Category: events

Posted on

GBACG Goes to Gaskells

So this past Saturday GBACG went en masse (well, some of us anyway) to the Gaskell ball (semi-monthly Victorian balls in Oakland). It was really really lovely — there were less of us than last year, but we did a better job hanging out together so I actually got to talk to lots of people. Plus there were lots of lovely people, like Trystan looking stunning in a purple and gold dress, Sarah all the way out from Utah in her Colonial Coquette dress, and Jwlhyfer in her Elizabeth Siddal posing gown. Our group theme was costume in bloom, and everyone did a great job accenting their costumes with flowers.

I didn’t dance much (still recovering from a knee injury) but those that I did dance were great. We were even awake enough that Jwlhyfer, Bridget (in my brown 1830s evening dress) and I met my husband and a friend at a bar in Berkeley afterwards — where we made MANY friends (nothing like drunk frat guys who actually know what a bustle is!).

aaaand… PHOTOS!

Posted on

Stepford Wives (& Other Events)

So while I may be a lazy costumer these days, I did manage to get all dressed up 1950s-style to go to GBACG’s Stepford Wives tea yesterday! A small crowd but lots of fun people were there (including my husband, who comes to post-1920 events. Yay!) in faaaabulous attire — great hats and shoes especially. We were all wearing stuff of our grandmothers (clothes, jewelry) — I wore my glamorous ex-Ziegfeld Follies showgirl grandmother’s big rhinestone pin and her honking purple cocktail ring, a vintage 1950s blue dress and an annoyingly perky vintage hat. The food was great — cucumber and watercress sandwiches! and mini-cheesecakes! — and the tea was DIvine (they had this something/something/CHOCOLATE tea which was scrumptious). And yes, it was all just perfect (<– said in perky Stepford voice) — except for the rain (I learned one shouldn’t wear open-toed shoes when it’s wet out).

But most important… PHOTOS!

aaaand — last weekend I had a 1960’s co-birthday (me & my husband Michael) at which I wore the red 1960s repro dress I was working on a month or two ago (and big hair! and a tiara!). If you’d like to see photos, you can see them here on my Flickr account. Photos of the dress will get added to this site soon-ish!

Posted on

More Dickens Pics

I’ve just added a raft of new pictures (scroll down) from last Sunday at Dickens Fair. Sunday was GBACG day, and wow, were there some stunning costumes! I’m really glad I wasn’t trying to judge the costume contest. A very fun day running into lots of people I know, plus I actually got a few dances in, and of course made time for tea and scones (and rum cake!).

Posted on

Dickens Fair Report #1

On Saturday I went to Dickens Faire, meeting up with various costumer friends. I always have fun at Dickens, but I had even more this time — there’s a spacious new layout, some great new shows (hello French Postcards!), had lots of good food and drink, and basically talked costumes all day. I’ll be going again for GBACG day this coming weekend, and probably the weekend after as well, so there’ll be more photos to come, but in the meantime:

Photos from Dickens Fair 2005

Posted on

Costume College Class Ideas

So the (first) deadline for class ideas for Costume College is coming up in a few weeks, and I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to teach. I have a couple of ideas: overview of women’s fashions in Renaissance Venice, or of the 1780-90s, or of the 1910s. Also, I’m thinking of either reoffering my Victorian bodice draping workshop, or instead doing one for cone-shaped bodices (workable for either Elizabethan or 1770s-80s anglaise/polonaise styles).

But it’s always so hard to figure out what I know that others might not know! Does anyone have any suggestions beyond what I’ve come up with?