Shoreline Trolley Museum in DecemberThe second meeting I attended in December 2024 was put on by the local Steampunk group at the Shoreline Trolley Museum. Now if you've been following the blog for a few years, you'll know I got a private trolley for my fashion group in the off-season just when they started putting up the station decorations in mid-November of 2023. During the month of December, the museum is nicely decked out for the Christmas holiday before they close for the winter season. In Sprague station, you can see a moving train above your head with Santa and gifts in it in the station, a giant red mailbox that contains letters for Santa, and a couple of Christmas trees. The line stops are also decorated as well as every trolley housed in the barns. It is truly a site to see the museum lit up for Christmas! And the perfect time to dress up for photos too! The plan was to meet in the late morning, take some photos at the station and attend a trolley ride and tour together at noon. Now for this meeting, the steam punks didn't say what we had to wear. They encouraged Christmas theme, but Pahl and I decided to do something completely different. I styled myself as an "airship captain" and he was my "first mate". My outfit is also EGL fashion, but it is the more masculine side of it. Ouji, pronounced "O-G", is the Japanese word for prince. It is considered to be "a blend of youthful exuberance and Victorian sophistication", according to Sunica Design. Even though it is considered to be "boy-style", it is not restricted to any gender. A full ouji ensemble includes unique details such as asymmetrical cut shirts, waist coats in single and double-breasted styles, dress pants, pocket watches, monocles, ties, hats, and canes. I've seen all of these accents used in Steampunk style outfits, so I thought it would be the perfect event to debut my ouji style! However, my ouji outfit has a distinct feeling that it is military inspired, but from what origin? The Princess Chronicles~The Stars Change Sleeveless Ouji Fashion Coat is a long black tunic with asymmetrical fasteners at the collar in a Chinese Hanfu style, with distinctive black on black embroidery at center of the chest and below the knee. I also purchased most of the pieces from The Stars Change series including the asymmetrical black blouse with the metal buttons and mutton sleeves, the embroidered adjustable trousers, the one shoulder waist belt, and the matching wool hat. Additionally I am wearing a short blonde wig, a long prince like coat, and black combat boots. Hanfu is a style of clothing that Chinese people wore during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE). The central principles of Hanfu are modesty, respect for tradition, and harmony. The design and structure of the clothing reflect the ideals of Confucianism. In Confucian philosophy, the clothing you wore expressed your role in society. The loose and flowing garments symbolized tranquility and balance, in harmony with nature and society. Hanfu also played an important role in one's social status. The material, color, and embellishments of the garment were regulated by social hierarchy. Emperors, nobles, and scholars wore specially designed hanfu, while commoners wore simpler versions. Historically, the color black was associated with the cyclical nature of life. It embodies the essence of water, flowing and adapting, symbolizing mystery, depth, and the unexplored realms of the Universe. Black can also exude an essence of martial valor and refined elegance. I imagine that when Chinese indie brand Princess Chronicles designed this coordinate, that they were thinking of someone wearing it who was brave but also interested in exploring the unknown. Pahl had built or upcycled many accessories in his first mate outfit. The stun gun was once a soldering gun. His jet pack was once a vintage vacuum cleaner. His leather aviator coat has an asymmetrical closure to one side. Snow googles and a fin on an otherwise leather helmet. Utilitarian black cargo pants and tall black leather boots. Black fingerless leather gloves and a black belt with a metal atomic symbol as a fastener. While I steered us towards the unknown, like meeting up with new people we never met before, he had my back like a true rocketeer, even if it was just talking to new people and trying to remember their names! My robes truly were long and flowing, and I felt very balanced in my all black han substyle of ouji EGL. Again, I seem to be the only person who bothers to bring an umbrella with them to a meeting. It just happens to work that my umbrella is a black and red pagoda style that effortlessly matches my outfit! Overall we had such a fun time! There were so many new faces for us, it was hard to keep everyone straight. I did run into a couple that I have been attending a regency style dance class with, so I spent most of my time getting to know them better while on the trolley ride itself. Everyone else had very appropriate Christmas colors and Victorian inspired styles, and ours were just not exactly that; you might say we were the real punks of the meeting! Regardless, the trolley volunteers/personnel thanked everyone profusely for dressing up, because I'm sure it made things more fun for the other random folks and families riding the same trolley as us.
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Home for the Holidays at Mystic AquariumIn December of 2024, I participated in two dress up activities that other people planned. The first one was a meeting that Jax planned at Mystic Aquarium (in Mystic, CT) during their "Home for the Holidays" holiday lights extravaganza. The event features holiday-themed lights, live animals, multiple photo opportunities and special guests select evenings between Thanksgiving through New Years. I knew it was going to be cold outside, but I had somehow forgotten in the (more than two decades since I visited this particular aquarium) that a good portion of it is all outside. I would say most of the lighted walkways and multiple photo opportunities were located outside between the cafe and the inside gallery. In fact, even the entrance dome is technically outside, as are the habitats with the beluga whales and the seals. Jax told us to dress winter holiday theme and or an aquatic theme for the meeting. I went with Classic EGL Christmas. To stay warm, I paired a wool lined red and green tartan skirt from Miss Point, with the fleece lined Time Memory ~ Elegant Lolita Slim Fit Mutton Sleeve Blouse, which I then topped with the Ode to Joy~ Winter Velvet Vest in blackish green (also from Miss Point). I wore Christmas themed tights, but you can hardly see the pattern because my skirt is so long. I was originally going to wear gold tea party shoes, but the temperature was far too cold for that so I wore thick wool boot socks and teal dyed thinsulate lined leather boots. I also made sure to sew the rogue gold button back on my super old bright red wool coat I rescued from Burlington Coat Factory about 16 years ago. The Elegant Striped Top Hat (also from Miss Point) kept my head surprisingly warm in 28 degrees Fahrenheit weather. For my bag, I brought my Christmas bear bag with me. It doesn't quite fit the rest of the Classic elements in my outfit, but I had talked to Sarah before the meeting, and we both brought stuffed animal bags decked out for the holiday in solidarity. Sarah continued the tartan with their babydoll tartan dress from the Japanese brand Baby the Stars Shine Bright. This kind of dress is what I would consider to be a highly iconic old school style. Old school style is characterized by an emphasis on construction, high quality materials, and patterns made with lace and ribbon design. Sarah paired the dress with a short black coat, white under the knee socks, and black platform mary janes. They also have a white heart shaped bag from Baby the Stars Shine Bright and are wearing fluffy white ear muffs that seem to be connecting a white and red rectangle headdress. Everything is carefully matched and balanced between color and styling. Jax made their own dress from a pattern they had drafted from scratch. They specifically chose a Grinch themed fabric because they knew the guest of the evening we planned to attend was the "Holiday Grouch". I love the different lace that they used in their dress from the thinner lace at the bodice and middle of the skirt to the "falling star" lace at the hem of the skirt. They added a wine red and white fur cape and matched this expertly with white tights and wine red shoes. While you could say that Jax, Sarah, and I each exemplified the Christmas holiday in some capacity with our chosen colors of the evening, Margot and Colleen went for the more muted colors I would associate with winter in general. I really like the shiny star over blouse Margot added to her outfit. It reminded me of the twinkling lights we were observing and the magic of the holiday season. Colleen managed not only to wear white and blue that remind me of fresh winter snow and the sky during a 4:00 pm sunset, but also her dress and matching head bow are aquatic themed! How could I forget my Sea Captain of the evening? Pahl tried to dress warmly with a wool coat over his waist coat and blouse and black denim. He made sure to wear a thick cravat, leather gloves, and a wool sea captains hat. He even kept himself a little scruffy in his facial hair just for the look! Unfortunately decisions had to be made between looking cool and feeling too cold, so right up here in the entrance is the last time you get to see his full regalia before he had to close his coat up to stay warm. Overall, I would say it is a very unique family friendly event. It is nice to go on the outside walk and observe the lights and interact with the outside animals a little bit as well as warming up in the inside gallery. If it's your first visit to the aquarium ever, I probably wouldn't recommend it, as you don't actually get to see all of the animals and to be honest, it's a little disorienting going at night in the cold than during the day if you are not familiar with the place (like I apparently wasn't). Luckily Jax and Margot used to volunteer there in the past, and I learned so many fun facts about the animals from them as well as following their lead through the outside and inside environments. If you are interested in attending, and want to save on ticket prices, look during the end of October for discount tickets.
Silent Moon Photoshoot at Grove Street CemeteryOne of the long standing wardrobe goals I started building for myself in 2024 was specifically a black, white and medium blue/dark blue gothic/punk style capsule wardrobe. I was inspired by the Japanese gothic EGL brand Moi Meme Moitie, whose designs are primarily in white, black, and a deep klein blue, (lovingly referred to as Moitie blue by EGL fashion enthusiasts). You can purchase Moitie items from anywhere in the world using Wunderwelt Fleur. Silent Moon is the name of a specific design that Moi Meme Moitie has released several times over the years. It primarily has come out as an OP (one piece dress), but there is an earlier release of a JSK and a skirt that exists. There are also matching over the knee socks and accessories for this print. The dress is made of a crepe fabric suitable for all seasons. It is short sleeve, has full shirring in the bust and waist, elasticized cuffs. and is fully lined. The print on the bottom portion of the dress is mainly a series of different gothic cathedrals with crosses at the peak of every roof, with trees and birds flying in the background and a full moon surrounded by clouds in the sky. A lot of people in my fashion community happen to own a version of this dress, so I decided to make a meeting in November 2024 where anyone who owned this dress was to meet up at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, CT wearing it. If they didn't have the dress, they could wear any combination of black, white, or dark blue, but I preferred they make it gothic or classic style as we were meeting at a cemetery. As I am partial to planning events that include some form of education, art, and history, of course Grove Street Cemetery was on the top of my list to have a Gothic photoshoot at. Grove Street Cemetery, which opened as a burial ground in 1796, is the oldest cemetery in the nation designed as a "city of the dead", with named avenues and cross streets. It is a National Historic Landmark, and is the first chartered burial ground in the United States and the first to be arranged in family lots. Within the cemetery are the markers or plots of most early residents of New Haven, including Eli Whitney, Noah Webster, Walter Camp, Roger Sherman, fourteen Yale presidents, and hundreds of other faculty members, alumni, and campus luminaries. The cemetery serves as resting place for many historically important figures, and a number of its tombstones date back to the 1600's. In addition to a collection of specimen trees, the entrance has an architecturally prominent Egyptian Revival Gateway facing High Street. Clearly the cemetery has something for everyone! Even if you don't know anything about history, you can enjoy the many varieties of trees and bushes that were cultivated there. As soon as you get past the gateway, there are folks jogging as well as other folks walking their well behaved canines around the place. It's a cemetery...but also a public respite from the hustle and bustle of Grove St and the surrounding city streets in that area. And despite all of the historical figures and extensive family plots within, people are still being buried there today! Leo's favorite brand is Moi Meme Moitie and they have been collecting pieces from it for years. Leo is wearing the black version of the Silent Moon OP with a white printed design. They also have the matching Silent Moon Over the Knee Socks as well as the printed satchel bag. They are wearing two different cross necklaces, I believe both of them are also from Moi Meme Moitie. The large one is actually silver with blue jewels. Leo wore a white princess sleeve stand collar blouse from Atelier Pierrot underneath their dress (as it was starting to get a little cooler outside). Gothic matte black heels and a black fascinator completed their look. They went the extra mile and put on some very gothic makeup with a pale complexion, dark blue eyes and deep brownish red lipstick. When I saw that Wunderwelt had a used version of the white version of Silent Moon with the blue print, I had to have it. It was also less expensive, because there is supposedly a stain somewhere (that I've never found) than it would be if I had purchased it brand new. I paired it with a three-quarter princess sleeve stand collar blouse from the Chinese Indie brand Yilia. Yilia makes basic colored blouses in almost every collar/sleeve type/ length you might need to complete an outfit, and I highly recommend them if you're just starting out. I've used this same blouse across all EGL styles now (between sweet, classic, and gothic). The white of the blouse is somehow more of warm white compared to the cool white of the dress, so despite also mixing additional blue and black into my coordinate, I had to mix different whites. I added a rectangular headdress from Atelier Pierrot that happens to be made of both cool and warm white ribbons and lace. To repeat the blue, I am wearing a pair of over the knee ribbon socks also from Moi Meme Moitie. I custom ordered white lace gloves with blue crossing ribbons on Etsy, because I knew the sleeves on the blouse that I owned were not actually long sleeve. Now you can't see this in this particular photo, but I had to take out the blue ribbon waist tie from the dress. It was...not long enough for me to tie it around my waist. Instead I swapped it out completely and added a black waist belt I got in a different set. To repeat the black again, I am wearing a rosary inspired choker that is black and silver as well as the Bondora~Cross Punk High Platform Shoes in black that also have silver cross charms that hang from them. Like Leo, I also used complexion makeup that was paler than my actual skin, and did a darker look around my eyes with a dark reddish purple lipstick. Barbara went full classic victorian goth all in black for her coordinate. She is wearing a long sleeve victorian style blouse that she paired with a high waisted long skirt. Her accessories include a necklace of pearls, a cameo necklace, a spider pin with a pearl detail, silver bracelets and rings, a big black mourning hat with a veil hanging down in the front, and of course exquisitely applied makeup. Her ankle brace matches the look well, but the New Balance sneakers are definitely a functional/safety choice. We always encourage safety in footwear, especially at meetings that require a lot of walking! When two or more people wear the same dress at a meeting, it is considered a form of twinning. I just absolutely love how Leo and I are contrasting versions of one another. I have just about as much black in my coordinate as they have in white in theirs. In some photos you will also see me wearing a prince style black coat with silver buttons. It was getting a bit cold as it was November. Luckily Kaitlyn, Leo's friend who also came to the meet dressed in alt gothic fashion was extremely generous in holding our accessories and helping us take photos during our visit. I put some of the photos in black and white because I thought the lighting added a hint of a story and good memories. All in all it was a gorgeous day and we really lucked out on the weather. Traffic and parking around the cemetery was a bit stressful as Yale had a very large event at their athletic center up the street, so most of Grove Street was filled up. Technically we could have parked in the cemetery itself, but I wasn't sure how many people were going to go and there are only so many drivable "streets" within the cemetery as most of them are actually just walking paths.
It was so much fun to just dress up for a specific theme in a specific location. I might do something like this annually, but pick different historical cemeteries throughout the state. You can certainly depend on anywhere in New England to have a good old cemetery, but Grove Street Cemetery is certainly unique due to its 425+ and counting years of interred residents! A Witches Tea at the Madison Beach HotelThe last major event that I dressed in EGL fashion for in October was a witchy tea tasting and artisanal dessert pairing sponsored by Tea & Tarot at the Madison Beach Hotel on a Wednesday evening the third week of October 2024. Now if you recall from the last blog post, I had taken this week off as a vacation for myself, and this was the last major dress up event I was attending that week. (I almost ran out of clean bloomers at the three times in one week mark...this very fun hobby suddenly seemed like a lot of work!) The theme of the event was called the "Witches Tea" and guests were invited to "dress like a witch". I styled myself as a celestial witch, starting off with my navy and gold stamping celestial dress from Chinese indie brand Soufflesong. I bought this dress a few years ago, so I don't think its available new anymore, but it might be found on a used marketplace. A little after the time I purchased it, I also purchased the Polar Night Sky ~ Halloween Gorgeous Gilding Lolita Witch Hat in the navy from Chinese indie brand Rose Thorn to go with it. Of course the hat came after Halloween that year, so I had to wait till the following year to even wear it with anything and boy was I surprised at how big, sturdy, and kind of heavy it is. It's like an over sized witch hat, expertly sewn to retain a sort of crooked yet whimsical look. The big bow and gold star chain are completely detachable, so you can remove weight if you need to. The outside is black velvet and the inside is whatever color you ordered with gold celestial design. I also found that it is quite a warm hat, and is perfect if you have to be outside for any length of time, especially at night in late October. The last time I wore the dress, I simply wore it BY ITSELF with a shawl and sandals on an excruciatingly humid day in July of 2023, so I had the chance to style it completely differently this time. I added an incredible stand collar semi sheer detachable puff sleeve blouse from Miss Point. It only comes in beige, which in this case is a light off white with a yellow undertone. (Beige, Ivory, and Off-White are often subjective labels in EGL fashion and color matching can be challenging even between different tones of the same essential color. At the end of the day, you have to decide what truly matters). This blouse fits so incredibly well and has a lining so you don't have to worry about picking the wrong colored undergarments. I also love that the sleeves are detachable. If you find yourself drawn to Classic EGL styling, this blouse is an essential edition to your wardrobe. Trust me on this...the stand collar is my go to nowadays. Now since I was wearing a beige blouse, I needed to repeat that color on my legs somewhere. Rather than doing so with my socks, I purposely wore a pair of long bloomers that would peek out from under my skirt for the visual color and texture matching. Then I added white over the knee socks that incorporate navy, blue, and pink under the bloomers. I just thought it would be fun to have something a little more decorative that repeated at least the navy and gold once more. I wore this with my black tea party shoes. This style of shoe I've found is the best for showing off patterned socks without taking away from the visual balance of the colors and textures throughout the coordinate. To repeat the black once more, I brought my Book of Charms and Spells cross body purse back on the scene. The tea tasting and dessert pairing event was located on the third floor of the Madison Beach Hotel. You had to walk from the bar area to an elaborate grand staircase and head to your right to a series of small rooms that opened up into a medium sized conference room. In the smaller room, readers (of many types) were doing private readings and there was also a small table of merchandise for sale from the Tea & Tarot Boutique (also located in Madison, CT). The medium sized conference room had probably six or seven large round tables that could hold up to about 10 guests a piece. Now I signed up for this event on my own. The tickets sold out at lighting speed. I don't know exactly how it was advertised, but most of the people I talked to in attendance happened to also live in Madison, and some of them had been to the Tea & Tarot Boutique before, but most of them seemed to be hearing about the boutique for the very first time. (I myself had visited the boutique in February, so that's how I knew about the event). Most of the attendees had booked out an entire table with their group, but Tea & Tarot had made sure everyone had an assigned table. I must have waited alone at my assigned table quietly sipping the Blessed Be Banana Bread tea (which is amazing by the way) for at least 30 minutes. A kind and gracious volunteer kept refilling my cup. Eventually a couple of other people showed up, but we still had at least 4 people assigned to our table that never came. The thoughtful attention to detail between the design and taste of the desserts produced with the teas they were paired with was simply magical. A lot of people had signed up for private readings, so while people would slip in and out for that, there were additional activities for us to engage in such as a 10 question quiz to see how much we knew about Witchcraft. I knew all the answers mind you, but I had some fluency issues when reading the questions to myself in my head and maybe a little bit of nervousness (not knowing anyone else) coupled with a sugar high so I actually circled some of the wrong answers. But one of the questions was where the first witch trials took place and it was actually Old Wethersfield, CT (even though the closest option on the quiz was Hartford, CT). I had learned this the week prior at a lantern lit graveyard tour I attended in Old Wethersfield with a friend. Someone else knew it too because they shouted that out across the room. That person got all the answers right and received a prize! Another activity they offered between pairings was passing around divination cards face down and taking one for yourself to take home with you. I got the Mystic, which shows a person with their back facing you wearing a witch hat, a patterned shawl, and a glove on the left hand holding a wand looking into two sort of possibilities--a well lit building on the left and an unknown city to the right. It says "Seek knowledge and spiritual growth. This card represents the pursuit of knowledge and spiritual growth. It invites you to seek out new experiences and to expand your understanding of the world around you."
According to the dictionary, a Mystic is "having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding. Someone who believes in the existence of realities beyond human comprehension". Clearly on a short term level, I nailed it. I went to an event dressed like a witch by myself where most of the other people did not know all that much about Witchcraft. It was a new experience! But really, I'm 100% a Mystic, according to the definition. I read tarot and am working on my own major arcana deck, so this is also not my first go around with divination cards. (I own about 20 decks and have been reading for over 10 years). Perhaps it's my cue to seek out even more unique experiences, which I'm sure you will read about in upcoming blog posts! An Evening With Edgar Allan PoeAround the third week of October 2024, The Poe Actor was doing a circuit of performances at the local libraries in my area. I had previously attended a masquerade theater event back in February, and I started following the actor on social media to see where they would perform next. I was delighted to find out that they were coming to not one but two libraries within 20 minutes of my house during the week of vacation I had scheduled for myself. In celebration of his arrival, I planned a brand new coordinate of my Nya Nya/Cha Cha Love and Death High Waist JSK in Wine. I previously wore this dress back in May 2023 when I met up with my fashion club for an Afternoon Tea. I wore it with a blouse with long gray sleeves, black and silver over the knee socks, and a black half bonnet which I had stuffed white faux roses into between my head and the brim. A year and a half later and it was time to make some improvements. This time I had decided that my accent colors were going to be white, black and wine, instead of gray, white and black. I used the Yilia Princess Sleeve Slim Blouse, which is a full button down blouse with gold and pearl buttons and 3/4 princess sleeves in white. I would say that this blouse is more of a natural white than a bright white. The second major change was pairing the white cathedral tights that have a black cathedral print near the ankle as well as under the knee area. Lastly, the third major change was my headpiece. I used the Strange Sugar Gothic Lace Organza KC as my base, and attached an elaborate rose pin that was made from leftover fabric scraps from a bridesmaid gown I had long since given away, but kept the customized pin because I knew I could use it somewhere somehow in the future. In the "rule of 3" in a coordinate, I have managed that nicely with the white of the blouse, the white roses on the border print, and the white tights as well as the black on the headpiece, black on the upper part of the dress along with the black lace hem, and black tea party shoes. Alas, I could not repeat the wine three times, but two out of three isn't bad! Between the two different stylings, I did wear the same pair of shoes and the same cross body purse. Now onto the performance! Campbell Harmon kept in character during the entire 90 minute event! He told us the truth behind the life, death, and legacy of Edgar Allan Poe while also performing some of his most well known short stories and poems. He started off with The Tell Tale-Heart, which is a classic short horror story of a man who murders an old man for his "evil eye" and is haunted by his guilt. The narrator reveals his motives, methods, and madness in a chilling confession. (I remember reading this in high school, but it is by no means as vivid and haunting when "read in your head" as it is when performed aloud, by Edgar Allan Poe himself!) Next he told us all about Poe's personal and professional life from when he was a child, a young adult, and through his publishing pursuits along with rivalries with contemporary writers of his day, and the odd coincidence of his death after visiting a pub during an election year. There was a lot of historical back story that he had to fill us modern day audiences in on, which he did quite deftly. Lastly, he had the audience choose his final poem and the winning vote was The Conqueror Worm! The Conqueror Worm is a poem about human mortality and the inevitability of death. I actually knew this one by heart because my favorite gothic performer, Aurelio Voltaire, had actually included it on his 2014 album, "Raised by Bats". It of course was a little different the way Poe had performed it versus Voltaire, but I enjoyed both versions. The Poe Actor had felt that the Conqueror Worm was too short of a poem, so he also performed The Raven as a bonus. When my friend Dana and I arrived at the library, there were about 2 other people seated, but when we turned around to see the people asking questions in the back, we realized nearly every seat was filled (and this was a Tuesday evening)! The people in the back asked some very intelligent questions and I was glad to be in the presence of so many educated people. The library director was thrilled with the level of participation in the event overall and pledged to have The Poe Actor back next year around the Halloween season! I will definitely be on the lookout for this next performance in my area...the question is...will I wear Love and Death JSK again in a new styling or a completely different dress overall?
Private Tour & Lunch at Old Sturbridge VillageI was invited to a wonderful private tour and lunch at Old Sturbridge Village in the third week of October by my friend Amaryllis. Old Sturbridge Village is considered one of the most beautiful places to go to in the autumn. It's a living history museum where the buildings and ways of life of 1853 are preserved and utilized in working time by costumed actors. Last time I was at Old Sturbridge Village, I attended the Christmas By Candlelight program. This time, the museum was gearing up for the "Phantoms by Firelight" program which is more of a cirque cabaret during the last two weekends in October, so don't be surprised by the caskets and the reaper iconography in this post. Amaryllis really wanted to have the tour in the autumn and it actually required a lot of planning. We needed to have the tickets paid for about a month in advance and she said that the private tour needed a minimum of 15 attendees to pull it off. I helped by purchasing two tickets and convincing two other friends to meet up at Old Sturbridge Village on a Sunday morning at 10:00 am. Amaryllis also wanted some of us to dress up for the event. Originally she said to wear something Edwardian, but from the look of this photo of people who dressed up, I'm going to say most of the people looked like they were actual staff at Old Sturbridge Village, except for Jessica and I at the far right, who are clearly outliers on this time travel bending excursion. The day was another unusually hot October day with highs in the low 70's, so I needed to utilize as much cotton as possible so I didn't get too hot or dehydrated while walking around the museum. I sent a photo of myself wearing this green skirt at a steampunk picnic last year and asked Amaryllis if this would work for dressing up as I did not have Edwardian nor did I have something that looked remotely mid 1800's for this gathering of costumed souls. She said it was fine, so I decided to style it differently this time. Both the skirt and the blouse are from the Chinese indie brand Tiny Garden. The "Dream Bouquet" Elegant Sweet Lolita Skirt" is totally worth the wait on the pre-order. The green color is almost entirely cotton, fairly lightweight and even has hidden pockets. The "Elegant Lolita Short Sleeve Blouse" is made of 60 pieces of cotton carefully sewn together in a v shaped ruffle design. I got the XL in light mauve and to be honest, this piece definitely runs small. I still had a little bit of gaping at the bust even though my bust size of 98 cm should have been within the L size range. It might just be the fabric. It was very thin cotton with not too much stretch. Over the blouse I placed the Little Dipper Sweet Lolita Cardigan in ginger yellow. I didn't choose a yellow cardigan initially, but I felt it was appropriate to the season of autumn and would stand out well against the landscape. I tried to select tights that would match the color of the blouse (a light violet) and a bonnet with floral details that tie in the green, yellow, and light violet colors in the coordinate. My purse of the day is a tea pot cross body that is white with light green and violet petals on the design. It also says "Diamond of the Season", which is actually a Bridgerton reference. Yes--it's a purse that was designed around the Bridgerton show---Hot Topic sure has some fun things sometimes. You can tell I'm a time traveler because I'm wearing a necklace with a clock around my neck. I need to know what time it was when I left the future to go back into the past. The Bullard Tavern has a separate private area on the second floor, where we were able to eat our pre-ordered boxed lunches after the tour. Barbara and Jake took me to Old Sturbridge Village last year, and I always learn more and more about the place when I attend it with them. Danielle and I have been friends since the first day of college. We studied the same degree. She's still teaching art...I moved over to the dark side of finance by day, make art at night, and dress up in Japanese street fashion on the weekends. After lunch, Barbara, Jake, Danielle and I walked around the museum and explored some of the areas together. For the "Phantoms by Firelight" program, the museum constructed a corn maze that ends with a modern statue of the grim reaper. I'm sure this is much more terrifying at night, but by day it was just an interesting ode to the season of autumn, letting things go, and reaping the fields for the last harvest. I even match the corn maze (yellow on top, green on the bottom)! Luckily I remembered to take my bonnet clip and attach it to my purse so that I could easily walk around without wearing the bonnet, while still utilizing it in a fashionable way. This covered bridge and the water reflecting the trees is a total highlight of the museum! We stopped in the "small house" on the way out of the museum. It was my first time visiting this house. There was a re-enactor inside and she was sewing something while the fireplace was in use for warmth. It was a lovely little space. The wallpaper is not actually wall paper. It is painted blue walls and the designs are stamped on the wall (like wood block printing). I didn't realize they were using such bright colors for interiors at that time period either! I thought my outfit stood out especially well against it. Even though Barbara and Jake are members of the museum, this was the first time that they got to ride on the cart pulled by two clydesdale horses around a little circular path in the "center" of town. It isn't a long ride, but the actor tells a lot about the buildings and what life was like at the time. The horses are rescue horses and they get taken care of very well, so please do not worry about their welfare. It was such a beautiful day and it was wonderful to meet with friends, dress up, have a private tour, ride the wagon, and eat lunch together. I wouldn't normally meet up at any museum all dressed up by 10:00 am, but Old Sturbridge Village was well worth the effort!!
A Ride With The Naugatuck Railroad CompanyBack around mid October, my friend Rosie set up a fashion club meeting at the Railroad Museum of New England located in Thomaston, CT. If you thought I already covered all the historical transportation museums in my blog over the last year, you were wrong. I hadn't been to this one yet! Thomaston Station is a beautiful example of Victorian architecture that was used regularly for passenger rail between 1881-1958. The original line connected the north west town of Winsted in Litchfield County all the way to the city of Bridgeport in Fairfield County following along the Naugatuck River. Unfortunately, the Thomaston station (which is located about halfway between those two towns) fell into disrepair and later fell victim to a fire set by vandals in 1993. Operations on the NEW (as in it changed hands on a legal level) Naugatuck Railroad commenced in 1996, and volunteers have cleaned and stabilized the structure in preparation for a full restoration. This historical line currently operates between Torrington and Waterbury. Every weekend in October, the Railroad Museum of New England offered a pumpkin patch excursion 3x a day. This involved riding the train between Thomaston and Waterville (a neighborhood that is part of Waterbury, CT) and being let off at a small patch of grass with some trees and plenty of hay bales, decorations, and small pumpkins. Tickets weren't too expensive...something around $26 for the round trip. It also included fresh local apple cider (or bottled water), and access to a gallery of photos provided by a professional photographer who partnered with the museum for this purpose. I was expecting to take home a pumpkin (which apparently was just for children >_>;) but the beverage and the hi res professional photos were some nice surprises. Even if some people managed to get pumpkins while most of us didn't, we all brought it with our outfits that day. Rosie suggested that we wear Autumn Colors or Halloween themed coordinates and mentioned something about "overseas purple", which is a reference to Japanese brand Atelier Pierrot saying that their purple offerings are very enthusiastically purchased by customers living outside of Japan. I love how Juan and Rosie perfectly complement one another with cream, caramel, and warm brown colors for autumn. I also appreciate the little dashes of red that Juan included with their head bow, scarf, and shoes. It was my idea to have the two of them pose together near the tree, but Pixie is the one who captured all the details! This was apparently Kaitlyn's first time dressing up in the fashion. She wore a completely kuro coordinate. Kuro in Japanese means "black" and is associated with elegance and solemnity. Black is also a great color for the Halloween theme. Aerial wore a royal blue celestial coordinate that she acquired during a visit to Japan this year. It was really neat to see the matching beret and dress details all together. This type of blue is generally good for autumn and winter styles. It just naturally worked out that Rosie and Juan stood between them so that you could kind of see a visual pattern. In this grouping, we kind of took the idea of purple or gurple (grayish purple) to heart. Leo is wearing a black and lavender version of the dress "Magical Milk Cats" by Japanese brand Angelic Pretty. They even had the matching socks and other accessories for this dress. The witch hat and lavender shoes totally take the cake! Mina made their outfit from scratch! I love how they designed the skirt pattern to alternate the coffin pattern with solid black. It is very striking! Jax is wearing the purple colorway of the dress "Magical Artefact" by Japanese brand Metamorphose. They also paired it with a black blouse and accessories. I am wearing the Witchville Halloween Gothic Set from Chinese indie brand YingLuoFu. This time I decided to keep the black overskirt at home, as I wanted the purple and navy aspects of the skirt to be really obvious. In fact, if you take a closer look at the details in our coordinates, Leo, Jax, and I are not only wearing black and purple, but all of our dresses also have cats on them. The cats on Leo's skirt are gray and white and seem to be surrounded by books, potions, and a crystal ball. The imagery is similar in Jax's dress, but the cats are distinctively black and the illustration over all is more realistic looking. The cats on mine are wearing Victorian style clothing while walking around outside of a sleepy windmill town with a giant crescent moon. Also in the streets are what look like disrobed cartoon zombies and there are also faintly menacing eyes in the sky. Is it supposed to be the Witching Hour? I'd say so with these Halloween themed pieces! Pixie made this black and silver Halloween spider web themed jsk and paired it with a victorian style black shirt and black and silver spider accessories. The way that she added the black panel in the front breaks up the design nicely and the bow at the bottom is visually interesting. I'm sure that bow could be used a lot of different ways--in the hair, up further towards the waist, etc. I love how ultra creative she is when designing her outfits to match the meeting theme! Overall this was a really fun time. I kind of wish we had had more time to hang out in the pumpkin patch taking photos or what have you, but the weather had turned cold and rainy (the umbrella is not simply a conveniently matching prop) and we also didn't want to keep the children or the parents who also took this journey with us waiting too long either.
I am happy I got to wear this coordinate for the second time and enjoyed accessorizing it differently. I am also very glad that I had half a mind to bring that velvet capelet with me, because I truly needed it to stay warm when the rain came. (This meeting was just one week after the extremely hot meeting at the fairy exhibit). One thing that is always true living in New England is if you don't like the weather, wait a minute, because it can and will drastically change, especially in the transitional months in the spring and autumn. Autumn Tea & Wee Faerie Village ExhibitionOne of the exhibitions that I always wanted to see was the Wee Faery Village Exhibition at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, CT. This is a special exhibition that happens every autumn and is comprised of over 30 fairy style homes that are created by local artists as well as families and classrooms throughout the region. They are placed all along the outside trails and paths of the Florence Griswold Museum. It is a special event and museum admission is twice as much as usual for the event. I had it in my head that I wanted to go with a group of friends way back in August. So, naturally I hosted a fashion club meeting for it. Jax gave me the idea to do a double meeting--why don't we go to the Old Lyme Inn's Autumn Tea first and then catch the exhibit at the museum (literally 500 ft across the street) afterwards? We both really enjoyed the Wizard of Oz Tea in the summer, so why not try their autumn offerings too? Autumn Tea at Old Lyme InnThis photograph was taken right outside the front of the Old Lyme Inn. This was essentially part one of our meeting, but for some attendees it was the only part. I made attending both parts of the meeting optional, as it could be a potentially all day affair, and I know not everyone has time for that. As far as the fashion choices for the meeting, I asked attendees to really hone in on the autumn or fairy theme with colors, prints, or styles evocative of autumn. As usual, everyone brought it in their own way. Jeannette wore a sweet style yellow dress from the brand The Angelic Forest (which is a Pacific Northwest Indie brand) with a pastel purple, blue, and pink print of mushrooms with a pink blouse and accessories. Jax wore a black dress with flames on it that they got from The Black Ribbon, which is a US based Indie brand. Jax made themselves look more fae like with elf ears and colored contacts that looked more animal than human. Sarah R evoked the spirit of the Amanita/ fly agaric mushroom in her Angelic Pretty red dress with white polka dots. She even wore leg warmers that have a similar visual texture that echo part of the amanita mushroom's stem. Sarah H was autumn personified while wearing their Metamorphose Gobelin tapestry style print dress, rich with wine red, sage green and other autumn colored flowers with its matching bonnet. I was going for dark autumn fairy, so I incorporated autumn colors of ivory, black, and wine red with a print of dark roses and butterflies. The dress, blouse, and "apron" is a Classic style dress set you can purchase from the Chinese Indie Brand Sweet Date. Ally has an adorable orange Country style outfit from the Chinese Indie brand Strawberry Fantasy. It is the perfect color for autumn and I love how it ties in orange and white gingham accents in the apron, bows, shoulder straps and triangle head scarf in the set. Addy is wearing a medium pink and black outfit that has different textures incorporated in it. The whole coordinate is dedicated to a sweet yet slightly edgy look which can be seen in the pink chain of the heart bag, as well as the criss cross straps on the skirt and some of the metal details on her shoes. Ren is wearing a black dress with a perfectly dark chartreuse blouse and gold heeled booties. They are also wearing the Black Conjuror's Bow from American indie brand Dandy Puppeteer. The Autumn tea at the Old Lyme Inn was perfectly decorated and of course the menu changed significantly from our last visit in the summer. This time we were able to taste seasonal flavors like root vegetables, cranberry and apple, cinnamon and pumpkin in both savory and sweet delights. I was absolutely unprepared for the amount of horseradish in the ham and cheese sandwiches. It's almost a month later when I am writing this blog post, and I can still not forget how strong it was! Jax made a comment that this is the kind of sandwich their granddad would prefer! We had a slightly larger party than last time, and the inn's staff was gracious enough to seat us in a room that was a little more private. I could actually have a conversation with everyone in my group (as the tables do tend to get a little loud in the larger room after awhile). We all took turns taking these photographs in front of the fire place before we left for part two of the meeting. This is my demure headdress--so I hope you're paying attention to an important outfit change! Wee Faery Village ExhibitOne wonderful thing that I didn't know about the Wee Fairy Village Exhibit back in August when I planned the meeting, was about this immersive Enchanted Environment that Adrien Broom was tasked with creating inside the museum space as part of the exhibition this year. In Adrien Broom's "Mystical Murmurs: An Enchanted Environment", audiences were invited to "experience the mystical world of the forest and imagine themselves at faerie-scale. Drawing on medieval European folk beliefs and superstitions, faerie-friends are enticed to step inside the colossal mushroom ring, which triggers entrancing songs that infiltrate the circle and seduce guests to dance beyond time." Honestly, when I saw the darker autumn colors of these larger than life size mushrooms, that's when I decided to wear this outfit as opposed to a mauve and ivory dress that I also own with a fairy print. And then I decided, you know what, I want to wear my duo-horned headdress too to evoke the kind of faery that is mentioned in those medieval European beliefs---trust me they are not all sunshine and roses and can be quite dangerous and deceptive if you don't adhere to certain "rituals of engagement" with them. After exiting the Mystical Murmers portion of the exhibition, we proceeded to the Wee Fairy Village. I will highlight some of my favorite houses from this years exhibit below. This is such a great exhibition for children as well, as every house comes with a little rhyme about something you should try to find in it. I enjoyed Sarah and Jax taking turns reading the guide and finding the items with them. Overall we had such a fun time! I did not expect the weather to be so warm, so my outfit was a little hot for me and I was very excited when Jax found a snack shack with cold beverages halfway through the fairy house exhibit! I would definitely go back to this special exhibit again, especially knowing that it changes every year and that I can get lots of walking in around the museum! I will be sure to plan my outfit around the weather the day I decide to go next time too.
Gillette Castle Fall Picnic & Castle TourH, Danielle, Maxie, Mina, Jax, Rosie, Sarah, and Barbara outside the back of the Castle Photo Credit to Pixie At the end of September, coincidentally on the first day of Autumn, I hosted a fashion club meeting at Gillette Castle State Park in East Haddam, CT. Gillette's Castle was the former home of actor, director, and playwright William Hooker Gillette, who is most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. This mansion was built in 1914, is over 14,000 square feet, sits 200 feet over the Connecticut River atop the most southerly hill in an area surround by 184 acres of Connecticut woodlands. William Gillette gave specific instructions in his will that the property did not fall into the hands of "some blithering saphead who has no conception of where he is or with what he is surrounded", so thankfully the state of Connecticut eventually purchased it for a small sum and turned it into a state park for everyone to visit at their leisure. Semi-self guided tours of the interior of the castle are available daily from spring until fall, and cost just $6.00. I started the meeting by a semi-secluded pond area that is located closer to the entrance of the park. I asked attendees to bring something to share. Everyone brought something they made or purchased. I made gluten free pumpkin spice mocha blondies. They were very popular. Sarah, Erik, and Barbara brought half the food. They went all out with veggies, artisanal meat and cheese, every condiment you could think of, pickles, just a little bit of everything. We filled an entire picnic table with just food for the picnic. Some of the attendees just stayed in the pond picnic area the whole time. They had been inside the castle before and had picnic blankets and games to play. I think next time I go I will follow their lead, but I had never been inside the castle before and really wanted to see it! I didn't realize this, but the tour is actually a one way only that starts on the ground level of the castle. You meet your tour guide at this archway at the ground level and tickets have a timed entrance. Weekends are very popular, so if you know you are going with a group, you should buy your tickets in advance. From the ground level you go up a staircase, peer into the basement workshop, spy a secret door, look very carefully at all the specially designed by Gillette himself intricate door locks, and enter into a grand room. Every detail of the house is meant to appear medieval but in a modern way. Lots of wood, stone, and straw like details throughout. There is even a greenhouse at this end! One of the things that Gillette had a fond love for was cats. At one point, he had at least 20 cats, whom he named after distinguished people of his time. His housekeeper would ring a bell in the evening so that all of the cats would come home for dinner. On his dining room table, several wooden hanging pieces were meant to be toys for the cats, and nearly every wall is covered in decorative woven rattan. To me, the rattan seems very similar to the type of material that most modern day cat scratching posts are made out of. This makes me think Gillette carefully designed the home not only for his aesthetic, but also the needs of his feline companions. There were parts of the castle, especially the hallways, which were kind of dimly lit. This second floor is relatively narrow and includes a couple of small bedrooms and another staircase that leads to a giant art gallery, library, and display area. This group photo was taken on the third floor in the library. Fun fact! On the wall to the left of this photo are paintings done by Pamela Coleman Smith (the illustrator of the Rider-Waite Smith tarot deck!) In the glass case are copies of letters that Gillette sent to his contemporaries, family, and friends. The library books are very intriguing and we weren't quite sure why the shelves were built so that you couldn't really take them off the shelves, but it lent itself to a good group shot area. So let's talk about the fashion choices for this meeting. I originally had an idea that we should try to match the exterior or interior of the castle with rustic colors. If you do a web search for rustic colors, it pulls up a little more than your stereotypical orange, red, yellow, and brown that we would associate with autumn specifically. However, Jax thought we should also open up the fashion choices to "prints with cats" on them because of Gillette's love for cats. Since we ended up with more rustic choices than folks wearing prints with cats, I will highlight some of my favorite rustic outfits from the meeting. Rosie is a self-styled sweet choco-lita. Her entire wardrobe consists of different prints and designs of brown with cream and white accents. I like how she carefully coordinated the brown and white dress with a warm brown blouse and a white cardigan. She repeats the white again in her rectangle headdress and shoes. The darker brown in her socks reflects her hair a little, pulling in both the dark and warm brown elements throughout the coordinate. Pixie not only takes most of the photos that I use in my blog posts, but also makes all of her own dresses. She absolutely did not disappoint with this dinosaur themed dress that utilizes an array of rustic colors including three different types of green, warm brown, cool gray, and white. She has a triceratops skull belt buckle and green dinosaur earrings. She repeats the warm brown again in her bolero, hat, wrist cuffs, and boots. She's also wearing green lipstick that matches the dinosaurs in her dress, and the interior of the greenhouse. This was Maxie's first Connecticut fashion club meeting. She really brought it with the rustic color and theme skirt. I love how it seems to depict both night and day in the autumn, depending on which part of the skirt you are looking at. I just love how this photo that Pixie took really showcase how much it stands out against the greens in the pond. Here is my regency inspired one piece dress from the Chinese indie brand Miss Point. The Sally Gardens~ Elegant Lolita Lotus Sleeves OP Dress features a square collar, lotus root sleeves, an empire waist, ribbons and flower decorations at the chest/cuffs, and a long length. The fabric is embroidered chiffon with cotton and linen lace. This is the "light coffee" variation of this dress, and even though it is essentially light brown and beige, it also has small green ribbons and green and light blue embroidery of flowers all along the front and side panels of the dress. It's not only stunning, flowy, and breathable, but pretty easy to put on (it's a dress that you can step into a zip up the back). Other accessories I added that are also from Miss Point include the straw bonnet, lace choker, and pearl waist belt. My purse of the day is my beige and brown violin that looks like it was made for this dress. I had such a fun time and we were blessed with the most gorgeous weather! I really enjoyed touring the castle interior and taking photos with friends, but I think next time I go I will focus more on picnicking, taking photos outside, and wearing some sturdier shoes to explore some of the trails around the castle. Thank goodness the State of Connecticut purchased and renovated this park and mansion so that many people can enjoy it with little or no cost!
Maritime Aquarium in NorwalkAt the beginning of September, I attended my first fashion meeting since June 2024. This was a meeting that K hosted at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, CT. The Maritime Aquarium has over 75 exhibits with over 7500 animals. The journey begins with a freshwater river into a salt marsh and then moves deeper and deeper into the open ocean. This aquarium is great for families as well as adults. They must have three of four different touch tanks where you can touch sting rays, jelly fish, and even sturgeons! The second floor also has a lot of little blocked off areas for kids to relax and play. This was a meeting of many firsts. This was the first time I have ever been to this aquarium. This was the first time I've attended a meeting in Fairfield County. And it was the first time my friend Sarah attended a meeting with me! When K made the meeting, she said folks could wear anything they wanted, or could try for a sea/ ocean theme. Sarah and I decided to go all out for the theme. Sarah tucked a white with green and blue nautical symbol print blouse into a white vintage hand stitched cotton skirt. She is wearing a white waist belt with a silver whale tail belt buckle. For accessories she had this elaborately beaded white head piece (that came from G.Fox) that evokes the idea of a starfish resting on her head. She also has a white bag, white socks with pink ribbon design and is wearing white sandals because she can't wear heels. She also wore a silver lobster pin, a spiral shell bracelet, and a couple of mermaid clips that matched the colors in her outfit. I'm wearing my purr-maid dress. This was one of the first EGL pieces I ever purchased. The last time I wore it was more than two years ago at the first fashion club meeting I ever hosted! I honestly don't even know the brand name and the tag doesn't give me any information as it's a white label. But it's adorable from the pink top and bows on the bodice to the skirt print of purr-maids, kitten jellyfish, and cat-shoe crabs resting in their shells. There's also a tulle detail with silver dots where the bodice meets the skirt that evokes the idea of sea foam as it also has pearls sewn into it at various points and is lined with white lace. I'm wearing a white short sleeve peter pan collar blouse with the dress. For accessories, I decided to focus on the sax (light blue) and pink tones in the dress. I wore a gray-blue head bow, abalone and spiral shell earrings, a peachy ammonite necklace, white and pink wrist cuffs, other pastel colored bracelets, a few rings, white, sax, and pink cotton ribbon socks, and Bubble Cat low heel bow shoes in sax that have an ultraviolet shift in sunny lighting. My purse is a large pink and white heart that echoes the pink and white in my coordinate. I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Pixie's outfit that she sewed for the Aquarium meeting. She is wearing a dark blue long sleeve stand collar blouse with a black pleated skirt. She sewed an overskirt made out of an old turtle batik skirt from her childhood and added deep blue ruffles to the edges and secured it with pin that looks like an old coin from a buried treasure chest. She is also wearing a patch that says "All Bodies Are Beautiful". Additional accessories include turtle earrings, a couple of rings, and a shark cross body bag. It's almost like the shark bag is looking up to its mother in the tank. She is also carrying a camera. She has both a passion for fashion and a good eye for unique and captivating photos. I must admit, I'm always extra excited when she can make a meeting for this reason. While our fashion tends to evoke lots of nice compliments from humans that happen to be in our general vicinity, I noticed that the more intelligent animals also seemed to be completely fascinated with it as well. Deep sea animals that normally hide or ignore humans came out for a look. This sea turtle was really into my outfit. I don't know what exactly about it that captured its attention, but it literally kept banging against the wall of the tank where I was standing. Maybe it thought I looked like a shiny snack...if anyone knows anything about sea turtles behavior, please share your knowledge in the comments. We also managed to get the elusive octopus to come out of its hiding place and do a little dance. So now I have a theory that EGL fashion is enrichment for both humans and animals. I loved the aquarium meeting! It was neat seeing so many different kinds of animals in one place. It was also fun to wear this dress again, especially after acquiring more accessories that match it better. And it's always fun to go out with friends!!
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DanielleI love EGL and alternative fashion and modeling. I am taking two of my favorite hobbies and making them into a story for you to read about. Archives
February 2025
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