Historical Fashion

Huzaah! Went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire this weekend.  I wore a dress that my aunt put together about 10 years ago for me.  Here are some pictures of me, my dress and my friend Christine in chain maille.

While I love this dress and have gotten use out of it for the past 10 years (yes, I am a renaissance faire nerd and proud of it!) I can't help but dream of a more elaborate new costume.  I found this pattern at Simplicity and am trying to convice my aunt to help me with it.  It calls for more than 6 yards of home decor weight fabric (which means $$).  I don't think its a project I will be starting soon but I can always dream can't I?

Here are some more pictures from the faire.

Ladies in Waiting, these are the type costumes I would love.

Mmmmm....

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth I.

A beautifully dressed Lady I stopped in the street. Another example of a dress I would love to have and wear to the faire one day. 

Courtship of Princess Leia Hat

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away.....I was a Star Wars Geek.  Recently I found some old Star Wars novels I had from high school in my parents attic.  I'm in the middle of reading The Courtship of Princess Leia which is perfect because I am currently knitting a Pincess Leia hat for a co-worker.

I found this pattern on Ravelry and it quite easy to follow so far. I think I am going to make one for myself too.  (The buns look like they would keep my ears warm in the winter!)

Simplicity 4298

My next project will be Simplicity 4298 #5.  I used version #2 of this pattern before to make my tan dress with roses (see 60s weekend dress). It was easy to follow and I love the variety that came with this one pattern.  

Although I'm still using a floral fabric its quite different than the other fabric I used. I loved the vintage look of the small roses but I don't usually wear such light colors.  Most of my clothes are black and while I am trying to get away from that I still like dark colors.  This new fabric has a little bit of both.  Its a navy blue background with asian inspired flowers of all colors.  

Now that I've been buying and creating vintage dresses I've notice many bright colors people wore in past decades compared to today.  Even modern colored dresses tend to not be as bright as is decades past.  Although I would like to add more colors I can't help but love wearing black sometimes. 

Collared Red Dress

Here are pictures of my finished red dress from a vintage Simplicity pattern.  Its a great dress to wear the office and I added a black scarf to give it a little more vintage flare.  My friend saw me and asked if I was a stewardess, lol.  I also included a picture of the nice button I found.  It had a little anchor on it, how perfect for a vintage dress!