Achievement unlocked: Silk ball gown

The Jane Austen festival this year was very exciting for me as I had two new ball gowns. I mean there were also wonderful people and fun activities and interesting workshops but the clothes are what it’s really all about.

Friday was a day of re-wears with my blue day dress and Joker evening ensemble. I also dressed a couple of friends.

On Saturday I was enrolled in two workshops: death head buttons and mourning jewellery. I decided to goth it up in my demi-mourning ball gown in honour of the day’s morbid theme. The fashion plate on which the dress is based actually has it with a chemisette and hat so it may well have been meant to be a day dress in the first place.

This year was the warmest and coldest and windiest Jafa I’ve been to so I got to actually wear my spencer for a significant amount of time. But my hat stayed in the car.

In the evening I wore the 1815 ball gown that I’ve been trying to get made for years. I had decided not to attempt it this year but when I got my silk gown done with plenty of time to spare I thought I’d give it another go. Three weeks later it was done and I love it.

On Sunday I re-wore my 1830s day dress but with my new bonnet. The bonnet is very comfortable and stayed on my head very easily.

 I did my hair myself and am very happy with how it turned out.

On Sunday night I debuted my silk 1830s ball gown. It was fabulous to wear. (It took me a while to stop grinning.)

Last year I did a major shopping spree on American Duchess. At Jafa I wore three pairs of their stockings. The Victorian Silk Stockings wore through the toe on the first day (sadness), but the other two lasted fine. All were comfortable and stayed in place pretty well.

Shoe-wise, I wore Dashwoods most of the time. I sewed on ribbons to secure them to my feet and used the non-slip soles to stop them making like roller skates. With these additions they were great for dancing in. I barely noticed them even though this is the first time I’ve worn them. I wore Gettysburgs for the picnic which were also perfectly satisfactory.

This festival was remarkable in that I got so much made for it in time. Turns out this can happen if you start preparing six months out. I made:

• Stays
• A chemisette
• A long petticoat (cos I sold the one I made last year)
• Two chemises. One for me and one for lending (a designated lending chemise is a useful thing to have. I had had a chemise I made for myself in the role before – don’t think I ever actually wore it – but it needed replacing, having gone the way of oft-lent things.)
• 1830s bonnet
• 1830s ball gown and belt
• 1815 ball gown

We had people staying with us in the week before Jafa so I had to get everything I would need out of the spare room. It was actually very convenient to work out everything I needed in advance and have it laid out ready. Of course by the end of the week my room looked like it had been hit by an early 19th century hurricane – but it made getting ready each day a lot less stressful.