The Last Csar Dinner

My husband and I attended a private event this past weekend, The Last Csar Dinner in the Philly suburbs, a themed Russian Court dinner around the years of 1894-1917. I made a 1898 evening/court gown out of a dark burnt 'brick' (lol) red orange silk taffeta from my stash, using TV490 evening bodice and TV297 flared skirt patterns. My bodice is boned and I'm wearing my late Victorian corset, and an underskirt made up in the same TV297 pattern of a thick vintage cotton plaid. My husband's black wool military jacket was purchased/made from a seller in England and I added a few embroideries and his sash and 'royal orders.'

Here's a picture of the Last Csar Dinner group photo!

The Last Csar Dinner - November 2017

We had an amazing time, a sit down dinner of delicious food: I chose the soup special (cauliflower and feta cheese), filet mignon, and a pumpkin mousse tart!

Last Csar Dinner, my husband and I 

My dress was finished in about two weeks (since I was frantically sewing for another event right before this one, I'll post on that soon). I was originally planning on adding sleeves (Russian style court sleeves were planned but I ran out of time so I may add those for a later wearing). My 1898 evening/court gown is sleeveless and finished with a vintage fur, and lots of bling!

We had such a fun evening!

Trying to look regal (but my hair is hiding
my tiara, lol)

Tiara with matching necklace and earrings set, extra long and long real pearl necklaces are LadyDetalle on Etsy, as are my matching real pearl bracelets. Catherine the Great crown bow order by Etsy seller Queen & Cavendish, and I made our 'bee orders' as well as our other orders either I made or bought/made, along with matching silk sashes. I wore my black 'Balmoral' boots by American Duchess. Hair by me using a half wig of brown curls and a touch of extra hair underneath for support.

I didn't get very many pictures since I was having such a great time, but the ones I did get are here.

The evening went by so quickly, but we had an amazing and truly lovely weekend: thank you, Judy!

Edwardian white lace Gibson Girl blouse - May (Posting Late) Holes HSM Challenge

For May's HSM Challenge, Holes, I made an Edwardian white lace Gibson Girl blouse. I'm late posting, and this was worked on in April-June. I made this to wear to a friend's summer Seaside party, but I ended up wearing a store bought Edwardian bathing suit instead (it was so much cooler in the summer heat). Here is the finished Gibson Girl blouse, with lace inserts and other holes in the garment!

White lace Gibson Girl blouse by TheLadyDetalle

Historical Sew Monthly MAY challenge:

http://thedreamstress.com/the-historical-sew-monthly-2016/

The Challenge: Holes – sometimes the spaces between stuff are what makes a garment special.  Make a garment that is about holes, whether it is lace, slashing, eyelets, etc.

Material: White dotted swiss cotton

Pattern: Folkwear 'Gibson Girl blouse'

Year: Turn of the century Edwardian Gibson Girl

Notions: White lace (with lots of holes!)

How historically accurate is it? I'm not an expert in this era, but it looks period appropriate to me. It was machine sewn, which Edwardians had. I used a pattern from Folkwear for a Gibson Girl blouse that my mom had in her stash.

Hours to complete: About two hours to cut out, read the pattern and prep. Probably a good 6+ hours to sew together, since I messed up a few things and picked some seams and re-did. This is the product of rushing and sewing while tired, late in the evening, lol!

First worn: Not yet worn: made in May/June to wear in June, but ended up going with another outfit so will wear this in future!

Total cost: The white dotted swiss cotton and lace used was from my mom's stash, so free!

View of the back - Gibson Girl blouse

Recent events - Holiday Tea and Riversdale Twelfth Night Ball

Here are two events that I recently attended that I wanted to share:

First, the first weekend in January, I attended a yearly Holiday Tea - each year the theme or time period is different, and the hostess/s try to keep it relaxed and inviting since it's usually the last event just after Christmas or the first event of the new year. This year the theme Isabella chose was a really loose Victorian period, stretching all the way from 1830-1920.

Turn of the century outfit -
Holiday Tea Jan 2016

I decided to wear my early turn of the century (Edwardian) day outfit that I wore to Winterthur two years ago, with a revamped skirt, my recently finished black silk mourning cape and a new hat! First, I did some fixes on the skirt and added snaps, ties and some other finishes. Then I took a vintage hat that was probably from 1940's-1950's (could be earlier), and covered it with antique feathers, a bit of marabou, some black silk ribbon, and (I think this is hilarious), one of my Anne of Green Gables black 'pouf' sleeves from my homemade (mom made) sophomore prom dress. The vintage hat straw was not in fantastic condition, so other than a few stitches to secure the band in again, I just pinned this hat together and wore it that way.

We met for tea at a tearoom in a little town by the water south of Baltimore, and this was the first time I'd been to the tea room, and likely also the town (unless I went as a little girl and don't recall). The town was busy, with all these cute little shops (no time to check them out) and it was cold and parking was a pain, but the tea room was run by a staff who was welcoming and gracious, had a lovely big table for us in the upstairs, and we were served absolutely delicious tea food, including a cinnamon 'scone' (more bread cake then scone) but absolutely yummy and I'm still dreaming about it! I sat in the back corner with Isabella, so no possible way to move about or get up, so I only took a few iPhone photos, and I missed having conversations with folks on the end, but I did have a wonderful time, chatted with friends and met 2 new costumers, and chatted with a few friends more outside and in the parking lot after, so all in all, a very successful and fun day!

Here's the full outfit:

Edwardian outfit with black silk
mourning cape, antique muff and hat

Here's one of the group (photo courtesy InTheLongRun:

2016 Annual Holiday Tea

Thanks so much, Isabella, for planning such a fun and well attended event: seriously loved it!

Second, my honey and I got tickets for the Riversdale Twelfth Night Ball and Supper which was the following weekend, and it was a Regency ball. My honey wore his cobbled together gentleman's outfit (a quick vest, some thrift store finds, a walking stick and an antique top hat to finish it off) and looked very dapper. I wore a drawstring dress I made for Regency pumpkin tea about 7 or 8 years ago from $2 a yard sale 98% cotton 2% metallic silver thread from JoAnn's. I also wore my recently finished Regency 'fichu' out of burgundy silk and black marabou, securing it around my waist with ties.

Riversdale were wonderful hosting again, with a delicious light supper including gluten free and dairy free options for their guests, with much of the delicious vegetables and fruits grown in their garden, including most of the berries from the berry compote desert. It was delicious, and they were gracious in their welcome to their guests and in the way they served the food and drink. It was lovely to wonder the halls a bit, dance with my honey and with my friends, and also partake in the yummy repast they provide that evening. Definitely a place to come back to many more future balls!

Here is my honey and I (courtesy Maggie):

TheLadyDetalle and her honey

Here's one of the group (courtesy InTheLongRun):

2016 Riversdale 12th Night Regency ball

Regency wedgie shot

And the wedgie picture for Jen (courtesy InTheLongRun):












All my pictures can be found here.

My honey and I dancing (courtesy InTheLongRun): it was such a fun night.

Dancing with my best friend

Thanks Gloria, for letting us all know about the ball!

Hopefully we'll get to do more of these, what great events to start the year off!