Chocolate the Horse and My Riding Habit Photo Shoot!

*Caution, heavy photo post...because... a horse!!!!*

Good Monday to you all!  I hope your weekend was wonderful and that the beginning of your week is off to a fabulous start!

My week is off to a great start! Why?  Because today I got to do a photo shoot for my 1872 Riding Habit with the most incredible "prop" I have ever had the joy of having my historical costumes photo'd with!  And the prop?  Chocolate the black horse!  And what a gorgeous horse she was!  A while back when I first started working on the riding habit, a lovely blogger named Michaela Coy (who writes My Soul is Fed With Needle and Thread blog) offered to let me do the photo shoot with her horse!  Can you say HUZZAAAAAAH!!!!????  We had scheduled the shoot a couple of times, then we got a blizzard and then there was ice.  Finally, today was the day!  There was snow and it was crunchy.  Let me tell you what.  This photo shoot was the most exhausting one I have ever done!  The snow was about a foot deep and there was a nice, thick crust that made for hard walking.  Then there was the length of the skirt, which is long, because riding habit.  All in all, I think I burned about 10,000 calories in the 45 minutes we were there.  (Colton and Mom went with me.  Colton was my fabulous photographer!  Mom wanted to see the horse!)

Thank you so much Michaela for your generous offer, your time and your horse!  Chocolate is such a sweet heart!  It is interesting because the pictures I'm sharing look as though Chocolate and I have known each other for a long time.  We haven't!  She was just that sweet!

Chocolate thought a roll in the snow was in order after being worked out!

That's the lovely Michaela!  I look forward to getting to know her better!!

Brrrrrr...the combination of being cold, tired, and worrying that perhaps Chocolate wanted to be done resulted in a short video.  But you get to see Chocolate and Michaela!

What a fun day and photo shoot!  It was so fun being around a horse again.  It has been years since I have been this close to one and she was so beautiful!!

Be blessed my friends!!

g

1872 Riding Habit Complete!

Good Wednesday to you all!  I hope your week is moving along swimmingly!  Mine is a crazy, stressful week of getting all the things ready for a fashion show at Something Special Antiques in Meridian and getting Colton ready for the new school year at a new school.  I can't wait until Sunday!

I thought I'd write a quick post about the completed riding habit I made for the Women in Sports section of the fashion show.  While this isn't my all time, #1, oh-my-giddy-aunt outfit that I have ever made, I am pleased with how it turned out and feel that it is very elegant in its simplicity.  And this one I won't be selling!!

Here she is on Emma the Mannequin and may I just say that Emma needs to gain some weight!  Poor thing!  She is wasting away to practically nothing!  Oh!  And you can't see in the pictures here, but there are riding trousers under the skirt!  Huzzah!

Inspiration for my riding habit came from this one from The MET.  I like the way the hem of the bodice comes up more towards the waist.  I was using this one originally, but didn't like how the bodice fit me with the hem that low...so I cut up the hem and really liked how it looked!

Will be doing a photo shoot with me wearing this in the future.  One of my fellow bloggers and readers has quite generously offered her horse as a "prop" for a photo shoot!  How fabulous is that!?  I think that will be my most epic "prop" ever in the history of this blog!

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week!  

Blessings!

g

Roller Skating 1880s Bustle Dress Style!

One of the questions I regularly get asked during my Historical Fashion Education Programs is, "Can you run in a corset?" or "Can you bend over in a corset?" or "Did they wear those to milk a cow?" or "Women did sports?" or "Ladies wore corsets to ride bicycles?  They actually rode bicycles?" 

The sad thing to me is not these questions (because there are no "silly" questions ever in costuming), but rather movies and the modern mind set that causes people to believe that corsets were instruments of torture, that women couldn't do anything but faint in them and that they weren't allowed to play sports.  I LOVE it when I am asked these questions, because it gives me the opportunity to share what I have learned with those who are really and truly curious!  After all, you can't learn if you don't ask questions!  To that end, I am creating a "Women in Sports" fashion education program so that those who wish to know, can see reproductions of sporting outfits worn by our ancestors!

Next Saturday, the fabulous antique store "Something Special" in Meridian is holding its annual High Tea and Fashion Show where the ladies of We Wear History model historical reproduction outfits!  This year the theme is "Ladies in Sports and Evening Wear".  I have made quite a few new sporting outfits already, and am currently working on the riding habit that will be worn.  I only have to set the sleeves in and add the boning and that will be complete!  Huzzaaaaaah!  I had wanted to make a roller skating outfit to go with my fabulous pair of black antique roller skates, but have run out of time.  As I was contemplating what to do with this conundrum, a thought came to me.  I could (and will) totally use my 1880s Military Inspired Bustle Dress for a roller skating outfit!  AWESOME SAUCE!!!  I knew that the antique skates fit me as I had tried them on previously, but would I be able to wear them next Saturday and not break anything?  This morning I found out that yes, I can wear them AND skate in them and not look a fool or break anything!  Thank you Lord for small miracles!

The skates were so very NOT like the ones I used as a teenager back in the 1980s!  These were "sloppy" feeling and the wooden wheels were just plain weird feeling.  But the more I skated, the better they felt and the more my feet and legs became accustomed to them.  There was also no toe break so that was an adjustment! 

The single hardest part to roller skating in a corset is this right here...putting the skates on!  Major maaashing of the guts ensued and I know my face turned a lovely shade of crimson!

Am I sure I want to do this?  The words of my sweet husband kept running through my mind...."Please don't break yourself!"

These skates look so cool!  They are just not the comfortable ones of now!

After skating a bit, I discovered hidden pebbles on Mom's driveway!  ACK!!!  That would not do at all!

There was much concentrating going on while skating today!

Skating backward?  Oh ya baby!

After a bit I took off my bodice to show that yes, I was skating while wearing a corset!  Huzzah!

It was fun to feel the overskirt flipping around as I skated!

Taaaa-Daaaaa!  Look Ma!  No broken bones or torn silk!

Thank you Mama for being my Photo-Video-Grapher today!  It was fun watching your face as I came at you full bore on my roller skates without a toe break!  Hahahahahahahah!!  Hilarious!!  You are a total rock star and I LOVE you!!

Two videos were shot today!  I had a lot of fun making these as these were really me not being poised and collected.  After all, when you think you are going to skid on a rock and go crashing to the ground, all semblance of formality goes out the window!!!

Roller Skating Part 1

Roller Skating Part 2

Izabela Pritcher of Prior Attire inspired me to do the video with just the corset...her videos are super fun!

 I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your weekend!!

Be blessed!

g

*Edited*

I forgot to include my Pinterest board...

Sports: Skating Both Roller and Ice

Lots and lots of fun inspiration!!!

1875 Riding Habit from the MET: Beginning the Skirt...

Good Monday to you all!  I hope you have had a most wonderful weekend!  After taking most of last week off from sewing (I did start and finish the altering to the maternity NFE tea gown that I wore to an event back in June...photo shoot later) I am back at work adding to my Victorian Sports wardrobe.  This week I begin work on an 1875 riding habit inspired by this fabulous one from The MET.  I made two riding habits years ago...like 7 or 8 years ago...and for some idiotic reason, I sold them both.  But that's ok, because I now have an "excuse" to make another one and this one out of a very deep forest green Pendleton Wool.

The patterns I'm using are:

Skirt;  Truly Victorian 1883 Riding Habit Skirt TV264

Bodice:  Past Patterns 902 Riding Habit Bodice PP 902

Past Patterns 901 Riding Habit Trousers PP 901

Inspiration Photos from The MET

Well, I am off to work!  I hope you all have a most wonderful day!

Blessings!

g