When Bloggers Meet Up

There's something wonderful about meeting someone in real life that you've already gotten to know online. It's like being instant friends! And last weekend, I got to meet up with Kate of Adventures of a Fashionista Geek and some of her friends for a fun day at the Ohio Renaissance Festival.

She wore a lovely ivory and purple dress she made herself!

 It was rather chilly in the morning and she came prepared with a great faux fur wrap.

 Kate also made all of her friends costumes! Don't they all look sharp!

 I had such a great time hanging out with them all day! It was a blast!

Photography by Will Thorpe

Old Favorites

I've gotten to wear a lot of new things this year but sometimes it's nice to break out an old favorite! This grey wool kirtle is comfortable and fun to wear and I just love it!

It might not be the most flashy outfit but sometimes you don't want to be flashy.

I also wore my faux fur partlet. My husband thinks it looks a bit silly but it's nice and warm.

The drape of the wool is fabulous and the skirt is super swishy! The pleating plus my own natural bum padding gives a rather fashionable shape to the skirt.

Some sass taking off the partlet! I guess this would go under the heading of Elizabethan pin-up. ;)

People wore a lot more clothes in the 16th century than we do now! I know they were in a mini ice age and in England but it does take a bit of getting used to. I really still needed to wear a pair of sleeves but I don't really have a good pair of sleeves that matches this outfit yet.

 Everyone was bundled up in capes and fur this weekend! I'm sure it will get colder before the end of the season but it was still quite chilly in the morning.

This past weekend was the annual camping trip we take with our friends and we got to hang with them at the faire all weekend! It is so much more fun to go in a large group! 

We worked on making sure we got around to seeing all of the shows we hadn't seen yet this year. There really is so much to do that you can't see it all in one day. Plus, some of the performers don't do the same show every time they perform so there's even more to see.

Alas, we won't get to go back for a few weekends. We got some weddings coming up and we'll be busy busy busy. Hopefully, this will mean some more vintage outfit posts over the next few weeks.

Some Good English Weather

This weekend, we had some good English weather for faire! It was chilly and gray, although, it didn't rain, thankfully. So I got to wear some of my cold weather costumes!

I decided to wear my fitted English gown on Saturday when it was going to be chillier. It was so fun to wear!

I planned on wearing a pair of plain black gloves but I forgot them. The pocket slits don't actually have pockets but I could still tuck my hands in them to keep cozy!

Plus I got to wear my pocket! It's quite handy for stowing all of my modern bits while in costume.

It was pirate weekend! Arrrr! There were a lot of great pirate costumes around this weekend!

 With it being pirate weekend, we just had to see the pirate stunt show! I adored last year's stunt show because they threw in some Shakespeare references. This year was also excellent.

There were duels to the death, swash bucking action and quite a bit of laughter.

 Some of the non-pirate cast members also got into the spirit of the weekend!

Stay tuned for more costuming adventures coming later this week!

Opening Day

It's faire season again! Huzzah! This past Saturday was opening day so we suited up and went out to enjoy the festival day!

Now, I don't normally go in costume if it's going to be 90+ but we're on staff this year so I did. (Plus I was really excited and wanted to wear all the pretty things!) We didn't get a lot of pictures of me on account of the fact that we're actually there to take pictures of other things but never fear! Monday had more photo opportunities!

We got to catch some of our favorite performers including the Wenches A'Wailing. There are always a lot of great shows on on the smaller stages. The pub is a must see for anyone who enjoys a beer with their turkey leg! Most of the acts add in a drinking song and there are toasts all around.

Her majesty was in fine form as always! We didn't see too much of the court since opening weekend is always a bit crazy and busy. But we did get to do lots of window shopping. I decided a head of time not to buy anything opening weekend because it's so easy to go shopping crazy but I did spy some lovelies I'm going to have to go back for!

I was pleasantly surprised how well I did in all of that heat! The key is hydration and electrolytes! The first year I went in costume, I almost passed out since I didn't want to pay for bottled water. Bad idea! If you are going on a hot day, plan on buying loads of water. (Or carry around your own).

I'm so excited for the rest of the season! I still have a few costumes I'd like to finish before the end of the season so we'll see how that goes. Don't forget to drop me a line at girlwiththestarspangledheart@gmail.com if you'd like to do a meet up at the faire!

Warming Up

The title of this post refers not only to the recent heat wave but also to the opening of the Ohio Renaissance Festival this coming weekend! This year my hubby and I are the official photographers so we are going to be there a lot. Not going to lie though, he'll be doing most of the picture taking and I'll be doing most of the looking fabulous.

Anyways, Saturday was the dress rehearsal and we attended to photograph the street cast in costume.

Originally, I wanted to go in costume but after a few weeks of gorgeous, almost fall like weather, Ohio decided that summer must be here now. It was hot and wicked humid. So I decided to rock my playsuit instead.

We got a sneak peak at some of the new things for this year and it's going to be great! It's also going to be our last year since we're moving to Florida. I'd really love to do a meet up with some of you all this year!

Sometimes, I make funky faces...

So, if you are going to the Ohio Renaissance Festival or you think you might, I'm doing an email list to organize meet ups! You can email me at girlwiththestarspangledheart@gmail.com to get on the list. I'll be emailing out once a week or so to let you all know what day's I'll be at the faire and we can talk about meet ups.

Huzzah for the Renaissance Festival!

Even More Time Traveling

This weekend was a Ren Fest double header for us. Alas, after my sun burn and dehydration on Saturday because the chilly weather made me loose my head and forget about things like sun screen and drinking enough water, I was not up for a costume on Sunday.

The weather forecast was for a high of 75 but chillier in the morning and evening so I opted for a corduroy late 40s dress.

Also, I was too tired to set my hair the night before (see above) so I just stuck in some hotsticks in the morning. I was actually pleasantly surprised that they held up this well.

This gentleman is a favorite performer. My husband always has him play a love song for me. :)

If you want construction details, check out the original post for this dress.

I went simple with accessories-vintage black belt, purse and belt plus pearl jewelry.

Per usual, I got more comments on my vintage dress than I did on my costume, but that's ok. I appreciate when other people appreciate any of my me-made pieces. They are all my lovelies!

I also stopped to chat with one of the belly dancers. This girl can dance! I'm good at sitting there and looking pretty but belly dancing is something else.

One thing I've really liked about this faire season is getting to know some of the performers, vendors and cast members. You have to be a pretty interesting person to work at the faire and I've yet to meet an exception to this rule!

One of the swordsmen! Love their show!

At the end of the day, costume or no costume and sunburn or no sunburn, the faire is all about having fun. And I sure had fun!

Photos courtesy of Will Thorpe Intelligent Design.

Back in time

I made most of this costume last summer when I was planning on going to the KY Renaissance Festival which is earlier in the summer than the OH one and much warmer. Then it was 107F the weekend we were going to go so we skipped.

Then I wore it to Costume College '12 but it was on Sunday and I was much too beat for photos.

So we're skipping from WIP stage right to version 2.0 with new coif, sleeves and petticoat!

I had a lot of fun wearing this costume despite the fact that it was quite packed at the faire. There are still a couple of things that need to be tweeked here and there but mostly I'm happy.

One thing on my list for next season is a pair of more historically accurate shoes! Also to re-hem this petticoat. Somehow it ended up about 2 inches longer than my kirtle and it's supposed to be an inch or so shorter! Eeep! So I hastily pined up a new hem and sewed like mad in the car on the way there. I'm sure it's not a great hem job but it was functional.

It was sort of odd being at faire this year. My faire does NOT emphasize historical accuracy, particularly in the lower class. So I was a bit out of place being so covered. But it was a blessing in disguise because the lovely fall like weather made me completely forget about sunscreen and my poor face got all burnt! Yay for the new coif which protected my ears!

And can I just say how crazy comfy this dress is! It really makes me want to do more lower and middle class costumes and less court dresses!

Dress Diary: Red Peasant Gown

General Inspiration

Photos curtsey of Will Thorpe Intelligent Design