A rococo summer ball at Schloss Bruchsal

my favourite picture!

Hei again,

I've been busy having fun at the rococo ball at Schloss Bruchsal and enjoyed so much meeting friends again, chatting away, strolling around the palace and park, dancing (!!! yay !!!) , admiring great robes, a nice glass of wine and bubbly and, of course, wearing and discussing historical clothing. The exchange of experiences is invaluable and my head is so full of new ideas now! It was such a wonderful day and evening, thank you!
The ball did not have a specific setting timewise (anything 18th century would go). As there was no time to get changed for the ball I had to omit the idea of wearing the Walpole Francaise for the ball, sadly.
I was deciding on wearing my Kyoto Anglaise (1780s), my new V&A stays and having a go at a hedgehog 1780s/90s hairdo (wig based...).
As this was the first time ever to wear the V&A stays I was rather curious how the cane would "behave". And it was a great experience. I was prepared for the usual bit of widening of the fabric during wear, what I did not anticipate was the molding of the canes due to body heat and humidity. This material is just great! The stays shape to body nicely and are SO comfortable! Anyway, back to the ball, here's some pictures.

love the way the skirt moves and the bum :)

hug a tree!

 

A hedgehog hairdo - wig - 1780s/90s

Finally I have got around to having a go at a wig based hairdo. I have to tell you, I am not very gifted when it comes to hairdressing. As I experience, neither my own or false hair...
But I am rather happy with the outcome of the hedgehog hairdo, sort of late 1780s/90s.

Lady Arabella Ward, by George Romney, 1783-88. Widener Collection, National Gallery of Art.

Charles Chatillon: Unknown Lady in Woodland Scenery, ca 1795

George Romney Mary Chichester, Lady Clifford-Constable, 1789

What I did (in the end):
- buy a "lioness wig". I got mine from wigs-us.com, the colour is 102, thats a "pearl platinum blond" according to their colour description chart.
- attach a mini-comb inside the wig (for more secure fit)
- 2 braids in the back, tied up in a sort of Prezel-shape
- make a mess of top hair and pin it up
- tie a decorative black ribbon around the explosion.

I've worn this for 16hrs and it worked ok. :)

side/back view

Bach at the flat share party!!

This is so wonderful!!
It is Bachs Christmas oratorio, performed by young musicians at a flatshare party in Leipzig. It's crowded, but I dare to say that this is the best performance of it I will ever see. Where else are people having so much fun, drinking beer and celebrate with Bach? And applaud them when they have finished, for they've done a great thing! They are nominated for the German Web Video prize and I do hope they'll make it!

V&A Stays 1780s

 
After being really annoyed with the Reconstructing History pattern, repairing my old set of stays and a lot of grumbling I still felt the need to make a new pair of stays. I had fallen in love with this lovely pair in the V&A Museum a long time ago but never really managed to get into making them. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O115752/stays-unknown/

 THEN something almost surreal happened - the lovely Before the Automobile had not only made them but was kind enough to share her pattern with the world. :) I've been admiring her work for quite a while now, such perfection in action there!! But this has been just marvellous. So I DID pull myself together and got to work, trying something new. I have used rattan cane to bone the stays, they are made of Coutil as interlining, cotton gabardine as fabric and white linen lining. Around the armholes I used kidskin leather. Together with working and baby and moving house this took so much longer than I expected but finally I've managed to get somewhere with these! :) Though not flawless (what of my work is...? ehem...) I am quite content with the outcome. And next weekend I will try them out. I will be taking my old stays, though. Just in case... ;)

edit: after wearing them for more than 16 hours non-stop I can only say: SUUUUPER material, those canes are great! shaping good and really comfortable to wear! I couldn't see and damage of the bones, the seams and the design of the boning pattern is brilliant! They really did know what they were doing back then! :)