Category: events

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Gaskell Ball

On Saturday night the GBACG went to the Gaskell Ball. It was much more successful than I thought it would be — there were at least 35, maybe 40, of us, and I think I got to say hi to most of them.

PHOTOS

Possibly because the guild was promoting that specific ball, and probably through some freak of the space/time continuum, the costuming was MUCH better than it usually is (meaning, there was more of it and less corset/prom skirt!). I had an excellent time dancing, chatting with friends and fellow costumers, and stalking all of the lovely costumes. Some of the best gowns were on Barbara, who wore her grey striped (!!) wedding dress (more info on her website), and by Heidi’s recreation of the Madame X dress from the Sargent painting.

I wore my stripedy 1780s robe a l’anglaise, and had fun ratting my hair out. As I was leaving the house I mentioned to my husband, “You know, about half of the people there are going to say, ‘What the $!)# did she do to her hair?'” — and I was right. One person said, “It looks like you’re going for a servant look or something…” Le sigh!

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PEERS Mardi Gras Ball

On Saturday night I went to the PEERS Mardi Gras ball. I was actually quite impressed; possibly because of the theme and the fact that it was a masked ball, the costuming was much more exciting than usual. Lots of great masks, Heidi had FABULOUS 1830s hair, and there were two other robes a la francaise other than my own (Jenn in the red even had a BOAT in her hair! Yay!).

So here you are: PHOTOS

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I Am Incredibly Boring

I’ve been slammed at work, so have very little energy to sew or be costumey or come up with interesting content for this here site! In a desperate attempt to post something, I offer:

Charles A. Whitaker Auctions is having another one of their pesky costume sales — only one gallery is up, so check back later for more images.

I bought some beautiful silk brocade (well, we hope — it hasn’t arrived yet) on ebay, which will be perfect to make Henriette de Nevers’s dress from Queen Margot.

Two weeks ago the GBACG had our open house, which was ever so much fun. I wore my stripey Regency dress and spencer in the fashion show. Sarah at Mode Historique got some good pictures.

Saturday night I’m going to the PEERS Mardi Gras ball; planning to wear my green robe a la francaise plus an appropriately Carnivale-colored mask. Wondering if I can do something with a veil to make my costume more interesting.

I did cut out and sew together a mockup of my 1910 wings of the dove dress, but haven’t done enough to warrant posting.

La la! I am boring!

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Masquerade Advice

Okay kids, so I’m planning to go Costume Con for the very first time this year. It will be, in fact, my very first con (unless you count BayCon last year, when all I did was docent an exhibit and go to the Regency dancing). And it will, of course, be my very first masquerade, at which my goal is simply to not make an a** of myself. To that end, does anyone have any advice to a newbie masquerade-er? What do I need to know? What do you wish you had known your first time?

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Life! Hectic!

Busy busy! Aside from getting ready for Christmas and then surviving the holiday itself, I’ve been to see The Aviator (GORgeous) and A Series of Unfortunate Events (Meryl Streep’s 1890s gown was beautiful, Violet wears a very gothy 1820s-esque dress for most of the film) — reviews soon. Dying to get to A Very Long Engagement, and not-so-dying-but-it’s-playing-up-the-street to see Phantom of the Opera.

I also went to the Gaskell Ball (a very few photos here).

Got some great costume-related gifts for Christmas, including Costume Close-Up (I’d missed buying that one somehow), three of the Textiles for… Clothing books (yay for Amazon wishlists!), and I Capture the Castle and the Jane Austen collection (all the BBC 1970s-80s adaptations) on DVD. Whew!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday (for those that celebrate) or a nice day at the movies (for those who don’t)!