Author: kendra

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Gatsby Summer Afternoon

Last Sunday was the annual Gatsby Picnic, put on by the Art Deco Society of California. For some reason I always find this event exhausting (all the hauling of crap), but also way too much fun. I went with my husband Michael (who took all the pictures, hence why there’s no photographic proof of his existence), plus Trystan and Thomas, Michael and Sarah, Katie, Jen, Bridget, and Diana. We spread out with other GBACG folks near the mansion (a little too far from the music – closer next year!) and had a lovely picnic, lots of drinks and conversation, some dancing, and lots of looking at vintage cars. We even got pics in two different cars, and I got to sit in a rumble seat! Squee! REALLY hard to get in and out of, though. But still! A rumble seat!

Of course, I was cranky that for yet a THIRD year I was wearing the same old thing, so I am now all fired up to make something for next year. I may even make it soon, just so I am ready to go, as summer always gets so busy. I even have the pattern and the accent fabric (just need to find main dress fabric); I’d also like to make a real vintage-style slip and bra.

Michael took lots of gorgeous photos — not only can you see how fabulous we all are, but you also get to enjoy the moment early on when Sarah and I realized that we’d had too many drinks too soon (we eased off after that!). The car photos turned out great, especially this one where it looks like we’re actually driving. And I really like the dancing photos, where we’re doing our totally not period swing moves (someday I must learn to foxtrot!). Yay! Afterwards I slept for literally about 10 hours…

EDITED TO ADD: Right, linking to the pictures = a good thing.

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SALE – Vintage & Antique Clothing, Patterns, Costume DVD

I’m broke! But my broke-ness is hopefully your gain. I’ve got a bunch of costume-related things for sale, which I’m going to offer to my costuming friends for ONE WEEK – until about 9/11/06. After that, they go to ebay.

All items are first come, first served. I ship via Priority Mail (you pay exact shipping) to US – international buyers are okay, but it may take me a week or so to mail your package (I have a hard time getting to the post office with my work schedule). I’m happy to combine shipping.

I’ve got some stunning antique c. 1860s pieces, a bunch of larger size vintage 1920s & 40s dresses, some patterns, and a Vanity Fair DVD.

Want to buy? Email me at kendra at tweedlebop.com (change the “at” to an @).

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Gatsby and Other Random Musings

Gatsby is next weekend — I was seriously thinking about not going, because I’m just so dead tired from all that’s been going on the last few months — but enough fabulous people are going that I’ve reconsidered. I was vowing that this year I’d finally have something new to wear — I’ve been wanting to do a c. 1920 blouse & skirt combo for forever, as I love the 1919/1920 natural waistline. I have a vintage blouse that had a stained sleeve (and the sleeves don’t really fit me), so I barely started reworking that (took off the sleeves and put on new ones), but I’m just too beat to really get going on this (plus the fabric I found for the skirt I’m not really thrilled with). So I thought and thought, and decided to wear my perfectly lovely 30s dress that I never wear. I finally realized that it’s mostly the high neckline that I don’t like — I really need a V or other low neckline to not look like my bust is at my knees. So I just spent about an hour redoing the neckline so that it Vs down to where the 2nd button is in those pics.

I’m hoping to pair this with a fabulous 1930s (women’s) fedora that I have. It’s a dark brown, so I’m still trying to decide if it works — I can pair it with these shoes if they get here in time and if they fit. Otherwise, I have an ivory hat and shoes that will work as well, but aren’t as exciting. I’m thinking I’ll use my wave iron to wave my hair, then put it into a chignon — now I have to drag out my Costume College notes to brush up on 30s makeup.

In other random news — finally sat down to watch the DVD version of The Aristocrats, and I wanted to mention that there’s a decent amount of costume info on the behind the scenes stuff. They interview the costumer who talks a lot about the choices he made, and you get to see lots of closeups of the costumes. Worth renting it if you own the VHS!

Also, my husband has been watching the new Ricky Gervais (creator and star of the British version of The Office) show “Extras,” and episode 2 (season 1) takes place on a (fictional) period drama set in the Regency era with some REALLY nice costumes, including a fabulous stripey redingote (if you watch it, pay attention when Maggie is in line for the bathroom!).

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Golden Gate Renaissance Faire

Last weekend Bella Donna performed at the Golden Gate Renaissance Faire in San Francisco. It was our first time with a scripted stage show, and while I was terrified for our first show, the rest of them went really well! Most fun was having Sarah and Jen come with their friends Bess and Edmund, who are reenactors at Kentwell in England.

Pictures of Bella Donna taken on Sunday by my husband Michael; I’ll add to this page as we perform at other faires this year.

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GBACG Let Them Drink Wine

On Sunday I attended the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild’s Let Them Drink Wine, an 18th century picnic and wine tasting and Chateau St. Jean winery (Sonoma County, north of San Francisco). It was lovely, lovely, lovely!

The weather was nicer than expected, my hair only uncooperated a little bit, there were about FIFTY people there (wow!), and everyone looked smashing. I wore my peach francaise (naturally) pulled up through the pockets (no train on the ground, thank you!) and Bridget borrowed my new indienne print 1780s polonaise.

The winery itself was beautiful, with a big lawn (set for a wedding later, with lanterns and a beautiful table), lots of trees, and a lovely garden. We hauled my table and chairs which always ends up being so worth it (I so don’t enjoy laying down in costume!) and had a lunch that included savory pies, fresh fruit, rice salad, bread and cheese and meats, dolmas, and a fruit galette for dessert. Then there was a wine tasting, where we got to try four different varieties (including the $75/bottle merlot, which was outstanding). There was much taking of pictures as we strolled in the formal garden (see if you can spot the one we called “the Kyoto picture”!) and admiring of costumes; a stunning range was there with many more sacques than I expected, some lovely anglaises and jacket/petticoat outfits, as well as men in SILK (hello!). I only got pictures of about half of the beautiful costumes; hopefully others got the ones I missed. After a while we had a dessert contest, where Peri’s fabulous chocolate lavender truffles won, and I adored the strawberry/pear/sour cream/cheesecake confection (yum). Things ended too soon, although I was dead by the time I hit the car — but here are the pictures quickly, because yay for outdoor day photos — no red eye to correct, no backgrounds to blur!

Can we do it again next weekend?

Oh right, it might help if I linked to my pictures, wouldn’t it?