I've waffled and search and almost bought, then delayed to find someone else had bought, so I decided I just had to get SOMETHING to wear on my feet with the court dress. I've pretty much decided to settle for mules, because it's easier to find a pretty pointy (and even up-tilted) toe and interesting vamp. One last-ditch search abruptly found
these. The price was excellent ($10 for Buy It Now) so I got them!
They're nowhere near perfect for the period. The vamp is too low in front, the heel is too short (and thus more 1790s than 1690s), and they're obviously modern Indian (or Indian-inspired) shoes. But! The color is right, the embellishment is SO pretty and rich-looking and not terribly far from period in effect, the toe is pointy and tilting up, and I really like the pointy vamp, like in
these examples. AND I don't have to do anything to them. Besides get the cobbler to replace the heel tip, that is. But no time taken away from other projects, yay!
I finally bought my party ticket for CoLoW, so I do plan to be there for the masquerade on Saturday. Jay, can I take you up on the offer to change in your room? When is a convenient time for me to arrive? I'm thinking 30 minutes before; Maid Marian doesn't take too long to get into. But on that note, when IS the masquerade?
"Hello, Dolly!" rehearsals are going really well. The dancing is challenging enough for me (I've even gotten sore!), I even get to tap a little bit, I have a few tiny "limelight" bits, and the singing is really good. This is the first show I've been in that the chorus has worked so hard! Usually we do a lot of sitting while the main cast runs scene after scene. That'll come in a week or two, when we really start putting the pieces together. But the big chorus numbers are wonderfully complex and challenging, so there's a lot to learn and work on.
Last night we had a tiny Bible study (just me and one other girl). It was a good discussion, and prayer requests segued into my showing her the projects I still have left to do. It was so encouraging and motivating just to show it to her. She's not showed just a whole lot of interest before, but she really seemed so interested and even
excited about what I was doing. Plus she had ideas and suggestions that helped me, on two different things! I was really motivated after that.
Instead of sewing for an hour for the rest of the evening, though, I sat down and finished ordering a few other things. I finally got a wig to do my 1790s style:
this one, from Jamie on ebay. I got it because I want a smaller hedgehog for the mid-1790s, instead of a really huge one. The Alonge is usually recommended, but the color choices are very limited. I wanted to try something a bit different from my natural color, because I can always USE my natural color if I want it. Y'all dissuaded me from going reddish, because it wasn't a fashionable color; so I went lighter. My natural color is a mix of brown, blonde, and red (varying amounts depending on the time of year), but overall it's between a 10 and a 12. So I went with 14 (Light Golden Brown), which is overall lighter, without being BLONDE. I'm definitely going to see what it does with the pink hair powder, too!
The other thing I ordered was two hanks of Kanekalon hair. Do you know how hard it is to find medium-colored shades of that stuff?!
This is the only seller on ebay with color 12. Wow.
Also, my Robert Lands have shipped. Cream and black boots for me! Finally! Now I'm just waiting on the American Duchess Highbury shoes to come. The delivery date keeps slipping out - I'm getting concerned. Didn't the pre-order say mid-May? Then it was June, and now it's July. I keep expecting a blog on it, but nothing has happened. I need to drop her an email and ask - I really want these for my Curtain-Along dress.
So this weekend I probably won't get a whole lot done. I'll try to work hard on Saturday morning/afternoon: wear the bodice to stretch the waist, and work on my outfit for the 4th of July (Independence Day). Like last year, I'm in the parade that morning with the WWII group. I'm making navy linen shorts (a pleated pattern, very similar to Wearing History's Rita shorts) with a white pique playsuit top. It'll be trimmed with navy rickrack and red buttons (my friend's idea yesterday). I'm sure that outfit will also show up at Costume College by the pool!
Next week, though I need to hit it hard and get the majority of everything done. After the 4th, Friday is a regular off work day, and I'm taking a vacation day on Monday. So that's five days in a row, with no commitments (yet) except for the parade, and that will be done by 11 AM. My goals are to finish the Gala dress and to muslin/pattern the Curtain Along dress and the parts on the secret project that I don't already have made up. It would feel so good to be done with the Gala dress!