First post first, a week or so ago, we had a dinner organized by a friend that was an opportunity for a group of us crazies to dress up and go have dinner in a tavern at Colonial Williamsburg. Since I wear these clothes everyday, it holds little excitement for me anymore, sadly. Bbbbbbbuuuuuuuuttttt with Lyze being an intern at the Millinery Shop with a fresh new pair of stays (excuse me while I brush my shoulder off), and no silk gown of her own, it became far more fun for me to dress her up and allow myself to be more casual in my approach.
So that's exactly what I did...I dressed her up and gave her the biggest hedgehog I've EVER done. It was insanely huge....HUGE! But it was awesome! Fredrik also dressed up in his little ensemble so I just got to enjoy seeing him in costume again (more about him/us/costume/dress up...SOON!)
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| Shot of Lyze in my gown..stole from her blog Ornamented Being |
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| Stays in need of binding |
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| A nice, even back gap....makes me giddy! |
I had her move the tail of her 'hog out of the way so I could get a clear shot of the back of her stays. That nice even space is what you want in a pair of stays, and I'm very proud to say that I measured, patterned and fit those stays to her following the 18th century tailor methods that were taught to me through the Burnley and Trowbridge workshop I took over a year ago!!! So far Lyze seems quite pleased with the stays and I'm very happy with their fit. She's got the binding on finally, but I don't have photos of the fully finished project. I'll post photos of her in them all finished when I'm back in Virginia in a week or two.
As for her hair, I did the same exact thing I did with my hair in Sweden. Rolled in pillow curlers, made her sit with it ALL day, and teased it within an inch of her life for about an hour before the event. Here's my tutorial: Hedgehog Tutorial. Her hair was and is a lot longer than mine has ever been, and so hers was a bit wider than I would have preferred, in an ideal world, but I doubt she would have let me cut a few inches off her hair. (Unless I asked very very very very very very very nicely...tee hee hee.. :) ) But overall, I was happy with the final product, and I was very happy that Lyze was happy. It was great to see her feel like an 18th century princess. :)
The funny part? Everyone...seriously....EVERYONE kept getting Lyze and I confused because of her being in my clothes...even Fredrik! (though no serious faux-pas was made...though it would have been funny...to me...) :)
<3 <3