And wow, am I beat! On Wednesday, myself, Katherine, Sarah, Trystan, Leia, and Lindsey went to Colonial Williamsburg. We only had the one day, and to be honest it was the reason (for me) to make the trip. It was GORGEOUS!!!! We lucked out and had lovely cool, overcast weather (I was afraid I’d either sweat to death or be rained on). We stayed in one of the Colonial Houses, right in the heart of Williamsburg, and had an amazing time rambling around taking pictures and being period and silly (and had our pictures taken by other tourists so much that we got pretty cranky about it late in the day).
We did some shopping, and didn’t get around to going into any of the interpreter’s shops until late in the day, when we found that contrary to what we’d been told when we booked our lodging, we had to pay about $30 each to get official tickets. Given that it was about 3pm by then, and really our goal had been to run around, take pictures, and be pretty pretty princesses, we decided to skip it. So, I’ll have to go back another time to see the milliner’s, wigmaker’s, and other shops! In the evening, we went to Christina Campbell’s for dinner, and I think we’re all spoonbread converts now. After dinner, we went to one of the taverns for drinks, where we sang Irish and Renfaire songs (which are probably all 18th century anyway) and chatted with some of the interpreters. Probably the best part of it all was when, around midnight, some of us wandered through Williamsburg (still in costume), tipsy and just loving the magic of it all – that’s a memory that will stay with me for a very, very long time. I’ve posted my photos from Williamsburg to Flickr.
Thursday we went to visit our friend Loren in northwestern VA. She lives in a restored 18th c. farmhouse, and she’d put on an amazingly beautiful tea in her home for us and other area costumers. The spread was gorgeous, and we had fun chatting, eating, drinking, and wandering around her beautiful farm (despite arriving about 2 hours late!).
Friday we headed to Costume Con in Baltimore. I’d originally planned to join the costumed tea, but I was so beat from all the running around of the past few days that I opted to skip it, which was probably a great idea. Instead, I was able to unpack, take a nap, and make it to the Friday Night Social without turning into a crabby 2-year-old. The social was fun – there were TONS of people there in 18th c. costume, and the eye candy stretched for miles!
The con itself was fun, although I missed many of my West Coast costume peeps. As per usual, there wasn’t TOO much programming of interest to me, so I mostly focused on hanging out and socializing. The masquerades were both great — the scifi/fantasy one was so crowded that a group of us went up to my room (which had a window overlooking the atrium in which the show was held) and had a bird’s eye view of the show. The historical masquerade had many wonderful entries from a wide range of eras/inspirations, and it made me think more seriously about my next foray! My photos from the con are on Flickr.
Wearing 18th century all week was on the one hand fun, but by the end of it I was vowing “No more 18th century for me!” Except that now I’m back and I have a pet-en-l’air swimming around in my brain and poking me from time to time. However, I do have to say that after yet ANOTHER mad rush to finish lots of new costumes, and watching everyone else’s stress, I am determined to stop participating in the “must have new stuff all the time!” madness (for my own sanity). I’d just much rather noodle along, taking my time and enjoying myself, than giving over every free moment to frenzied sewing.
So with that in mind, I’ve revised my future costuming plans. Nell Gwyn is still on the docket, but she’ll be my Costume College gala dress, and that may be the only costume I make between now and then. I’m definitely still going to make the 1775 maja gown, but I want to REALLY take my time with that, as it will be my next Costume Con masquerade entry (2010? 2011? who knows!), and I’d like to make it by hand, and add to it new 18th century undies. My goal is to make just one costume to the utmost of my abilities, and that’s going to require time, time, time.
But for now, I think I need to be a bit of a hermit!
Mmmm….spoon bread and sweet potato muffins….. But do beware those sheep, we have already lost a waistcoat to them!
Lovely, lovely! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I loved our conversation about no more frenzied “I must have NEW for the event” but now that I’m home I realize I’m really my own worst enemy. Problem is my “I want to do” list is far too long and my creative juices run at a much faster pace than my sewing abilities! I’m going to try though… maybe we need a support group. ‘Hello my name is Jenny-Rose and I have issues with frenzied event sewing…’ 😛
Jenny-Rose – exactly my problem! I have about 20 gowns I seriously want to make, some of them being on the waiting list for years. I wish I could just be satisfied with designing costumes, but I want the satisfaction of making them!
Yeah, I think we need a support group! 🙂
I wish I had known of your ticket difficulties at Colonial Williamsburg. I could have provided you some aid there.