A Dedicated Follower of Fashion

It's a hat.  

 A couple of weeks ago, the extended version of the Usual Suspects got together for a Poe-themed picnic/outing at Valley Forge; Washington Memorial Chapel is an early-20thc church with really pretty "Gothic" architecture with little cloisters on one side, so, perfect for a Poe-esque setting! It was the first costume outing we've had since March, and we all enjoyed ourselves immensely. Gorgeous fall weather, and it's a VERY large park so despite the lots of people who had the same idea we did (spending the afternoon out-of-doors, not dressing in funny clothes), there was plenty of space for everyone to maintain a reasonable distance and not have too many dog-walkers in the background of our photos! Note: all watermarked pictures are courtesy of our friend Meredith/Molly Picture Studio. She's a professional!

 A post in 2020?! Be still, my beating heart.   (Like many people, I've been finding it hard to be productively creative this year! I've started a ton of sewing projects, but finished very few, and even less that's worth blogging about. This was a very simple dress, but it is also a Done Dress, so it gets a blog post.)

Why yes, that would be my rational dress bodice with a long skirt. I did mention I wanted to make the outfit as versatile as possible in the last post, I think!

Aka, Twowsers! Wimmins in Pants! Scandal! Hussies! Etc. etc. The short version is that most of The Usual Suspects agreed to wear trousers with me this year at Gettysburg as one of our day outfits, on the day we explored the park a bit. (A bit. There's a lot of park.) And it we had a great good time!

Our group decided to attend the Friday night ball at the Gettysburg Hotel this year - and the theme for the evening was "tartan." Of course not everybody dresses in regards to the theme on any given evening, but it's encouraged, and I think it's fun to do if I can!

Last weekend was Remembrance Day in Gettysburg, PA; my little group and I like to go out every other year for it. I've been going since 2011 so I'm pretty well stocked on 1860s cold-weather clothes, even considering the learning curve and improvement of sewing skills! That said, I still like the planning and sewing of outfits just as much as wearing them, so I did make a couple of new items: a "rational dress" and a new silk "dinner dress", plus retrimmed the old satin ballgown for the tartan-themed ball we attended on Friday night. I'll do separate posts on all of those, otherwise I think it will get too long. And I especially want to do the rational dress justice! Mr Pip looooves crinolines. They are best toy. So, up today: the Horrible Chartreuse Dress. Why have I called it such a mean name? Well, I'm one of those fair people who doesn't look great in most shades of yellow, and that very much includes yellow-greens. BUT, a good few yea...