Titanic Dinner

The second Titanic event that I attended was a full fledged 10 course dinner. Hosted by one of my wonderful friends - she put in so much work! The menu came from the original menu of the last dinner served on the Titanic, the music was the music played at that last meal, and everyone was dressed up in their Titanic finery. There were 16 in of use to sit down to dinner. We had another good friend of mine volunteer to act as our kitchen maid who was plating up all the food, and then the sons of two of our ACG members to act as our servers.

We started off the evening by gathering around for photos and socialising as well as a toast to the Titanic in honour of those who lost their lives on that fateful night 100 years ago. Our gentlemen were dressed up in full evening attire, and all the women looked wonderful in their 1912 evening gowns. Before moving into sit down for dinner, we were given a crash course in etiquette of the time. The hardest part had to be not saying thank you to our servers every time they gave us something. I guess that is one of those things that is just ingrained now, whereas in 1912, you didn't thank them, they were just doing their job.

And then we sat down to dinner. The tables were decorated with roses, a bevy of cutlery, and individual menus and place settings. Everything was incredible. By the end of the evening, we were all stuffed full to bursting and were well and truly ready to head home to bed. It was 11.30 by the time we were finished eating and informed that a slight disturbance had occurred, to not be alarmed but head toward our lift vessels.

As for my ensemble. I had whipped up a second pair of chemise and drawers out of a lovely stripe satin (sadly no photo), so that I could put on fresh undergarments under my corset. Next came the gown. It is made of black lace and green satin. It is not exactly made to the original design that I had in mind, but this is mostly a result of the lace. It was just too fine and delicate to stand up to what I had intended to do, so I chose to go down an different path. I the end I am very pleased with it at any rate. I mashed together about three different titanic patterns to get the bodice how I wanted it. It is fully boned, and lined in a stiff black cotton so that it holds it's shape. It fastens up the back with six vintage glass buttons and two hooks and eyes. I then finished the dress off by adding a waist sash of the green (it really need it to break it up nicely). Unfortunately the green of my dress has shown up a little too warm because of the flash. It is less of an olive green and more chartreuse.

My hair proved a different challenge. After returning from luncheon, I really couldn't decide what to do with my hair. After the earlier wig failure, I was a bit dubious to go down the path of wearing a wig, but my own hair just doesn't work for it. In the end, I pulled out a red brown wig that I was intending to use for another project later this year. I plonked it on my head and started fiddling. It is actually a really simple creation. I sectioned off the front pieces to begin. Then I plaited what was left and wound it up to create a bun. I then grabbed a piece of the green satin from my dress leftovers and pinned it in to create a band of colour, the ends are tucked in under the bun. Then the front sections are swept back over the ears, pinned in place and the ends are pinned into barrel curls. After I had dressed, I then pinned in a couple of feathers the butterfly decoration (it used to be a ring). I wasn't going to keep the wig in the style, but I was so pleased with it, that when I took it off I decided that I would - so stuffed it with tissue paper, popped it in a bag to keep in all together and stored it away with my other wigs. At least next time I wear the dress I won't have a panic hair moment.