1-hour-dress for the Chap Olympiad

This year we finally managed to buy tickets for the London Chap Olympiad on time - they have a tendency to sell out quickly!
And I also managed to be kind of accurate in weather forecasting, thus being faced with the last minute thought of needing a summery picnic dress! Because nobody really wants to wear multi-layered victorian or edwardian dresses in warm weather if you don't have to!
Quickest thing to whip up when short on time is probably the 1920s "One Hour Dress". You can still buy many reprints of the original manuals today and I happen to have one anyways. I wanted a simple, elegant, lightweight picnic frock that can get dirty and is easy to wear in warm weather. A little search on Pinterest brought up the following inspirational pics:

I liked the simple cut and lovely draping of this dress! I wanted to go for chiffon, but kind of didn't want to decide the colour before seeing what's available. So a quick visit to the fabric shops on Tuesday brought up some wacky printed poly chiffon, cheap as chips at £3 a metre (I bought 4).
I found this article on Festive Attyre's blog quite helpful, and opted for not making a paper pattern. So the pattern was drafted directly onto the material, all cut in one single piece! Simple and super quick.
I didn't get the required length quite right, so my finished gown has much less beautiful draping than the original drawing, but yeah it's wearable and still looks good!
I finished most edges/hems with machine stitched rolled hems (thank heaven for the rolled hem foot!) and french seams on the skirt sides. The boat neck is hand stitched into a small rolled hem and I decided to not make it with exposed shoulders, as I wanted it to be more of a daywear dress obviously!
Did it really take one hour? No, probably longer, though I don't know how long exactly! It was super quick anyways, and I already had a simple peach silk slip to wear underneath, in a plain rectangular shape with shoulder straps. Thankfully the colour went perfectly with my wacky chiffon print! The sides of the dress are open after all, so you will get glimpses of the slipdress at some point.
I added a huge straw hat (from Nehelenia Patterns) to complete the look and shaped the brim the night before the event.
Ready for the finished product?

I also made a belt from leftover material and attached it to the sides in order to give the dress a bit more shaping around the hip! It's wearable on its own and hangs nicely, but the belt gives it some extra detailing.

And here we are! I added a cheap set of pearl necklaces from Primark and wore my beautiful "Gibson" shoes from American Duchess! No, that's not my real hair, it's a wig from Annabelle's Wigs that I wear on stage as well.
My husband wears a period shirt from Darcy Clothing and his black wool Victorian summer trousers made by me (after Period Patterns #14 from Nehelenia Patterns, part of a 3-piece victorian suit I made for him)! Both items look timeless enough to pass for many different eras, teamed up with the right accessories!
And a few more pictures:

The Night before the Revolution - Grand Ball 1789! pt 2

And in part 2 of my ball postings I would like to share some of the wonderful pictures captured by Jonas Radtke and tell you about the highlights of the evening!
Our theme was "the night before the revolution" - meaning to party like it was the very last time, to put on a mask and be as decadent as you wish!
Here's a shot of the location, Schloss Koertlinghausen:

Und im zweiten Teil meines Ballpostings berichte ich ueber die Highlights des Abends und zeige ein paar der wundervollen Bilder von Jonas Radtke!
Unser Thema war "die Nacht vor der Revolution" - also zu feiern, als ob es das letzte Mal waere, und dabei seine wahre Identitaet hinter einer Maske zu verbergen!
Hier eine Aussenaufnahme der Location, Schloss Koertlinghausen:

The first guests arrived for the champagne reception at 6pm.
Um 18 Uhr trafen die ersten Gaeste zum Sektempfang ein.

 

Our wonderful catering team made sure everyone indulged in a glass of bubbly, while we just looked around gazing at the multitude of costumes and masks! Our guests came from all parts of Germany, as well as Sweden, Italy and England!

Unser fabelhaftes Cateringteam versorgte alle Neuangekommenen mit Sekt, waehrend wir einfach den Anblick der vielen Kostueme und Masken genossen. Unsere Gaeste kamen aus allen Teilen Deutschlands, sowie aus Schweden, Italien, Holland und Grossbritannien!

Don't you just adore this dress? The embroidery, the spangles and hair are just amazing!

Nur eines der vielen bezaubernden Kostueme, ueber und ueber mit Pailetten und Stickerei geschmueckt!

 Samira being her glamourous self!

 Many guests opted for turkish/oriental dress.

Viele Gaeste erschienen in tuerkischen/orientalischen Kostuemen!

A rich buffet was served in the upstairs ballroom, including hot and cold dishes, cheese and desserts!
I even managed to try every dish myself, except for the meat dish of course!
The table decorations had been handmade by us and set up in the afternoon.

Ein reichhaltiges Buffet wurde im oberen Ballsaal serviert, bestehend aus kalten und warmen Speisen, Kaese und Desserts! Es gelang mir tatsaechlich jedes Gericht zu probieren, ausser dem Fleischgericht natuerlich! Die Tischdekorationen wurden von uns am Nachmittag selbst arrangiert und liebevoll im Schloss verteilt.

Our dinner was enhanced by Niels Badenhop and his amazing skills on the harp.

Zum Essen konnten wir das herrliche Harfenspiel von Niels Badenhop geniessen.

After dinner the official part of the evening was opened in the main ballroom, with a thoroughly divine performance by baroque dancers Doris and Niels. A feast for the eyes!!

Nach dem Dinner wurde der offizielle Teil des Abends im unteren Ballsaal eroeffnet, standesgemaess mit einer hinreissenden Barocktanznummer vorgefuehrt von Doris und Niels. Absolut unvergleichlich schoen! Ein magischer Moment!

Afterwards dance masters Caroline & Bert opened the dancefloor and gave detailed dance instructions so everybody could join in!

Anschliessend eroeffneten Tanzmeister Caroline & Bert den Tanz und gaben detaillierte Anleitung, so dass alle mittanzen konnten.

For those who were not up for dancing we prepared a gambling and smoking parlour.
Fuer die weniger tanzfreudigen Gaeste richteten wir ein Spielzimmer sowie einen Rauchsalon her.

And what would a decadent masked ball be without a bit of saucy entertainment? The art of burlesque is actually quite old with its origins in 16th and 17th popular theatre! So later in the evening we enjoyed a very special performance by German burlesque star Rose Rainbow!

Und was waere ein dekadenter Kostuemball ohne pikante Unterhaltung? Die Kunstform des Burlesktanzes ist in der Tat sehr alt, mit Urspruengen im Volkstheater des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts! Spaeter am Abend tanzte fuer uns Bayerns Burlesquesensation Rose Rainbow!

Followed by Miss Jones' magic guillotine!
Gefolgt von Miss Jones' magischer Guillotine!

The dancing continued into the wee hours until closing time!
Getanzt wurde bis weit nach Mitternacht!

And to close this post I give you a small bouquet of eyecandy!
Und zum Schluss noch eine kleine Auswahl besonders schoener Bilder!

You can enjoy a few more pictures and purchase a CD with over 500 images here!

There are a few snapshots in our photoalbum on flickr.

And also a few more on our facebook page!

We would like to thank the team who helped us creating this event and everybody who contributed to making this evening so magical!

"The Night before the Revolution 2014" was presented and produced by Nehelenia Patterns GbR.

Copyright for all pictures: Jonas Radtke. Do not copy/publish/reproduce without permission.

Ein paar weitere Bilder sind auf der website von Jonas Radtke, sowie die Moeglichkeit eine CD mit ueber 500 offiziellen Aufnahmen zu bestellen!

Einige Schnappschuesse sind auch in unserem flickr Album, sowie auf unserer Facebookpage!

Wir bedanken uns bei allen, die geholfen haben dieses Event zu erschaffen, sowie allen die zum Gelingen des Abends beigetragen haben!

"Die Nacht vor der Revolution 2014" wurde produziert und praesentiert von Nehelenia Patterns GbR.
Copyright auf alle Bilder: Jonas Radtke. Keine Verwendung ohne Genehmigung!


Click here for part 1 of this post.
Hier klicken fuer Teil 1.

The Night before the Revolution - Grand Ball 1789! pt 1

On March 15th this year we hosted our grand costume ball themed "Night before the revolution 1789" at the romantic baroque castle in Koertlinghausen/Germany.
After over a year of planning the big day arrived really quicker than expected!
The magic of the castle set the scene for a wonderful night full of great masquerade costumes, champagne and dancing.

Am 15. Maerz diesen Jahres haben wir unseren grossen Kostuemball "Die Nacht vor der Revolution 1789" gefeiert. Unsere Location war das romantische Barockschloss Koertlinghausen in Ruethen/Westfalen.
Nach mehr als einem Jahr Planung kam der Tag dann viel schneller als erwartet!
Das herrliche Schloss war die perfekte Szenerie fuer einen magischen Abend voller fabelhafter Maskenkostueme, Champagner und Tanz!

First of all I'll tell you about my own outfit for the night!
After a LOT of pondering I chose the goddess Diana as my masque costume. Diana was a popular 18th century costume choice for young European ladies and was usually pulled of with a white dress, a leopard skin, a bow and a crescent moon tiara. Perfect for me, since I was extremely skint on time!
Here's just one of my many inspiration pictures:

Zuerst erzaehle ich kurz ueber mein eigenes Outfit fuer den Abend!
Nach sehr viel hin- und herueberlegen habe ich mich fuer die Goettin Diana entschieden! Diana war ein populaeres Kostuem bei jungen Europaerinnen, vor allem des 18. Jahrhunderts, wie auf unzaehligen Gemaelden zu finden. Gewoehnlich bestehend aus einem weissem Kleid, einem Leopardenfell, einem Bogen und einer Halbmondtiara. Perfekt fuer mich, da wieder die Zeit knapp wurde!
Hier nur eines meiner vielen Inspirationsbilder:

As we had a french revolution theme I chose to make a white silk chemise gown with a fitted back and accessorize the heck out of it.
My favourite costume piece were definitely my custom made deer antlers, made by Hysteria Machine! I enjoyed wearing them so much!!
The dress was super quickly put together, decorated with self-fabric ruffles and worn over chemise, white petticoat and short stays (for comfort!). The stripey silk belt is an old accessory from my wardrobe and the crescent moon tiara was made by me. The jewels I wore are a beautiful 18th century reproduction from Dames a la Mode. I completed the outfit with a cheap costume shop bow and a new pair of black leather Kensingtons from American Duchess.
Since the black leather mask I bought on ebay didn't fit me, I had to improvise with a black lace mask, homemade from scraps and glued to my face with eyelash glue! 

Unserem Revolutionsthema entsprechend habe ich ein Chemisenkleid mit glattem Ruecken aus weisser Habotaiseide gemacht und mit passenden Accessoires versehen.
Mein liebstes war ganz zweifellos das Geweih von Hysteria Machine! 
Das Kleid war schnell fertig genaeht, geschmueckt mit ein paar Rueschen und getragen ueber Chemise, weissem Unterrock und Kurzmieder (um der Bequemlichkeit Willen!). Der gestreifte Seidenguertel ist ein altes Stueck aus meinem Fundus und die Halbmondtiara ist selbstgemacht. Meine Halskette mit passenden Ohrringen ist ein handgemachtes Set von Dames a la Mode. Das Outfit wurde komplettiert mit einem kleinen Bogen aus dem Kostuemladen und einem neuen Paar schwarzer Lederschuhe mit Strass-Schnallen.
Da mir meine bestellte Ballmaske nicht gepasst hat, musste ich mit einer selbstgemachten Spitzenmaske improvisieren, die mit Wimpernkleber direkt aufs Gesicht geklebt wurde.

And finally.... pictures!!

A bathroom selfie, showing my makeup and hair details. I opted for a quick backcombed hedgehog hairstyle.
Ein Badezimmer Selfie fuer Haar- und Makeup Details! 

A full length shot in the dining room.

Kleid in voller Laenge, vor einem der romantischen alten Spiegel im oberen Saal.

And a few official event pictures taken by our ball photographer Jonas:

Und ein paar offizielle Bilder von unserem Ballphotographen Jonas:

Continue to part 2 with a report about the ball and pictures from the evening!
Weiter zu Teil 2 mit einem Ballbericht und mehr Bildern!