See our German!

"Germans," or cotillions, were evenings (or late nights) of dance games where attendees would shuffle partners, win small party favors, and just generally have hilarious shenanigans until the early hours of the morning. In Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott, Rose (the titular character) describes the aftermath of such an event:
" I'm ashamed of myself when I remember what a romp that was and how sober Uncle looked as he let me in at three in the morning...my dress in rags, my head aching, my feet so tired that I could hardly stand, and nothing to show for five hours' hard work but a pocketful of bonbons, artificial flowers, and tissue-paper fool's caps."

As you might imagine, Germans are a lot of fun.

I've been traveling a lot and neglecting my poor blog, but I was able to make it home for the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers' Civil War Weekend, and Sunday we had a daytime German. It was loads of fun with a lot of giggling! I will have a lot more to say about it, but in the meantime one of the other attendees captured one of the games on film. Enjoy!

You can also read more about the history of the "German Cotillion" over at Recreating the 19th century Ballroom.

Portraits from George's Island

A couple of weeks ago, the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers had the opportunity to perform again in Fort Warren, the Civil War fort on George's Island. It was a ton of fun, and a great opportunity to wear the pretty printed cotton day dresses we all made for the same event last summer.

It's usually not acceptable to take photos at a performance like this (at least during the performance), so I decided not to try and shoot during the event at all. Instead, I took photos at the end of the day when we were all picnicking before catching a ferry back to Boston. Last summer, I contributed to a Kickstarter campaign to reproduce an 1840s portrait lens designed by Joseph Petzval, but modified to work on modern DSLR cameras. I've discussed the original lens design in a previous post, but I wanted to share some of the images I took with my modern one!

exploring Fort Warren

getting prepped before the performance

one of the cool things about the lens is that since the f-stop must be changed by sliding a plate into the barrel, the modern lens came with a couple of neat "specialty f-stops." The star plate turns direct points of light into stars--see them in the background?

I am really pleased with these images, and I'm excited to use the lens again when shooting events! It's really interesting, though, that while these have a period look to them from the particular curvature of the glass and the way it flattens the depth of field, the overall image quality (because it's digital and not a wet-plate photo) is pretty noticeable. All the pieces are important to how things look!

For more information about my modern Petzval lens by Lomography, you can check out the lens website.

The Fit's the Key

Last night was Returning Heroes, an annual ball hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers in Holliston. Returning Heroes is super special, because it is the only ball of the year at which period costume is required. It's a lot of fun, Spare Parts is wonderful, and 60s clothes will always be my favorite evening wear. This year was a smaller crowd, but just as lively as always and everyone seemed to have a great time! 

making bowers during the Grand March. What a lovely mix of uniforms and civilian tails!

I've had a lot going on the past couple of months, and I really want to make some new things for the Regency Weekend in April, so I decided not to make anything new for this ball. Instead, I worked on fixing the dress I wore last year--fixing issues is something I rarely do, and I need to get better at making it a habit. What a difference it made!

last year at RH: wrinkly, gap-y bodice

this year: no gaps in the neckline and no wrinkles!

When I originally made my pink plaid ballgown last March, the waist was too long. When the dress was on over my hoops (with the waistline at my waist, where it was supposed to be), there was too much room in the bodice, and it meant the whole bodice was wrinkled and the neckline gaped. To fix it, I should have taken the skirt off the waistband, shortened the bodice, and reattached the skirt higher up...but I really didn't want to do that. I had a lot of trouble cartridge pleating this fabric because my thread kept breaking, and I was afraid undoing the waist seam would ruin the pleats. So instead, I took a tuck out of the waist just above the seam--the adjustment was visible, but I made a quick velvet sash to cover it. Voila! A bodice that actually fits!

a much better fit, and a fabulous sash!

I am always discouraged when I finish a project and it doesn't fit perfectly, but making adjustments is part of why clothes I make for myself could end up fitting perfectly once I fix them. I need to get in the habit of doing that, rather than abandoning the project or learning to live with the bad fit. Lesson learned!

And a few more Returning Heroes shots:

setting up for refreshments

serving Charlotte Russe

group shot!

Fort Warren and George's Island

Last Saturday, despite the sweltering July heat and humidity (hooray Boston! oi vey.), we took the ferry across Boston Harbor to George's Island, home of Fort Warren.

View from the ferry deck of some of the harbor islands

 Fort Warren is a mid-19th century fort that was in use from the Civil War through World War II. The fort takes up most of the island, and during the Civil War it was a location for Confederate POWs. They had the run of the island--they just weren't allowed to go in the water. It's a national park, and if you're ever in the Boston area I highly recommend checking it out! It's fascinating. Although, to be fair, a big part of how interesting and educational the trip turned out to be was due to Paul and Laura, our friends and fellow dancers, who gave us the best tour. Paul knew a ton of really interesting things about the fort beyond it's general history, and they combined the history with anecdotes about reenactments they've attended on the grounds.

view from the hill--this was taken by my Dad (I hope my photography gets this good, but in the meantime his fort photos were way better and I'm stealing them)

from the top of the wall (the brick and cement is one the chimneys), with the Boston skyline in the background

We were on the island to perform dances from the 1860s ballroom--mostly contra dances and quadrilles (it was too hot for much else, plus cement is a difficult surface)--ones that the soldiers at Fort Warren (both stationed and imprisoned) might have known (they were all from dance manuals of the period).

A special thing for me was that my parents came! It was really fun to have them there, and my dad is a great photographer so he also took some pictures of us dancing...which means I can share them with you! (and them--sorry they took a while, Mom.)

with Mom

and Dad

I also made a new dress! It's a light cotton 1860s day dress (and I haven't trimmed it yet, so the dress itself is kind of plain), made of really cool fabric: an original 1850s print of purple flowers. Quinn took a trip to a wholesale quilting store that carries historically accurate prints, and we all made dresses from the bolts she chose. Super neat!

our whole group--Quinn (to the right of me), and Julia (far right in the front row, in green) all have dresses in historic prints

I need to lengthen the skirt a bit and add trim, but overall I actually really like this dress. 1860s is always my favorite period to wear (especially to dance in!) and it's way better for hot weather than you might think. I was actually equally comfortable in this as I was in shorts and a tank top--although to be fair, I could also say I was equally miserable. On the other hand, the layers of cotton absorbed sweat and kept me feeling better than modern clothes...so after our performance we explored to fort and took pictures instead of changing immediately.

Enough about sweat! On to the pictures!

grand marching with members of the audience

the welcome shed on the island

being silly at the guard house

admiring the flowers

on the hill

Oh no!

I thought it was my turn for some pretty hill pictures, but...

PHOTO BOMB ATTACK

I forgave him...eventually...

touring the fort! look at all those lovely historic prints!

inside the outer wall, crossing into the central area

exploring some of the interior--heading down into the officers' quarters, I believe?

the main grounds inside the fort

in one of the armory rooms hearing about fort life!

label on the wall for what type of weapon was stored there

a very large oven in the fort kitchens!

Apparently during the Civil War those railings weren't there--falling was a very real danger!

the view from the lookout

can you see Boston behind us?

lighthouse!

race you to the bottom of the hill!