Events Attended - The 1812 Ball

I should be better about posting pictures of the things I do. The most recent thing I owe pictures of is the fabulous 1812 ball! Last year we did a regency dance, and it was wildly successful but also kind of wild. This year the attendance was a little lower, but the quality of dancing was AMAZING. Somehow having a little extra room to breathe, and having more people who went to classes (yay!), turned this event from a mad crush into a wonderful party. If you were there, I congratulate you on a lovely evening, and great dancing!

I wore a new gold dress (gold isn't even my favorite color or anything... but somehow my dresses keep turning out to be gold!). I also wore a dippy hair style and a little tiara! Because I can do that. I was too distracted with dance teaching to get enough sewing done, so mother wore the same dress as last year, and I couldn't find Julia long enough to take pictures of her - she was too busy hanging out with the cool kids. I don't know when I got to old to be one of the cool kids, but it was pretty cool to glimpse them now and then anyway.

Also, can you keep a secret? All the dances we did were reconstructions of regency-period dances, except for one. Several of the people there would have been heartbroken if we had not done The Gothic Dance, a great but too-late mid-19th century dance. So (with all proper disclaimers), we did it anyway! And this is why - look at them fly!

White Fox Stoles

I have decided that the ultimate Edwardian fashion accessory (especially with all these Titanic events coming up) is a white fox stole. Don't believe me? Just look!

Event Announcement - Returning Heroes 2012

Every year, my dance troupe, the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, hosts several balls that are open to the public. Sometimes people come in the most incredible clothing, and sometimes they come in hardly credible clothing. We always require a certain level of dress (in my opinion it really is difficult to get into the elegant spirit of things if everyone around you is wearing shorts or jeans, and sneakers are as useless for dancing as they are ugly), but we are always juggling the issues of accessibility and atmosphere. On the one hand, these events ought to be pretty and special. On the other, I don't want to keep out potential new friends just because they do not have a perfect ballgown hanging in their closet (though I'm happy to have friends like that, too!). As a compromised, we only have one ball a year where period dress is truly required. In my opinion, this makes Returning Heroes one of the most special and amazing experiences possible. And not only is everyone in the hall required to wear appropriate clothing, but all other aspects of the ball (dancing, music, refreshments) are carefully researched and correct. I like to say that Returning Heroes is the closest thing to a mid-nineteenth century ball since the mid-nineteenth century!

This year is even more special, because our favorite historical dance band, Spare Parts, is coming out with a new mid-19th century CD that shares a name with the ball. This year, Returning Heroes will be the launch party for the CD. So you can come hear the fantastic music live in person, and then buy a CD to remember it by.

I hope I have you convinced that this is an un-missable experience. Go empty your schedule for March 10, arrange a ride to Holliston, MA, and make your reservations this very moment. And if your only obstacle is the dress requirement, send me an email so we can try to work something out. You really don't want to miss this exclusive event. As always, more details (and tickets) available at the CVD website: http://www.vintagedancers.org/2012rh.html

This is How I do Homework

I have been very bad about posting. This is because I am writing a giant paper for my senior thesis and applying to graduate schools and having a dangerously large dose of REAL LIFE. I will try to be better, but here is an apology picture (or two) of me doing homework in a tiara. Because I have found that this motivates me shockingly well.

This is a new tiara, and I am pretty in love with it. It kind of reminds me of this one, worn by Princess Karoline Reuss of Greiz, shape wise. Or maybe even the one on Princess Katharina Henckle von Donnersmark, minus the massive pearl on top. I will have to wear it some time with at least that many necklaces, to really complete the effect, though.

Vienna, Day 7

The final event! I think these are all outfits I've posted on before, but we've never worn them to Vienna. Anyway, I like my sparkly gold ballgown. The hall was lovely (especially if you like statues of wrestling babies), the dinner was delicious, and everything was lovely - I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

Vienna, Day 6

This was the afternoon fancy event for the week, which is early 19th century. I wore a new gold regency dress and a sparkly tiara just for fun. I also did what is, in my opinion, a really cool hairstyle for mother. I like it.

 

 

But I might prefer the tiara and fur look, really.

Vienna has a great tram system, so then we got to ride on a special old tram car. It was a little cold, but really pretty.

Vienna, Day 5

Shopping, pastries, and an exhibit on fans and gloves... Here are some highlights.

I love these... in Vienna, you don't just get hot dogs from a hot dog stand. You get a tasty crusty roll STABBED WITH A GIANT SPIKE and then filled with a hot dog and condiments. Oh yeah.

Tasty and pretty pastries!

Adorable yet racist petits fours!

And from the exhibit:
"Brise Fan with autographs from the ball of the Weiner Musikfreunde," 2nd half of the 19th century.

I've been seeing a lot of fans like this in portraits... small roundish fixed fans for the mid-19th century and long ostrich fixed fans for late. They are kind of weird, but distinctive. I think I want one. I should probably figure out a handle, since I have some appropriate ostrich feathers already. With no moving parts, this would not be difficult to accomplish.

Of course, if you're going the fixed-feather-fan route, why stop at plain old ostrich?

16th century Venetian flag fan, for any readers who are interested that far back. It was pretty cool.

Vienna, Day 4

We've been having more days and more classes, but I find that classes are not very good photographic opportunities. On the bright side, we did listen to Hannelore give a neat talk on the history of the Kor, a Hungarian dance we've been learning. It has a long political history linked to the history of Hungary (with the Kor being a more popular dance when Hungary was well liked, and then falling out of favor at bad political moments). Unfortunately the talk was mostly in German, so I understood very little, but I do understand pictures. These are from a book she put out on display. First of all, doesn't this look like a wild party? We've used the funny hand-on-the-head position that some of these men have for the dance in class.

Also, is this or is this not a picture of a man holding a goat which is smoking a pipe? Hilarious (though I have no reason to believe that is really what's going on).

Now this is a cool picture from 1860 of a ballroom scene, but a lot of the women are wearing fancy ballgowns inspired by Hungarian national dress. Notice the shape and lacing of the bodices, and the pretty lace aprons on the skirts. It reminds me very much of Empress Sisi's Hungarian inspired dress, don't you think?

We also had an informal evening dance party. The theme was revolution, but we just wore our earliest regency vaguely french revolution-ish dresses to make packing easy. Also I look demented in pictures, which is a shame. So instead, make sure to focus on the EXPLODING CAKE! Pyrotechnics are fun!