elizabeth_mn

We had our I-guess-it's-annual-now 18th century picnic today! Great turnout, lots of friends, but boy was it HOT. And I don't mean my wimpy up-North definition of hot. It was 95 and muggy as hell.

Still, we managed to have a lovely time anyway. I wore my curtainalong dress and I finished my HB's new cotton coat. We tried our new wooden folding table and chairs set and I like them.

I am totally wiped out now, but so happy and grateful for the opportunity to do such great dress up events! Pictures when I get around to it, but some are already floating around facebook if you are really curious.

I have finally caved to peer pressure and registered for Costume Con Madison. It seems that everybody in the city and her sister is going, including a bunch of my Treadle students and my Victorian friends.

I have nothing new planned for this, but I have lots of old dresses and I am not stressing. I do have one new thing I am pondering, but it's staying my secret until I can figure it out a little better.

I don't know if I will enter any competitions. I am not a very competitive person, but it would be quite fun if I won. I have no idea what people enter so I don't know if I have a shot. Probably my best thing is my handsewn orange silk anglaise. I like the idea of my seaside dress being a copy of an extant garment but I'm not super proud of the interior construction.

Anyone else planning to go to this? Super fun times in Wisconsin? Cheese curds?

Sunday we had a Victorian tea to attend at the LeDuc house to celebrate the birthday of one of the costume group gals. I decided I would try some rag curls in The Girl's hair. She just had two little braids for skating but the curls are fancier!

I didn't want to make her sleep in them so I started them during morning cartoons. I dampened her hair with half and half Lottabody setting lotion and water, and wound up locks of hair on strips of muslin. I tied the muslin in knots to keep it on. I remembered reading something about rolling the hair away from the face in front, so I did that. For the rest of her head I was just winging it.



She wore them all day, even on errands and to play in the yard. At around 2:30 I gave them a just-in-case blast with the blowdryer, let the hair cool, then unrolled them, nervously. Aaaaaand... they turned out okay! Not perfect, but if I'd wanted perfect I would have used rollers instead of rags. And gotten someone else to do it.



I tied a nice cotton sateen ribbon around her head. She chose white. The curls stayed in very well and felt so very soft and touchable. I kind of couldn't stop playing with her hair.



She wore the red plaid again, her only currently-fitting Victorian dress. I think this may have been the last wear for this one. Our next Victorian event is probably not until summer, and I doubt this dress will still fit when cold weather comes around again.



And her new tweed coat. Hopefully not the last wear for this!



I decided to wear my green calico. Everything else I have seemed either too summery (the Renoir or the seaside) or too dressy (the green and blue taffeta ruffle dress). So it was down to the green calico or the brown wool, and I am getting a little tired of the brown wool. Plus I feel very like myself in the green calico, and I guess yesterday I just wasn't in a mood for fussiness.

I spruced up the calico with a new ribbon, another one of the cotton sateen ribbons from work. I tied it in a bow and pinned it in place with this antique pin my HB gave me. It's very dark green glass in a gold-tone setting. I also had my winter bonnet and buff-color gloves. I took this photo at home afterward so it's a mirror shot!



My HB wore his 1840s suit that he bought from a company in Canada. He also wore the new top hat which I need to remember to re-shape a little with the hat jack.

There were 8 of us total in attendance. I didn't get photos of everyone but here is the tea table!



I made two plates of sandwiches: egg salad on soft whole wheat (we don't keep white bread in the house, generally) and smoked trout spread on very dense, very thin German pumpernickel. One of those loaves that comes vacuum-sealed like a little brick. You know.

There were also deviled eggs, raw vegetables, brandied carrots, crackers with goat cheese, apple crisp, three kinds of cake, lemon tart, and a cold joint ("for the men," as Mrs. Beeton puts it). With so many sweets I wish I had made more sandwiches! Or even just bread-and-butter! There was also tea (of course) but mostly we drank champagne, and a teeny pitcher of orange juice was arranged for F.

The Girl behaved very well and her good manners were remarked upon by the tea guests. She LOVED exploring the LeDuc house and pretending we lived there. And she sat very nicely at the table and said please and thank you and was very nice about the food, even for being as picky as she is. I was very proud of her. Of course, she did get restless by the end of the day but that's okay because we knew it was time to leave! So, overall, a lovely event. SO glad we all went.

Took a quick picture at home before we left. We were running SO LATE and I couldn't be bothered to make the camera cooperate any better.



I wore my green ruffle dress. HB is in his very non-perfect tailcoat. I bought him a top hat for christmas this year and I think it's quite dapper. It's this one on Amazon and it's not super fancy, but pretty nice wool felt.

I fussed over that neckline so much and for nothing. Still no idea what, if anything, I will ever do to trim it. But I didn't mind too much. We had a lovely time!

Tomorrow is our last chance to attend the local Renaissance Festival, and the weather forecast is looking good. I finished The Girl's new outfit this morning before work, and it's so freakin cute I just wanna burst!

The HB and I are wearing the same old. I just need to replace a hook and eye or two before bed. So everything is fine except. . .

I don't have a shift. I used to have one. I used to have a few. They were old and crummy and machine sewn with big raw seam allowances and made from unbleached cotton muslin with all the big brown flecks in it. I threw them all out during my last closet purge. And I was so sure I would make new ones!

So of course I forgot. I really shouldn't be allowed to throw things away until I have a replacement. I thought getting rid of old stuff would motivate me, but I guess not.

So after a slight panic, I decided that for tomorrow I am borrowing one of my husband's shirts. And if it's roomy on him, it's HUGE on me. But I can make it work for a day. I just hope I don't ruin it.

Once again, I really wish I had gotten my act together for some new costumes this year, and I am going to try to make it happen again next year. But I am still looking forward to a fun day tomorrow!

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments on my orange gown progress! I've been stitching away like a busy little bee here, but I still have a ton left to do.

Tonight before bed I hope to have both sleeves set in, then tomorrow I will pleat the skirt, attach it, hem it, and the gown will be done and wearable. Then Wednesday some trim; just at the neckline and sleeve ends.

I've also been playing with hair. I used some store bought rats to make my hairdo frame today, and tried making some false buckles with glue. We'll see if they hold together when I unwrap them in the morning. Whether they work or not I still need to make more.

For accessories I have my plain cuff ruffles, plain neckerchief, and a couple necklaces to choose from. I might put a ribbon bow on the dress bodice, but a bright fake flower would be fun too. Still hoping to magically pull off some headwear.

The only thing left (besides actually DOING all the stuff above) is to figure out a rain plan. The weather has been wet and unpredictable. Just like every June. Maybe I should stop planning picnics in June? But anyway, I want to have a Plan B in place.

If it's VERY wet Saturday I might not risk this dress at all, and fall back on my caraco instead. At least I would still have new hair.

On Saturday afternoon a small group of ladies gathered at the LeDuc house in Hastings, MN, a charming house built in the 1860s and now preserved as a historic site.

One of the best things about the house is that none of the furnishings are original (stick with me for a sec) which means we can actually USE the place - eat off the tables, set glasses down, lounge in the chairs, and so on.

It's a short drive out of The Cities, and when I arrived I was greeted, given a short tour, and invited into the parlor for sherry. I was a bit early but the other ladies joined me shortly.

( photos! )

So glad I was able to attend this great event!

Or, as I couldn't help but think of it, Dress-Up Ice Skating.

I was right that it turned out to be just me and my fam. One woman from the group did come, but she wasn't dressed up and she didn't skate, she just wanted to take a couple photos (including this one).



But I didn't care because I love skating and the weather was great. The rink was totally deserted which surprised me because last time it was mobbed. And on a Sunday afternoon! But it was nice to have plenty of room. This rink is on St. Paul's Summit Avenue, where all the beautiful historic mansions are. Lovely!

While my husband can skate he didn't yesterday, he just helped The Girl a little.



She doesn't need much help, though! She is already learning to stay up quite well on her own!

Believe it or not, I am going backwards in this one.



I am not a great skater by local standards but I do have a lot of fun! And I didn't fall down, thank goodness! Trying to get up in this dress would have been challenging. I thought of that little poem from Punch (I think this is quoted in The Cut of Womens' Clothes) with the woman who falls down skating.



Ok, I think she is roller skating, and it's more a comment on tight natural form dresses, but whatevs.

We skated for about 45 minutes (I could have stayed for hours, but my fam was getting cold) and then went to French Meadow cafe for coffee. F had a cup of hot chocolate with a HUGE mountain of whipped cream on top and somehow managed to keep her dress spotless.

( More about What We Wore )

I have been wanting to do an event like this for so many years. I am glad we finally just did it! Maybe next year we can get a few folks to join us. Because I am definitely going to make this an annual thing.

So, it's Tuesday, and I feel like I am the last person to get my weekend photos up. How weird is that? Modern times.

We went to the Netherfield Ball this weekend organized by the Historic Recreation Society. I wore my green voile from last year. I had big plans for a new yellow silk dress but after making Glinda and the purple plaid I was a little burned out and postponed it for another time. I also had plans for the HB but I decided to wait until I have the new-ish Laughing Moon men's regency tailcoat pattern so I can do it right. So her wore his blue 18th century suit from last spring.

It was really cold and snowy that night, and my HB asked me if I was sure I would be okay wearing that thin dress. Silly man! At least I didn't dampen it, like a certain hardcore reenactor in attendance.

Anyway, pictures!

A goofy selfie was required.



The ball was pretty well attended. Lots of lovely ladies and dapper gents all dressed up! Not everybody was perfectly in period; a lot of the men were in their Victorian evening wear, but who cares because they like to dance!



( Lots more! )

Oddly, I was the one taking most of the photos yesterday, so there aren't many.



I think the suit deserves its own post, so more on that (and the other costumes) another day.

( More!! )

Well, it wasn't perfect, but we had fun. I hope we can keep doing this event and make it bigger and better every year!