Elizabeth Park in Late NovemberColleen and I twinning with an archway Now, if you've been reading the blog for awhile, you'll know that Pahl and I went to Elizabeth Park back in early summer (first weekend of June in fact) to see everything in bloom, do a photoshoot, and have a picnic. I wrote extensively about the history of the park and its gardens and you can read about that here. This time we were at Elizabeth Park for a spooky photoshoot with my fashion community. The dress I wanted to wear (back in October when the original date of the meeting was rained out) had exposed shoulders and at daytime temperatures stopping at 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun, that was definitely not going to work. I didn't want to wear the exact same dress I wore at the trolley museum either. I wanted to look like Persephone, Goddess of Spring, about to descend into the Underworld. My friend Colleen was going to attend the meeting as well, and we knew that we had the same dress SKULL LOLITA JSK in the exact same colorway with the exact same misprinted backwards design. We decided to twin our pieces. We had only talked about the wearing the same jumper skirt, but our outfits were very similar. She is wearing a black beret with faux pink and purple flowers. I am wearing the Woody Rose-Elegant Lolita Small Hat in Black, which comes with faux decaying roses on the brim. We are both wearing wigs; hers is more of a pink-purple and mine is more of a blue-purple. We are both wearing black blouses under our jumper skirts, and likely thermals as well---it was starting to get very cold outside! We both have big black wool coats with faux black fur somewhere on the coat. You can't tell from this photo, but we also almost had the exact same bag, except mine was slightly bigger. They are Morning Glory~The Star-Moon-Grimoire Crossbody bags with silver or gold writing on them. The only big difference is the shoes. I went for my wine red shoes to match some of the red roses on my hat. My wig had fallen down in the car on the way to the park, but Colleen was able to get it to stay on my head properly applying a few bobby pins on each side of my head towards the front. Despite the difficulties with my wig, I feel that I did a great job with my makeup, especially the eye make up matching my wig and the purple/pink tones in my dress. I used my ABH Cosmos eye palette. There is a pink shimmer shade that when applied to the eyes actually comes out as a radiant silvery purple. I don't make the rules, but it was an awesome discovery while getting ready for the meeting. Additionally, I brought a small mixed deck of tarot and oracle cards as another prop...but if you know me, it's not just a prop. I've been slowly working on my own tarot major arcana since 2020. Overall, it is very fun to twin with a friend! I highly recommend the experience. I was glad that we got to get out and take lots of fun photos together. I also liked visiting Elizabeth Park in November because there were far less people in the gardens and I didn't have to wait or move out of someone's photo to get a good shot. Walking around Elizabeth Park can work up quite an appetite, especially in November when it is too cold to picnic, so as a food recommendation, if you are looking for a lot of choices that won't break the bank, I highly recommend Parkville Market- "22 restaurants under one roof" located 6 minutes away. I got to try an El Salvadorian tamale, drink a matcha boba tea, and eat thai street food for dessert all in the same place! There were a lot of people at Parkville market, but when you wear an alt fashion with a big petticoat, people tend to make way for you.
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Shoreline Trolley Museum in NovemberSarah, Me, Pixie, Barbara, Caroline, Jess K, Jess J, Mel, and Pahl Photo Credits to Ben Jordan/Photo Images Co. If you've been reading the blog regularly, you'll know I had originally tried to plan the Shoreline Trolley Museum visit in July 2023. But...the weather wouldn't cooperate with torrential rain, coastal flooding, and tornado warnings. I figured the second weekend in November ought to bypass all that type of weather. The Shoreline Trolley Museum totes itself as the "oldest continually running trolley museum in the United States". This time around, I made sure I planned it right. The director of the museum worked with me to plan the meeting. I told him that I wanted a private charter essentially, but for only 10-12 people, and that we weren't having a party or anything. We just wanted to model our outfits with the trolley station and trolleys as our background. Intrigued, he let me fill out a form and I didn't have to pay for our meeting in advance...all they asked for was that each person who attended donate some money of their choice to the museum that day. After I knew that we didn't have to pay up in advance, I went ahead and also hired a photographer to follow us around all day and take staged photos of us inside the station and various trolleys. I was able to get a very reasonable price and cut the cost with attendees. This was going to be the best meeting I ever planned yet! The day was cool, crisp and clear. This was the weekend after Daylight Savings Time ended. (For those of you who live in a part of the world where you don't do this, we "fall back" and are forced to turn our clocks back an hour to provide us with slightly more daylight in the morning as opposed to the evening, to I think make it safer for people waiting for transport in the morning time? From November to January, we are lucky to get approximately 9 hours of daylight in my region). So my thematic suggestions were fall colors, jewel tones, gothic/black, and or pinstripes. I wanted to evoke a historical feeling that worked with the interior of the cars as well as the season of the year. Everyone really "nailed the assignment". Sarah is wearing some great jewel tones of her green chocolate rosette dress paired with a bright red coat and shoes. I had a vision that I must wear my Miss Point gothic pinstripe Point Manor OP and accessories that I purchased in 2022 because I knew these colors would work with the inside of the older trolleys especially. Pixie wore an outfit that matched mine quite a bit with the black shirt and yellow topaz skirt, but paired with a beautiful jewel tone blue corset and a purse that was a working clock!! Barbara went for all black, and as she put it, "the look of an orphan looking for a new lease on life". Caroline wore a garnet red dress that had a print of different types of coins on it, which is cleverly reminiscent of the fare that many operating trolleys still take in various parts of the world today. Jess K stuck to ruby red and white for her main pieces and a blue and white caped coat as an accent (and to stay warm I imagine). Jess J wore a dress with a design called "British Bear", which was sapphire blue plaid with gold accents and different kinds of teddy bears on it. Mel wore a bright red and white dress (which reminds me of a classic Chinese styling with the shape as well as the diagonal fabric buttons on the front). And lastly, Pahl wore his new gray outfit which included a shirt he purchased from Thomas Farthing (which we visited when we were in London), his slacks and tailcoat from the Historical Emporium, as well as a new navy blue puff tie. The herringbone black and grey shoes he apparently had for a long time, but didn't have anything to go with them until this year. (He actually wore this exacty same outfit at the Bakery Meeting, except that he wore a Sherlock Holmes type hat rather than a bowler). An posed group photo next to one of the the Trolley barns Group photo in front of a trolley very similar to the one that we rode on our private charter Pahl & Danielle close up in the party car I had a lot of fun learning more about the museum from our private charter conductor as well as Lydia (the events coordinator) who was volunteering that day. I enjoyed moving from trolley to trolley to take wonderful group and close up photos. I highly recommend this museum as a place to work with for your next event. I also highly recommend nearby Transilvania Restaurant, which serves Romanian and American style food (we went here as a group afterwards). The owner is super nice and the restaurant theme is really fun (in a weird and good way) and I've tried several of the Romanian dishes and they are all delicious.
Erector Square Open Studios Oct 21-22 2023Pahl & Danielle dress up as nouveau punks using backdrops provided by @studioinewhaven Erector Square in New Haven, CT was first established as a toy factory in 1923 by A.C. Gilbert. The classic Erector Set, American Flyer model trains, and other toys were produced here until the factory's closing in 1967. The building itself was then transformed into one of the largest studio complexes of its kind-175 studios in 8 buildings. It is now home to a community of established and emerging artists, architects, musicians, designers, theater, dance, and fitness professionals. I love going to Erector Square because the hallways are long and deep and you're not sure what building is connected where. To be honest, it can be a bit disorienting, but I consider that part of the fun. If you like adventure around every corner and eventually ending up in a back lot next to the back door of Bregamos Community Theater, then this is for you. I generally start at Building 3 (where the main parking lot is), and work my way around Building 6 and 8. If you want to go to Building 5, it's easier to just leave the front of Building 3 and walk to the right to enter it. (All the buildings are connected somehow (except for Building 4), but sometimes it's easier to just go back the way you came than trying to find the right stairwell). In the past, Erector Square Open Studios was a part of a month long City-Wide Open Studios in New Haven that Artspace used to manage. Unfortunately Artspace shut down their physical location in June 2023 and basically said, "we're putting Open Studios back into the hands of the artists this year". But luckily the artists of Erector Square came together and put on a very good Open Studios on their own. Artists work that I particularly enjoyed were that from Eliska Morsel Greenspoon whose collage work must be seen in person for the sheer complexity of it, Greg Shea for his work in alternative photographic processes, Amelia Ingraham's high res pop photography, and Julie Fraenkel's "Carnival of Human Nature". We spent approximately 3 hours at the Open Studios during the last day of the event. Just as we were reaching the end of the hallway in Building 5, Studio i Gallery showed up. Studio i Gallery is basically a ready to rent space for all sorts of creative endeavors, whether it is an art show, a photoshoot, workshops, and installations. They encourage visitors anytime and for Open Studios they had a couple of really cool backdrops available to pose in front of. Both Pahl and I are artists, and one thing we like to do when we attend other artist's open studio events is to "Dress Like an Artist". That way we can send out a beacon of like-minded energy towards all that we meet. Pahl is both a surrealist painter, mask maker, and stop motion animator and I mainly work on my Other Worlds Series, which is manipulated photographs of my own menstrual fluid. Both of our art styles are a bit edgy; so we wanted to reflect that in our style choices for the day.
Pahl is wearing black jeans, a wine red "early-American style" cotton shirt, a grey herringbone waistcoat with black buttons, lighter gray and black herringbone shoes, a slightly military looking leather jacket, and some of his signature statement rings. To match him, I also wore a wine red cardigan over a dress that has imagery of skulls and roses on it. I am wearing a black denim punk vest with an intricate pin from Pocket Full of Posiez that was a birthday gift I received this year and goldenrod colored crocheted fingerless gloves. My tights are pink dotted diamonds with contrasting black and gray and black and see through diamonds that I purchased from Hot Topic a few years ago, and I am wearing black cherry patent leather boots. I am also carrying around my new backpack purse, my Emily the Strange bag complete with my 3D printed skeleton hand I picked up at the New London Pirate Festival a few months ago. At least half of the pieces from my outfit I have had for at least 3 years, so it was definitely a creative endeavor of combining old pieces with new accessories to make a new outfit. Did dressing like nouveau punks work for us? Certainly! We had a lot of wonderful conversations with other artists right away. So that old adage is true: Always dress for the occasion! Sweet Poppy's Bakery-North Branford CTSo one of the things that it did in Connecticut a lot this year was RAIN. It rained every single weekend in September, and almost every weekend in October. Another person in my fashion community had planned a very fun meeting at Elizabeth Park in October that was rescheduled to late November because of rain. I felt like we still needed something to do, so I made what I assumed to be the easiest meeting possible-go to a local bakery and a farmers market. We met up at Sweet Poppy's Bakery, which is a Top 9 Allergen Friendly Bakeshop in North Branford, CT. (Top 9 allergens include wheat (gluten), milk, eggs, soy, sesame, tree nuts, peanuts, fish and shellfish). Being wheat, lacto, and peanut sensitive myself, I was very excited to find a local bakery that not only made sweet things I could enjoy, but also made it affordable as well. I got to try the pumpkin bread and a hot tea, and my friends enjoyed other treats and the sweet tea. I also purchased cupcakes and cookies to share with my family for a special occasion later that day. It was all very good--even to people that are not sensitive to any ingredients! The bakery itself has a little bit of seating inside and a nice wall with sprinkles for some good photo opportunities. For the theme of the meeting, I said anything fall colors, gingham, country, sweet, candy, and or Halloween theme. As for myself, I was inspired to wear Infanta's Little Red Riding Hood JSK that I had received in a Lucky Pack last year because it is wine red (a fall color), and has a country feel with the attached gingham apron. Last year I wore a very spooky coordinate for Halloween, so I wanted to mix it up and wear something totally sweet. I mixed and matched both white and off white with my coordinate because the bottom lace in the jsk is off white so I paired it with an off white shirt, and used white and red patterned socks with a white bag to balance the white aspects in my JSK. The bonnet is also from Infanta, but technically goes with an entirely different JSK. I wear a lot of brown pieces in general and figured I could use a bonnet like this for many different jsk that I own. This is also the first time that I am wearing my matte wine red Sheep Puff Elegant Lolita Bowknot Retro High Heeled Shoes. I feel like I ordered them in April, and by the time they came, I wasn't incorporating wine red at all into my wardrobe. They waited about 6 months for their official debut. They are super comfortable and I am very pleased with them. Mel has a wonderfully sweet and spooky at the same time theme. She is wearing a dress with the Sanrio character Kuromi on it that is black with pink polka dots and accents. She balances the pink with a pink and white headdress. What is the most special about her coordinate is her matching bag. One side is black with a pink accent with Kuromi's face and the other side is pink with black accent with My Melody's face. K's coordinate actually perfectly balances with mine as she is wearing fall colors as well as an Infanta fairy tale theme skirt (it illustrates that of Snow White rather than Little Red Riding Hood). She balances out the primary accent colors of wine red and white in her skirt with her choice of leg wear, shirt, and cardigan. The rose necklace is also a wonderful touch! As far as getting to a farm market, the best I could do was a roadside farm stand. Unfortunately because of all the rain, the larger outdoor market with the pumpkin patch, gift shop and corn maze would have been terribly muddy for our beautiful shoes, and the other smaller one that had an indoor hay maze had unfortunately closed for the season the weekend before my meeting. So here I am standing in the mums for sale in front of a green house. We didn't spend a lot of time here...it looked like they might have been getting ready to close for the day and that it looked like RAIN again, so we took a few photos, bought some veggies and went our separate ways. Here's a bonus shot of Pahl and I at the bakery. This is his first time wearing nearly everything in this outfit and it was actually a little challenging to put on so he came a bit late to the bakery. He wore almost the exact same outfit a few weeks later, so I will talk more about it then. I wouldn't necessarily consider gray a fall color, but with all the rain we had---I'll let it pass~
The Regency Ball at The Guildhall 9/16/23When Pahl asked on our third date if I would attend the Jane Austen Regency Ball with him, I basically knew Jane Austen as the author of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, the former of which I was assigned to read over summer break twenty years ago in high school. We'd already established by our third date that we were both very into alternative or historically based fashions, and both individually concluded that we intended to wear our pieces as frequently as possible. For me that meant mostly elegant lolita fashion and for him that meant anything that matched what I was wearing in color, era, or theme as much as possible. However, as I got to know him more, it turns out Regency Era England is one of his absolute favorites. Not knowing much about Regency Era England, the fashion for men and women during that time period, or anything in particular about Jane Austen, naturally I said yes I will go with you! I'm more of an action research gal anyway...experience first, reflect later. The Regency Era of British history is commonly described as the years between 1795 until the ascension of Queen Victoria in 1837, and is remembered as a time of refinement and culture characterized by distinct fashions, architecture, and style (at least for the wealthy). The Regency era overlapped with Romanticism and many of the famous artists, musicians, poets, and novelists of the Romantic period were also prominent Regency figures such as Jane Austen, William Blake, Lord Byron, John Constable, Mary Shelley, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, etc. I think the main reason the Regency Era is on our minds nowadays is due to the ever popular Netflix period drama, Bridgerton, which is set in a highly stylized version of Regency Era London. Bath, UK is about 90 minutes west from London using modern express rail. It's considered a ceremonial county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. It was founded by the Romans as a thermal spa, which became an important center of the wool industry in the Middle Ages. In the Georgian Era, it developed into an elegant town with neoclassical Palladian buildings, which blend harmoniously with the Roman baths. Bath really has so much to offer between the Bath Abbey, The Roman Baths (an UNESCO world heritage site), various tea rooms, and of course the Jane Austen Festival, the largest and longest running Jane Austen Festival in the world. The Jane Austen Centre celebrates her as "Bath's most famous resident" and puts on the festival every year in September. The 10 day event draws over 3500 people worldwide. I mean, that's a lot for a niche interest group, if you think about it. Entirely relying on Pahl's expertise and guidance for the fashion this time, we decided on "burgundy" and black as the main colors of our outfits. (I put burgundy in quotes because I always imagined burgundy differently but deeper bluer red works). Pahl basically already owned the correct blouse, slacks, boots, and suspenders, but specifically ordered the waist coat and tie for the ball. My gown was custom made by Robe d'Exception, through their Etsy platform. (A lot of people who attend the Jane Austen Festival make their own costumes. The best we could do was support a small business-which is equally good). For my accessories, I pulled out some from my lolita fashion pursuits. I wore my BBB (big black bonnet), a velvet choker, a waist belt that goes with an entirely different dress, white short gloves (see ball picture), and something like a reticule that my friend made me for my birthday (that has exactly 38 stitches in it to represent my age). I am wearing flats that I bought years ago for work. They're really cool looking, but definitely not Regency Era. It's a good thing my gown is floor length and you can't see them anyway. I tried putting my hair in a bun and it was successful enough to keep my hair up, but it probably looked a bit messy from the back. All I can say is that I frequently need someone to help fix my hair or head piece, but I've got the makeup part squared away. We did a very fine job of looking the part. People in Bath did not know we were Americans. They just knew we were part of the Jane Austen Festival. However, we were not particularly well versed in the Regency dances of the era. And our outfits were kind of hot...we had anticipated it being a little cooler than it actually ended up being. So we fumbled our way through some of the earlier dances and spent a lot of time enjoying watching others dance. I came back from the event thinking that I would like to learn more about this style of dancing so that I can not only look the part, but actually act the part!
Exploring the Irish Garden...and beyond!September 2023 was a big month for us for traveling and trying new things. In the first week alone went to Boston to see the Arctic Monkeys at the TD Garden, and we attended a Steampunk picnic at Wickham Park. The Oddball Newt event "Summer's End Picnic" at Wickham Park in Manchester, CT started off in the Irish Garden. Wickham Park is a non-profit private foundation whose property extends into Manchester and East Hartford, CT. It contains 280 acres of gardens, open fields, woodlands, ponds, picnic areas, and sports facilities and is local favorite for wedding receptions, fundraiser walks and other events. Wickham park is generally only accessible from April through October and normally it is $7 per car to get in. Luckily Oddball Newt was able to get them to waive the fee for this particular event. I had been here once before for a friend's wedding and her wedding was located at the top of the hill where the cabin is. Turns out the Irish Garden is just a little bit after the entrance, to the right. There's a parking lot next to it. It is a good site for small picnics and meetings. The gazebo wasn't open, but there were plenty of places to sit as well as take wonderful timeless photos of days gone by. You would never know that this garden had been completed in the summer of 2016 with the high stone walls, thin metal fence, and small stone tables. Pahl really exemplified the explorer theme in his look with his pinstripe pants, earthy paisley waist coat, spats over his boots, pith helmet with snow blind goggles and a cane. He's ready for anything! I kind of look like Jane from the animated Tarzan movie, except that I'm not wearing a full gown and a bustle. What I am wearing is actually two separate pieces from the Chinese Indie brand Tiny Garden. I've written about the shirt before because I wear it a lot. It was in fact that only off-white and 100% cotton shirt in my wardrobe and man it was hot! The sun knew no mercy, so wearing all cotton was imperative for me. The real star of this outfit is the Dream Bouquet Elegant Sweet Lolita Skirt. This skirt is incredibly comfortable. I didn't notice that it had pockets on each side until I put my petticoat on and they magically appeared in the right place for me to utilize them! Now I normally wear the shirt under a jsk, so I didn't ever worry about the gapping at the bust that had suddenly almost become a fashion faux pas. I added a waist belt that kinda was supposed to cover that part...but it uh...had no backbone and sort of flipped over itself. Instead of fussing extra or trying to find an alternative last minute, I just went with it. I had been thinking I could use an under-bust corset in my life, but I feel like this minor experiment with this particular waist belt proved that I would need something much sturdier. As explorers, we could not help but get distracted away to other nearby gardens. This scene from the Oriental Garden is almost like a Monet painting, sans water lilies. But we do have ducks. We had a wonderful time exploring the park on our own, but we did miss most of the group photos due to a panic attack I had about yellow jackets. They were literally everywhere around the picnic site and more than a few times they did try to fly into my bonnet. After the third time of this, I freaked out and had to leave. The gardens within the park are absolutely stunning for photos and I would definitely like to go back wearing some different pieces, but maybe not for a picnic, unless it was really early spring when the yellow jackets aren't so desperate.
New London Art Stroll (Aug 2023)It was a fine August day when my friend Amy invited us to see her art/reiki studio in the Dewart Building in downtown New London during the New London Arts Stroll. Amy told us that it was not only an open studios for local artists, but also a Pirate Festival. As artists ourselves, we could not pass up this opportunity to dress up in costume and meet and mingle with other artists. So naturally, we dressed like pirates for the entire day. If you look closely, we have recycled key pieces from our Renaissance Faire outfits. Pahl is wearing the same shirt he paired with a blue over shirt and the same leather boots he wore in previous costumes, as well as the over the chest sword holder. He also wore what he considers a relatively cheap waistcoat and added embellishments with a waist tie, eyepatch, ostrich feather in a felt tri-corner hat, and a skull cap (which you can't see). And yes, that is his natural hair, let loose and free-flowing. It took me a little bit longer to figure out my outfit. I recycled the purple peasant blouse that I wore from my courtesan style Renaissance faire costume, but I hemmed and hawed at the correct skirt and other accessories. I had purchased this hi-low high waisted skirt with skirt pickups about 3 years ago as a sort of fun costume piece that could go with a lot of different styles. Paired with fishnets and sharp looking coven boots from Strangecvlt, it still reads a little bit like lady of the night from the bottom up. To make the pirate theme more obvious, I put on a beaded and jeweled necklace, a black choker with a metal bird skull, long fingerless gloves with lace up ribbons on the side, and a bandana over my head. The finishing touch was the harness. It might not have been something a real pirate wore but it did add an edgy look. I also wore bold makeup with my eyes and lips. Looking at us as pirates side by side, I saw two scary/serious looking people that I did not want to mess with. We basically visited every open studio in the Dewart Building, even the artists who were not on the featured list. Just as we were about to finish our tour, we stumbled upon John Morgan's studio. He works in the alternative photographic process known as wet plate collodion. In this process, a photographer sensitizes a glass plate, puts it in a ginormous camera with a huge lens which produces a negative on the plate when exposed to light, and has to immediately develop the negative within 10-15 minutes to ensure the image is not lost or compromised.
I know a thing or two about alternative photography...I took it twice when I was in undergrad and wrote an entire unit on how to make digital negatives, mix chemicals, sensitize paper and other materials as well as focusing specifically on portraiture for my art education secondary preparation course. I have worked in black and white film 35 mm as well as 120mm with single lens reflex as well as twin lens reflex, and the chemical processes of cyanotype, salt print, van dyke brown and gum bichromate. I have unfortunately developed a very strong sensitivity to working with almost all of these chemicals, and while I appreciate the amount of work and luck required to produce this sort of imagery, I can sadly no longer be the creator...but it turns out that I can be the subject. John had large lights set up with some nice looking old chairs and plants around us. He told us that we had to hold our pose for at least 15-20 seconds and to lean into the light, even though it was going to be very bright and temporarily blinding. It's a miracle that our faces are in focus while our bodies are out of focus using his suggestions. One thing that makes this type of photography special is that anything that is blue will appear almost white. I have dark blue eyes, but between the super bright lights and the nature of exposing chemicals on a glass negative in this style of photography, they are so light they are piercing. I also was glad that my lipstick held up through lunch and that my eye makeup didn't slide off my face. It made features of my face stand out that I don't usually notice. The soft texture of Pahl's hair against the hard stern look on his face also give him a completely different looking countenance than his usual knight in shining armor or regal aristocrat. So my advice to you dear reader is to attend any open studio available to you in your local area, and make sure you dress up in a particular style or costume. You never know when you'll make a new friend...or become a muse. Cautionary Tales in Oral Traditions PresentationThe Book Fiends Festival was a celebration of local writers and readers of Steampunk, Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror novels put on by the Silk City Steampunk group. The event was held at the Bristol Carousel Museum in mid August and it not only had vendors, snacks, and entertainment, but it also had plenty of hands on workshops and panels to attend. The organizer of this event had asked me months ago to create a panel about Oral Traditions because they saw I had degree in it. (Yes fun fact, I have a Masters in Oral Traditions from The Graduate Institute. If you thought I was just naturally good at storytelling, be amazed that I have a Masters degree in it!!) It took me seemingly forever to narrow down the topic. Oral Traditions are considered a highly dynamic and highly diverse oral-aural medium for evolving, storing and transmitting knowledge, art and ideas. I tried to think of what Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, and Steampunk stories might have as a common theme. It occurred to me one day (while in a half meditative state) that it might be the idea of the Cautionary Tale. Cautionary Tales are a type of tale built on a prohibition or act that is said to be dangerous with someone performing the forbidden act and coming to an unpleasant fate in grisly detail. For my presentation I went through famous examples for adults (of political and moral nature) that are meant to be performed (like a fable, speech, prose, ballad, poetry and lyrics) in chronological order. Now one of the most famous Cautionary Tales out there is that of Little Red Riding Hood. I did not highlight this one in my presentation as it is most often introduced to us as children. We all know the story of the young girl going to grandma's house innocently enough and speaking to a wolf (an unsavory character) on the road about her adventure. The wolf runs over to her grandmother's house, eats her up, and poses as the would be grandmother. In most versions, Little Red Riding Hood doesn't make it out alive, either. However, once I finished the research and power point of the presentation the Alice Girl Gothic Lolita "The Hunter" Jumper Dress Set became available to purchase in my size. I thought, how meta would it be if I was delivering a presentation about Cautionary Tales dressed as an assassin version of Red Riding Hood? In this version of Red Riding Hood, I am a wise adult cautioning you by having you reflect on The Second Coming in the lyrical poetry of W.B. Yeats and the moral implications and consequences of Dr. Frankenstein's actions in Mary Shelley's classic prose. This set came with the jsk (which is more like a bodice with shoulder straps and a very short flared skirt), matching bloomers, and a hooded bolero. What was extra nice about this set is that it is nearly 100% cotton. Middle of August in Connecticut is not for the faint of heart. It gets very humid and sticky during the day, and this was the perfect coordinate not only in theme, but material. I comfortably wore it all day inside and out. I paired it with knee high socks that have the matching wine red ribbon sewn to the top of them that you can tie in a bow. These are great because they give the visual affect of a crossed ribbon without the ribbon repeatedly falling down all day like a pair of espadrilles. Lastly, I wore my Modo platform shoes that also have crossing straps. It was my first time wearing these shoes and they were very comfortable all day (even in the humidity). As I understand it, my panel was one of the most well-attended with 7 or 8 attendees, including my long time friends Melissa and Barbara as well as Pahl. I also made a handful of new friends at this Festival, took a hand sewing class, and picked up my first set of steampunk themed novels from local author Jessica Lucci. I don't know if this particular event will happen again, but it was fun to "use my degree", still dress up in elegant lolita fashion, and get in for free as a Presenter.
Afternoon Tea and Local History Presentation Eleanor and I at our afternoon tea service at Gallery 53 I've certainly tried a lot of afternoon teas this year. If you recall, I started off the year at the Friends of Long Hill Tea at the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown. It was a large extravagant fundraiser at $45 a ticket, and there was very limited open table seating (8 seats in total in fact. Our group managed to get 6 of those seats!). Later we went for afternoon tea service at Tea with Tracy in Oxford, which is a combined tea place and restaurant in the middle of a mixed use residental/medical/retail space that used to be a quarry. Tea With Tracy afternoon tea service is only served on a tiered platter if two people order it at $28.00 a person. But if you like learning about local history, being in a local artist gallery/workspace, and being offered copious amounts of homemade tea sandwiches and desserts, then do experience a "Gilded Tea" at Gallery 53 for $30 a ticket. Not only do you get a pretty filling afternoon tea service, but you also get a wonderful presentation put on by Christine Volpe, curator of the Barnes Museum. In this particular presentation she highlights the Afternoon Tea social ritual (popularized in the Gilded Age 1870-1910) by upper class ladies to avoid feeling faint before dinner and to dress up in their latest tea gowns and gossip. She also talks extensively about the Bradley/Barnes Family and their local contributions to the city of Southington and Meriden. What makes Gallery 53 special as a venue is that there is a gift shop on the lower level filled with jewelry and art made by local artisans. So if you attend this particular event, it's got tea, food, history, and shopping! There is a huge parking garage across the street from Gallery 53 that is free on weekends and it is also right next to the Meriden train station (which services the Hartford Line rail that connects from New Haven, CT to Springfield, MA). What was I going to wear this time? It was super humid, and I still couldn't wear proper shoes yet for my outfits because of the broken toe situation that affected me for the entirety of July. I decided to try out this wonderful dress from Chinese Indie brand Soufflesong, the "Neverland-Wishing Stars" Hot Stamping Chiffon JSK. With elegant lolita fashion, you can get away with not wearing a blouse if you have a shawl. And I did have this very nice cotton shawl, which I had ordered from 42 lolita from the brand Miss Point. The ivory colored shawl is the most versatile in my opinon, and it actually matched the ribbon on the central part of the bodice quite well. I tied on a pearl and lace choker that came with a sweet outfit I purchased last year, white and gold (with pearl accent) wrist cuffs, white sandals with gold and silver accents on them, (my toe nails were painted navy blue with gold glitter like my dress), and I decided to once again ((like seriously this is the third time in a month)) wear my smoky quartz crown as my head piece. I wore a very lightweight petticoat that didn't do a whole lot shape wise, but I had to make choices for my health and safety even while participating in a fun fashion hobby. Oh and because I didn't do half of what I'd normally do for a coordinate, I spent a little more time on my makeup using the ABH Cosmos Eyeshadow Palette for that ultra dreamy starry look. All in all it was a wonderful time I would recommend to anyone who likes afternoon tea, socializing, shopping, and history.
When Inclement Weather Changes Your PlansNow we all know that winter weather is the most likely culprit to cause meetup plans to change. Driving in snow or sleet is not safe. Wearing your nice costume shoes in the dirty snow---no thank you. What about summer weather? What could possibly screw up a picnic and trolley ride in the middle of July? I had planned this meeting since the beginning of the year and I thought July was somehow the perfect time (because I didn't realize that the museum was actually open all year round). I had visions of us riding the trolley and having a picnic in the trolley yard in perfect summer coordinates...and then we had TORRENTIAL rain in the forecast. You can still ride the trolley in the rain...right?! Well yes...but...I mean I'm talking the flooding was so bad that the Connecticut River was overflowing so anyone to the east could literally not drive across the river and anyone who lived in the north not only had flooding but also a possible tornado. I wouldn't let my spirits be entirely doused. I said heck we're still having the picnic, but it's at my house! Anyone who can make it can come. Bring a food item to share. And wear whatever you want. No theme. So I got to spend time with Ave and Caroline and I made a new friend, Cordelia. One thing that is cool about having an open theme, is that you'll probably get at least one of each type of EGL enthusiast at your event. Cordelia's dress is somewhere between sweet and classic lolita. The length of the piece is more stereotypically sweet lolita, but the theme of the print had multiple layers. You can see roses and something like a light colored plaid border, but I do recall there was an imprint design in a blue satin that looked like fairytale characters. It was something that I could only discern in certain lighting. Ave and I took the picnic theme literally with the designs on our dresses. This coordinate is considered Sweet Lolita hands down. You can see in this up close shot of Ave's dress that there are cute animals having a picnic and specifically eating pancakes together. She's wearing lollipop earrings to also match the lollipop design on the dress. Short socks paired with pastel pink shoes and head bow tie this look together. The long bear bag is also ultra cute. A functional and fun piece! This dress is also sweet, but in a subtle way. The imagery isn't stereotypically sweet (like cute animals in a pastel color way), so it's tricky. I thought it was a classic style when I first saw it because brown/cream/ivory/gold color ways are more often found in Classic styles, but the length of the dress is so short, it is definitely reading more sweet. I am wearing my Musee du Chocolat dress from Angelic Pretty which features imagery of cakes and frosting and crowns with the matching head bow. I wore a short sleeve cotton stand collar blouse because despite the rain, it was still very humid and anything else would have been too hot to wear. I classed it up with wristcuffs that are white and feature gold and pearl accents. I was also still recovering from breaking my toe a few weeks back, so I had to wear sandals instead of the cute brown platform shoes and patterned over the knee socks I have that match in color. To seal the Chocolate theme home, I have a cross body bag in the shape of a chocolate bar. Caroline's look reads pretty goth, especially with the black lace dress, choker, hat, and shoes. They tie in red to the coordinate with a red waist sash, a military like blazer, and the diamond designs on the over the knee socks. Also featuring Sesame, which is one of my Meowchi plush that lives on my couch. I love planning events because secretly I love to design the themes around what is in MY CLOSET. However, I did enjoy the creativity brought on by having no theme what so ever other than what is physically comfortable on a rainy humid day.
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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
April 2024
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