Admire, Sewing

Magic in them thar hills: an Edwardian photoshoot at Otari Wilton’s Bush

The 1910 Little Miss Muffet at the Village Fete Dress thedreamstress.com

Remember my yellow 1920s dress, and how I said it was magic?

Now I think maybe the magic is in Otari Wilton’s Bush instead.

I’ve never done a photoshoot at Otari Wilton’s that hasn’t looked beautiful: there is something about the trees and the angle of the light that is just perfection.

Case in point:

Theresa was in town last weekend, and, as we do, we had a dress-up photoshoot.

I picked Otari Wilton’s Bush as our location, because Theresa had never been there.

Theresa wore the 1910 Miss Muffet at the Village Fete dress, and I wore a brand-new just-finished dress from an original 1919 pattern, and my tricorne revival hat.

I actually made the dress as a wearable toile, because I wasn’t sure about the pattern.

And…

We love it all.

Out of 760 photos, at least 500 of them are good enough that I’d be proud to show you!

(which is actually a problem, because I’m pretty sure you don’t want to see 500 photos!)

So here is a quick look at a few, and I’ll post more in individual blog posts: especially ones about the 1919 dress construction.

A dress made from a 1919 pattern thedreamstress.com
The 1910 Little Miss Muffet at the Village Fete Dress thedreamstress.com
A dress made from a 1919 pattern thedreamstress.com
The 1910 Little Miss Muffet at the Village Fete Dress thedreamstress.com
A dress made from a 1919 pattern thedreamstress.com

15 Comments

  1. ceci says

    I can’t decide if I like the hats or the dresses best. Or the shoes. Or the scenery.

    Thank you!

    ceci

    • Thank you! It was a tiny scrap of fabric that I found at an op shop, and it matches perfectly and added the extra element the dress needed. It’s an embroidered silk cotton.

  2. I love the shape of the black dress! And that outrageous hat. Though such an all-black costume doesn’t seem like your type of thing, you look wonderful in it.

    • Thank you! The dress is actually a very dark blue tropical weight wool twill – a fabric which I bought because it was dirt cheap in an op shop, and which I chose for this dress because I wanted to see how it looked and didn’t care if it was a total disaster. Luckily it wasn’t! I do feel like blue is far too typically me. There is a fair chance my post about this dress might be title “And the Dreamstress makes yet another blue dress…” :-p

      • I guess my monitor isn’t up to showing dark blue properly, then! I don’t know if it helps that it looks black to me–I really didn’t think you were making “yet another blue dress.” Quite the opposite; I was wondering why you were dressed in what looked like widow’s weeds, albeit terribly dashing ones.

  3. Natalie says

    Both outfits are dreamy, and the landscape — it’s so full of changes in color and texture and probably scents and sounds, too. What a place!

    Is that a spring issuing from the boulder-y area? That would draw me so strongly, that I’d have spent much of the afternoon snugged between boulders watching the light twinkle on the waters, or as snugged as a person gets up against stone, I guess. :}

    Very best from drippy, damp, gray-skied Kentucky, where new grass blades are poking up from winter’s wither,

    Natalie

    • Thank you! <3 I love Otari-Wiltons - it really shows how gorgeous Wellington is.

      There is a water source behind the boulders, but I'm 99.9% sure it's a fountain/fake spring, not a real one. There is a real stream, with little waterfalls and pools, that runs through the park, but it's a bit of a hike for Edwardian heels.

      Enjoy your coming spring and warmth! We're heading the other way 🙁

  4. That’s so fabulous!
    It’s that 1919 dress you weren’t sure about for an event, isn’t it? I can see why. But I also am already sonewhat familiar with 1919 fashions and totally see that. 😉

    • Thank you! This is indeed the dress I was unsure about for an event. All done it looks WAY better than I thought it would, and had I realised I would have finished and worn it. But I’m happy with what I wore.

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