This is a long-delayed blog post on the Victorian Festival in WA from last April. I had been waiting for photos to start showing up that I could share, and then I’ve been laid up in bed for almost a month after having a total knee replacement. The hoped-for photos have not shown up other than a couple of each of us, so for now I’ll work with those. I was really hoping the entire group photo would have been ready for me to use.
The theme for the 2024 Festival was Sports &
Recreation, and the Festival Chair encouraged all the models to come up with
outfits to match that. Of course most of us make pretty things, not meant for
sports so an additional theme of Hearth & Home was added, and we came up
with ideas of what we might be doing around the home wearing our outfits. This
would also include a section on Wrappers & Tea Gowns that were worn at
home. This was the longest and largest fashion show we’ve ever had there and
might have been a bit too much.
We did get a fair amount of actual sporting outfits,
which included archery, bicycling, croquet, golf, and walking. One of our gentleman models wore three different ones and had to be the fastest quick-change artists I’ve ever seen.
Before the fashion show started, I went to see the Home
& Hearth exhibit nearby that we had a display of antique clothing in. The
room had other displays of antique buttons, lace making, pressed flowers, and a
variety of other home activities. I had a couple antique bodices on display, an
antique lace collar worn around the neck of the brown silk antique suit, a
reproduction 1870s hat, both which were worn with the suit in the fashion show,
along with my purple embroidered re-creation of an 1870s wrapper.
Part 1- Sports & Recreation
Rebecca (1831 Archery)
Cynthia (1890s bicycling/bloomers)
Mark (bicycling)
Pt 2-WRAPPERS & TEA GOWNS (worn around
the house)
Val (1860s wrapper/tidying up the house)
Cynthia (1877 needlework)
Christal (1890s reading)
Pt 3-THE HELP
Scott (1890s valet) & Tracy (1890s ladies’ maid)- Victorian Festival chairpersons
Pt 4- HOME & HEARTH (activities in &
around the home)
Melinda (1830s embroidery)
Patricia (1869 dinner party)
Anna (1883 Gilded Age party)
Our show which normally runs about an hour, ran almost 2
hours combined with the corset demonstration. This year it combined more
historical background on positions in society and activities they did, rather than
just on our outfits and some historical information on them. But I can say,
this year they totally got their money’s worth!
As noted, I wore two outfits this time. When the
Committee Chair asked if we could add a section in on wrappers and tea gowns, I
had my rust colored 1860s one already made that I could wear, and my “theme”
was dusting around the house. As I walked down the center aisle of our show, I
passed by a few attendees and lightly dusted them off, getting a few laughs.
For the Home section, I wore my recently finished 1887 cobalt blue plaid dress.
I had a new half-hooped bustle to wear under it but never had a chance to try
it and my dress on me before I arrived. I had fitted it all on my dress form,
and it looked fine. But when I put it on, I looked down and it seemed like my
skirt was too long. So I hitched it up a bit on me. As you can see in my photo,
I hitched it too much. It probably would have been just fine if I left it alone.
And I don’t think I’ll wear that same bustle next time. The idea was great, but
a regular bustle would have been a better choice.
I had planned on a 3rd outfit to wear around
town, but as our plans for Sunday changed, and we would be leaving to head back
to Seattle in the late afternoon, I decided not to have to worry about changing
back into street clothes since we’d already would be checking out of our hotel. And we didn’t have a special afternoon tea to go to this year either. There were
only two small ones held in historical homes, and they were filled up almost
immediately. With our usual group of 10-12, neither of them could handle us. So
some of us decided to go to Café Tenby on Water Street for their afternoon tea.
The food was good, and it was served properly but it didn’t have the atmosphere
that the private teas had in the past. Our tea was served to us in individual
presses, like they use for coffee. Again, no pretty teapots and teacups. After
eating our sandwiches and scones, I had no room left for any of the desserts,
so I had those packed up and ate them on the plane flying home the next day. The
café is well known for its pastries and breakfasts so it’s well worth checking
out.
Just an added note to this trip to WA, my hubby and I
also celebrated our 42nd anniversary there and drove to Port Angeles and stayed at a lovely B&B in a quiet secluded area there. We also drove to Forks again, and
then to the far NW corner of Washington where we could see Canada across the Juan de Fuca
Straits. I’m pretty sure it was Vancouver Island. While there, I realized that
we had now visited all four corners of the contingent United States. During our
entire weeks visit, it rained almost every single day, even during the
Festival, which was unusual because in the past we might have had a light
sprinkle with sunshine in between. So it definitely was a bit different this
time.
