Tag Archives: Events

Tea Party Madness

05 Tuesday Jun 2012

Posted by in Food, History

≈ Comments Off on Tea Party Madness

Tags

, ,

There they are, those lower sorts! We had tea, with delicious scones and excellent company in the form of booksellers from Brooklyn. We don’t get out to tea very often, and it was a pleasant introduction to more old-fashioned notions of parties.

This is a useful thing, because the known bonnet wearer must prepare cake and punch for an as-yet-unknown quantity of guests to include the Second Helping Regiment. Perhaps the historic recipes are not so far off in quantity after all..

The clip is from The Compleat Housewife: or, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companion. A similar recipe appears in The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Simple, by Hannah Glasse. You can find it on the Colonial Williamsburg website, along with a translation for the 21st century cook. I think I’ll try it, and I’ll have to start soon to get it right by the end of June.

Now for a punch recipe for an unknown quantity…

What I Learned at Dress U 2012

04 Monday Jun 2012

Posted by in Clothing, Events

≈ Comments Off on What I Learned at Dress U 2012

Tags

, , ,

Some of us who re-enact the lower sort had to go to a party like this:
But before that, I learned a lot.
The Basics

  1. I am a better seamstress than I think I am
  2. There are some classes I could teach
  3. I’m going to need another hip replacement
  4. I need to learn to have fun!

The most important statements are probably the first and the last; I do actually know what I’m doing, more or less, enough to know that I learned a few other important things.

The Fine Print

  1. My 1790-1810 stays need to be re-done completely; they’re too long.
  2. I need a new 1750-1770 short gown pattern
  3. My black bonnet rocks
  4. I want a shiny party dress
  5. O.M.G., I met Sharon Burnston!! She was fantastic and I so enjoyed both of her classes. I learned the most in both of them.

Those stays have been troublesome since I began, what with tossing out the very first pair I attempted, and the wriggling and riding up with wear of the second pair. It was in Jenny LaFleur’s Fitting Yourself class that I figured out (slow, I know) that I should put my pair next to Dana’s. Dana is long-waisted, I am  not. Dana’s stays and mine were the same length. Light dawned: If our stays are the same length, mine are too long.

Sigh. Starting over… Oh, well. New stays will fit without irritating me, I can get the cup right and the busk will stop trying to meet new people, and when they’re done, I can make lovely dresses that will fit and that I will not fuss with.

I could even make something like this, and have a real party dress for the next time I go away.