I’ve been hard at work planning online teaching for costume history and pattern drafting at Toi Whakaari, and doing pattern stuff for Scroop Patterns, and my brain is exhausted and tired of looking at the computer. I’ve got a whole bunch of blog ideas, but they were all just too much effort today.
So I had a rummage around in my photo library for inspiration for today’s post, and found a bunch of gorgeous images from back in October and our 2019 Sew & Eat Historical Retreat which I’ve never posted.
We spent an afternoon dressed up in Augusta stays, pretending to be 18th century ladies pretending to be milkmaids, wandering around in the meadows picking flowers and inspecting old farm equipment and having romantic interludes with attractively lichened fences (as you do).
Eloise @eloise_faith_gladrags went very historical, in her gorgeous completely handsewn Augustas, and perfectly pastel ensemble. She always picks the most beautiful soft colours for her sewing!
I went slightly less historical, because I’d forgotten to pack 18th c caps:
And I dressed up Miss Priscilla in total fantasy, in the theatrical version of the Augusta Stays and my much-beloved and much-used silk organza petticoat.
Priscilla said she wasn’t sure if she felt like a bride or a witch. She pointed out that witches in movies and fairytale books are often shown with 1780s hair, and now that she’s said it I can’t unsee it!
These photos are just what my heart needs right now. It was a dry summer in Wellington, and we’re just coming out of it now. The hills are still rather barren and brown. We’ve been in lockdown for just over two weeks, and I’ve only seen whatever bits of nature are within an easy walk of my house. Old growth forests, lush meadows, hawthorne trees, honeysuckle and queen anne’s lace are a balm for the soul.
Hopefully one day we’ll get back to this farm and get to explore the meadows and woods again. It was such a beautiful place, and such a beautiful day.
But…not quite as beautiful as it looks in the photos. It was WINDY, and out good photos were taken between gusts. Half the shoot looked like this:
And this:
And this, which looks like Eloise is doing interpretive dance, but is actually the moment the wind stole her cap!
Maybe I was better off without one after all!
Lovely indeed, and a real mood lifter. The windy pictures are quite dynamic and fun, as long as it wasn’t cold (its cold and windy here today so that’s on my mind).
Thank you!
ceci
The wind was a bit chilly, but not too bad in the layers we were wearing. Mostly it was the part where your hair/accessories/clothing kept whacking you that was annoying!
So pretty, calm and peaceful. Thank you for sharing!
<3
so pretty! it was very restful to look at these graceful images. makes me want to kit up in my (very boring plain ivory) 18th C repro stays and foofy skirts and kerchief and cap and wander around outdoors…i’m sure the neighbours would have me sectioned, but it could be worth it?
thanks for a lovely interlude!
Thank you! Your neighbours might appreciate a bit of amusement at this point 😉 :-p
What fun!
It reminds me a little of Mrs Elton going to pick Mr Knightley’s strawberries 🙂
The double pretension is fun. 😀
And the photos are lovely. Even the windy ones. Yes, quite dynamic.
Beautiful <3
Thank you for posting these lovely pictures. We are just entering our 4th week of lockdown in the UK, and your posts are so welcome. xx
I love the flowers in the stays. The flower and bird (nightingale?) stays are gorgeous, now I want to make a pair like that.
3rding the dynamism.
It is a sad time, personally, and all my heart wants to do is to dress in lovely and comfortable clothing, entering for a minute a quiet world of long and purposeful skirts, and the certainty of a sturdy bodice that keeps you steady in this experience.