Wizard of Oz Tea

Wizard of Oz Tea at Old Lyme Inn

Clockwise Starting in the back: Nemia-Rose, Jax, Pahl, Sarah, and Danielle

Back when Pahl and I attended the Alice in Wonderland Tea in April at the Old Lyme Inn, we learned that the theme for June 2024 was going to be The Wizard of Oz. I shared this with members of my fashion club, and we agreed to meet up there on the second Saturday of June. I encouraged folks to dress in the style of any character from the Wizard of Oz. 

Nemia-Rose styled herself like the lion. (She and I have an affinity for the less popular EGL color of brown, and I love to see what she puts together). She is wearing a chocolate themed Baby The Stars Shine Bright Dress, featuring their mascot Usakumya (which is a bunny-bear). Her accent colors are white and bright red, which she repeats in her beret, collar of her blouse, pinned ribbons on the cardigan, and tights and socks. I think she added the red to convey the idea of courage or bravery, because that is what the lion is trying to find in the film. 

Jax styled their self after Dorothy. The dress is a blue gingham design that they MADE themselves. They paired it with white lace accents that include a 3/4 sleeve blouse, wrist cuffs, choker, and tights. The head bow is a clever blue and white piece that can go with a lot of outfits. Their shoes aren't actually red, but in this lighting they do look a little more red than brown. Apparently the picnic basket was given to them by a family member when they were born, so it holds extra meaning for them. 

Pahl of course had to be the Wizard! He built his outfit off the green waistcoat and cameo pin I gave him for Christmas. He wore a white shirt under the waistcoat, but the rest of the pieces in his outfit are black or green. His black top hat and black oxfords are accented with green matching hat band and spats. He also repeats the black in his trousers. Other green accents include his bow tie, his long green velvet tail coat, and his fingerless leather gloves. He also crafted the wand himself from wood and natural stones that are green. 

If Sarah had to be a character from the Wizard of Oz, I guess she'd be the narrator. She is wearing a Wizard of Oz themed dress from the brand Baby the Stars Shine Bright. It is colorfully illustrated with different scenes from the story all around the skirt. A  yellow gingham print with rose and floral accents surrounds the scenes. She's wearing a white blouse that includes red ribbon accents. She cleverly repeats this bright red in her head bows as well as her shoes. The head bow I believe is the matching one to the dress, and the pink heart shaped bag brings out the pink in each scene on the dress. (Honestly, I'm sure she can represent any character with this one, or Dorothy, in yellow). 

Here I am, also representing the lion. This dress is from the Chinese indie brand Alice Girl. The name of it is "Vintage Doll Family" and it was released at the tail end of 2023. I think I ordered this in November, and after a four and half month wait, it finally arrived. It has one hidden side seam pocket and is the long version of the skirt. Due to the heat of summer, I swapped out the blouse that goes with this jumper skirt with this one that came with my YingLuoFu Classic Oil Painting JSK. I figured that since both jumper skirts are the under bust style, that the blouse would be fine and provide me some much needed relief in its shorter sleeve length. I'm wearing a very curly blonde wig, which I was trying to evoke the style of the hair seen in the lion in the Wizard of Oz movie. On top of the wig, I am wearing the matching brown wool hat to Vintage Doll Family, which to note, is too big for my head without the wig. White and gold wrist cuffs as well as off white lacy crew socks complete my lighter accents. I'm also wearing my favorite brown platform shoes from Modo with the clip on bows this time. I don't know if you can see it, but I'm also wearing a gold and red military medal on my blouse.

All day long every where I went random people kept asking me about the medal.  And then I had to explain my abstract Lion outfit to them. If you would like attention from strangers, just wear a medal with any outfit, not even an EGL one. 

The menu as well as the decor were just as carefully curated as the Alice tea was and it was so wonderful to enjoy the inn's handmade savory and sweet options. 

That shoe sugar cookie was really good, as well as the sandwiches, macarons, and truffles. The key lime pie was kind of overly sweet to me. I loved the care and attention that went into the rainbow cake. Afternoon teas are mainly a sweet affair, so you have to pace yourself. 

I know the angles of these photos make it hard to know exactly how big the space actually is because the lens on the cell phone camera distorts everything to a wide angle. I would say about 20-24 people can sit in comfortably is this area of the Inn, but there are a few other places they may seat folks for Afternoon Tea. That's why reservations are necessary for groups!

The Wizard and his lioness standing under the rainbow painting in the library

All in all it was so nice to bring a group to the Wizard of Oz Afternoon Tea. The Inn staff went above and beyond to make sure we had what we needed and were very attentive. They also gave us an impromptu photo shoot which I am very grateful for, as many of the photos in this post were ones that their staff took for us.