Gaskells Victorian Ball, Norcal Pirate Festival, Red Polonaise

Lady Rebecca and me on the schooner.  It was a lovely sail.  I was out for a lovely afternoon, but Rebecca was being transported to Barbados to be tried for crimes unmentionable. (j/k 🙂

This past weekend I drove down to the Bay Area for Gaskells (http://www.gaskellball.com/) and the Norcal Pirate Festival in Vallejo, CA.  I got to see all my friends I miss so much, and meet tons of new people, too.

Special shout-out to Lady Rebecca, who let me follow her around all day.  We took a sail on the Freda B, a restored schooner, and had a lovely time promenading through the pirate hoards :-).

More photos and festivities….

Gaskells – Saturday Night

Chrissy and me, red bustle ladies

Chrissy (amaaaazing seamstress) and me – silly face photo.  Well, she’s just smiling…lol

Caira’s freaking awesome pink and black dress.  This is a period-accurate Victorian flocked silk, but she’s pretty sure it won’t pass Dickens Costume Check, hahaha

Left to right: Sarah, Jenny, Jeff, Me, Billy

Devonshires, dyed red, with patriotic bows.  Danced all night in these, and walked around Pirate Fair the next day too.  Comfy 🙂

Pirate Festival – Sunday

On board the Freda B – photo by Rebecca.  Thanks to Rebecca lending me ribbons, my hat and hair didn’t get ripped off my head by the wind.

Me and Daniel N., new friend 😀  Photo by Daniel’s daughter, Raven.

In the morning, before the heat and sweat.  Look how fresh we are! lol.

The canon battle between ships and shore.

Here she is, the Freda B.  Captained by a ginger, quite erratic!

Such lovely ladies of the Governor’s tent – left to right, Shelley, Janice, Thena, Juliana, me, and Aurie

James in his velvet suit.  He must’ve been ROASTIN’.  It was 97* or so, quite toasty.

Rebecca and me when we came back from our trip out to sea.

Rebecca’s gown was awesome.  She used patterns from Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 1: 1660-1860  and the front of her gown was *perfect*.  You wouldn’t know it, either, but she has about a thousand things in her pockets too 😀

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My verdict on the Revolution Dress as a whole – I loved wearing the red polonaise and the two different petticoats, especially the walking-length striped cotton.  I was hot on Sunday, but didn’t die, thanks to the ladies of the Governor’s tent, and some furious fanning.

I had issues with the hair, not because it was hard to wear (although it started to move around by the end of Sunday, with the wind and sweat), but because it looks kindof ridiculous!  I need to add more hair, and try different curling methods.  I want bigger curls, not so clown-like.  Also, the “tails” that hung down lost their curl immediately when I unrolled them for Gaskells.  It looks like 18th c. women, especially in America, had this problem too.  The hair just went straight, so next time I’m going to set them on curlers rather than using the curling iron.

That hair needs some work.  So does my posture.

I wore the wide red, white, and blue sash around my waist, big bow in back, but my rhinestone buckle wouldn’t stay put.  A couple discreet pins should fix that.

The shoes, I’m happy to say, were great, although I have to go back and revise my original statement that the color didn’t bleed.  It did – I was sweating a lot, and wearing white “trouser socks,” which are poly-something, and there is some color from the leather lining.  Comfort-wise, I danced all night in them, and tromped around Pirate Fair all the next day, with nothing beyond the usual pain of being on one’s feet for so long.  (Don’t forget! The Devonshire shoes come on pre-sale August 1)