A Collection of 1920s Outfits

Ok. I haven't written in a while. For what it's worth, I never stopped doing fun things - I just got unforgivably lazy about tracking down pictures of them. A lot's been going on. But I just came back from a 1920s event where I changed clothes every few hours, and that seemed worth documenting. Oh yes.

I missed getting crappy cell phone pictures (you're welcome for that, by the way) of a couple outfits - namely my dancing dress, bathing suit, and lazy kimono outfit. Maybe if I get pictures of those from someone else I can add them. I've never loved 1920s clothing as much as other time periods (oh, how I love defined waists...), but it's been growing on me recently. It can be devastatingly simple but still neat, and good accessories make such a difference.

Boat dress! I made this for the lawn party at the Crane Estate at some point.

Tea dress, with terrifying Mary Pickford curls (which are wonderfully fake!). Yes, that's totally tea in my glass. You can't really see the details of the dress - it was a lucky random find in TJ Maxx of all places, but it's PERFECTLY 20s. Like... gauzy white with a long front panel of white-on-white embroidery, and a dropped waist with a slightly gathered skirt. The shopping gods were with me that day.

Dinner dress, which I used to wear for performing years ago (Mother made it when I was a teenager), and which my sister has worn sometimes recently. But I spiffed it up with new accessories (check out those bright shiny gold character shoes!)

And here's the shocking blonde wig. Are you shocked? What do you think of me being blonde? I'm currently deeply in love with this tiara, with its pretty emerald cut green stones and gold deco-ish frame.

 

 

 

Pajamas! And a reproduction teddy bear.

Real Life Pretty Pretty Princess

After the 1890s ball we went back to our room and decided to be awfully silly. Do you remember the game Pretty Pretty Princess? Honestly, I hardly do, but I do remember there was a box of cheap plastic jewelry and the winner of the game got to put on all the jewelry and the princess! Or something like that. Of course, instead of cheap plastic we had all the (fairly fabulous) rhinestone jewelry of a weeks worth of fancy balls. Including a ton of brooches because I freaked out while packing and just took extras instead of making decisions. Anyway, here we go:

I was the clear loser. Julia counted that I was wearing 20 pieces of glitter during the ball, and here I have stripped down to one measly tiara. But I get points for style on my teased monster hair, right?

Quinn is rocking two tiaras, and some assorted necklace bling.

Julia R with a number of necklaces and a great brooch.

Raven in at least one tiara, plus pearls, rhinestone collar, and some fabulous matching dripping flower brooches that I have plans for but haven't yet debuted.

But here we have our undisputed victor. Can you even tell how many brooches he's wearing? And doesn't he have great hair for tiaras? He can really pull off the look. Not to mention that I love the iron man pants. Congratulations Nick - the rest of us never had a chance.

1890s at the Roger Williams Casino

For the 1890s ball, we went all out on the glitter. For me that meant a tiara, two necklaces, and 14 sparkly bow pins. Excessive? Since it was all about the sparkles, I made the dress out of black velvet for maximum visibility. Add some big hair, and it's a thing. I started Mother's dress for Newport last year, but we didn't get as far as a bodice. Everything this year was a little rushed (I lost about a month of preparation time to the flu followed by a vicious cold), but the fabric is lovely. It deserves to be trimmed with something pretty next time, though. Julia's dress was also new (and unfinished). I don't know if you can tell from the pictures, but it is the most amazing fabric ever. Pretty green gauze all covered in gold and embroidery. Wow. Pictures!

The lights are making my tiara difficult to distinguish, but it is a fabulous one, all fleur de lys and sparkles!

Black velvet shows off the bows. I think I need more for the bodice, though. What do you think?

Sitting.

All the angles.

With Julia. This doesn't do the green dress any justice. It is amazing.

With Adrian

Pugliese girls, covered in sparkles

People dancing

More people. More dancing.

Zombie cakewalk!

More typical cakewalk. You can't see me behind Julia, but you can see my foot.

I believe they call this the pimp polka

Great Gatsby at Rosecliffe

The first formal evening event of Newport was a 1920s Great Gatsby party at Rosecliffe. I am fairly in love with my dress, which was a 1980s party dress I bought at a thrift store. Then I changed the sleeves (which were ugly and wrong), changed the skirt (which did not allow for the Charleston), and ended up with a fun 1920s party dress, gauzy and beaded all over! I am awfully pleased with it still, even though it was last minute like everything else. Also, I should talk about my headdress. I bought a band-shaped tiara (with swirly cast pieces covered in rhinestones, and freshwater pearl bands), and bought two matching brooches with dangles. Then Julia R had silver thread (genius!), and I lashed them together to make a fabulous 1920s headdress with side dangles (remember this post?). I adore it!

Mirror Doors

Silly!

Here are more pictures, but now of all the cool kids. I particularly insisted on the picture with us in a line with our feet in the air, like that original one you see everywhere. I think we need to practice being silly, because they look a little more ridiculous than we do.

Don't they look particularly silly?

I think next time we'll be sillier...

We sure do look cute, though. I love all the green dresses.

Charleston! Everyone else is eating, but we stop for nothing!

Also, we can fly. Did you know that?

People having fun in the ballroom...

... while the help cuts up outside

Everyone looks happy

Impromptu charleston lesson! There were not nearly enough charlestons in the evening for a 20s event. So tragic!

I like those mirrored doors a lot

Yes, other people attended. But my friends are really pretty, so they dominate the photos.

As though we were having fun or something!

Awww, cute.

Of course, by then I was tired

But nothing will stop the charleston!

Take a minute to appreciate Julia's bling, not to mention her wig. It looked really smashing on her.

I love this picture. We were trying to be the statue, but mostly we just look silly!

Goodnight, ghostly fountain!