Autumn Spirit dress

Well, that was something different.  One week I have an idea, next week the outfit is ready….   absolutely loving the  result of the friendly/professional cooperation on this project – it looks like the other seasons will be represented by organic, ephemeral dresses as well.

But – the Autumn. A detailed  article on how to make the outfit will soon appear on the Foundations Revealed website, but in the meantime a few pictures and a bare bones here…

The original sketch

 A week on, the leaves and other autumnal bits were gathered…

conkers!!

naughty Merlin kept dive bombing the leaf pile…

the dress base was made up of cotton  and the fun begins…

 The leaves are first stapled on ( only the first layer/ and then glued with copious amount of glue…   a few hours later, having run out of glue and the leaves,  the skirt…

Or, in other words, some of my side saddle adventures:-)

I have been riding since I was 8 –  and although I did some show jumping and cross country work in my teenage years, I was always more interested in doing things a bit differently – loved hacking and covering distance – going on  long trails was always welcome!  In the Uk, I spent a few years riding for a cavalry regiment for the English Civil War Society –  swashing my sword and firing carabines from horseback was by far much more interesting!

at the battle

I have tried some horseback archery and Roman riding with a group Comitatus – great fun!

doesnt show, but have just thrown a plumbata at a poor bloke with a big shield…

Nowadays I mostly hunt in Devon and Somerset, riding lovely thoroughbred horses blessed with amazing stamina – going up and down those hills there for 6-7 hours…

Well, Spring has truly begun in the UK, and as soon as the  trees started to blossom, I was on a mission – it was time for the spring part of our seasonal collection ( following Autumn made with leaves, and the two winters; Polaris  with snowflakes and Desolation with lunaria). The sketch was done  months earlier, and I knew what I was after – a dress made with real petals – the oriental inspired look was added en route somewhere:-)

 I wanted to use real petals – but ones that wouldn’t wither and die in a day or two. The answer was The Real Petal Confetti Company – I used their petals for my wedding, over 2 years ago, and the left overs are still going strong in my cupboard. The samples were ordered, and once delivered, I experimented with different adhesives to see which ones work best…

When planning the programme for 2015 we wanted to ensure that at least a couple of months were dedicated to remembering the WI centenary and got us thinking a little bit more about the ladies who would have been attending meetings 100 years ago. In the first of the centenary themed meetings, we welcomed Izabela Pitcher from Prior Attire, an accomplished historical costumer, corsetière and historical interpreter to talk to us about the fashions of 1915 and what ladies undergarments looked like. In addition we welcomed Lucas, Izabelas husband who is a fabulous photographer from Pitcheresque Imagery to take some pictures of all the fun! Both came attired in Edwardian day-wear and very fine hats!

We learnt about the underpinnings worn by our Edwardian counterparts. Corsets in particular have been worn by women for over 500 years and have changed a lot in that time. By 1915 corsets had started…

1851-60 blue ribbed silk corset, Museum of London Prints. Image Number 002188

“Oh my, this must hurt – how do you breathe in this?!” –  Many re-enactors, (and modern corset wearers), will recognize that remark, whether as a comment under a picture or spoken at an event.  I have heard my fill over the last few years, when dressed in Victorian kit, and the discussions that followed were equally interesting and illuminating for both parties.

Recently I have been browsing through Pinterest boards looking for images  of 1895 corsets, and noticed several nice pictures – yet it was not the pictures that captured my attention, rather the comments and descriptions below that were even more arresting…..

Just a few examples:

* ‘They are lovely, but so uncomfortable’ ( on this pin )

* ‘This is a victorian corset which was used to create the perfect hourglasss figure. This is gorgeous but I can’t imagine…

 Our wedding day – well, where shall I start? So much was happening in the lead up to this day, and so much happened on the day!  We got engaged on the 1^st January, in the midst of Scottish highlands, a few hours after midnight, and a day later most of the details were in place – apart from the venue. We knew precisely what we wanted – a venue with a character, able to accommodate the wedding party on the day, an also one that would allow us to do a post-ceremony hack on its premises – and the last bit proved to be a bit of a problem for many venues.

Hunting on Quantocks – view from the hills towards the venue

One thing was obvious from the beginning – although we both currently reside in Bedford, it was Devon and Somerset, especially the Quantocks Hills that…

 OK, so I have been in the business for a while.  I have been re-enacting even longer –  my first gig was in 1997 if I remember well, and I got into costume making almost straight away. True, I was lucky – my first contact with historical interpretation was  guys from Past Pleasures, and after spending a summer travelling with them, observing knights at work at the Tower of London, or strolling alongside 18th century clad characters during the Pantiles festival at Tunbridge Wells, you do learn a bit.  When the summer ended and I returned  to Poland where I lived at the time, I joined a historical fencing group. When told that for Christmas party I need to have a medieval gown, I had at least some vague idea where to look for sources ( well before the internet era!) and  came up with a dress. It was…

I’ve been meaning to blog about this gorgeous event for a week now, but after an unfortunate formatting disaster, I needed a mourning period to recover from the loss of some rather lovely images. All is not lost however, and I can still share some of this spectacular event, that made me feel like a princess for a day.

The masked ball took place at Heatherden Hall at Pinewood Studios, and was organised by Izabella from Prior Attire, who makes the most exquisite costumes. Her own dress was made in two days just before the ball and she made quite a few of the other guest’s outfits, with amazing attention to detail. You can see her in the image below

I didn’t have the bucks or the time to get myself such a fabulous gown, but in true Cinderella fashion, managed to clobber together an outfit from a lucky…