A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

I am in fact sewing other things, but none of them are exciting enough to post about. So you get another bonnet-in-the-shop post! Well, I think they're rather cute... This one's another little soft-crown with a straw brim; I've been intent on using up my bag of small braid bits, which I now mostly have done, so I'll shut up about this type for a little while. Maybe. This one's got a crown of a rather nice striped taffeta - I have a particular weakness for striped taffeta. ;) on etsy

I appear to be on something of a soft-crown Regency bonnet kick, as that's pretty much all I've been working on this week! Well that's alright; they're less labor-intensive than the taller 'teens buckram-framed bonnets that are so dear to my heart. (I do have the pieces of another 18-teens bonnet cut out at this very moment - for me, because when you sell accessories, you occasionally just have to have one or two or seven for yourself!) 1800s red silk soft-crown hat 1800s silk and straw soft-crown bonnet I'm particularly fond of the straw-brim one, and thought of keeping it, actually! Talked myself down, but I have plenty of straw braid, and a wee bit more of that silk... ;)

Completely unplanned little photoshoot today...but we had the first proper snowfall of the season, and one of my friends made the clever suggestion that I actually get some halfway decent pictures of my 1860s hood that I threw together for Gettysburg. Not to mention my paletot! (The paletot's still lacking some intended trim, but it's more done than not, and I didn't get any nice pictures of that either at Gettysburg, since it was mostly too warm for it during the day.) I'm sure you'll forgive the side-part (very occasionally seen in the 1860s, but not enough that I like to wear it for events) and the eye makeup (I did wipe off the lipstick though!) - as I said, it was very spur-of-the-moment, and I was afraid the snow would stop if I took too long getting ready! Obviously, it did not.

Alright, the Regency hat's been up for a little while, but I didn't post it here, so I shall include it now. Just finished the 1780s hat today - it's a slightly smaller version of the 1780s hats I've put up before. Slightly more practical...very slightly! ;) And a Rather Silly 18-teens hat , too! I was on a brown silk kick, I guess. I thought the upward-pointing feathers made it even better...if you're going to make a silly hat, don't go halfway!

(All of these pictures are courtesy of In the Long Run ...I didn't bother with pics of an old dress, but then she got a nice shot of it that I decided I want to share!) Over the weekend I drove down to Ellicott City in Maryland, for our annual holiday tea. We had it at Tea on the Tiber, which was a charming little tea house with pleasant staff and delicious food - I think almost nobody got around to eating the cake on the top tier because we were stuffed from the first two tiers! NOM. Don't we look nice? So christmassy! I do like this dress. It didn't fit super well in the shop, but...

Saturday night I took a jaunt up to Trenton for the 18thc ball - the ball and battle of Trenton reenactment are the same weekend, you may recall we did both last year. I think balls are generally more fun than battles though, so I don't feel the need to see the battle reenactment every year. The ball was overall very enjoyable. It was in the Masonic Hall this year rather than the nearby hotel ballroom...which was much more scenic, but somehow had even less space for dancing! It's a nice-sized room, but as they insist on serving food and having tables and chairs, there was barely room for two sets of dancers. And I do mean barely ! Take a cue from period balls and have the food in another room, and just have chairs round the perimeter...or if you can't get another room, don't have much food at all, I didn't show up because I heard there'd be sammiches. :P Really, I only danced two dances because I found the crush so unpleasant! Still, I'm always happy to ...

Over the weekend, I went down to New Castle, Delaware, for their Dickens Experience/Spirit of Christmas event - all the historic houses in Old New Castle are decorated with greenery and fruit, most of the sites are open for tours, there are a few dramatic readings/performances, and general shopping and dining. I'd never been down there before, and I thought it was quite charming. And very historical! I don't know the finer points of architecture, but it at least looked like all the buildings around Market Square were 18th/first half of the 19thc. If only we'd had a bit of snow...but it was about 70*F that day, not wintery in the slightest! I made it a point to demand snow or at least cold for next year, if one can demand such a thing! Anyway, I'd worn my "marquee" dress, mainly so I could get photos of it and do this writeup! If I hadn't wanted to do that I'd have gone for my taffeta instead...I wasn't sweltering, quite, but did start to get unc...