Newport Part 2: Seaside Tea Dance

Tuesday we eased into the week a bit (well, if you can call a full morning of classes after a ball the night before easing) with a seaside tea dance in place of afternoon classes.  I was so excited to embrace all things nautical (a favorite motif) and stroll along the lovely Easton's First Beach in between dances...but it was the only event for which it rained! We managed to have a brilliant time anyways, and we even braved the stormy waves after the event was over to do a bit of wading.  It certainly brightened my mood!

I didn't have a chance to sew anything for this event, so I wore my white trained underskirt (plain white cotton) alone with a modern seersucker blouse and quick sash in navy blue with gold/white robe trim.  This, like many of my outfits this week, was a team effort: Nick used some of the rope for a sailing knot on the front of the sash, and Quinn used the rest for a bow at the back.

the full effect, with gibson girl-style hair done entirely with teasing

riding the carousel

The dance was held at the Rotunda Ballroom, which is located on Easton's First Beach in Newport.  While the hall itself isn't particularly remarkable or historical, it does have a lovely vintage carousel in the same structure, and we were able to ride it during the dance.  I love carousels, and they are so much better riding side-saddle in pretty dresses!  Once the carousel was closed and the dancing had ended, we raced to the sea, which was even better.

wading

being silly on the tide wall--can you see my bare feet peaking out from beneath my skirt?

Newport Part 1: Great Gatsby Ball at Rosecliff

My favorite thing about Newport Dace Week is the reason I have so many pictures of a group of elegantly dressed young ladies in obvious, undignified laughter: new friends!  (Hooray, TNG! Star Trek joke...) It really was a blast, and I am happy to spend my recovery week sorting through pictures and sharing with you!  I've picked a few that I think are my absolute favorites, but I have nearly 5,000 photos.  If you'd like to see more, and hear some other accounts of the events, you should absolutely check out Quinn's and Antonia's blogs as well.

I have to admit, I had mixed feelings about the Gatsby ball.  If you missed my Fitzgerald posts, then my quick recap is that I am absolutely in love with the speakeasy adventures of his short stories.  I also happen to adore the Charleston.  The clothes, on the other hand...

I spent a ridiculous amount of time sewing sequins to ribbon to make my own sparkly fringe, and when I was done I felt like I was wearing a very shiny bag.  I have a lot of shape, and that doesn't work for '20s.  But the magic of the beautiful surroundings and the live band combined with friends willing to be totally silly and ridiculous led to a night of flying feet and some on-the-fly Charleston choreography that came out rather well.  It was a fabulous event to kick off the week, and once I was moving I was even happy about my dress!

Thanks to our massive photo pool, I have some excellent "action shots" of the fringe to share.  You can check out more pictures from the week courtesy of many participant photographers on CVD's new Newport Flikr page and read about the history of 19th century balls at Barbara's (co-director of the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers) blog!

the ball in progress in the Rosecliff ballroom

 

doing the "flying charleston" (far right with flying fringe!)

copying a classic 20s picture

line of dancing girls!

Trotting through a Foxtrot with Nick, another CVD dancer

Camping up my refreshments dutie

lounging on the stairs in my best 'vamp' pose

We also had a lot of fun being ridiculously silly in the garden during intermission, but that will have its own post later on.  This was a definitely an event made better by fabulous friends!  I am now doubly excited for our upcoming events.

Project Newport

Have you ever seen "Project Runway"?  The basic premise of the reality show is that designers are placed in high-stress situations with impossible deadlines and little to no sleep.  That sort of sounds like going to Newport Vintage Dance Week with not a single finished ballgown...oops.

Luckily, I wasn't the only one with sewing to do, and we set up shop in our dorm suite Saturday night.  I also had a lot of help from several new friends--thank you all!! Quinn, who was a wonderful teacher and helped me figure out how to fix the mistakes on my 1860s gown, has a blog of her own and I encourage you to add it to your list!  You can find her at The Quintessential Clothes Pen.  

Of course, I had an incredibly ambitious set of gowns planned for this week...so really, all of the crazy sewing was really my own fault.  It was totally worth it.

frantically sewing Friday at the class exhibition

the finished dress at the 1890s ball that night

Stay tuned for an event-by-event recollection!

400 Portraits

More Newport things! Specifically, portraits.  One of the marks of high society during the Gilded Age was a portrait by one of the celebrated artists of the set.  Actually one of my favorite artists ever, John Singer Sargent, was one of the most popular of these, but there were also Auguste Carolus-Duran and Giovanni Boldini.

Here are some of my favorites!

Ada Rehan, Sargent 1894-5

Consuelo Vanderbilt and son, 1906 Carolus-Duran 

Isabella Stewart Gardner (check out her museum here!), 1888 Sargent 

Winifred, Duchess of Portland 1902 Sargent

Josephina Alvear de Erraruiz, Boldini

Mademoiselle X (Marquise Anforti), Carolus-Duran 

Mrs. Henry Galbraith Ward, 1891-4 Sargent

Emily Warren Roebling, Carolus-Duran

Mr. and Mrs. I.N. Phelps Stokes, 1897 Sargent

House of Mirth's Real Characters

Having just finished Edith Wharton's House of Mirth and in full Newport Dance Week panic mode, I am on a kick for Wharton's world of the New York social elite.  Dancing in the ballrooms of Newport definitely gives you an appreciation for Lily Bart's struggle to stay on the season's invitation list.  The social elite of the late 19th century have become the stuff of legend--have you ever heard the term "keeping up with the Joneses"?  Well, that phrase has been attributed to Mary and Rebecca Jones (incidentally, relations of Wharton) who scandalized mid-century New Yorkers by building their lavish apartments uptown, starting a trend for living in the 50s which became standard by the time new socialites started living around central park.

The fashionable "apartment" of John Jacob Astor an family (including Caroline Astor)
at 65th and 5th, facing central park

Another phrase you may know is "the 400," referring to the 400 families considered the 'inner circle' of New York society.  The list considered to be the original 400 was published in the New York Times by Ward McAllister (satirized as "Mc-A-List-er") circa 1892.  This was also supposed to be the invitation list to Caroline Astor's annual ball.  Mrs. William Backhouse Astor, Jr., later known as "the" Mrs. Astor, was considered the 'queen' of Manhattan society, and her famed annual ball was quite the event.  Until the mid 1890s the William Astors lived at 350 5th Avenue (torn down to become the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel) and the ballroom could 'only' accommodate 400 guests--the rumored origins of the 400 list.  Whether or not this is true is still under debate, but it fits well with the publications put forth by McAllister.

350 5th Avenue, home of Caroline Astor (foreground), 1893

Wharton captures the glamour and strife of living within the upper echelons of New York society quite well, and it's part of what makes her books so entertaining.  It's also what earned her a good amount of criticism from her acquaintances--especially surrounding House of Mirth.  After Newport, I guess my next stop will have to The Mount, Wharton's own estate...

The Mount, Wharton's estate in Lenox, MA

Packing, Progress...Panicking!

Sorry, I couldn't resist the alliteration!

I am seriously panicking though.  This year Newport Dance Week includes four balls (1920s/Gatsby, 1860s, Ragtime, 1890s), one early-twentieth century "silent film evening," two major day events (seaside stroll, formal tea), and I also need nine days' worth of normal clothes for classes and travel.

I might die.

In addition to all of the sewing I am frightfully behind on (which is all of it, incidentally), I still need to pack and make sure that I have all my dance shoes, gloves, hats, and sparkly bits for each day as well.  In case you were wondering, packing tiaras is hard.  They do not actually conform to boxes but must be packed carefully lest they break.

Seriously, I am going to explode.

But the panic has been urging me to work when I would normally be sleeping, and I have made progress!  Here are a couple of photos (taken via Instagram, so apologies for the quality) of how my 1920s and Ragtime dresses are coming along:

my "cherry blossom" ragtime dress

gold with sequin fringe 1920s dress, dubbed the "gladiator" by my family

fringe close-up

The exciting thing is that most of the dresses I will be wearing are new, so I will have a lot to post about when I get back!  In the meantime, I have a couple of Newport history-related posts scheduled for next week, so hopefully they will keep you entertained while I am away!

Also, I take comfort in the fact that this whole packing nonsense is nothing new.  In fact, here is a charming description of Newport trunks from Belle Brittan, writing in 1856:

"I forgot to mention the sensation produced by the arrival this morning of about thirty trunks belonging to a handsome New-York widow--one of the trunks being the size of an Irish shanty.  I am so glad, as Pa scolded a little about the trunk I bought to pack my hoops in; and called it 'Noah's Ark.'  But after seeing this huge dry goods warehouse in the hall today, he promised to laugh at mine no more." (July 16, 1856; p161)

You can read more about Belle's travels and her season in Newport in Belle Brittan on a Tour: at Newport, and Here and There.  The book is a series of fictional letters detailing the travel of Belle Brittan, originally published as a serial in The Daily Mirror and written by co-founder Hiram Fuller. They can be read in full for free on Google Books.  Her descriptions are absolutely charming, and I recommend it!

Preparing for "the Season"

Newport Vintage Dance Week is a crazy whirlwind of classes, teas, costumes, sparkle, and lovely balls.  Naturally, I'm totally freaking out about getting everything sewn and packed in time! Ah!

But I feel bad neglecting you all, so here is a pretty hilarious episode of one of the SciFi channel ghost hunter shows where they investigate the Astor's Beechwood Mansion.  Unfortunately, this mansion (one of my favorite ballrooms ever!) is no longer open to the public, but it was super cool.  Here you can see it and learn about how haunted it is!

I have to warn you, though...having spoken to members of the staff, none of them bought the stories featured here--and they lived in the house.  I say this as someone who does fully believe in ghosts, though, so make up your own minds!