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!

AwesomeCon 2019

I only went to AwesomeCon for one day, but I had a great time. I got to hang out with Mike and Gloria and do a photoshoot with them, and I got some quality time in with Janine at the Princess Awesome booth, since she was helping boothsit for them, and I was happy just to hang out. Plus my daughter wears Princess Awesome, so I was happy to help talk it up to passersby.

I wore my Leia Bespin costume since I haven’t worn it in like 10 years, and I was hoping to get some good photos of it, since last time I did wear it, the photo quality isn’t what it is today!



Ron had a broken foot and made the most of it.



Janine wore her Captain Marvel, though she was an exhausted Captain Marvel with so much going on, I was amazed she made it to the Con at all!









Meanwhile, at home, lunchtime!



Glynnis found a lady Thor and Lady Loki!





Mike and Gloria were trying out some photographic techniques and it was fun seeing them set up for it! When you see the results, you would never guess this was how they got them!



You can see the results here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/m-and-g/albums/72157691278629823

Here’s one of Ron:
 

And here is the one of me:



Then we went upstairs to find a spot to take some photos. Mike took a ton of great photos of my Leia Bespin costume. Thanks again to Mike & Gloria of In the Long Run Designs!!















Behind the scenes! Man, I’m short! haha!



This is probably my favorite one because it shows off all the awesome embroidery:







While we were taking pics, there was also a Lando (from Solo)!





Selfie!



I love this little polaroid of Gloria and I!



So nice to see Kristin because I haven’t seen her in years despite knowing her since the 90s!! She makes gorgeous bags now.



I did buy a Trek bag from her on Etsy so we made sure to get a photo!





Meanwhile at home, peanut was up from her nap:



Meanwhile at the Princess Awesome booth:



I went to change after hanging out at the Princess Awesome booth, and to meet Doug and Elena, who came in to meet me & MIke & Gloria for dinner. I was sidetracked when I spotted what looked like an amazing Titanic Jump dress on the escalator. I followed her and managed to flag her down, and when I asked if she used Costumer’s Guide for her dress, she recognized me and freaked out and it was super flattering.

Her dress is amazing in every way and she even had a red wig going. So shout-out to Laci!











We went to Spice 6 for dinner - fast casual Indian, and they had dosa, which were something I’d not had before. Two thumbs up! Elena enjoyed it too! She scarfed down the chickpeas!





Lastly a group pic with some friends:

The New Kit-Cat Club photo shoot

So Mike & Gloria of In the Long Run Designs have been doing this really cool project called the new Kit-Cat Portraits. When they were at the National Portrait Gallery in London, they saw a room of portraits of men (of course) who were members of the Kit-Cat Club, which was an 18th literary/dining club. The portraits have an interesting aspect ratio, longer than a typical head/shoulders portrait, but shorter than half-length. And all the poses are different, and some of the poses worked in an object relevant to that man’s work.

Their project used that same portrait size, with varied portraits, and a similar brownish background. BUT their portraits (besides being photography not painting), featured women (yay!) and they decided to use the late 18th century rather than the early. (Our costuming group has a lot of costumes of that era, less so early 18th century.)

You can read more in their own words on their blog (and see a pic of the original portraits): https://inthelongrun.wordpress.com/2019/03/09/the-new-kit-cat-portraits-series-1/

Mike & Gloria have experimented with setting a temp studio up in their house and it works really well, especially for a short person like me!

They booked people for a specific time period, that allowed for getting ready, shooting some pics for fun, and then working on the Kit-Cat pic. They were super organized and it was fun seeing them experiment with different lighting set-ups. And it gave me some practice posing, since it’s something I still struggle with! Though sessions like this are helping me get more comfortable.

Here’s what the set-up looked like:







Selfie!



So, what was I wearing? I made a version of the famous KCI dress a number of years ago and it remains one of my favs. I used a sale red/white striped dupioni (not period accurate, but whatever, it’s silk and low slub). I wore antique earrings and a necklace and fan made by Gloria! The matching bracelets I think were from the Downton Abbey collection.



The Earrings:



Here is the Kit-Cat club image - and then I’ll finish with the other images they took.















(This is the original dress from the KCI collection:)