Who knew horizontal stripes could be so flattering?

YAY Belvidere!

So lots of other people have already posted about the marvelous time we had at Belvidere! I met up with lots of people, met lots of new friends! Saw lots of beautiful clothing and wished I had millions of dollars to buy antique jewelry.

My favorite annecdote was when this very odd lady walks into the tent on a cell phone. Talking LOUDLY, describing us as if we weren't actually capable of hearing her "And this One she's got the cutest little hat! it's like a little tall  hat" madamkat , "it's a mini top hat" Lady "And her dress has stripes, horizontal purple stripes!" Please observe just how marvelous she looked in her purple stripes


I had no idea how flattering horizontal stripes could be! But then she does have such a lovely figure to begin with.  (P.S. my favorite part is totally those tassels, they just peak out and say "hello I'm fabulous!")

We had a tintype taken of the group again and I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of it! I think I'll frame this one again and start a little grouping of them on the wall.

My dress turned out okay in the end. I still have an evil wrinkle across the top and I need to reset my sleeves, add cuffs and move some stuff around. But all in all not to shabby. I got lots of compliments on my "tweedy" look, and apparently I have a good enough hair piece that people believe it's' really my hair. Who knew!



( A Few more pictures... )

Christmas is coming The goose is getting Fat...

So there's a long list of things I SHOULD be doing...(Cleaning up apt from recent sewing explosion, laundry, dishes, etsy things etc) and even before Christmas I have to make a ren faire dress. But then I started chatting with madamkat and I got all excited about what I was going to wear on our possible Victorian outing in December (I also blame the fact I spent Friday stocking Christmas ornaments, which must mean December is almost here...)

So She said the exhibit will probably be 1880s to 1920s, I have a lovely 1904 outfit (the blouse of a 100 pintucks) that I could wear, OR I could wear one of my cool 1920's dresses,and I even have a fur trimmed vintage coat that would go with those...but that just doesn't' sound fun right now! madamkat  got me all excited about the idea of Winter wear! With of course a matching Muff!

( Cut for pictures and rambling )

Ooo I totally forgot

So I completely forgot but there's this dress I've always wanted to reproduce. It's a portrait of Lucy Webb Hayes commissioned while she was first lady by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, because of her ban of alcohol at white house functions. I know her husband wasn't the greatest of american presidents. But a. I think I kind of look like her b. I totally love the gown and c. As a teatotaller myself I enjoy the irony. and it is also burgundy velvet. 1881 is earlier than I had intended to go, but It's awfully pretty and Christmas like. (apologies on the terrible image, I had a devil of a time finding one that wasn't thumnail size)