Last weekend I once more had my 1860s mourning display set up at a local Civil War reenactment. About a week before the event, I decided it would be crazy totally reasonable to finish the half mourning printed cotton dress that I started two years ago. I'm glad I pushed through and finished it because I'm quite pleased with the dress even though it ( Read more... )

Emma and I had a fantastic time at Remembrance Day this year. I got to visit and catch up with so many old reenacting friends and meet some lovely new ones. It made me realize how much I miss reenacting... It feels like we never get out to events since we moved to Virginia. We were much more active in Michigan! There are still things to do around ( Read more... )

I meant to do a write up about Costume College, but it never happened... Doing it now seems too late! I had a good time this year but I still felt like I missed hanging out with people as much as I would have liked. For some reason I was exhausted the whole time and went to bed super early each night... which I really regret now but at the time I ( Read more... )

Longtime readers and friends might know that I have an obsession professional interest in studying 1860s mourning clothing. I first presented on the topic at the millinery symposium at Colonial Williamsburg in 2014, and have been continuing my research in my "spare" time. I was thrilled when I was asked to present again at The Mariners' Museum's ( Read more... )

Longtime readers and friends will remember this dress from 2014, when I went back to Greenfield Village in Michigan to see Tim Eriksen in concert to see ktlovely and attend one of my favorite Civil War events. I was not happy with how the dress turned out, but instead of trying to sell it as soon as I got home (my usual MO) I was actually determined to ( Read more... )

Michael and I had the opportunity to attend a private 19th century masquerade/fancy dress ball last weekend at Braehead Manor. It was quite possibly the loveliest ball event I have ever been to! The setting was beyond perfection, there was an exactly even amount of men and women (all eager to dance) and the food... Oh the food! Lobster salad, ( Read more... )

There's been so much talk about mourning lately, especially with the Met Museum exhibit up and running. As long-time readers know, mid-19th century mourning clothing is a subject that I am very passionate about, and this Saturday I'll be reprising my lecture on mourning accessories and millinery at the southeastern regional Costume Society of ( Read more... )

Remember that side trip to the 1860s I was making?

Well, I got to go back to Michigan for the Greenfield Village event (where Mike and I got engaged two years ago) because we got a nice tax return AND Tim Eriksen was playing! How could I pass that up? It was lovely to see so many friends, like Katie. She kindly took pictures for me, because my ( Read more... )

Calimanco the cat, that is!

I'm taking a side trip to the Civil War before getting back to the 17th century project. Many skirts from this period are faced with polished cotton and then have a wool hem tape applied, either binding the hem or just placed against the edge as I did. Here's a skirt with the hem applied as I did it.I made my facing ( Read more... )

My best beloved Maggie came out from California to visit. Usually we go to Gettysburg Remembrance Day, but since this was the 150th, everything was insanely expensive... So we decided to still have an awesome historical weekend palling around the equally historical towns of Winchester and Harper's Ferry. We stayed the night in the fabulous (and ( Read more... )