Easter Sunday Picnic

On Easter Sunday, I frocked up in my tartan 1870s bustle gown and headed out to Fort Lytton, Brisbane's own historical site for a Victorian Picnic organised by the re-enactment group 19th Century Queensland.

The day was still a bit warm for all the layers, but I was really happy with how my new bustle frame and petticoat held out my skirts. And I always love the opportunity to wear my bustle dress. Thankfully, being made of linen, cotton and silk, it at least breathed in the weather. I styled up one of my new lace front wigs to go with the outfit and my hat. I even topped off my outfit with a little mouse brooch that I used to wear to Sunday School when I was little. 

It was a lovely outing and nice to see so many people show up, despite the fact that it was Easter Sunday. It was odd for me to be there without my parents who I usually drag along to these things, but alas, they were tripping away down Sydney way for the Easter break. It was a relaxing afternoon, sitting in the shade, chatting to friends, snacking on sandwiches and tea. We rounded out our afternoon with a promenade around the grounds.

I didn't get as many photos as I would have liked, but there were many photographers on site, so there are a good number of photos floating around on the internet out there.

Pretty Petticoats

Coming up this weekend, I will be attending a Victorian Picnic. Now, while I would love a new victorian ensemble, with Uni in full swing I haven't had the time. So instead, I decided to put some time into some new undergarments. In particular - petticoats.

While I did have a bustle frame and petticoat suitable to wear, they were both made quite some time ago and not overly well. The bustle frame was functional but I wasn't happy and the petticoat was just hideous. Originally, yellow but washed with my red skirt. Then the seam tore. But I was still wearing it. As you can see, not pretty and not really doing the job so well.

Definitely time for new petticoats.

And this time, I was not scrimping. I had a roll of pink stripe cotton in my stash that I bought for the use of petticoats some time ago. Hunting through my trimmings, I grabbed out a roll of broderie anglaise trim in cream. And this is the result.

The Bustle with back ruffles for extra poof...

And the new petticoat...

The petticoat is almost to pretty to cover up. I have to admit that I kind of wish that I had more fabric left over to make a whole gown out of it, but it would probably be too much. But I finally have some pretty petticoats. Cue the happy dance.

Pride and Prejudice

Originally I had a free weekend all set for last weekend. But then on Friday I got a text message from one of my good friends asking if I would like to join her and a few friends at a community theatre production of Pride and Prejudice. She had actually helped with the costuming and a number of her personal costume pieces were in the show. It was their closing night.

So, we all donned our Regency finest and headed into town for an evening at the theatre. I pulled out my 1823 ballgown, and fortunately was able to squeeze into it even though I have changed shape quite a bit since I made it three years ago. I popped on one of my new lace front wigs, draped on a shawl and laced up my new American Duchess regency boots.

The production itself was quite an interesting take on the story. It was quite condensed (as it has to be) to fit into the three hour timeframe, but I felt that they managed to get most of the pertinent points into it. I guess my only disappointment was that there was very little development time for Elizabeth to change her mind about Mr Darcy. It seemed that one moment she loathed him, and the next she was in love.

All good points on other fronts though, but I will say that the actress playing Charlotte (Lizzy's plain best friend) was way too pretty for the role. The characters that were played the best in my mind were Charlotte, Mr Collins, Mr Bingley and Lady Catherine. I guess one of the biggest let downs for the way some of the other characters were played were the atrocious fake English accents. If you can't do it right, just don't do it at all.

All in all though, I had a lovely time out with my girlfriends. Even thought it was quite a bit too humid and warm to be wearing so many layers.

Goldnova Sunday

I rounded out the weekend at Supanova with a brand new costume. Tinkerbell from Once Upon A Time. I had been madly beading for weeks to get the dress ready in time, and while I would have liked a bit more beading to be completed before I wore it, I was happy enough with the amount of beading that I did manage to finish before wearing. Though, I will certainly be adding more beading before the next wear, and I did have to replace a few beads and sequins that fell off throughout the day...

I spent most of Saturday in Artists Alley with Abi. But when I did get out and about, I tried to get some more shots of the awesome costumes at the event. It really inspires me to get cracking on my own projects.