Celestial Ball

Next up, we are into May! Thanks to Janine and Ron babysitting for us, we were able to attend the Celestial Ball at Gadsbys Tavern. I was just a tad slow to realize that the ball was on… May the 4th. Also known as Star Wars Day. Get it? Celestial Ball? Anyhoo, once I realized, I sprang into action. I was hot off of rewearing my Leia Bespin gown at AwesomeCon, and I thought… maybe I could make a regency Leia Bespin outfit and Star Wars bound. So I dug out the very first regency dress I ever made (which was terrible) and took a look at the available dyes I had, and tossed it in the washer with said dyes. It took a mix of scarlet and tan, and taupe and 3 tries, but I finally got it the shade I wanted. Dry, which was tricky since it looked the right shade wet, but then faded when dried. I wore my actual screen accurate Bespin cape as an over dress, and added Han/Leia profile necklaces, the accurate hairdo (it totally worked!), and a rosette I got as a party favor at the waist. And I wore my Leia Bespin flats. So basically it was almost all screen accurate but the dress. Doug wore his Han Solo jacket over tan pants and a white embroidered vest. I’m not sure how many people attending really got the whole Star Wars thing, but it was *definitely* Gadsbys intent given their traditional cheese hedgehog had Leia buns, and the menu was done in a Star Wars font. Awesome.









Outfit:











And one of the highlights was when the musicians played this little number. Music on for this short video! (You might have to click through because Flickr is sometimes not great with video.)



It was awesome seeing friends, but there is always someone who has to be rude and yank you around if they feel you are going the wrong way. Which sometimes you are not. Don’t be that person. Yanking someone’s arm hurts and it sucks.

Austenland Tea

Ok, I am in need of a happy post, so here we go! Stephanie’s (November) Pumpkin Tea this year was themed “Austenland,” and inspired by the movie. So costumes were encouraged to be less-than-historically-accurate, over-the-top, and the food was the same. It was super fun. Since I had no sewing time, I wore a reddish/pink Spencer that is pretty loud in color and a very tall hat (purchased on Etsy or eBay years ago), and I wore lots of make-up.The necklaces is old school Dames a la Mode and the earrings are In the Long Run Designs. :D

Here are pics!











Taylor embroidered a bag!

Historical Hogwarts party

My friend Chelsea hosted a Historical Hogwarts themed tea this October (busy month, seriously!). Janine, Conley, and I carpooled down to Williamsburg to make a long day trip of it.

Janine and Conley were Slytherin. As were most of the partygoers. The host was Hufflepuff. I was the lone Gryffindor at the party.

I repurposed a white regency dress with some Gryffindor striped clip-on bows I bought at the Kings Cross Gift shop. Plus red and gold sashes, my regency shawl that happens to match, red shoes, a wand, and my gorgeous suede witch hat, which was so heavy it pulled the wig off my head until I gave up and bewigged.

The party was lovely! She had a scavenger hunt for a list of Harry Potter-related things, and had hand-made lots of beautiful decorations!

The Slytherins all teamed up on the Gryffindor, but I came close to winning. :-)

Some decorations:



These House cups actually worked! She made them!







And some of the food! In House colors of course!



These little tarts were SO GOOD



Slytherins:

Costume Con 2011

I had a great time hanging out with friends at Costume Con this weekend!

Regency Pumpkin Tea 2010

Stephanie's Pumpkin tea was really lovely!

More pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggie42/sets/72157625252804855/

Sense & Sensibility Regency gown

I was really inspired by this look worn by Marianne in Sense & Sensibility.

And I found a dotted fabric at Joann's. Even though it's not totally accurate, I thought it would work.  I'm mostly happy with the dress, though it has issues.

Here is the web page for my costume construction details and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/ssregency.html

My friend Diane and I at DragonCon

Jess and I at Stephanie's pumpkin tea.

self-portrait