Carolyn's Goodbye Party (June 2019)

In June, Carolyn had one last costume party at the beautiful Capitol Hill house they had been renting for the last few years. We were very sorry to see Carolyn go, it was so nice having her in DC!

I was going to be a little late to the party, so I wanted something quick and easy to change into and that I could drive in. The theme was “any costume.” I remembered I had a vintage 20s gown that I had bought and not had a chance to wear yet, and it turned out very very well. I was really happy with the fit of the dress (I had taken it in a bit) and it was so floaty and comfortable (nor did I feel like I was damaging it by wearing it). I accessorized it with Miss L Fire shoes, a hat from Etsy, and antique necklaces. Even better, the slip came with the gown, so I didn’t have to figure out making one.

The food was lovely too:







There was an ivy wall outside that was great for photos:







More below the cut!

2019 Costume Year in Review

(I'm behind on updating events for the second half of the year, but you'll get some of that within.)

I… pretty much did nothing this year. Ok, that’s not totally true, but going through year two of motherhood + working full time leaves not enough time for me for sewing. At least, not enough big, contiguous chunks of time. I used to take a whole free weekend (when I had them) and spend all day on a project. I don’t have that anymore. And my evenings are for relaxing and recovering, and they are just enough time to take stuff out before having to go to bed. It’s just not working for me now, but I know that will change. And someday she will want to do her own thing, and I’m going to wonder what to do with my time!

Knowing all this, last year I said, “ Since my sewing time/drive has been so low, I think my main goal for 2019 will be to have as many of my older costumes photographed as possible. At least I’ll have a good record of them that way! So it’s accomplishing something.” and “ So next year, I’d like to finish the mending pile, to include actually assembling that new regency dress. Trimming the francaise would be good. As would doing literally anything else. I clearly need a bustle gown. Other than that, I think I’ll just try to rewear stuff that never was well-photographed, and get as many pics as I can.”

Since I set the bar so very low, I can say that yes! I accomplished this! I rewore stuff, I had photographs taken of old stuff. I did not trim the francaise, though that’s not because I didn’t try. The trim I had envisioned just didn’t look right with the fabric I had, so after trying a couple different ways to pleat the fabric, I put it away for another time. So I did at least try. And I did finish my mending pile!! I did not assemble the regency dress. I took it out a few times and just wasn’t into it. And since the Pumpkin Tea this year was bustle era and not regency, I figured I can do it next time I need a new regency day dress. So I deprioritized it.

I did go to quite a few costume events, which was nice. And I bought two Victorian gowns on FB, so I finally have things to fill in the gaps where I have not had time to sew. One of them still needs hemming, though I hemmed the first one I bought.

So here was my year.

February: Victorian Tea at Dupont Hotel



The lighting was terrible but Mike and Gloria did do some pics. I wore my old 1840s watered silk gown with an antique pelerine over it just to do something new. Here’s their pic of me:



I participated in In the Long Run Designs New Kit-Cat Club photo project. Here was my photo from that project. I wore an older gown, but one of my favs. Red and white striped silk and a take on the famous gown from the KCI collection. I got some nice photos of it from that shoot!



More below the cut!

2016 Holiday Tea

This year's holiday team had a fairly wide open theme, and since I was tired and stressed, and I just wasn't in a mood for corsets or stays, I decided to go 20s. I have exactly one 20s dress (I need more!!) but I had bought a vintagey sweater and modified the belt to closer resemble the photo of 20s sweater jackets I had. Added a new hat from Etsy, and some Forever 21 glasses (thanks for the find, Judy!) that resemble ones worn by Miss Fisher, and my new Miss L Fire shoes that sorta go. I also made use of a brooch and a 20sish necklace from Sweet Romance. Everything was slightly not matchy, but I liked the end look. And the tea was really fun! It was at Tea on the Tiber at Ellicott City. The food was delicious (those cinnamon scones!!) and the company was great as always!

Here's the look I was going for - funny, I didn't realize the lady in the brown sweater was wearing a pink dress with black trim! :-)













Oh, and I wore my great-grandmother's watch from the nineteens:



Oh, the food! That lemon cake!



Scones! Fruit! Cheese!







Jess and Judy wore 20s too!



I loved Amanda's cheerful plaid dress!



Kristin brought her sweet new baby and hubby as well! It was little E's first costume event! At least outside the womb!







Ellicott City had pretty holiday lights:



Group pic:

Lit-Up Ball

Got this from the Arlington Library about this year's Ball - 1950s, From Russian with Love, James Bond themed this year. And it looks like there will be a SPY GAME!!

They also emailed the link of pics from last year's Eight-Thirteen Ball. There's a good pic of Isabella, Jessica, and I up on the balcony! We are on the left.

Thank you to those of you who filled out our survey of last year's Eight-Thirteen Ball! We got some great ideas for future Balls to come.

One request that we heard from a number of you was to see the photos from last year. Our apologies for not making them more easily accessible! You can find them on the Arlington Public Library's flickr page here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/arlib/sets/72157636185338303

Also, the date is set and tickets are on sale for this year's Lit Up Ball: From Russia with Love! We'll be at Artisphere on Saturday, Oct. 18, from 8-11 p.m., dancing the night away to 1950s era music by the Hot Society Orchestra, eating yummy desserts, watching dance demonstrations by Fidgety Feet dance troupe, and bidding on themed raffle baskets! We also have a spy game planned for the evening, so get ready for some covert activity.

Tickets are $30 in advance from the Friends of the Arlington Public Library, or $35 at the door - so buy ahead! http://library.arlingtonva.us/lit-up/lit-up-ball/

And don't forgot to check out our Undercover Arlington Contest - you could win a pair of free tickets to the Lit Up Ball! And you might even find a clue to give you an edge in the spy game...

Downton Abbey Exhibit - our costumes plus Winterthur grounds

So ages ago - was it May? (I am so behind) we had a group outing to see the Downton Abbey exhibit at Winterthur in Delaware. Everyone dressed in teens or 20s and we saw the exhibit, had a picnic, and then spent a bunch of time tromping around the gorgeous grounds in smaller groups. It was so much fun, the weather could not have been more perfect, and the company was also great.

For my dress, I had bought a couple of the 1-hour dress books to study since I know little about the 20s styles other than that 1) I like them and 2) I'm not convinced I have the right figure for them.

The fabrics mentioned in the 1 hour dress books included "flannel" - not being a 20s expert, I don't know (and even doubt?) that means the same thing as today's flannel... but hey, flannel can be soft and lightweight and I found some pretty pale pink striped stuff for cheap, so I decided to give it a try. I ended up using the wrong side of the fabric because it was not as strongly colored.

After following the 1 hour dress measurement system, I realized that the body of the dress was about 3 inches wide. So I threw out those directions and just used Jen Thompson's 1 hour dress blog as a guide and it worked perfectly. So consult the 1 hour book so you have an idea what they are doing and then use her more realistically scaled measurements. OR have SUPER wide fabric - then you'll be fine with the 1 hour measurements. http://www.festiveattyre.com/2014/01/downton-esque-1-hour-dress.html

You can see the results below, worn with a vintage cloche I got on ebay ages ago and that added a new lining to (to protect the original shattered one which is safely inside), my vintage Victorian jet necklace (probably glass?), and since they were good for early 20s as well as Edwardian, American Duchess shoes. I wore white stockings after googling 20s stocking colors and finding white represented there. I also used my Titanic "flying" replica bag I got ages ago from a seller that is no longer in business. And I also used a Chinese parasol I bought online a while ago.







Picture by and vintaged up by Isabella, taken in front of the backdrop provided by the museum


Amanda, doing a Lady Mary face










Picnicking!


Doug and Mike, Gloria's husband also came along in Muggle clothes to be sherpas and enjoy the weather.






Now that the picnicking is done, let's stroll the grounds, shall we?

Eight-Thirteen Ball

As a fundraiser, the Arlington, VA library system threw a Gatsby-era event called the Eight-Thirteen ball. Doug, Amber and I went and met Isabella, Jessica, and Kristin there. We had a blast - there was free food, great music by a live band, and 20s dancers. And lots of costumes!



 I also wore the twenties seed bead rope necklace I bought on etsy and forgot to wear at DragonCon, and the 20's-ish shoes I bought on Plasticland. They're really cute and I was really happy with them. http://www.shopplasticland.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=P30722900&Category_Code=Shoes

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It was chilly so I dug out the little velvet tassled jacket I bought a long time ago and have no place to wear.

  Here's the band:

The event was held at the Artisphere in Arlington. Later on it got super crowded:

They also had dancers come out once in a while and do choreographed 20s dances. They were so good!

 





They mysteriously had stand-ups of Edward and Jacob. We all took pics with them over the course of the night. Here's Jessica and Kristin taking their pics:







They had really good mixed drinks!

We forgot to get a shoe shot with everyone, so Doug, Amber and I did one in the parking garage.



Now a bunch of videos! Dancing in the elevators:
Dancers!