A Ball

The Stolen Kiss, by Fragonard

Over the weekend I attended to the Road to Regency Symposium, held at the Gadsby's Tavern Museum, in Alexandria, Virginia. It was a wonderful event. So many great workshops and speakers! An especially fun thing was getting to put on the white gloves and study a large assortment of extant garments, owned and shared by Mary Dearing. 

But today's post is about the ball. At the end of the weekend, everyone got dressed up and celebrated with a lovely ball. The attire spanned the 1770's to the 1820's. I went for about 1790, and took inspiration from one of my favorite paintings, The Stolen Kiss, by Fragonard. 

We started the evening -- we being my husband (who was such a sport, he even dressed up!) and I -- downstairs at the Tavern for dinner, then headed up to the ballroom. I started the night wearing a kerchief. I had with me a fur trimmed cloak, as well. I never did get a picture of me wearing it, but it was a fun accessory, not that it was really cold enough... I also accessorized with a powdered, hedgehog wig, trimmed with a black bow, a la the painting, my blue silk shoes and some aquamarine earrings.

Everyone looked so amazing!

Surprisingly, of my whole ensemble, my fan seemed to be getting the most attention. I say surprisingly, because it was a last minute addition to my outfit. The morning of the flight I decided I wanted a fan, so I took a white paper fan from Townsend, outlined it in gold marker, and glued a printed out painting on it, which I also outlined in gold. It was such a quick and easy project. I'm glad I made it now.

Below has got to be my favorite picture of the whole night. And I took it totally by accident. For those who haven't been to Gadsby's, that little doorway, up on the wall, is the entrance to the musician's balcony.

Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures throughout the evening, and even less were taken of me. Isn't that how it always goes when you're having fun?! Below is a fun one, though, via twitter, taken by Gretchen Bulova.

When I found out I was going to the ball, and needed an outfit, I originally purchased some pink fabric to do up. When the days kept passing, and the fabric didn't arrive, I went through the stash and found the blue/brown shot silk (reads as green in the photos) that I had bought back in 2010, with the Fragonard painting in mind. Once I unpack, I'll have to take proper pictures of the gown and accessories to share how they were made up.

It was a really fun night, and whole weekend, and everyone I met was lovely and so welcoming. I can't wait for another one!

Oh, and p.s., I wore my new rump and it turned out great! ;)