I already
wrote about my preliminary researching and planning for my open robes to wear
to Costume College in this earlier post. http://timetravelingincostume.blogspot.com/2018/05/my-1795-open-robe-project.html
A couple of
my friends were also going to make them so we encouraged each other as the
months passed to get them made. My big plans of having three versions to wear,
two during the daytime, and one in the evening, didn’t really work out as well
as I’d hoped. Of the three dresses, I can only say I liked my evening one in
black velvet the best but it still wasn’t great. This was mostly because of a
pattern/fitting issue with the white dress under it. And no one needs to remind
me that we should always make a muslin to make sure it fits. I did have a
muslin that fit but its also important that you grab the correct pattern piece
when cutting out your fabric. And maybe try on the finished outfit? That turned out not
possible as my hubby wasn’t around to help me into it. You really need a maid or dresser to
get you into that drawstring neckline.
Let’s take a
look at what my complaint is all about. I wore my fuchsia day version on Friday
and that’s where I first noticed a problem with the dress. Here’s a good look at my issue. That evening this photo was taken at the Friday Night Social where I was making
some announcements and introducing the new Dean for 2019. The shoulders on my
dress kept falling off my shoulders no matter how many times I tugged it back
up. Fortunately, my chemise WAS behaving itself so at least I didn’t have bare
skin showing. It may have just looked like it had come loose or untied and was
sliding off but earlier in the evening we had tried to tighten it and pin it but
to no avail. It would not behave.
The
rest of my evening wearing this was fun, especially hooking up with Cynthia who
made her interpretation of the same dress from the same fashion plate I did.
I added
black embroidered netting along the hem of my skirt to copy the fashion plate.
I wore my
black stone Collett necklace and earrings I’d bought from Dames a la Mode last
year that I picked specifically for this outfit knowing I would be making it. I
also made my watchchain equipage aka chatelaine to hang on my belt, like in the
fashion plate, after seeing how Cynthia made hers. Again, I used bead bits and
strands of pearls I had, including a lightweight fake pocket watch, and some
chains and beads I bought at Michaels. For not having ever made any jewelry, I
think I did pretty good.
I wore a wig
that night that I had from another outfit, and wrapped it with a white scarf, added
a pretty rhinestone star cluster hair comb, and later added some white
feathers.
And now onto
my day wear. My shoes were pretty. There were the Mossimo brand that popped up
at Target, Payless Shoes, and various sites, with a cording that laced through
it. I changed that out to a ribbon and they were really comfortable. This is
the only photo I have proof of that I wore one of my day dresses. You can just
see part of the fuchsia robe on the lower right corner. And those are some of
my theme ribbons I picked up in just one day that were being passed around. My
first ribbon is of course the Dean.
I received this
pretty apricot & pink turban gifted to me from the CGW President, Mela
Hoyt-Heydon, to wear with both my fuchsia and peach day dresses, and I at least
got to wear it one day.
This was
kind of fun. I went back to my room that night and found out Mela had decorated
my hotel room door for me. She brought back the banner “Party like a Royal” and
a crown on my light fixture from England especially for me!
That Friday morning was when I discovered there was an issue with my dress when I put on my fuchsia linen open robe with the white dotted swiss dress to wear during the daytime. I had made both my white dresses at the same time, using the same pattern pieces so both ended up having the same problem. While trying to put the one on and not being able to get it to stay on my shoulders, I realized I had accidentally grabbed the pattern piece for my Regency bodiced petticoat, and not the bodice. The petticoat has a wider neckline and is lower in front. So, all the tugging in the world wouldn’t help. After spending the day walking around in my fuchsia open robe outfit, and being soaking wet at least three times (because I am a working Dean and not just swaning about), I gave up and changed to street clothes for the remainder of the weekend, except for the evening events.
So, the rest of the time I wore boring modern clothing, topped off by a tiara, but I was soooo much more comfortable and cooler, although I still worked up a lather a few times.
I found some
time to do some shopping in the Marketplace at CoCo but didn’t have much time
to really look. I picked up a hat I had ordered awhile back from Mela to go
with a purple floral cotton voile bustle dress I’m going to start working on.
And bought two yards of a vintage cotton fabric to make an Edwardian blouse
with.
I bought
some ribbons from one new vendor I can use for hat trimming myself, and a
little rosette that would have made a nice shoe trim if she’d had two of them.
But it gives me an idea for future shoe trims. I also picked up some garnet
grape earrings I’d ordered from a vendor back east who came to Costume College.
It was nice saving on the shipping. Those will go with my purple voile dress
too.
From
one of my favorite vendors who sells vintage items, I bought this inexpensive
petticoat with beautiful lace on the hem in perfect condition, and it’s
wearable.
My final day
on Sunday was spent wearing my Regency bathrobe to the Sunday Royal Breakfast,
which I missed seeing everyone since I was late, but I blinged it up appropriately
for a royal visit by adding my sash and royal orders from the previous night’s
Gala dress. My tiara was slightly askew, as fitting a late night out.
That was a
comfortable way to spend the day and show up for two classes until it was time
to change for the Sunday Tea, “Queen Victoria’s Fancy Dress Tea”. The theme had
us dressing up, maybe as famous people, ideas and inventions, such as the
telegraph or electricity, Greek gods and goddesses, and objects. I went as The
Chess Game, using my black 1830s dress I had and added checkerboard trims and
an apron. I attached actual chess pieces to my neckline and to the vinyl crown
I wore. I love being able to use my historical dresses to go with themes that
they work into. There ended up being a couple people who also went as “board
games”.
I ended my
evening up on that final day of Costume College by going to dinner across the
street to PF Changs with some friends, and some new friends, and having my
first full meal in 4 days. I came back to the hotel later that night, met up
with some more friends in the lobby and had an impromptu meeting with some CGW
Board members to discuss some issues, and finally made it back to my room to
start packing. I finished mostly by 10:30pm and got a decent night’s sleep.
Getting out of the hotel the next morning was a different story. Once again, my
phone in the room wouldn’t work, which was a problem all weekend, and even
though I went down the hallway to use a phone by the elevator to call for a
bellman, no one ever got my message and I missed a meeting with the hotel
manager to close out our event. It was like the Keystone Cops for about 2 hours
but I finally was on the road, and made a stop in the Fabric District on the
way home. It was just way too hot and humid to even spend much time there.
After finding some fabric for a friend (more of the purple cotton voile that
I’m using), and picking up some lavender linen I wanted, that will be made into
a 1912 dress, I decided 2 hours in the heat was plenty and continued on home.
Oh, and
those two Regency dresses with the misbehaving necklines? Those have now been
ripped out, and I will be cutting new bodices for them, this time using a
bib-front pattern from Laughing Moon #126. And this one I can get into myself. We
always say our projects are never done.
~~~Val~~~
