Heritage Ball - July

And now that I have gotten around to it; we have move photos. Saturday night was the night to be out and about and dancing on the town in fancy dresses. In other words, we attended the Heritage and Colonial Ball at Morningside School of Arts. And what a night it was. I danced until my feet hurt. There were 6 in our party in total; Kerry, Cat, Donna, Myself and my Mum and Dad. Our outfits were rather impressive if I do say so myself. Kerry was stunning in her new 1870s polonaise bustle gown, while Cat re-invented Kerry's crinoline ball gown from last year (she now understands why the rest of us refused to wear crinoline again), and Donna was resplendent in her 1870s bustle (I adored the colours and style - not to mention the amazing gathering on the overskirt - sorry if I drooled on your silk Donna). While my Mum and Dad were done up in their evening attire and I wore my new 1880s bustle evening gown. And as you can see from the photos, we had a "ball of a time".

As for my dress, I didn't previously post photos because I wanted it to be more of a surprise than all my other gowns this year have been. I chose to make a bustle ball gown this year as most of the dances that we do were actually from around the 1870s and 1880s. Making it perfect timing for a bustle. Not to mention that big poofy skirts and crinloines are akward to dance in. The only trouble I had with my dress this year was when people trod on the back - I learnt to dance on tip toe a bit. As for the dress itself, I chose the design from a fashin plate that I had found and fallen in love with. It is very simple but quite pretty. I used the blue/black taffeta that I had bourght last year for $3.95 per meter (bargain!). But what really challenged me was finding black lace that was not too synthetic and cheap looking. The outfit is made up of three pieces, the underskirt which is very basic and plain with now poofing, but the hem is bound in black velvet ribbon. The overskirt is also bound with the velvet ribbon and has lace on the front section. The back gathers up with ribbons and ties (It can be let down for ironing) and it has flowers sewn in along one of the gather poufs. As for the bodice, it is fitted with short pouf sleeves trimmed in lace. The hem and neck are also trimmed but there are tiny blue beads sewn on the lace at the neck and there are more flowers on the shoulder (I aso have combs for my hair that match). Oh and there are a heap of silver buttons running down the front. I am very pleased with how it turned out, and I think that my Dad was really impressed with my dress. I may even be tempted to wear it again next year.