All dolled up

And yet another busy weekend has passed me by. I was up late Friday night preparing for everything to come. First off, was the Gangsters Ball. This year, saw me attend for the fourth year, and while I had a fun time, I’ve decided that it will be my last. I’ll get into my reasons why further on.

 

I was up late on Friday with a quick hair wash and setting my hair into pincurls. Not the most comfortable thing to sleep on, but they are effective. (I’ve got a whole write up over on my hair and makeup blog). I also needed to put the finishing touches on the belt for my dress and dig out my accessories.

Saturday afternoon, the wonderful Kerry picked me up to head over to Mel’s place where we all planned to get ready. The afternoon took off with nibbly food, champagne, nail polish and hairstyling. I tried to do a 1930s style polish on my hands using silver and purple (the colours of my outfit) but managed to destroy my hard work by putting bobby pins in Christine’s hair and makeup on. We slipped on our dresses, popped on our pumps (flats for me) and headed out to the event.

Again, it was held at the Tivoli, the art deco restored theatre in Brisbane – the perfect venue for it really. The levels of costuming this year were a cut above. While there was still a multitude of Moulin Rouge and Burlesque / underwear outfits, there were many people dressed in vintage styles – lending to a more authentic atmosphere. My opinion on the shows though varies greatly. They started out fantastic but dropped off as the evening progressed. The host for the beginning of the show “Lela” was fantastic; and my favourite acts were the girls twirling in the fabrics, the first girl to twirl hoola-hoops, the swing dancers, and the acrobatic men. The burlesque dancers and contortionists, not so much. And unfortunately, if you are not in the first row or on the balcony (VIP tickets) you really don’t get to see anything at stage level above all the other patrons. It doesn’t really help that I am short and was wearing flat shoes for comfort. The music provided by the big band was wonderful, and I would happily go to a jazz club and listen to them all night long. So, while I had a great time, I don’t think it is really worth $80 to attend when the most fun I had for the evening was getting ready with my girls. I most likely won’t be attending next year.

At any rate, the occasion called for a new gown. This year, I was bound and determined to wear flat shoes. After struggling through the evening in heels in previous years, I had learnt my lesson. So, I chose to make a floor length gown which would hide my (Hello Kitty) ballet flats. And with my hair cut short, I decided I wanted 1930s. I bought a beautiful piece of slate grey satin from East Coast fabrics. Butchered one of my 1940s day gown patterns, drafted up a four-gore skirt and got to sewing. The main changes I made in the pattern were to the bodice – I took out the front button opening, tripled the amount of gathering in the side seams, opened out the neckline and puffed up the sleeves. I topped it off with a purple silk sash – chosen because the colour matches my hair right now. My mum leant me her beautiful onyx art deco inspired earrings and I topped my look off with a black choral necklace and 1930s makeup. All in all, I loved it. I’m very happy with what I put together and would love the opportunity to wear it again. Unfortunately, my baby camera decided to play up, so I don't have any decent shots of the whole outfit.