GBVS's Art Deco Weekend

Today I'm doing some major catching with my blog. So much has happened this summer and I just have not found the time to sit down and right. Now that things have relaxed a bit I am able to do just that. Today's post will take you back to May, specifically Memorial Day weekend to when Cori and I attended the Greater Boston Vintage Society's amazing Art Deco Weekend.

Group Photo. Check out all the great photos from the weekend by Vintage Girl Studios

We traveled to Newport RI and spend a few days with our GBVS friends at the Fairlawn Estate. It's now part of the college campus and while a good portion of the building is used as a dormitory, most of it remains as it did in the Guilded Age. I didn't really take many photos during the weekend, and very few inside which is a shame. The main ballroom is just beautiful and the mirrored walls remind me of the grand ball rooms of the 18th century.

Friday evening walk down mansion row. This this the Breakers

We arrived Friday evening to settle in and took a short walk around the neighborhood. The walking trail follows the coast line and offers spectacular views of the ocean as well as some of the mansions.

Saturday morning after breakfast we listened to two lectures on men's and women's fashions. Both talks can be found on YouTube here and here.

There were several dance lessons during the day as well. A good portion of the day was spent outside where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and lawn games. Yes it's possible to play a good game of badminton in heels and stockings, though I don't really recommend it. It was a great time to catch up with friends and make some new ones. We also took part is a short silent film by Vintage Girl Studios!

To make up for not having a proper Sunday Shoe Spectacle post today, here are a few shoe pictures from the Art Deco Weekend. My navy blue suede 1930s heels came from Lauren of Wearing History. Cori scored his amazing pair of brown and white 1930s shoes at an antique mall for $8.00!!! Crazy!! It just proves you never know what you are going to find.

I wore the blue linen skirt made last year from Du Barry 5296. I added straps that attach to the inside of the waistband with snaps. I really like how this turned out and give me more options for styling the skirt. Sadly I didn't have enough linen left to make a matching bolero but that's alright. The blouse I'm wearing is made from my favorite pattern, Du Barry 5172. I really love the print! It's a reproduction cotton print from the 1930s. I actually have another blouse made from the same fabric but different pattern for sale in my etsy shop.

I tied something a little different with my hair this time around. A hairnet!! I wanted to have some curl left at the end of the day for the black tie ball, so after taking my pin curls out in the morning I loosely pinned my hair up at the back of my head and added the net to keep everything neat. I do have a couple vintage hairnets but I was able to find a package of modern ones for a few dollars my Rita Aid store. I like these because they have a tiny band of elastic to help keep them in place. The elastic doesn't really show but I decided to tie a piece of yellow ribbon around my head anyway just to cover it up. It's a very youthful look but I kind of like it.

Saturday evening everyone changed into their formal attire for the black tie ball. Cori wore his vintage tux and I wore a black crape dress I found on ebay for a song. The belt came with an odd looking buckle so I swapped it for one I had in my buckle stash. Most of the picture I have from Saturday night and not very good unfortunately. However, if you watch Michelle of MyVintageLove's video of the event you will see a quick shot of Cori and I! I will share this one though, of Michelle and I. Her gown was really stunning.

Sunday we packed up our belongs and toured the Breakers mansion. I already blogged about that day and the outfit I wore which you can read about here if you missed it.

I believe there are plans to hold another event like this next year so be search to watch the GBVS website for details! I can't wait! There are lots more photo from the weekend on the GBVS's FB page. In addition to Michelle's video I recommend this one by my friend Neal Howland.

Outfit Details

Blouse and Skirt - Made by me

Shoes - Wearing History

Pin - Thrifted
Black evening dress - Ebay

1920s Beach Party

A few weeks ago I had the chance to go to not one, but two really fun vintage events. The Greater Boston Vintage Society's second Roaring 20s Lawn Party and a 1920s beach party. As noted in an earlier post, the lawn party was postponed by a week because of bad weather. Part of the weekend was still sunny so Cori and I took are friends Jen and Julia to see a polo match. And of course we dressed up. :) The weekend the lawn party was held the weather still looked a bit gloomy but actually turned out to be very nice. It was not as hot as it was last year.

Photo by Devon Kurtz

On the morning of the event a small group of us gathered at a public beach near the Crane Estate. The water was cold but some of the guys decided to go for a swim any way! I should note that all the guys were wearing wool bathing suits!

I'm disappointed in my own beach attire but with so much going on lately I just ran out of time to make what I really wanted. I did mange to finish a pair of beach pants so I just wore those with a modern tank top. It looks vintage-y enough in the photos but if there is a beach party planned for next year I will strive to do better. The pants were made using this pattern. (I plan on make the whole PJ set this winter.)

How many people can you fit in a changing tent?

Jenn and I waded through the water and gathered hermit crabs. She is wearing the brown dress I made for last year's lawn party.

Julia keeping warm. Many thanks to her for taking the bulk of these photos. :)

I will be posting a few photos from the lawn party soon. Until then enjoy a few fun and silly photos from the beach party. :)

Polo Ponies and a Vintage Adventure

We had big plans for last weekend. We were to attend a 1920s themed beach party Sunday morning and the 2nd annual Roaring 20s Lawn Party at Castle Hill in Ipswich, Mass. Cori and I went last year and had a great time. So this year we planned to bring our friends Jenn and Julia. However, the weather had other plans and everything has been postponed until this coming weekend. Hopefully we will still be able to go.

We decided to make the best of things and planned our own outing. The weather was bright and sunny on Saturday so we took advantage of it and hopped in the car to head to one of our favorite places to watch a polo match. It's been years since the last time I watched a live match so this was lots of fun for me. I think Cori and the girls had a great time as well. The home team, in green, won the match!

I helped Jenn and Julia create some simple 1920s dresses for the lawn party. I let them pick fabrics from the stash and helped them cut out pattern pieces. They did most of the sewing themselves and I think the dresses turned out rather well. I'm very proud of them. Julia's dress was made using this pattern while Jenn's was made using a combination of patterns and inspiration from fashion plates. 

I wore a 1930s dress that I've been dying to wear for the longest time. It's all cotton and perfect for a hot summer day.

Cori wore a new to him vintage suite and his 1920s straw boater. Doesn't he look dapper? :) The people at the polo match got a kick out of us all dresses up.

After the polo match we headed to the Quechee Antique Mall to have a look around. Much fun and silliness was had.

What we like to think of as "our" phone booth was still there. It's be come a silly tradition now to take pictures in it. Example here. :)

As it was late in the day then train and carousal were closed. Next time we will have to get there earlier. I love carousal and firmly believe you are never to old to ride one.

WWII Cotton Blouse & Linen Slacks

Back at the beginning of June, Cori and I traveled to Reading, Pa to the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum for a WWII event. I talked a little about it in my last post where I shared with you my Red Birds Dress. That was my outfit for day one. Here is what I wore on day two! We had so much fun and met so many great people.

Another staff car photo! I was trying to recreate this photo from last fall.

First up the fabric and the patterns. The blouse is made from Hollywood 1530 using 100% cotton with a cute retro style print. I'm not sure if it qualifies as a true 30s/40s print but I think it's pretty close. Plus I liked it best out the options I had in the stash. Actually, this came from my mom's fabric stash, as did the fabric for this year's birthday dress and red bird dress. There should be an extra 2 inches of fabric on either side of the blouse fronts but I didn't have enough fabric. As you can see looking at the pattern pieces laid out it was a tight squeeze! Surprisingly this didn't have a huge impact on the fit of the blouse, I feared it might turn out too small but it was just fine. The only other change I made was to add a second pocket, but really that was because I accidentally cut two pocket pieces and didn't want to waste the fabric!

Sadly, the short sleeve piece is missing from this pattern. I replaced to using the short sleeve pattern piece from McCall 3306. (There is a copy of this pattern for sale here.) Both patterns are late 1930s so I felt this was a good substitute and I really like the little pouf that McCall 3306 creates at the top of the shoulder. It's one of those little details that I love about the 1930s and early 1940s. :) The green fabric you see is the same as my 2014 Sew For Victory dress. There was juuuust enough to make a blouse with the remainder of that fabric as well.

Getting ready to cut! Always the scary part. :)

Here you can see the part of the blouse center front that I had to eliminate.

Summary of the Pattern
Fabric: Blue cotton from the stash
Pattern: Hollywood 1530
Year: late 1930s or early 1940s
Notions: Thread and buttons from the stash
How historically accurate is it? Very! The fabric is pretty close to period prints. The buttons are modern but look just like vintage ones. I'd give the blouse a 9 1/2 out of 10.
Any tricky parts to the pattern? Button holes.... enough said
Did you change anything? Not much. The short sleeve piece was missing so I used one from a different pattern I added a second pocket because I cut an extra one and didn't want to waste the fabric. I didn't have the exact amount of fabric so the finished blouse is a touch shorter and narrower but still fits great.
Time to complete: Around 8 hours I think
First worn: June 2014
Total cost: Everything but the pattern came from the stash, so less then $5!
Notes: Love this blouse. I need more separates!

The slacks were made using Simplicity 1306 and linen left from an 18th century project. There is a discount fabric store near by that occasionally gets 100% linens and wools. I stop in every once in a while to see what they have. It's one of those places, like a thrift store, that if you see something you like you'd better buy it because there's a good chance it will be gone soon. I tend to "stock up" when I find good linens and wools there.

Simplicity 1306

I find the fit of Simplicity 1306 is much better than Simplicity 3322 (reproduced by Eva Dress and the Vintage Fashion Library). I used Simplicity 3322 to make a pair of slacks last year for Sew For Victory but was never very happy with them. Although both patterns are very similar in cut and style the main difference, other than a zipper front and side opening, is the treatment of the slacks front. Simplicity 3322 has front darts where Simplicity 1306 has small pleats. Both patterns have darts in back. Slacks from the 40s are meant to be baggy but sometimes this style can be really unflattering. I found that by extending the length of the front pleats a little more helped create a smoother fit Next time I use this pattern I will need to make some minor adjustments to very top of the slacks and waistband. I ended up making two small tucks in the waistband so the slacks would stay where they needed to at my natural waist.

I completed my look at day with a red scarf, victory rolls, and my Army/Navy E-award pin and another WWII era victory pin. You can see close ups of the pins here.

I really wish I good recommend the vendor who sold me the sunglasses I'm wearing, but sadly I cannot. It's a long story and not one that I want to go into detail here. Let's just say the costumer service started great but ended poorly. The glasses don't fit as well as I would like them to and I can really only wear them for short periods of time.

Summary of the Pattern
Fabric: Brown linen left from another project
Pattern: Simplicity 1306
Year: 1940s
Notions: Thread, zipper, and buttons from the stash
How historically accurate is it? Very! I'd give the pants a 9 1/2 out of 10.
Any tricky parts to the pattern? Button holes and zipper placket.... enough said
Did you change anything? Not much. The pattern needed to be shorten, no surprise there. I also needed to take them in at the waist.
Time to complete: Around 10 hours I think
First worn: June 2014
Total cost: Everything but the pattern came from the stash, so less then $15!
Notes: Love these pants. I need more separates! I need to make them a touch shorter next time but I will be using this pattern again. :)

By the way, I'm having another sale on Etsy. Use the coupon code FLASHSALE to save 15% until July 5th. I'll be adding some more items after the holiday weekend.

Finding Out About Costuming & Living History Events

In today's post I will try to answer some frequently asked questions about costuming and living history event.

• How do you find about historical costuming and living history events? 

• How did you start getting involved with them?

• Is there a website or message board that lists up coming events?  

• Are there any living history or costuming events taking place in my area?

Rebels and Redcoats at Old Strubridge Village, 2013

A while ago I received an email from a lovely reader asking how I find out about historical costuming, living history, and re-enactment type events. The simplest and most honest answer is word of mouth. Now of course I realize this is not very helpful to newbies in the living history/costuming community or to those looking to attend the occasional dress up event. Sorry!

But please allowing me to explain. I've been involved with living history/reenacting for close to 15 years now. Because of the groups I'm a part of and the connections I've made with people over the years, I mostly find out about events through word of mouth. Cori and I often receive invites to different types of events through friends. But I have to admit that some of them we simply stumble across! The Downton Abbey event we went to last January I learned about from a co-worker who had heard about it on the radio while driving to work. Random, I know! The Roaring 20s Lawn Party is another good example of an event we stumbled across. I found out about that through an invite from a friend on Facebook. It's now an annual event!

Roaring 20s Lawn Party

Battle for the Airfield WWII event in Stow, Mass

As you become more involved with living history and/or costuming, you will discover what a small world it really is! Everyone knows someone somewhere. The best advice I can give is to make connections and stay in touch! I can't begin to tell you how much I treasure the friends I've made over the years. There are many people who I never would have met had it not been for our mutual interest in history or fashion. Some of these dear friends I only get to see a few times a year at such events but that makes our time together even more wonderful.

I don't know of any specific message boards on the web but many re-enacting groups have websites and will post a list of events they plan to attend. Many events are annual so even if an events schedule is outdated there is a good chance the event will be taking place again. There are a lot of great 18th and early 19th century events that take place in the Boston area. Here's a couple of links to check out.

The British Brigade - The BB is made up of various British and American re-enacting groups that portray soldiers, etc. from the time of the American Revolution. There are strict rules rules and regulations for joining and authenticity. However, you will find on their website a list of groups involved -many of whom are always on the look out for new members - as well as a schedule of history events.

Brigade of the American Revolution - Very similar organization to the BB and well worth checking out.

The Hive -A talented and dedicated group of individuals with a focus on details! Check out their site for a list of sewing workshops and Hive sponsored events.

Mass Costumers and Vintage Dancers - Lots of fun costume events and dances. I believe many of these are open to the public.

For vintage/swing dance related events check out the Facebook page Greater Boston Vintage Society as well as Boston Swing Central.The Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island in another good one.

Try an Internet search for living history or costume events and "your state". There seem to be a lot of costume events on the West Coast. Check out the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild, or the Costumers Guild West. There is also Costume College which I have never gone to but hope to some day. For the East coast there is the Dress U Conference. The Millinery Through Time conference at Colonial Williamsburg, which is actually a series of lectures and workshops but there will be plenty of opportunities to dress up too. For those interested in WWII, the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, Penn. hosts a huge WWII airshow each year.

Another tip would be to check out various websites for museums or historic houses and sites in your area because they often host special events. The site Discover New England has a list of living history museums that may offer costumers the opportunity to dress up. Just keep in mind that some historic sites may frown on visitors coming in costume so it might be worth a quick email to the site prior to your visit to avoid unnecessary disappointment.

Don't be afraid to ask around! Bloggers are good people to ask. :) I bet if all the costume bloggers I know got together, we could put together one heck of an events list!! (Would anyone be interested in helping me put one together?)

Can't find an event in your area? Get a group of friends together for a Victorian era picnic or croquet match in the park. Get dolled up in your best vintage attire and go out for lunch or dinner at your favorite restaurant. Create your own costume or vintage adventure! The possibilities are endless!

War of 1812 event at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum - Photo by Kris Jarrett

 

On the film set at the Saranac Laboratory Museum for a documentary on George Washington Carver - Read about my experience here.

That's all I can think of right now.  Hope that helps get you started. As always, feel free to contact me with your questions. :)

Looking Back at 2013 - Also a Belated Blog Birthday!

2013 was an exciting year. Lots of sewing projects, traveling, and adventures to be sure. I've already posted a recap of my sewing projects from 2013 which you can read about in this post.

It's hard to believe I've only been blogging for two years. January 3rd was my two year blogging birthday! Hooray! In honor of my blog birthday I decided to put together a little recap of blogging news and some of my posts that received a lot of attention in the last year. It's been fun for me to look back. I hope you enjoy too. :) I have some really fun posts planned for this year so I hope you will continue to follow along.

Awards, Events, Special Announcements in 2013

January 

• The much mentioned Downton Abbey event and my engagement last January. I'll leave it to you to explore these past posts.

March

• I published an article on vintage shoes in Issue Two of Hey Doll Vintage Magazine 

April 

•  Traveled to Gettysburg for a couple of days and had my tin type made by Rob Gibson.
• Awarded the Very Inspiring Blogger Award by The Choll at Thread-Headed Snippet and Cait at Curse Words and Crinolines. Thanks again ladies!

May

• Kristin of Sew Classic nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award. 
• I changed my blog title from My Vintage Visions to Emily's Vintage Visions.
• Published an article on Cori's 1920s tuxedo in Issue Four of Hey Doll Vintage Magazine

June   

• A crazy month! It was my friend Erin's wedding and also the month that Cori and I had to move out of our apartment. I really miss that place and all the closet space! 
• Not much in the way of events although I did manage to spend one day at Fort Ticonderoga working in their shoe shop. 
• I also got together with Rebbecca of A Fashionable Frolick to continue working on our18th century shoes with Mr. Walker. (See Rebbecca's post here.)

Working on my shoes at Fort Ti. Photo by Driftingfocus Photography

July 

•  Roaring 20s Lawn Party 
• My little blog reached 100 followers!

August 

• Rebels and Redcoats event at Old Sturbridge Village
•  Annual French and Indian War reenactment at Crown Point Historic site
•  Hive Challenge Event and a WWII event at Battleship Cove

September 

• I listed my blog with Vintage Search and the Vintage Directory created by We Heart Vintage. 
• Created a portfolio page for my sewing projects and began listing a few things in my Etsy shop. 

October 

• Went to a WWII event in Stow, Mass. - More photo to come!
• Photo shoot with Cori - More photo to come! 

This is just a sneak peak at the event. I have lots more photos to share.

December 

• Greater Boston Vintage Society Winter Formal 
• I won the Name the Dress Form Contest hosted by Anna of A Few Threads Loose. The prize was a gift certificate to Mrs. Depew Vintage. I've always wanted to try Anna's patterns and now I finally can! So many great choices! :)

Popular Blog Posts for 2013

• Time Travel Saturday - 1770 to 1940 
• My clothing for the Hive Challenge Event  
• Cori's clothing for the Hive Challenge Event
• Inspirational Vintage Journey
• A continued post on 18th century handkerchiefs 
• 1920s Crimping Tool Experiment

My research posts have been popular as well. I didn't write as many this year so my recap includes those from 2012 as well as 2013. 

•  WWII Victory Pins Part 1 and Part 2
• Adventures in Shoemaking
• 18th Century Bonnets
• 18th Century Handkerchiefs
• A Female Shoe Maker in Boston
  
• Research on prints for my Purple and White 1760s gown
• Using Period Prints and Painting for Inspiration
• Sizing Up Vintage Shoes - This was rewritten as an article for Hey Doll Vintage Magazine