There have been more lovely images of Madame Ornata and I coming in from various sources, so I’m going to indulge myself and give you one last deluge of photos.
The first three are by a professional photographer who was at the dance. HannieSunshine does amazing, beautiful work, and I’m so excited by the gorgeous photos she got of Madame Ornata and I. It was a very difficult venue to get good photographs in, and she got some impressive stuff. I can definitely recommend her.
Entering the ballroom, swathed in Nana's vintage stole
Words cannot describe how much I love this photo. The only thing wrong with it is that it doesn't include me!
Hannie’s last photo has a story. It is a tradition in Swing circles that when someone has a birthday they get their own personal swing steal set. All the dancers form a circle and the birthday boy (or girl) gets danced with by as many ladies (or men, respectively) as can pop in and steal him away from his previous partner.
A special birthday happened the night of Windy Lindy – one of our dancers turned 75, so all of the ladies vied for a chance to get lucky enough to dance with him during his birthday set.
Waiting for a chance to steal the birthday boy
The other photos of the night were taken by various guests and ball organisers.
Madame O and I in vintage furs and wraps
Dancing (that is what one should do at a ball after all!).
My turn to dance with the birthday boy
Yeah, I really, really need a chaise. And a living room big enough to have a chaise in!
The whole red and green effect is a little too Christmas-y in this image. And I look like a deformed mermaid. But otherwise, y'know, lovely shot!
I love the 50s fashions! I wish I had the figure to pull them off!
Images 1, 2, 3, and 4 have that too-big thing going on. Augh!
Ugh. Will try to fix. Thanks Emily.
And double-ugh. I tried to set up a gravatar, but it looks like it isn’t working.
If that delightful lady is your gravatar, it seems to be working here!
Woohoo! Now it is! Happiness all around!
I love Madame O’s smile in all the photos I’ve seen of her so far… She keeps reminding me of someone, and I don’t know whom.
It seems that: The formatting is off at the front page, now that I look at it separately, with the comments, the formatting is fine. Weird.
Actually, you probably fixed it in the time between me looking at the front page and going to comment. Because now it’s fine on the front page, too.
That would be exactly what happened!
I think she has the most fabulous smile too! Madame O thinks she isn’t photogenic, but I find that as soon as she relaxes she looks amazing!
Awwww you guys, that is the loveliest thing to hear, I feel all warm and melty now. To discover I have a good 30s bod AND a nice smile in one week. I’m feeling very lucky about now and braver about being more adventurous in front of the camera instead of behind it. Have a great weekend.
I’m interested to know…how did you find dancing in a longer dress? I know ginger rogers had no problems…but I’ve discounted long dresses in the past because of fear of stepping on them when dancing.
I have no problems dancing in longer dresses, or doing swing in full Victorian with bustles and trains. It’s just a knack, like some people can walk in 6 inch heels! I do find it helpful to wear flats when dancing in long skirts.