To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory. Isaiah 61:3

Saturday, October 31, 2015

1840s Mourning at Morris Hill Cemetery and Kathryn Albertson Park

 It's All Hallow's Eve and I was able to get to Morris Hill Cemetery to have a photo shoot with my newly completed 1840s Mourning dress!  My fabulous husband went with me to take my photos and he took a whopping 842 pictures!!!!  HOLY MONKEY!!  Thank you so much my sweet for traipsing through the cemetery, looking at gravestones, helping me with my shawl and tying my shoes!  I love you so!

Photos taken at:

 Morris Hill Cemetery

Morris Hill Cemetery is a fabulously beautiful place.  It is rather old (1882) and has some beautiful gravestones and two mausoleums.  A large military section is also in MH Cemetery.  Many of those buried there fought in the Spanish American War.

My favorite accessory I wore today was my Victorian Kashmir Paisley Shawl.  It kept me very warm in the chilly autumn air! 














Kathryn Albertson Park

The trees at Kathryn Albertson Park at this time of year are so beautiful!  I am sort of sad that there weren't many red and orange trees, but the yellow ones were wonderful!!








And At Home

A couple of the paintings I have seen where the lady is in a mourning dress and a Victorian paisley shawl have her sitting in a chair.  I chose to be reading a mourning letter from the 1870s.


I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween Day/All Hallow's Eve!

Be Blessed my friends!

g

28 comments:

  1. Amzing dress! Amazing photos! Have a great halloween holiday! :)

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    1. Thank you so very much Melinda! I hope you had a wonderful Halloween as well!
      Blessings!
      g

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  2. I kinda had a huge break in costuming the past few months and have not visited your blog in ages but oh boy! Saw this one on Facebook and couldn't resist anymore! 1840s in a gloomy serious version, exactly what I love. It's obvious that the whole ensemble is gorgeous, but I'd mention it anyway - whoa! The bodice front piece with the fan (?) pleating makes me swoon and sweat of horror at the same time, haha! I hope it wasn't as painful as it looks. I love all the sets, but demand more home-set photos, the one you posted looks incredibly authentic!

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    1. Thank you so much Eleonora! I just checked out your video about the real women of the past. I loved it! Very well done! One of the things I love about the 1840s is the "gritty" feeling it has...very gloomy and serious. The gathers on the fan front were truly not bad at all! Just a bit time consuming...didn't want to break any of the threads while gathering them up! I will attempt to do more home-set photos for you in the future!
      Blessings!
      g

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  3. Ahhhh! The dress and bonnet and your accessories are all amazing!!! and WOW what a setting for your dress! So beautiful!

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    1. Thank you so much my friend! I love doing the mourning photo shoots in the fall as the colors work so well with the black of the dresses!
      Blessings!
      g

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  4. These are absolutely wonderful! And the shawl is absolutely luscious.

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    1. Thank you so much! The shawl is one of my favorite antique finds ever!
      Blessings!
      g

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  5. I love these photos! Your outfit is perfection! So fabulous and inspiring!

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    1. Thank you Lindsey! The photo shoot was fun and the dress was comfy!
      Blessings!
      g

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  6. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh my goodness!! Your dress is perfect!!! I just love that shirred bodice, AND the cartridge pleats, AND the piping! Oh, and the wonderfully deep hem! Ahhh!!
    You look just lovely in it! And your bonnet is gorgeous.
    Thanks for sharing the pictures! :) I love them!

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    1. Why thank you so much Esther! The shirring really adds to the look of the fan bodice. The cartridge pleats...this was my fourth time doing them and they are getting easier to do! The piping...Still a pain, but they got done! Thanks for liking it all!
      blessings!
      g

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  7. Wonderful photographs. Your outfit looks fabulous and I love the way your shawl picked out the colours of the leaves. And I have to say I am both impressed and envious of the pleating detail on your bodice!

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    1. Thank you so much for you lovely compliments! My shawl makes me so very happy and I loved how it matched the leaves of the trees!
      Blessings!
      g

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  8. Love the photos! They have a very Woman in Black vibe to them. And your shawl is gorgeous! Very pretty against the black.

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    1. Thank you Glennis! I just looked up The Woman in Black movie poster and it does have that vibe! Cool!
      Blessings!
      g

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  9. Wonderful photos!! I love how this turned out.
    -Emily

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    1. Thank you so much Emily!! My sweet husband did a great job!
      Blessings!
      g

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  10. 842 photos? That's a bit of an overkill, isn't it? LOL!
    You look so serene, and remind me of Jane Eyre. I love the one of you sitting in your chair.
    Val

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    1. Ha! No... Actually it's perfect as then I get maybe 30 that I really like! But he did take about 200 more than my mom takes!! It's cause he loves me!! Thank you! I was going for the Jane Eyre look!! The chair one was an attempt to recreate a painting...so was fun!
      Blessings!
      g

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  11. Those are just stunning shots he got. My mom is a professional photographer and ALWAYS takes a million pics - that's how you end up with ones as good as these!

    Your dress looks lovely, you make a pretty lady in mourning.

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    1. Thank you Loren for your lovely compliments! It was a fun photo shoot! And I agree... My mom usually takes sound 600+ pics so that there are about 30-50 really good ones. That's the beauty of digital!!
      Blessings!
      g

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  12. GORGEOUS pictures, Gina! I love the ones where the shawl is off one shoulder or trailing behind you. I want to steal your shawl!!! :)

    Best,
    Quinn

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    1. Thank you so much Quinn!! I did a lot of studying and research of paintings and pictures of ladies in mourning in cemeteries to get some "authentic" looking pictures and one painting had a trailing shawl and I loved it!! The shawl makes me seriously happy!! I get it out often and pet it and talk nice to it!! Hahaha!!
      Blessings!
      g

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  13. I love everything about this outfit once again ~ those cemetary photos really accentuated the look of your mourning gown. Stunning!

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    1. Thank you so much Bonita!! This cemetery is really a lovely place!! The old trees really add to the beauty.
      Blessings!
      g

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  14. Hello, Gina! I just had to let you know that your name came up again in a good, long costume discussion that I had with a friend...and we have decided that, in addition to your rock star status in costuming/blogging world, you have reached historical costume PERFECTION!!! The amount of DETAIL that you put into everything - inside & out, the dress & accessories, plus the carefully chosen scenery of your photographs - is AWE inspiring!!! You really outdid yourself (as if that's possible) with your new 1840s mourning attire - fabulous!!! Anneliese :)

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    1. Hi Anneliese! What fun to be a part of a costume discussion! One day perhaps, I'll be there to partake! Thank you for your wonderful compliments! This project was super fun...when it was completed, which is the case with ALL of my projects! Haahahahaa!!! The scenery was perfect for this photoshoot and it was super fun having my Greg take my pictures!
      Blessings!
      g

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