasts, but it does seem to make real life a bit overwhelming. I’ve been slow on the posting lately because of my vacationing. And, to be honest, life + vacationing is most likely going to be slowing me down some more over the next month or so. Some of my vacations will generate some really great pictures, though, so stay tuned for those in August!
It’s been roasting-ly hot here in Massachusetts for the last few weeks, but the heat didn’t stop the Massachusetts Costumers from enjoying the annual Regency Picnic. It was toasty, but we tried to spend lots of time in the shade. And despite the heat, we had a marvelous time! Join me in recalling the fun through viewing (just a few of the 300 or so) pictures we snapped that day.
Our idyllic setting at a lovely park in Bridgewater, MA.Okay, so our food and table setting was not historically accurate. But the colors were so nice and summer-y! (And the pink lemonade was quite refreshing.)After eating, we strolled through the park and took pictures (and coerced random passers-by to take photos of us…). Lovely group of ladies, don’t you think?Then we played a Regency game called… “Graces?” (Ack! I can’t remember the name… Jenni, help me!)Basically, each person has two long sticks which they use to fling the be-ribboned hoops at the other player. The second person catches the hoops on their own sticks before flinging them back again.I’ve included pictures where you can see the hoops in midair. Despite the fact that we often seem to be catching the hoops, I also have many pictures where we, um, didn’t catch the hoops…Eventually, we got the hang of it and decided to make it more challenging. In this instance we had two hoops going at once, one flung by each player!It took a little time to get used to the coordination of flinging and catching in quick succession.But we got the hang of it and then we started flinging two hoops at the same time in one direction! That meant the person catching had to catch two at once! Eep!
After that challenge we thought we were finished with the game… but then one of us (I can’t remember who…) had the brilliant idea to attempt to make graceul, Regency-like poses, while playing the game. That kept us going for awhile longer, with some amusing photos and lots of laughs, but you’ll have to wait till my next post for those photos (I don’t want to overload you with too many fun in the sun Regency picnic photos at once, you know!). In the end, the heat wasn’t so bad!
The back of my 1912 tea gown. I like the belt that crosses and swoops up (hard to see, except that the line of beading is interrupted by the belt) and the side back seams that end in pleats (it looks really cool while I’m walking!).It’s a little hard to see in the first image, but the side back seams make a few intentional right corners before opening in inverted box pleats that help form the train. Here is a close-up of those seams: unfortunately, they pucker a little in the silk charmeuse because I didn’t think to stabilize them before starting to sew and snip corners… Let that be a lesson to you!Another view of the back seam and pleats.Here’s a side view, so you can see the front and the back.And a recap picture of the mushroom hat.
I was able to wear my freshly painted and moved-button Astorias with this dress and others at Dress U recently, but you’ll have to wait to see pictures of the finished shoes–they’ll be coming in another post soon!
Here we are, a third and final installment of posts related to my recent Titanic-themed weekend. You can read more about my tea gown and matching hat as well as my evening gown in previous posts. I think I’ll limit my commentary to captions. Here we go!
The weekend began with a casual Steerage Ball with a light and charming atmosphere.Saturday afternoon was a formal tea to relax after a morning dance workshop.Fabulously dressed people were all around!I do love flounces, in any period.In lovely whites, a staple of the Edwardian wardrobe.There were picturesque photo opportunities, of course.And the men were just as fabulous looking as the ladies.The weather was lovely and some people took the opportunity to talk a walk outdoors.While others took advantage of a less strenuous opportunity for enjoyment indoors.Saturday evening was a formal dinner and grand ball.So we all donned our finest finery...And after dinner, danced the night away to live music.There was a balcony and staircase that added serious elegance to the room.Dancing, dancing, dancing...Of course, a girl must rest sometimes, and why not with a fabulous fan? The room did get quite warm.This backdrop was just lovely, and so perfect for pictures!Picturesque!Pictures were taken in abundance.At 11:40pm (which is when the ship hit that ill-placed iceberg) we took part in a moment of silence to remember those who were lost followed by a haunting final waltz to the melancholy melody which was the last song played by the band as the Titanic sank.On Sunday, I was able to wear my 1913 walking suit and hat on the Museum Stroll. I wore the blouse and skirt to the Steerage Ball, with a wonderfully simple, yet very Edwardian coiffure, but of course I didn't get pictures of that... oops. There were fabulous outfits all around, but it was difficult to get pictures given that we were spread throughout a museum!
All in all, a lovely weekend full of fabulous clothing, beautiful music, and wonderful dancing. What a recipe for amazing memories!
We took a rather in-depth look at my new 1912 evening gown. Now, on to the second 1912 ensemble that I also wore during the weekend: day gown and hat!
Gown and hat with (unbuttoned...) white kid opera gloves. I'm so pleased with the overall effect! Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the back. There are cool details back there, so another fashion shoot will be required in the future...
This gown is constructed from silk charmeuse. The skirt is a single layer in addition to the overskirt panel in front. The bodice has a foundation of the same white cotton as my new evening gown. Mounted on to that cotton are (from the neck down) layers of ivory silk charmeuse, ivory silk flat lined with fabulous ivory colored diamond lace, black silk velvet, and black silk charmeuse. The overskirt panel is trimmed with matching silk velvet and the belt is constructed of the same. There are small buttons on the overskirt velvet trim (because, really, the Edwardians just loved adding buttons everywhere!). Because the back bodice mirrors the front in its style (which unfortunately I don’t have a picture of right now…), I had to be crafty with my closures. The dress has two places that open with hooks and bars: the left side from just under the arm to a few inches down the hip and the left shoulder seam around the neck to the center back of the collar. The effect is a form fitting dress that looks like it was magically donned. The side closure is straight forward, with the foundation layer hooking first, to take the tension of holding the dress tight, and the outer charmeuse layer hooking over that simply to stay closed. Again, the foundation is essential to achieving the elegant, effortless exterior. The neck closure is a series of hook and bars that turn different directions to accommodate the seams: front to back at the shoulder, hooks that hook up on the collar to attach it to the back neck, and hooks going sideways on the center back of the collar.
In addition to the gown, I also constructed what I call the “mushroom” hat, which you can read more about in this previous post. I created the pattern for the hat, which is basically just a shaped brim with circular side band. The side band support the crown, which is a circle that is pleated to create that “mushroom” shape. I love the hat! It lends such an air of Edwardian drama and elegance to the look! And I am so pleased the the “mushroom” shape worked out!
Hm… Patterning this dress… Well, the general skirt shape is from Janet Arnold, but it is adapted to have two symmetrical box pleats that terminate at the top in delightfully detailed seams (which I really, really need pictures of!). The bodice pattern was draped with many references to my inspiration image. I created a basic shape for the bodice and then cut in into the different pieces (ivory silk, ivory silk and lace, black velvet, and black charmeuse) so that each piece would fit together perfectly. The belt is slightly shaped but doesn’t actually have a pattern.
The dress is inspired by this image from a 1910 issue of the magazine Bon Ton.
I'm sure you can guess, but the dress I was referring to is the one on the right.
In the end I made a few changes: I added a train, discarded the white under sleeves (I made them, I tried them, and they just didn’t work! They pulled the bodice in all sorts of weird ways… Maybe if the were not so tight they wouldn’t pull so much? I am fine with having gloves cover my lower arms, anyway.), and drastically scaled back the beading. Perhaps you’ll remember my plan to bead this dress? Well, the beading was drastically scaled back because I didn’t like the beads I bought as much as I thought I would (they are rectangular and larger than I thought… not seed bead-y at all), I realized I didn’t want to devote as much time as it would take to do the amount of beading I originally intended, I didn’t have enough beads to bead all four panels as much as the one panel I completed and I didn’t want to buy more beads, and I didn’t like the beading motif I had created, nor was I inspired to change it. You can see that I did leave one outline shape of beading on the bodice in the velvet section, but the rest was scrapped. That one line is repeated front and back (symmetry, you know). I did actually complete the overskirt top panel, but decided not to use it after my scaling back plan was complete (you can see it, below). I’m going to keep the beaded panel and see if it finds its way onto another project one day… I would still love to do intense beading on a garment, but I’ll have to pick a different one, because it wasn’t measuring up to my expectations for this dress.
Scrapped beaded panel. A mix of silvery and black beads. I started in the center with the somewhat wonky lines, can you see improvement? I think it would have been distracting from the dress to have four panels like this.
The Quintessential Clothes Pen 