Olde Mistick Village Strawberry Festival

Olde Mistick Village Strawberry Festival

L-R: Danielle, Sarah H, Souda, Kendra, K, and Ally

June through October in Connecticut is when there are about at least 6 equally interesting competing weekend events in the state vying for your time and attention. Coincidentally also happening the second weekend of June 2026 was Olde Mistick Village's Strawberry Festival. Souda had planned for the fashion group to attend on the Sunday of that weekend, so it didn't end up conflicting with CT Open House Day (which only occurs on the second Saturday of June). 

Now, I must tell you that the image above of the group has been altered a bit. Sarah H (second from left) warned the group that any and all themed festivals at Olde Mistick Village are insane. Not for the faint of heart. The village itself, which is more like a carefully curated  outdoor mall has free parking, but that parking becomes incredibly sparse during a festival weekend. The village has at least 50 additional vendors lining the village streets along with tons of food trucks and additional activities for children sprinkled around the village. The walkways become even tighter, but the stores are suddenly easier to shop inside of, because everyone is outside. Sarah had decided to go in the morning when the village opened for the day, rather than at the group's afternoon time. Their loved one snapped a photo of them and Pahl took that photo and added it to a group photo, which moved folks around a bit. In the original photo, everyone was standing in front of the display in the window, so by combining both Sarah's photo and a different group photo, we got a more interesting image with everyone in it.

I arrived at the appointed time, only by parking next to a weekday only business in a strip mall across the street from Olde Mistick Village. I hustled to stand in a shady spot across from Arisu, which is a Japanese themed pop-culture store that also sells Japanese snacks and some groceries. (Arisu is how the name Alice would sound in Japanese. And it's one of 3 Alice themed stores in the village itself!)  Everyone was struggling to find parking in the village, but they eventually succeeded and we spent time at Arisu, as well as Alice in the Village, which is an afternoon tea shop that sells macarons and other treats as well as flavored boba tea and other beverages. Alice in the Village used to be by reservation only, but now it's more of a casual place where you order your drink, pick it up, and then decide if you want to sit inside or outside. The group was actually larger than pictured if you include partners and friends, so if we had stayed inside, we would have been spread across 3.5 tables, but it was a beautiful day to be outside with just enough breeze to make it pleasant with a cold boba tea in one's hand. 

​Souda's coordinate suggestions for the event were to incorporate prints or accessories with strawberries, a cut or style that was indicative of spring/summer, any Sweet sub-style, and/or red clothes. I tried my hand at spring/summer, strawberries, and red clothes. I had purchased the Metamorphose Ladder Lace long length JSK in Bordeaux with matching bolero a few years ago under K's guidance around second-hand shopping on Wunderwelt, and I wanted to show it to her in person as well as wear something summery and red. Now it was another hot 85+ degree Fahrenheit day in Connecticut and I did something a little risque in the fashion, which is to wear the dress without a blouse under it. I thought, the bolero will be enough to adequately cover my shoulders. It pretty much was, although I felt I should have brought sunscreen, rather than just a parasol for SPF, as I forgot how intense the sun can be outside in June and July.  Additional accessories include a white lace choker with wine red colored ribbon going through the lace, a straw "trivet" bonnet with dark red ribbon tied under the chin, white lace wrist cuffs with bordeaux colored bows, short white socks, and my tan oxfords. Another star of the show is my purse which has an image of two rabbits wearing bonnets while surrounded by a vine of strawberries on each side. And of course my Peter Rabbit keychain is also holding a strawberry!

Detail of my purse with rabbits and strawberries

Pahl's outfit looking like a character from Tom Sawyer

Since it was so hot outside, I encouraged Pahl to use natural fabrics in his outfit. He created a summer looking outfit with pops of red.  He started with a white cotton blouse and linen striped pants that also have wine red in them. He is wearing a deep red tie around his neck as well. Contrasting navy colored suspenders work with his straw boating hat that has a navy and burgundy striped hat band on it. Brown oxfords boots and his dark round glasses complete the look. 

If we look back at the group photo, we can see many interpretations of the summer, Sweet style, and pops of red themes. Sarah styled a Sweet Old School coordinate with lots of cotton pieces. A white short sleeve blouse with a peter pan collar is layered over an ivory eyelet ruffled skirt with white peeking bloomers. Over the blouse there is a red gingham vest with heart pocket appliques, and two kinds of necklaces, a cherry theme and a Vivienne Westwood silver globe. They have a white eyelet over the shoulder bag that matches their skirt, a red handled rectangle bag from Angelic Pretty that repeats the heart applique style and color. White utk (under the knee) socks with three dimensional cherries hanging off the side and white platform shoes. Sarah prefers cherries over strawberries. 

Souda's coordinate also leans more Old School. She is wearing a white short sleeve cotton blouse with a black single button vest over it. She has this paired with a black skirt with white lace ruffles on it. She is wearing white socks with little red bows going down the front as well as wearing a red bow at the neck. Ivory sneaker and a black and white headdress complete the look. It looks cool and comfortable for summer and incorporated a little bit of red.

Kendra's short sleeve OP dress amazingly hits every single one of Souda's suggestions. There are strawberries in the print (as well as chocolates), the dress is a perfect length for spring/summer, and it is definitely a Sweet cut and style. Peter pan collars, ruffled yokes, and shorter fuller skirts are all indicative of the Sweet style versus something that is more Classic style like my dress or K's. The strawberry chocolate otk (over the knee) socks paired with pink shoes and a pink bow in her hair definitely complete the look. 

K's brown dress with ivory lace and subtly ruffled hem is a Classic style. She paired it with an white short sleeve cotton cap sleeve blouse, white legwear, and bordeaux red colored shoes. To add the strawberry theme in, she is wearing a half style white cotton apron with embroidered strawberries on it and a ruffled hem. 

Ally went with red and summer! Ally's dress is a red sleeveless cotton dress with tiered ruffles at the hem. She paired it well with her white fabulous home made hat which she has swapped out the hat band for red gingham with, white sandals, and a matching red purse. 

Souda's quick observational sketch of my coordinate

While we were all hanging outside of Alice in the Village sipping our cold boba teas, we naturally sort of ended up in little groups socializing about things going on in our lives or other activities we were excited to participate in this summer. I was standing outside between Pahl and Ally for awhile having a little convo and then Souda said hey I drew this picture of you! I thought it was so neat how she captured the style of my coordinate in such a quick sketch!  

Danielle & Pahl just outside of Alice in the Village

After finishing our teas, we attempted to walk around the village together as a group, but the pathways were just extremely narrow with hundreds of people, and everyone sort of got separated and did their own thing. Miraculously we all ended at Alice's Haunted Bookshop, which is a great horror themed bookstore right next to the Alice in the Village tea shop.

You might be wondering, where were all the strawberries at the festival anyway? This year the picking season for strawberries in Connecticut had only lasted about a week. Peak time was the previous weekend. I was a bit disappointed that there were not many strawberry themed dessert and food items for purchase at the festival, but what can you do? Local agriculture does not always align with festivals planned a year or more in advance. At least we did our part to welcome summer in our outfits for the event!