Dancing the night away

And I am back at work after another weekend out on the town. This time, I attended the annual Heritage Ball at Morningside. The day started off with helping my parents move an old spa that we were giving away out of our backyard and onto a trailer. I then proceeded style my wig and to host a historical hair styling session with the Australian Costumers Guild. In the end, I ended up styling five heads of hair in preparation for the night. We all went with different styles – I had three 1850s crinoline ear styles and two bustle era styles.

We then all popped on our ballgowns and suits and made our way over to the Heritage Ball. The music was playing, the dancing was going and we all looked fantastic.

Unfortunately one of our girls came down with a food allergy reaction and had to head home early to recover, the next to take off was a very tired couple worn out from a full week of work. And then next were my parents and myself, my mum suffering from a head-cold. I danced a number of dances but was restrained by the coughing fits brought on by too much exertion, a result of my recent bouts of illness. In the end though, it was a lovely evening out, I wore myself out for the day and crashed into bed when I got home. But let me just say, it's not an easy task waltzing with two crinolines.

For the occasion, I decided to wear my white tartan silk 1850s ballgown. I made this last year in December to attend Proclamation Day at Newstead House. Looking back at photos of it, I decided that I wanted to re-trim my ballgown. The original trim just felt too heavy for the delicate colours and weight of the fabric. I went hunting through my stash and came up with a plan. I started by unpicking the existing trim, hem and sleeves. I then folded up the hem so that it would be straight across at the waist instead of a point. The next step was to attach lace over the sleeves. I then dug out the remaining silk from my mum’s bustle ballgown (a perfect match for the pink) and made a scallop trim for the neckline and a sash for my waist. I then finished it off with some velvet ribbon bows on each shoulder and the back. The wig is styled with some matching paper flowers that I dug out of my flowers supply.

It wasn’t too much work to fix up, but the result was worth it. I am much happier with the ensemble now and I think it makes for a more feminine outfit. I also pulled out my new vintage collet necklace to wear for the evening – a perfect complement to the outfit. Colour me pleased. I think I now love this outfit more than my purple crinoline.