One of the winter programs I had the pleasure of attending this past December was Christmas By Candlelight at Old Sturbridge Village. Old Sturbridge Village totes itself as a living museum of a recreated 1830's town in rural New England.  Within its 200+ acres and 40 historical buildings, attendees can freely walk around and enter buildings and spaces and interact with costumed historians as they work the tasks of the past including pottery, woodworking, smithing, general store, preaching, bank, etc. What makes Christmas By Candlelight particularly special is that the entire town is ready for Christmas. Decorations are up on the inside and outside of every building. You can attend the tree lighting and are invited to sing yuletide carols. Many of the buildings are offering fresh baked or brewed samples of hot apple cider, sweet breads, and cookies that were made for Christmas specifically in the early 19th century. 

Old Sturbridge Village is a lot bigger than I remember it being since the first time I went back in or around 30 years ago on a school trip. I have faint memories of entering the general store and the gift shop, but I don't remember the extended bridge around the pond next to the Qunebaug River, or any of the extended houses and fields beyond that.  I was able to go on this wonderful trip because my friend Barbara and her husband Jake are members of the museum and they won 6 free tickets to Christmas By Candlelight at a members only gathering!  Barbara said they had expanded a lot since the last time I attended, so my suspicions that it was bigger were confirmed. 

The area around the pond and river were beautifully lit up at night by lights that reflected off the water. There was a large covered bridge over the river which housed many evergreens that you could attach a holiday wish to. A smithery and grain area lays further beyond that as well as fields a plenty for livestock (which were safely put to bed in their pens for the night time event). 

Every time there's a meeting at a museum, Pahl and I love to try to match the time period, the activity, and or the lecture being offered. This time we went for simple (for us), nearly puritanical looking pieces that highlighted classic black and white. I decided that it was the perfect time to bring out my Elegant Solid Color Skirt in Black from the brand Yuan Su.  What I love about this skirt is that it is quite long and elegant and that the slightly nordic design above the bottom hem is actually embroidered into the material. For such a lovely piece, it also includes contrasting ribbons that you can lace up on the sides and back of the skirt, as well as functional pockets. It's definitely a good piece to have if you identify mainly as a Classic EGL enthusiast. I paired it with a Time Memory long sleeve cotton blouse which I had purchased somewhat randomly back in May of 2022 when I first began my EGL fashion journey. It is quite perfect for classic or maybe even old school looks, but it didn't lay well under the jumper skirts I had at the time, so that's why it took so long to make its debut.  And of course, my big black bonnet, which basically goes with everything---Classic, Regency, and over the top Gothic.  I didn't bother with makeup, (I bet people in the 1830's in rural New England were also skipping that part) but I was wearing several layers including thermals top and bottom, fleece lined socks, and lined knee high boots. The last fashion meeting at Elizabeth Park prepared me for dressing for colder temperatures. 

You can't really see the intricacies of Pahl's outfit outside of the white collar of his shirt with the red paisley and black puff tie and "Sherlock Holmes" great coat. He was wearing suspenders and a beautiful red waistcoat under the coat, but again, function over fashion dictates on outside excursions when the temperature is cool. 

Everyone else in our group either went full on cozy Christmas vibe with red and green throughout or classically cut wool coats and sneakers. Barbara also applied very festive and vibrant makeup as part of her look. 

The Christmas by Candlelight program was so fun!!! I would love to do it again sometime. I definitely prefer historical living museums when it is too cold for all manner of insects to be buzzing around. 

Colleen and I twinning with an archway

Now, if you've been reading the blog for awhile, you'll know that Pahl and I went to Elizabeth Park back in early summer (first weekend of June in fact) to see everything in bloom, do a photoshoot, and have a picnic. I wrote extensively about the history of the park and its gardens and you can read about that here.

This time we were at Elizabeth Park for a spooky photoshoot with my fashion community. The dress I wanted to wear (back in October when the original date of the meeting was rained out) had exposed shoulders and at daytime temperatures stopping at 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun, that was definitely not going to work.  I didn't want to wear the exact same dress I wore at the trolley museum either. I wanted to look like Persephone, Goddess of Spring, about to descend into the Underworld. 

My friend Colleen was going to attend the meeting as well, and we knew that we had the same dress SKULL LOLITA JSK in the exact same colorway with the exact same misprinted backwards design.  We decided to twin our pieces. We had only talked about the wearing the same jumper skirt, but our outfits were very similar. She is wearing a black beret with faux pink and purple flowers. I am wearing the Woody Rose-Elegant Lolita Small Hat in Black, which comes with faux decaying roses on the brim. We are both wearing wigs; hers is more of a pink-purple and mine is more of a blue-purple. We are both wearing black blouses under our jumper skirts, and likely thermals as well---it was starting to get very cold outside! We both have big black wool coats with faux black fur somewhere on the coat. You can't tell from this photo, but we also almost had the exact same bag, except mine was slightly bigger. They are Morning Glory~The Star-Moon-Grimoire Crossbody bags with silver or gold writing on them. The only big difference is the shoes. I went for my wine red shoes to match some of the red roses on my hat. 

My wig had fallen down in the car on the way to the park, but Colleen was able to get it to stay on my head properly applying a few bobby pins on each side of my head towards the front. Despite the difficulties with my wig, I feel that I did a great job with my makeup, especially the eye make up matching my wig and the purple/pink tones in my dress. I used my ABH Cosmos eye palette. There is a pink shimmer shade that when applied to the eyes actually comes out as a radiant silvery purple. I don't make the rules, but it was an awesome discovery while getting ready for the meeting.  Additionally, I brought a small mixed deck of tarot and oracle cards as another prop...but if you know me, it's not just a prop. I've been slowly working on my own tarot major arcana since 2020. 

Overall, it is very fun to twin with a friend! I highly recommend the experience. I was glad that we got to get out and take lots of fun photos together. I also liked visiting Elizabeth Park in November because there were far less people in the gardens and I didn't have to wait or move out of someone's photo to get a good shot.  Walking around Elizabeth Park can work up quite an appetite, especially in November when it is too cold to picnic, so as a food recommendation, if you are looking for a lot of choices that won't break the bank, I highly recommend Parkville Market- "22 restaurants under one roof" located 6 minutes away. I got to try an El Salvadorian tamale, drink a matcha boba tea, and eat thai street food for dessert all in the same place! There were a lot of people at Parkville market, but when you wear an alt fashion with a big petticoat, people tend to make way for you. 

Sarah, Me, Pixie, Barbara, Caroline, Jess K, Jess J, Mel, and Pahl
Photo Credits to Ben Jordan/Photo Images Co.

If you've been reading the blog regularly, you'll know I had originally tried to plan the Shoreline Trolley Museum visit in July 2023.  But...the weather wouldn't cooperate with torrential rain, coastal flooding, and tornado warnings. I figured the second weekend in November ought to bypass all that type of weather. 

The Shoreline Trolley Museum totes itself as the "oldest continually running trolley museum in the United States". This time around, I made sure I planned it right. The director of the museum worked with me to plan the meeting. I told him that I wanted a private charter essentially, but for only 10-12 people, and that we weren't having a party or anything. We just wanted to model our outfits with the trolley station and trolleys as our background. Intrigued, he let me fill out a form and I didn't have to pay for our meeting in advance...all they asked for was that each person who attended donate some money of their choice to the museum that day. After I knew that we didn't have to pay up in advance, I went ahead and also hired a photographer to follow us around all day and take staged photos of us inside the station and various trolleys. I was able to get a very reasonable price and cut the cost with attendees. This was going to be the best meeting I ever planned yet!

The day was cool, crisp and clear. This was the weekend after Daylight Savings Time ended. (For those of you who live in a part of the world where you don't do this, we "fall back" and are forced to turn our clocks back an hour to provide us with slightly more daylight in the morning as opposed to the evening, to I think make it safer for people waiting for transport in the morning time? From November to January, we are lucky to get approximately 9 hours of daylight in my region).  So my thematic suggestions were fall colors, jewel tones, gothic/black, and or pinstripes. I wanted to evoke a historical feeling that worked with the interior of the cars as well as the season of the year. 

Everyone really "nailed the assignment". Sarah is wearing some great jewel tones of her green chocolate rosette dress paired with a bright red coat and shoes. I had a vision that I must wear my Miss Point gothic pinstripe Point Manor OP and accessories that I purchased in 2022 because I knew these colors would work with the inside of the older trolleys especially. Pixie wore an outfit that matched mine quite a bit with the black shirt and yellow topaz skirt, but paired with a beautiful jewel tone blue corset and a purse that was a working clock!! Barbara went for all black, and as she put it, "the look of an orphan looking for a new lease on life". Caroline wore a garnet red dress that had a print of different types of coins on it, which is  cleverly reminiscent of the fare that many operating trolleys still take in various parts of the world today. Jess K stuck to ruby red and white for her main pieces and a blue and white caped coat as an accent (and to stay warm I imagine). Jess J wore a dress with a design called "British Bear", which was sapphire blue plaid with gold accents and different kinds of teddy bears on it. Mel wore a bright red and white dress (which reminds me of a classic Chinese styling with the shape as well as the diagonal fabric buttons on the front). And lastly, Pahl wore his new gray outfit which included a shirt he purchased from Thomas Farthing (which we visited when we were in London), his slacks and tailcoat from the Historical Emporium, as well as a new navy blue puff tie. The herringbone black and grey shoes he apparently had for a long time, but didn't have anything to go with them until this year. (He actually wore this exacty same outfit at the Bakery Meeting, except that he wore a Sherlock Holmes type hat rather than a bowler). 

An posed group photo next to one of the the Trolley barns

Group photo in front of a trolley very similar to the one that we rode on our private charter

Pahl & Danielle close up in the party car

I had a lot of fun learning more about the museum from our private charter conductor as well as Lydia (the events coordinator) who was volunteering that day. I enjoyed moving from trolley to trolley to take wonderful group and close up photos. I highly recommend this museum as a place to work with for your next event. I also highly recommend nearby Transilvania Restaurant, which serves Romanian and American style food (we went here as a group afterwards). The owner is super nice and the restaurant theme is really fun (in a weird and good way) and I've tried several of the Romanian dishes and they are all delicious. 

Erector Square in New Haven, CT was first established as a toy factory in 1923 by A.C. Gilbert. The classic Erector Set, American Flyer model trains, and other toys were produced here until the factory's closing in 1967. The building itself was then transformed into one of the largest studio complexes of its kind-175 studios in 8 buildings. It is now home to a community of established and emerging artists, architects, musicians, designers, theater, dance, and fitness professionals. 

I love going to Erector Square because the hallways are long and deep and you're not sure what building is connected where. To be honest, it can be a bit disorienting, but I consider that part of the fun.  If you like adventure around every corner and eventually ending up in a back lot next to the back door of Bregamos Community Theater, then this is for you. I generally start at Building 3 (where the main parking lot is), and work my way around Building 6 and 8. If you want to go to Building 5, it's easier to just leave the front of Building 3 and walk to the right to enter it. (All the buildings are connected somehow (except for Building 4), but sometimes it's easier to just go back the way you came than trying to find the right stairwell). 

In the past, Erector Square Open Studios was a part of a month long City-Wide Open Studios in New Haven that Artspace used to manage. Unfortunately Artspace shut down their physical location in June 2023 and basically said, "we're putting Open Studios back into the hands of the artists this year".  But luckily the artists of Erector Square came together and put on a very good Open Studios on their own. 

Artists work that I particularly enjoyed were that from Eliska Morsel Greenspoon whose collage work must be seen in person for the sheer complexity of it, Greg Shea for his work in alternative photographic processes, Amelia Ingraham's high res pop photography, and Julie Fraenkel's "Carnival of Human Nature". 

We spent approximately 3 hours at the Open Studios during the last day of the event. Just as we were reaching the end of the hallway in Building 5, Studio i Gallery showed up. Studio i Gallery is basically a ready to rent space for all sorts of creative endeavors, whether it is an art show, a photoshoot, workshops, and installations. They encourage visitors anytime and for Open Studios they had a couple of really cool backdrops available to pose in front of. 

 ​Both Pahl and I are artists, and one thing we like to do when we attend other artist's open studio events is to "Dress Like an Artist". That way we can send out a beacon of like-minded energy towards all that we meet. Pahl is both a surrealist painter, mask maker, and stop motion animator and I mainly work on my Other Worlds Series, which is manipulated photographs of my own menstrual fluid. Both of our art styles are a bit edgy; so we wanted to reflect that in our style choices for the day. 

Pahl is wearing black jeans, a wine red "early-American style" cotton shirt, a grey herringbone waistcoat with black buttons, lighter gray and black herringbone shoes, a slightly military looking leather jacket, and some of his signature statement rings. To match him, I also wore a wine red cardigan over a dress that has imagery of skulls and roses on it. I am wearing a black denim punk vest with an intricate pin from Pocket Full of Posiez that was a birthday gift I received this year and goldenrod colored crocheted fingerless gloves. My tights are pink dotted diamonds with contrasting black and gray and black and see through diamonds that I purchased from Hot Topic a few years ago, and I am wearing black cherry patent leather boots. I am also carrying around my new backpack purse, my Emily the Strange bag complete with my 3D printed skeleton hand I picked up at the New London Pirate Festival a few months ago. At least half of the pieces from my outfit I have had for at least 3 years, so it was definitely a creative endeavor of combining old pieces with new accessories to make a new outfit. 

Did dressing like nouveau punks work for us? Certainly! We had a lot of wonderful conversations with other artists right away.  So that old adage is true: Always dress for the occasion!