We have achieved a bodice that fits… read more about my 1540s Florentine gown project
Costume College Thoughts
Got my limited class confirmations — I’m in Sarah’s French hood class, and the burn testing fabrics classes — yay! Got both of the ones I wanted. I’ve so scaled back on limiteds — I’ve found that I don’t really enjoy making things at College, and signing up for a limited commits your time. I’d rather be free to run around to whichever classes suit my fancy — plus the all important socializing!
I’m starting to think about my classes. I want to tweak the 18th c. overview class. In the past, I’ve done it very chronologically, but I’m thinking it might work better to show the basic elements and how those changed over time (ie sleeves, for example). Not sure if that’ll be more or less confusing! And I need to figure out how to work the models for the hair & makeup class (thanks to those who’ve volunteered, I’ll be contacting you soon!).
And then there’s the all important what to wear question! I’m thinking about something for Thurs. night, Fri. night, Sat. night gala, and Sun. tea — although crikey, that’s four costumes! Definitely the Daniel Deronda dress for the Sun. tea. The Gala dress could be either the Florentine or Lady Maud dresses — depends on which one turns out more fabulous. I don’t think I have time or money to get more done than the Florentine and Daniel Deronda dresses by August… So that means I need 2 more costumes. I love the bonnet on my Meg dress, but I don’t really want to deal with a hoopskirt so that one may be out — or I could wear it over my crinoline instead? Hmm, that’s only three costumes. Maybe I’ll make an evening bodice for the Daniel Deronda dress, and so get more wear out of that?
1540s Florentine Dress
I’m back from travelling and sewing promptly… read more about my 1540s Florentine dress project
European Photo-pa-looza!
First, an update on the end of my trip! We spent the weekend with Bess and Edmund in Suffolk, going to nearby Melford Hall in bustle era costume. It was great fun — we had a picnic, toured the house, and then took lots of photos in the gardens (sadly, no photos inside). Made good friends with a Texan tour group, even the guy who marched up to me and said, “You’re from California, aren’t you?” Apparently I’m going to be in his Christmas card this year.
So here are my photos!
Miscellaneous costume-related photos (museum trawls, mostly)
Versailles non-invasion, in which we try to conquer Versailles but are instead conquered
Okay, now I really need to start on Costume College sewing!
Travel Is Tiring!
And distracting! My trip has been going well, with about 1.5 weeks in France — aday and a half in Paris, then a walking tour in the Dordogne/Perigord, then another day and a half in Paris. Now I’m in London – home on Tuesday.
But on to the costume content! Last Sunday I met Marion, Becca, Delphine, and Chloe for our trip to Versailles. I hauled my polonaise around with me (which wasn’t too bad – it all amazingly fit into a daypack, including my flat straw hat). As I predicted, the cotton packed well. The night before I set my hair in sponge rollers, which I slept in; got up early to get dressed and do hair in my tiny hotel room. I met the others at my hotel and then we took the train out to Versailles. Long story short, we got to Versailles and they wouldn’t let us in in costume. razzrrarrrazzzzarr!! So we ended up at a nearby park (which was originally part of Versailles) with a big lake, where we had our picnic and took a bunch of photos. Then we changed (literally on the side of the road!) and tried to go into Versailles, but there were various hassles with the luggage storage being miles away and us totally exhausted and with lots of stuff to carry. So we accepted our defeat and headed back to Paris. Oh well, it was still lots of fun to meet everyone and to play dress up at what was technically Versailles1 Next time I’ll get into the palace!
Tuesday night we had dinner with Bess, Edmund, and Kate which was lovely. Today Kate and I headed out to Bath to see the costume museum and Jane Austen centre. The costume museum is being redisplayed, much more extensively than their website led us to believe, so there wasn’t a lot to see — although what was out was very nice. A small mish mash of different eras plus a nice exhibit on pockets. The JA centre was pretty hokey; luckily they had an exhibit of dresses from the recent ITV production of Persuasion costumed by Andrea Galer, as well as a few dresses from her work on the feature film Mansfield Park. Oh well, obviously I need to go to Chawton on my next trip to get my Austen fix! None of the dresses were terribly exciting, although they did have relatively nice cuts and evidence of hand stitching.
This weekend is the bustle costume activity with Edmund, Bess, and Valina – details forthcoming! I’ll post photos from all of these activities, as well as my museum trawls, as soon as I get back.