The end of June/beginning of July is always a favorite time of year for me, not just because it's around my birthday, but also because that means the Midsummer Fantasy Renaissance Faire in Ansonia, CT is happening. I love this faire so much. I believe it's a combination of the stage acts along with the fact that I always run into so many people I actually know, so it feels a little like an annual homecoming to catch up with folks I haven't seen for a year or more!

This year the faire decided to offer themed costume weekends with a costume contest as well as the Very Inspired Shopper raffle each day. We attended the Summerween weekend as well as the Heroes and Villains weekend. I had purchased both of my dresses in spring 2024, and by the time they had come, it was already too cold to wear them. So I really wanted to wear them in 2025, and these themed weekends provided the perfect opportunity for me to do so. 

I have been very inspired by cirque and harlequin designs and patterns as of late. I had seen this OP (yes that's right this whole dress is one piece...not separate skirt, corset, etc.) when I first got into EGL fashion some 4.5 years ago, but I didn't realize it was a pre-order and I missed the deadline. Around 2 years later, the brand decided to re-release it with some new color ways. I still had my heart set on the pink and teal color way, which was one of the original choices. I saw it was available again in early March 2024 and I messaged a shopping service in China to acquire it for me.

The shopping service was able to order it just in time before the pre-order closed, but I did not get my item until October 2024...it apparently was the 8th patch of the pre-order...the item was so incredibly popular!!!  The dress is quite a complex piece. It has a real corset style bodice with an embroidered tulle-like halter neck attached to the bodice, as well as a flared skirt with alternating colored down pointing triangles and heart shaped appliques of flowers and tigers. There are so many details including various pink and gold bows, pink and teal bows, a pink and teal plaid ruffle detail where the bodice meets the skirt, a printed design of an animal carousel inside of a heart shaped section on the bodice, printed metallic stars on all the teal and pink material, printed tiger faces with what looks like whipped cream clouds printed under the main skirt fabric, along with rows of alternating pink and teal ribbon along the hem of the skirt. I love that the various design elements were rendered with as much attention and detail in the final product. It would take me far longer than 6 months to create something like this from start to finish!

If I remember correctly, I think I the pink arm ruffles came with the dress as well, but I had to purchase the head bow, and waist bow separately. I could not believe how big or how well engineered the head bow is. They placed wig clips at the exact perfect spot to get it to attach and not move from one's head despite a lot of walking on uneven surfaces. I  was not able to wear the waist bow this time. The backpack I was wearing interfered with the location of the bow and its hidden straps on the bodice of the dress. The designer of this dress really thought of everything!

Additional accessories I added were a pair of cheap accordion style wrist cuffs, one mint and one pink and white striped over the knee socks, and a pair of pastel pink ruffled combat boots. I also did very light makeup and drew triangles over and under my eyes to look like a french style harlequin. I tried my go at entering the costume contest, thinking surely this gorgeously designed outfit would win, but then a serious cosplayer dressed as a rat warrior showed up and I knew my chances of winning lost all hope!

Pahl had the idea that he wanted to look like he was really from the Renaissance period as his costume for Summerween weekend. He started off his outfit with the lightweight black pirate pants, a cotton blouse, his brown vest with the metal details over it, his newer baldric carrying a dull sword, a pair of black and brown wrist guards, his black leather waist bag, and knee high black leather riding boots. As we walked along the various vendor booths at the faire, we were able to outfit Pahl's outfit even better. First we found a leather maker who specializes in historical fashion. He found these shorter pointier black boots there (a welcome relief in the summer heat), and later we found a brown linen cap that just happened to perfectly match his vest. Also, due to these purchases, Pahl and I were able to almost completely fill out two Very Inspired Shopper Cards to submit in the big end of day raffle.  I bought Jessica's Lucci's latest novel to round out my card and we were all set to enter the raffle!

I may not have won the costume contest, but I won the big end of day raffle thanks to Pahl's shopping and a little bit of luck!!! It was so exciting for me to win, as my big milestone birthday was to occur in just days from when we attended the faire. It seemed like it was a gift from the goddess Freya herself, as there were two Freya themed items in the bag. It was filled with all kinds of snacks, stickers, bookmarks, jewelry, tea, perfume, soap, wooden stout, special embroidered objects, a gorgeous walking stick with a moon and tigers eye theme, as well as a $50 visa gift card and 4 comped tickets to next year's faire!! 

We had already planned on going back to the Midsummer Fantasy Renaissance Faire the following weekend, and I had already been planning to attend as Princess Serenity, the penultimate Heroine from the first season of the Sailor Moon anime series. Princess Serenity and Sailor Moon are the same person, except that they can't manifest as both at the same time in one body. So there are scenes in the anime where Sailor Moon transforms into Princess Serenity because technically Princess Serenity has more power in overcoming the hearts and minds of those with evil intentions. You only see Princess Serenity in flashbacks or final episodes of a series, and Princess Serenity is only the first incarnation of the Moon Kingdom's royalty. Later seasons of the series have her pegged as a Queen or Neo-Queen, depending on the time line. Princess Serenity's outfit is the simplest of all the various incarnations, and that's why I thought this particular dress would work well for it. 

The dress that Princess Serenity actually wears is inspired by a Dior design. It is all white and has an empire waist with gold circle/scalloped designs at the bodice. It has capped sleeves on the shoulders and is a full length gown. There is a large white (sometimes pink) back bow that is pinned to the back of the dress that has very long tails that almost look like wings. She wears her hair in two buns with long hair trailing under each. She also wears moon shaped earrings and a single pearl bracelet on one arm. Princess Serenity also has blonde hair and blue eyes.

Now, when I try to cosplay something, I try to find a character with features I already possess and a simple outfit I can imitate with other things. I already have relatively long blonde hair and blue eyes, and I possessed this Grecian style all white empire waist dress that has ethereal tulle attached in various points at the front of the bodice, cascading down the sides of the skirt, as well as extra pieces that come off the shoulders held together by two white bows. The gold alternating sun and moon waist belt also came with the dress. There were more chains that came with it as well, but they had more of a Greek Goddess of the Harvest feel and I removed them. I put my hair up in "space buns" to the best of my ability, and put on very light makeup. I also drew a crescent moon on my forehead with eye makeup. It doesn't show up super well  in photos, unfortunately. However, many other attendees at the faire knew who I was trying to cosplay as, so that's good enough for me!!

Pahl wasn't specifically trying to go as anything in particular, except to wear a much more comfortable costume in the heat than he did the previous weekend. I showed him this photo I took of him in the throne chair, and he said, "I suppose I look like the Sheriff of Nottingham", which we all know is a Villain.  The outfit is very similar to the previous weekend with the same pants, the short leather boots, a linen shirt under a vest (but this time a lightweight vest), the arm bracers, the baldric with a sword ( a different sword of course!), and a lightweight hat with a feather in it. The expression on his face in this photo says, I am about to collect your taxes and you can't stop me. 

I had a wonderful time at the faire on both weekends this year and since I have my comp tickets for next year, maybe I will be able to bring some friends as well that don't normally attend to have them join in on the fun!!

The second Sunday of June every year is Downtown Milford Business Association's Annual Pirate Day. It's a clever way to get hundreds of people and their families to visit downtown Milford at once for a fun and educational event. And did I mention it was FREE to attend?! There's also free parking! 

We went last year for the first time, so this year we had a much better plan of where to park, where the historical society was, as well as in relation to the Milford green. I drove us this time, and I lucked out getting parking at Lisman's Landing, which is where the pirates come in with the Mayor at around 1:00 pm. The actual event starts at 9:00 am. I have never made it there before noon. Maybe next year.

The pirates announced their incoming arrival as they fired off unloaded canons and pistols while sailing into the harbor. The pirates give the Mayor the keys to the city back, while he thanks them and declares an annual celebration of pirates in gratitude. This year a fife and drum group also performed afterwards, while other pirates handed out candy and coins to children.  

After the official ceremonies, we made our way to the Milford Historical Society. There were Free Men of the Sea with a booth in front of the Eells-Stow house showing instruments, weapons, and spices that would have been used during their actual historical time period. We also were able to get a free tour of the Eells-Stow House, which is believed to be the oldest house in Milford, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Last year we didn't get to see it because we missed the last tour of the day). 

After we got a tour of the house, we headed to the Milford Green to check out the vendors for shopping and a late lunch. We got rice and marinated pork with plantains from one vendor and a giant cup of lemonade from another. We sat on the ground on the green eating until a lone yellow jacket discovered me, and I was no longer hungry. On our way back to the car, we discovered that there was an upper green where a steel drum band was performing as well. The band seemed to be made of community members of all ages. It was neat to see so many people come together at this event. We still haven't done the scavenger hunt at area businesses. Maybe next year!

Now I've been working on my pirate outfit. The last couple of years, I was more of a pirate wench with a long skirt with a bustle, fishnets, and a handkerchief tied around my head. Last year I wore a real corset for the first time as well. How was I going to update my look this year?

Pahl said I really needed to get a tricorn hat to look more like a pirate. I spent a lot of time thinking about the tricorn hat I would need to acquire. Now this isn't just any old costume tricorn hat. This is actually a custom made wool hat, with grey gross grain ribbon, black cotton lace, a silver rose, and a large black peacock feather. I designed it to match an ouji coordinate that I haven't worn yet, but also to be neutral enough in color to be worn with a variety of other outfits.  I daresay it is more of a Rococo style tricorn, rather than a pirate or a patriot. 

For my full look, I donned the Alice Girl Hunter set which includes an all in one corset and mini skirt with shoulder straps, a matching hooded bolero, and short frilly bloomers. I wore this set once before, while giving a presentation on Cautionary Tales in Oral Tradition.  I am also wearing a short pannier, which is basically a short wide petticoat to flare out the skirt a bit more. To look more like an official crew member, I added arm bracers from Miss Point, off-brand under the knee black socks, and my trusty coven boots from Strangcvlt. Neutral eye makeup and a bold red lip complete the look. 

Pahl's pirate outfit was updated as well this year. He has had his heart set on all things Rococo, so the waist coat is actually from a Rococo set that he purchased earlier in the year. (Does it look familiar? He also wore it at the Tudor dinner!) Another thing Pahl did differently was to grow out his beard for two weeks. He really wanted to make sure he looked scruffy to really lean into the pirate lifestyle. His tricorn hat is bigger, yet lighter in weight than mine. It has a big red peacock feather and he put a pin of a skull and cross bones on it. In one way it is slightly more versatile than mine depending on what he pins to it. But mine won't blow off my head in a brisk sea breeze, so it really depends on the level of function over fashion you are committed to.   

Pahl's updated look is quite superb. He's got all the elements he had last year like the pistol, skullcap, waist sash, lightweight linen shirt and trousers, and leather boots, but also he has an over the shoulder belt that is holding a dull full size sword as well as a dagger. He is truly  outfitted for any serious pirate action!

Who rightly knows what I'll wear next year, but it was certainly fun to wear this outfit again with the updated accessories!  Maybe I'll get extra bold and even choose a color scheme that isn't red and black.  But I'll likely still wear my tricorn hat!

Our last event in May 2025 was the Tudor Dinner at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT. This was a special event that the museum created in honor of receiving Hans Holbein's 1540 portrait of Henry the VIII on loan from the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. The description of the event was "to experience a Tudor-style banquet and meet Henry the VIII!  The castle comes to life through music, culinary delights, and speciality drinks. Period costumes are encouraged."

The event cost $75 per person (or $65 if you were a Hartford resident or museum member), and it was worth every penny. We were seated in the main gallery right next to famous paintings, like the one that Pahl and I are standing in front of. I had never been so close to the art! Across the room from us, a lute player performed while we ate. A large banquet table was laid out with turkey legs, bone-in hams, stewed beef with mushrooms, bread, fruit, roasted vegetables and fruit pies. We could go back for as many servings as we liked. 

To start the feast, Henry the VIII arrived in the flesh along with some of his wives and local dignitaries of the age dressed in period costume. These folks were not just mere actors, but actual museum scholars presenting lectures at various art works in the museum during the feast. 

​The Tudor period occurred between 1485-1603 and included the Elizabethian era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The Tudor period is characterized by the rule of the Tudor family following Henry Tudor's victory over Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth. This era marked the conclusion of the Wars of the Roses (a series of civil conflicts between the Lancaster and York houses). The period began with King Henry VII and continued through his son King Henry VIII and his grandchildren Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. The Tudor Period remains significant for its profound influence on English history, culture, governance, as well as reflecting the complexities of monarchy, religion, and societal change during that time. 

Fashion was actually extremely important during the Tudor period, because rich people used their clothing as a sign of how wealthy they were. Their clothes were made from fine wool, linen, and silk and often decorated with gold thread and jewels. Men wore white silk shirts with frills at the neck and cuffs and loose fitting trousers. Women wore corsets under bodices to make their waists look small and padded underskirts to give more structure to the floor-length gowns they wore over them. There were even special rules called Sumptuary Laws to dictate what the different social classes could and could not wear. Only members of the royal family could wear purple silk, only those above the title of Viscount or Baron could wear cloth of gold or silver, and only those who earned over 100 pounds a year could wear satin, damask, silk, or taffeta. 

Based on the Sumptuary Laws of the Tudor era, Pahl and I are posing as a wealthy couple where he has a title above that of Viscount. 

Pahl's outfit consists of a blouse (not sure what color to be honest) under a dark brown gambeson that has additional metal details sewn into the sleeves. Over that he is wearing a red and gold embroidered long waist coat with a damask pattern. This is perfectly layered over a pair of dark red loose fitting trousers. Other accessories that repeat the red trousers include a soft red hat that is a little bigger than a modern beret but fits like one (they called them bonnets back then) with embroidered designs at the base of the cap as well as white and brown feathers coming off one side, and a paisley cravat at the neck. Also at the neck is a ruff, worn backwards so that the tie is facing forward. He is also wearing an elaborate green silk sash over all of these elements which appears to have a three-dimensional cross and other embroidered symbols as well as metallic fringe at the bottom. He completes the functional parts of the look with leather riding boots and a black leather waist belt with pouches. 

I am wearing a long floor length dress that also has a damask pattern in dark green, brown, and gold. The dress has long sleeves that wrap around my arms so that only my hands are visible. Around my neck is also a ruff, the same one in fact as Pahl's, but I am wearing it with the tie in the back and lower along my neckline. On my head I am wearing an elaborate crown complete with beige felted elements, off-white roses and metal chains with pearls hanging off them. An off white veil with gold stars covers the back of my neck and wraps around to the front as well a little. The look is complete with white short heels with gold stamping on them.

I cheated a little bit as I was entirely reliant on the corset lacing at the front of the dress to achieve the waist cinching look and I am not wearing a padded underskirt to give the bottom of the dress more shape. I did this mainly because true corsets and padded skirts are highly uncomfortable elements while driving a vehicle, and I didn't have any time to even attempt to put them on in the parking garage or restroom once I got there. 

We only caught a tiny bit of the lecture about this painting because I am a painfully slow eater.  But what we did learn was that the outfit that Henry the VIII was wearing in this portrait was physically very heavy. All of the layers and jewels would weigh quite a bit, and he must have had to pose for the portrait for awhile while wearing it. Talk about heavy metal!

The museum staff was pretty jazzed about our costume efforts. I think not only do both our outfits work well on their own, but together it is a wonderful complementary contrast of green and red with similar elements of brown and gold. If there was a prize for best costume, we would have won it. But the best prize is knowing we were the best! I hope the museum continues to come up with fun events like this one!

The second major dress up event we attended in May 2025 was the Spill The Tea: Jane Austen Tea Tasting co-hosted by Savvy Tea Gourmet and Lyman Orchards at The Lyman Homestead in Middlefield, CT.  Savvy Tea Gourmet is my favorite local tea shop as they source tea and make their own blends from all over the world and everything is super fresh and eco-friendly packaging. The owners of the Savvy Tea came up from Madison to offer delightful Jane Austen inspired tea pairings as well as tea education, while Lyman Orchards Apple Barrel Farmers Market provided the accompanying quiche, tea sandwich, and scones with strawberry jam in the historical Lyman Homestead. The Lyman Homestead, built in 1860, is one of the best Gothic Revival structures in the greater Middletown area. It was built to a design by New Haven architect Rufus G Russell and was completed in 1865. The 2 acre property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. 

Now this event just happened to also occur on the same day that our Dances of Bridgerton class over in nearby Middletown was to take place. Dances of Bridgerton is a bit of a passion project dreamt up by master dance instructor Susan de Guardiola. Imagine learning the  dances from the Netflix show Bridgerton, other dances by the same choreographer, and some actual Regency dances with a real time instructor and a bunch of other people at the same time!  Did you gush at Simon and Daphne's couple dance in Season One? Or did you love the dance in Episode 6 of Queen Charlotte between Charlotte and George? I've learned them both and we frequently go over them in class as well as learning new dances too!  If that sounds like an amazing time to you, the class is open and looking for more attendees. The next one is actually next Sunday, August 10, and walk-ins are welcome! 

Since pretty much everyone who attends this dance class is into dressing up in period fashion, drinking tea, and socializing, I proposed to Susan that we should let the other attendees know about it and see if they also would like to sign up. Susan was able to get the Spill the Tea event to allow us a table of 10 rather than the purported maximum 6, but every single one of us dressed in our Regency finest. It was like we absolutely stepped back in time from the historic home itself, to our fashion, the tea service, it was truly a magical moment!

After we enjoyed our tea pairings and food items, there was still time to wander around the interior of the building. The historic home caretakers didn't seem to mind us wandering around to the different rooms and posing in our outfits with the furniture. 

This is my friend Nina from my CCSU days. She is excellent at sewing and drafting her own patterns. She looked at historical regency patterns and drafted this one for herself. She also has a matching petticoat she made to wear under it. The blue cotton of her dress matched the wall pretty well and I thought she should stand in front of the fireplace to show that. I asked her if she would like to go to the first "Dances of Bridgerton" class with me last year because Pahl couldn't make it and we've been hooked on the class ever since. She's also teaching me basic sewing now too!

Now you must be wondering, is my outfit actual Regency after looking at Nina and Pahl's outfits? No, not really. It's an EGL dress from the Chinese indie brand Miss Point's Sally Gardens Series. The dress is described as an "elegant vintage one-piece dress", that features a square collar, lotus root sleeves, an empire waist, ribbons+ flower decorations at the chest and cuffs, and a long length. I am wearing a 78 cm daily wear petticoat under this dress for the poof and flow at the bottom. The straw bonnet, additional chest flowers, and lace choker are also from Miss Point. I absolutely could not forget my teapot bag, which is actually pop culture merchandise from Bridgerton via Hot Topic. It is a white teapot cross body purse with purple and green printed petals and says "Diamond of the Season" on it, which if you've seen Bridgerton, you know is the Queen's pick of female debutante each year. It was just so meta to be at a tea party with folks I learn dances from Bridgerton with while carrying around a purse dedicated to those two ideas. 

I have actually worn this brown and cream dress so frequently to dance class (I love the way it glides in the Queen Charlotte dances to be honest), that  Pahl and I normally go out to the same restaurant after class and the staff there knows us by our outfits and greets us very warmly and always asks us how our dance class was!  We haven't been to class for a few months because we missed the one in June for Downtown Milford Business Association's annual Pirate Day (a future blog post) and there wasn't one in July.  The goal is to learn enough dances and dance them well enough for a dance focused Bridgerton Masquerade Ball in October! I am so looking forward to it as well as planning a new EGL Regency inspired outfit for the ball!