Rapid Fire (or, Whirlwind Season cont.)

The whole summer might have been busy, but August is by far the most hectic--events every weekend, sometimes two different events on Saturday and Sunday. I'm excited for the things coming up, and I've had a blast at every event so far, but with so much going on something had to give, and that ended up being my camera work. So apologies! You're stuck with fuzzy cell phone pictures and a few better ones I found on the internet (which I have tried to credit).

Well, it turns out there's a theme to all this activity: bottomless closet. Things have been so hectic I haven't had time to do much sewing, so everything I've worn to an event so far this month came out of my closet. And you know what? That's pretty great. It's not like people in the 19th century had new clothes for every occasion--Edith Wharton even discusses the length of time between the wedding and when the bride can start re-wearing her wedding dress as an evening gown in Age of Innocence. I put a lot of effort (sometimes literal blood and/or tears) into the clothes I make. It's really gratifying to get to treat them like, well, clothes, and pull something out of my closet to throw on for a picnic at the spur of the moment. So while I did do some alterations and repairs, I haven't made anything new with all the running around...yet.

So what exactly, have I been up to this month? 

Boston Comic Con

Long before I found out I was going to spend most of July doing field work (science whoooooo) with no phone or internet, let alone sewing machine, I'd already planned to wear the Batgirl costume I made in January. I had ordered a molded rubber cowl to match my costume before I first wore it, but it didn't arrive in time and I ended up being a slightly casual Babs sans cowl. This time around, I was excited to debut the whole look, cowl and all! I also ditched the original yellow bat symbol (which was also rubber molded) for a spandex bat sewn directly to the suit. Much better!

the Batsuit with cowl and new bat

facing off with (a phenomenally intimidating!) Bane

teaming up with a very Black Canary: my little sister! Courtesy of Light Painting Portraits

This was a blast, but also SUPER HOT. Next time I decide to wear head to toe latex in New England summer weather...someone stop me. Please.

Roaring 20s Lawn Party at the Crane Estate

The day after BCC, I took a saunter into the jazz age to attend the third year of the Crane Estate and Boston Swing Central event. I am totally in love with the white yachting dress I made for the Crane Estate last year, but I have yet to actually put sleeves on it and finish the sucker. Since it was way too hot to slap a cardigan over it (my cheat to cover the raw armholes last year), I decided to wear it anyways with a short-sleeved sweater over it instead. It was warm, but not terrible! The sweater was purchased at Reading this year and has quickly become a favorite piece in my day to day wardrobe, but it worked perfectly as a cover for this 20s ensemble too.

the nautical ensemble

an attempt at s-waves and a polka-dot bow, courtesy of my very talented friend Neal Howland

our picnic setup, featured in Boston Magazine's event coverage

Hopefully the next time this dress appears it will be complete, but in the meantime it still makes me feel right at home by the ocean.

Nahant Historical Society Vintage Dance Weekend

This event used to be a ball sponsored by the Nahant Historical Society, but thanks to the generous donation of the Egg Rock estate by its owners, it's grown into a weekend of vintage events that strive to honor Nahant's history as a summer resort destination in the 19th century. (Fun fact: the first resort was built on Nahant in 1802, and the "almost island" was accessible via steamboat between 1802-1817). I decided not to attend the ball this year, but did attend both events at Egg Rock: an evening soiree on Friday and an afternoon tea on Sunday. I took advantage of being at two primarily not-dance-based events to bring out the trains. It was the perfect venue for swanning around elegantly!

Nahant House Resort, a mid-19th c. engraving from the historical society that was on display

on the formal stairs at Egg Rock during the Friday soiree

bonus princess shot! considering I threw my hair together in about 10 minutes, I was really happy with the way it came out!

Friday night I wore the 1870s "Mother/Daughter Dress Project" with a few adjustments (more on those soon) and a whole lot of bling. Yay, bling!

Sunday I threw on some old reliables: my sheer plaid picnic skirt (which is actually pretty old these days--it's one of my only remaining early projects from 2010), a ruffly blouse, my gray puffed-sleeve jacket (which is actually modern, but has acceptable lines for 1910s and I fudged it), and my low-crowned straw hat. 

The best part of old reliable clothes? I have no fear about ruining them, and that came in handy!

scaling the rocky outcroppings/cliffs by the shore (it was too windy for the hat)

fearless (and elegant) friends!

lounging on the cliffs

lounging on the lawn of Egg Rock, original courtesy of Facebook

cooling off after all that climbing! again, courtesy of Facebook

Two weekends down, two to go! Oof. I wouldn't change it, though.

 

Boston Tweed Ride 2015

In the midst of moving, I took a 10-mile break to participate in the spring Boston Tweed Ride. Tweed Rides have become quite a trend in recent years, such that there's even a wikipedia page about them! Our local ride wound its way along the Charles River and amounted to about 60 people in a range of pretty fabulous outfits. There was also a lot of bicycle diversity: some people had original bikes from the mid-20th century, others reproductions (including a penny-farthing!), others modern road or mountain bikes, and some people were even on Hubways (our local bicycle rental program, a bit like zipcar for bikes!). It was a lovely afternoon, and I had so much fun!

My family rode bikes all the time when I was little, but then I stopped riding for a while and am just now getting back into it. It's definitely faster and easier than driving sometimes in Boston.

I didn't get many pictures, being on a bicycle, but here are the few that I captured! You can see more at the event's Facebook page.

The only picture I managed of my outfit: modern brown houndstooth blazer, WAC olive drab skirt, white blouse, brown boots. Not pictured: my red hat

socializing during our picnic stop along the waterfront

this brave soul rode a penny-farthing, which is impressively difficult (and even dangerous)!

my bike: a modern Schwinn with "retro styling"

my partner in crime looking fabulous on our picnic blanket--her yellow dress matched her yellow bicycle, so stylish!

a rather smashing ensemble

 

this pin belonged to the wearer's grandmother, and I thought it was a neat touch

sipping sparkling cider paired with stroopwafels...we know how to picnic. 

borrowed from my instagram, so there's at least one of my hat!

a crocheted skirt guard on a participant's bike--skirt guards cover the spokes on the back wheel to prevent a billowing skirt getting caught and causing a crash

A Quiet End to Summer

For the first time in possibly the last six years I didn't have to move on September 1st, which seemed like an open invitation to have a picnic! A couple of friends and I headed to the Boston Public Garden for a really low-key, relaxing last hurrah before fall. It was lovely, and nice to see friends I haven't gotten to see in a while, since August has been so busy.

We ate, had a ukulele sing-a-long, and watched the swan boats. I took the opportunity to play with my Petzval lens, which led to some great pictures and some...not so great ones. As soon as my arm gets tired, I have a hard time holding the lens steady enough for a clear shot. Something to build towards! In the meantime, it was a perfect way to end a very busy summer: a little bit of calm before my crazy work schedule picks up later this month.

A ukulele serenade as the swan boats go around (this is what I meant by blurry pictures...)

 To set the tone, here is a 1920s ukulele song about a girl playing the ukulele--I couldn't resist!

 

I love the Boston Public Garden...hanging out there never gets dull. It's like an impressionist painting come to life.

A quick lesson!

swan boats!

The beauty of the post-tourist season summer is that the Make Way for Ducklings statues are actually empty enough to be photographed!

I'm sad summer activities are coming to an end, but there are so many exciting things coming up during the colder months. If you're in the Boston area, please join me!

Last Picnic of the Summer: Performance at the Commandant's House

The National Park Service hosted an event in August to honor their volunteers, and brought the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers in to perform as part of the festivities. While they ate their lunch we had our own Regency picnic, did a little dancing on the lawn (including one truly death-defying...or death-tempting...jete waltz on the grass!), and then eventually went inside to do some more serious dancing. We met up with some new friends and had a wonderful time!

In case you missed my last post, we also looked pretty spiffy!

 But the real treat was that when we weren't eating or performing, we played graces! I've mentioned graces here before, but it never stops surprising me how much fun I have when we play. This time it was especially exciting, because there were a bunch of us and a bunch of hoops in a big circle. Before we tossed a hoop we would shout the name of the person we were tossing it to in order to get their attention. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it just resulted in really funny faces and near misses.

Even though it's October, I couldn't pass up sharing a last summer adventure. Not one with such silly people!

our picnic, yum!

Inevitable, one of the hoops got stuck in the tree

in the house after dancing was over. The light through the curtains was so pretty!

The Magical Disappearing Woman

Sometimes getting the perfect "period" image requires a lot of modern technology.

I've been out of town more than I've been in it this month, so my non-work life has been on hold...but I do have a post in the works!

At the end of August I participated in a lovely performance at the Commandant's House, and we had a picnic on the front lawn. Someone got a picture of us, and it is perhaps my favorite (certainly one of my favorite) shots from the summer! Don't we look like a period painting?

I was so excited about this picture....but this isn't what it looked like when it was taken. In the original image, we were "crashed" by a person in the background. Of course, photos often have people in the background, but it's a little more jarring when there's such a difference in attire. Always on the quest for perfect pictures (and an excuse to sharpen my Photoshop skills), I worked on removing her.  Here's the original image:

See the woman in the background?

So there you have it. Some fabulously-dressed friends, a beautiful day, a candid shot...and some post-production magic all add up to a really lovely image. 

Stay tuned! The rest of the day is coming soon.