I hope no one smells a rat

Hello readers! A forewarning that this post will be very picture-heavy — I kind of go crazy when pouring over historical fashion eras.

I have decided that the mid 1950s in Britain is my favorite fashion era. I think this might be due to the fact that it is more "wearable" to me than other eras (this also applies to shirtwaist house dresses from the 1930s/early 40s). I love Regency dresses, but I can't actually picture living my every day life in one. The same applies to 1790s Anglaise dresses (which I adore). However, I could see myself wearing this to church:

This apron could be a daily affair:

Probably a bit more 40s, but still adorable.

If you can't tell, I've been watching Call The Midwife. I know I'm late to the party, but this series is so fun. I am loving all of the outfits, accents, and characters. It's probably not for you if childbirth makes you uncomfortable, however, as there is at least one birth in every episode. It isn't graphic at all, though, and nothing is shown besides occasional bare pregnant bellies.

Strangely, there is a deplorable lack of screen captures available, which is unfortunate because I loooove all the scenes of Jenny cycling through Poplar because there are so many lovely ordinary day dresses and aprons that I could see myself living in. You'll just have to check it out yourself. :)

Funnily enough, the only other time I've seen Jessica Raine, she was playing another 1950s British gal, equally stylish though quite different:

Sigh. I love this era. My other fashion period of which I'm consistently fond is the late Edwardian period. This can also be represented by a series I came late to: 

The first season of Downton Abbey has some really delicious Edwardian frocks (the really only delicious thing about the series, actually).

Prepare yourself for an onset of pictures, because I get a wee bit out of control when I see a white lawn tea dress.

I especially like the afternoon gowns from this period because, as I said in regards to 1950s frocks, they seem more "wearable." Not that it would be normal to wear one of these, but they seem so light and casual, as though one could relax while wearing one. By the start of World War I, the s-corset shape had fallen out of fashion, so one probably would be more relaxed than in previous years. 

I love the soft sailor-collar on this one.

This dress is a reproduction of a 1914 pattern:

This one is a little bit earlier — probably 1906-ish. Not quite so wearable but oh-so-elegant.

I also have a thing for the walking suits of the time.

Don't you love old fashion photos?

And naturally, old fashion advertisements.

It's so fun to think of having a dress just for traveling.

Though the afternoon wear is my favorite, I couldn't write an exposition on Edwardian garments and not mention the evening gowns.

I didn't use to like square necklines, but I really love it in this period.

You might wonder what exactly has brought on a wave of research into Edwardian fashion. And perhaps feel a bit of curiosity as to the meaning of the title of this post. Well, readers, I am playing Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion. I am certainly excited about playing a heroine from one of my favorite musicals, but I may or may not be more excited about getting two use two smart little hats which have long languished in my collection. 

Well, "little" really only applies to one of them. The other is a straw hat with an 18-inch diameter, which has to be held on with a hat pin. Which means, of course, that I have to have a suitably voluminous hairdo to stick it into. As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently cut all my hair off my hair. It used to go to my waist, the perfect length for period hair styles, but now falls just below my shoulders. I do not regret my decision to chop it, but what's a short-haired girl to do when she wants an elegant Gibson look?

Doesn't this look good enough to eat? The lighting, lace, and locks are all so soft.

Just what the Edwardians did, of course! Hair rats to the rescue. I do not, of course, refer to small, beady-eyed creatures that make frightening noises. The fact is, despite pictures like this, many women did not have ample hair to create the kind of giant creation which every lady aimed for. Backcombing helps, of course, but it cannot do everything. This is where hair 'rats' come in: a small roll which hair can be wrapped around to bulk up the style. There are little foam rolls one can buy, but one runs the risk of the roll peeking out. The simplest and best hair rat is simply a coiled ball of one's own stray hairs (this will enable it to blend in perfectly). There were even special little crocks with a hole in the top to poke in hair during the collecting process. Alas, I have no hair receiver, but I am in the process of collecting loose hair to make a small rat to add volume to my style. 

The directions I read specifically warned readers about broadcasting the information that one is collecting hair, as it may be slightly disgusting to some. Here I am, posting about it on the internet, which is the exact opposite of concealment. However, I would remind you that if you own anything made of wool, it is composed of someone's collected hair. Furthermore, my hair rat will simply be placed with the rest of my hair. I'm not going to do anything truly nasty with it, like making an embroidered decoration. (Sorry, I shouldn't have put that image in your head. But it was a thing, back in the day. We can't cover up history's mistakes just because they offend our sensibilities.) 

Anyhow, I am very excited about wearing my favorite hat being in Pygmalion, and will forget to post try to post an update about my final wardrobe. In the meantime, tally-ho!

Love,

P.S.  Since turning sixteen I've tracked my age according to a Jane Austen heroine. I have now reached the age of Lizzie Bennet.

Do Wallabies Eat Croissants?

Back in December I mentioned that I was writing a script of Sense and Sensibility for my drama group. Well, we are now in our second month of rehearsals, and now everything is Regency for me. Having read the book 3-5 times, watched the movie several times, and now poured over the words to make a script, for a while I was basically breathing and thinking in Austenese (and still am, sort of. Whenever somebody makes a comment that roughly parallels a quote, I have to resist the urge to quote back. And most of the time fail at resisting).
I love being in this play. Of course, as is always the case, about half the fun of acting is the costumes. My twin and I are kind of in charge of all the costumes, which is very exciting. I have found that in addition to loving sewing, I excessively enjoy costume research.
In hopes that it will prove amusing and enlightening, over the next few weeks I'll be posting pictures of my latest costume endeavors, which shall include:

• Altering modern suit coats to fit tail coats
• Figuring out the best way to make fichus or chemisettes
• Making spencers out of modern jackets
• Sewing and tying cravats
• [Probably] sewing one or two Regency dresses from scratch (!!)

I love the costumes from this movie, but I rather hate most of the hats.

I've never sewn a dress from a pattern before, so I'm kind of excited about that. Although, I've found that I actually prefer altering/redoing things to just sewing them.

Good day!

P.S. Ah yes, the title of this post: there is one unfortunate person in the play who has several times wanted to say "Wallaby" instead of "Willoughby." Add to which that "cravats" somehow reminds me of the word "croissants" in my mind.

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Quite A Lot To Say

Good afternoon, one and all! I mentioned a few things in my 'Little Letters' post in July that needed follow-up, and besides, things have happened since then that were not mentioned at all.
(I'm going to do this professional blogger style and have lots of pictures in this post. Because that's totally necessary to look professional.)

I have a reason for all the pictures, except this one. I just like it.

First of all, I mentioned A Tale of Two Cities. What I did not say, was that I am now an avid Dickens fan and immediately started listening to Bleak House.
What I also did not say is how poorly I am following the Classics Challenge. I really wanted to read my July and August books, but I have been doing school and reading tons of history books (non-figuratively speaking, I'm sure there's been close to one ton of books) and have had precious little time for reading that I can't justify as productive. Yes, I am still plugging away at Lord of the Rings. When I have time for it, I eat it up quickly, but time is of the essence.
I have also put it aside several nights in a row because I have wanted to read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell for a very long time (I've had it checked out from the library for more than four months), and since I was studying the Industrial Revolution it was a good time to tell myself it was For School. It has been good from the beginning, but at first I'd switch off between it and LotR. Last night all the bones in my body were sort of melting because it was so good and I have no one with whom I can speak of it, as no one in my family or circle of acquaintances has read it! Which also presents the problem of who will watch the BBC miniseries with me when I finish...

But back to the Classics Challenge. I'm currently studying The Civil War era in history, but haven't yet started any other of my subjects. Next week, that will change. I'll be doing Calculus, Physics, a literature group, and another class in addition to history. My reading time is only going to shrink. So rereading The Chronicles of Narnia and the Anne of Green Gables series may not happen. I'd love to so much, but I have more books in my drawer of next-ups, and four or five on my shelf that I've never read at all. Rest assured that I shall do my best to finish the last two months (books that are not rereads) and post about them here.

Moving on, I do have some good news! My sister and I now have a knight in shining armor. We share him with some jealousy but he is open-hearted and treats us equally, I think. Sir Jeffrey is a silver 1999 Honda Civic and we are very happy to have him.

Also, we went camping in the beginning of August and took these Instant Oatmeal Packets. It was my first time actually camping for more than one night, and I liked it quite a bit. I'm now obsessed with the Instant Oatmeal packets. I loooovvveee oatmeal of all kinds. And also millet is really good. My family is going to be doing a grain-free diet soon, so I will get them only rarely, or if perchance I make breakfast alone (I'm alone half the time anyhow so that shouldn't be too infrequent).

I'm also rather obsessed with 1850s dresses currently.

Another thing mentioned in the Little Letters post was drama. Well, for better or for worse I am directing The Eskimos Have Landed, which has nothing to do with Eskimos and everything to do with history, old ladies, and New England. I have a cast of five girls and I'm excited for it. I am acting in a play for the seniors of the group called The Cop and the Anthem, taken from the O. Henry short story. (I'm a waitress and an Irish cop, which is rather funny because I've been an Irish cop before in Arsenic and Old Lace, spring 2013).

I've been writing a fair amount, and I'm 300 words into Chapter 10, of thirteen. The thirteenth is planned to be very short, mind. So in essence I have three chapters left. Then of course it'll be back to the beginning in second drafts. I may take a break and pursue a short story or dabble in something else first. That will enable me to be openly critical about everything instead of it being my newly-birthed darling who shouldn't be touched. Since I wrote a Twelve Dancing Princesses short story in Fall 2014, the beginning of school and autumn weather always puts me in both a short story mood and a Twelve Dancing Princesses mood, which means I have put three or four TDP books on reserve at the library and am excited about finishing Arthur and looking at something else for a while.

I'm also desperately trying to find space in the coming months to hold a ball. Everything is on the drawing board right now, so there isn't much I can say about it, but I wanted to share the above image. For it's so true! Even my dad noticed me doing rock steps while doing dishes.

That's all for now, folks.

Am I welcome back?

I was going to say, "welcome back", but then I realized it was not you, but I who have been absent. Well, readers? Am I welcome back? 
To fill you in on some of my life, I'm doing another "little letters" post.

Dear Little Women,

Performance this week? What?! WHAT?! I was not originally not exactly pleased to be performing you, but I shall be very sad when this is over, and very sad to leave Jo March and her friends behind me. And how cool that I've actually gotten to perform you twice, once in one-act form as Amy, and now as a two-hour production as Jo. 

Dear Mozart,

Bach drives me nuts sometimes, I will admit. But you, I am always in good humor with you. Memorization is still kind of scary, but I will not tire of playing your sonatas.

Dear Brownie-in-a-Mug,

Um, you are way too easy. And addicting. I kind of love you, but I don't think you're good for me.

Dear Arthur,

Dear me but I miss you! I enjoy being busy... but our separation can never bring me pleasure. Soon, soon, we shall be together much more often. I have many plans and ideas welling up, meantime, to be  employed in this last sector before the end, or used for second drafts. Be patient, my dear!

Dear Tolkien,

I am LOVING rereading The Hobbit. You are a brilliant author. Brilliant. I eagerly await the reread of The Lord of the Rings, and one day attacking The Silmarillion.

Dear French Language as-a-whole,

Sometimes I think you drive me NUTS. But honestly, it's usually me who is driving me nuts with my inability to hold onto your slippery, vague words. I still think you are as beautiful as when I started. And I have hope that I will conquer you one day. I therefore keep plugging away.

Dear Driving,

As I think that we ought to go back to the horse-and-carriage days, I feel terribly disloyal to myself to enjoy you so much... but I do! In not so very long I shall have my license and not long after that hopefully acquire a car, even if I would rather have a black percheron or a dappled grey mare. P.S. You can stick around a while more, if you want.

Dear Presidential Elections,

All I can say is that it's a good thing I don't put my trust in the human political leader of a human country, because I would be looking at the cost of living in Ireland right now if so. (Actually I'm looking at the cost of living in Ireland already because... Ireland.) If we escape the one guy only for the other, it will be out of the frying pan and into the fire, I'm afraid. Yet my king is unchanging and his kingdom is unaffected by elections. So I do not tremble, for he is quite capable of dealing with whoever ends up the leader of this country.

Dear Opera,

Getting to see a real, full-length production in March was amazing, even if it was technically a dress rehearsal and the auditorium was filled with public-schooled teenagers (no offense to readers who fall in the category, but for we homeschoolers the typical teenager who is not homeschooled is usually quite different from us, and sometimes shocking or frightening). I admit that I didn't love you as much I had imagined in many memories, but it was also pretty cool to get to see you while acting in Little Women, as it was that movie that first gave me the opera bug. Thanks again for your beauty!

Dear Spring,

I end with you, because, although I resented your early coming and cast many longing glances at winter, I thrill to see your arrival made more evident every day. Your flowering trees, early buds, delicate leaves, and abundance of green! The air of one season is not quite like another, however similar the temperature, and I love the smell, feel, and experience of your air. It's lovely, and so are you.

Love,

Another Dance

My dear twinsie and I have successfully hosted our third dance. Though we held it on Friday the thirteenth, my middle sister (who was born on Friday the thirteenth) attended so as to make the day lucky. Perhaps that was why it went well? I doubt it, though— it mostly went well due to the assistance of my self-sacrificing mother, twin, and the sixteen lovely ladies who attended. And God's providence, of course. We managed to remember all the various things one must pack when hosting a dance away from one's home (like tape...) and set-up the space in plenty of time.
We danced eight dances. The Grand March, of course, opened the night, as is tradition, followed by a dance partly of my twin and I's invention that we call Babbling Brook, then Hole in the Wall, Yellow Stockings, Well Hall, Virginia Reel, Conversation, and Bittersweet (another partially invented one which we've made our traditional ending dance). Hole in the Wall and Well Hall both got a little mixed up (we had quite a few new girls) but otherwise things went smoothly. I've never called the Grand March before and I had a lot of fun going under people's arms and causing much laughter in the group. Virginia Reel, naturally, was also a ton of fun. I think everyone enjoyed it; I know I definitely did!
(If you are interested in holding your own dance or are curious about possible dance organizations in your area, regencydances.org is a great resource, as it has lists of dance societies, dozens of dance instructions, and much, much more!)

On another note, our homeschool drama group plays are this week!!! Eep! I have more parts than I've ever had before (considering I've only ever been in one play and only ever had one part). In The Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court, I have the great pleasure of playing Charlotte Mulliner, as I mentioned before. She is a ladylike, vegetarian British poet, so I feel I have a lot in common with her, being a British-loving pescatarian writer myself, and a person who always aims at being a lady. Only twice more to perform the script and then it's over! :(
Also, I'm the fairy godmother in Cinderella, and a dancer at the ball (perhaps the fairy godmother is worried about how Cindy will fare so she goes in disguise to watch her??). And lastly, I'm "Extra Two" in Prince Rabbit. I was told I'd have to stand on stage and look pretty, and I though,t 'How hard can that be?' It's more than one scene, however, and we only get two practices (the first being last Thursday, the second being the day before performance), and I have LINES. They may be only a handful of short sentences, but still, there are quite a few cues to be memorized over two practices.

As ever, I am enjoying babysitting my dear little niece, Frances, and I am very excited about showing her off if she attends the plays.

There's so much going on right now that I could say, but I haven't the time (ironic, isn't it?). I have several posts in drafts, though, and hope to return to writing after the plays are over. I can't say when I last wrote in Arthur or any other story (and oh yes, I have writing group in less than two weeks that I have to write a skit for...), and I'm looking forward to getting back into that writing, too.
In meantime ~ in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night!

Anne-girl things

So, as some of you may know, I am playing Anne in Anne of Green Gables. It's crazy, but true.
My hair is really dark – and so are my eyebrows. We bought a red wig, but with my eyebrows it just looks awful. Awful.
Yesterday these black boots came in the mail. Ohhhhh! They're so gorgeous. They have a 2 ½ inch heel, which is good since I'm right at 5" and there's a line in the second act about how tall and stylish I've grown (FYI, I'm shorter than everyone in the play except one person). They make me so happy about being Anne.
And I'm going to have like 4-5 costumes. I've never had that many. I've never had so many lines either. I have the first line, the last line, and half the lines in between. And the other lines are about Anne. :) I hope this doesn't sound like bragging– it's just so different from any play I've been in before.
Life is hard sometimes, but I'm so blessed. A few days before the cast list came out, I was feeling insecure in Jesus's love. I had just finished Captivating, and I struggling with feeling like I was the Beauty of the story, the herione, you know? I wanted to be Anne of Green Gables, even for a night. To be the one that the Hero loved. I was just telling God how much I wanted him to tell me I was his Lady, that I didn't mind if I wasn't Anne as long as I was his Anne. As long as he loved me. Friends, God is so faithful. It was the very next day that I found out that I was Anne. I couldn't believe that I was lucky enough to be Anne. The biggest part I had was Mr. Beaver in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (due to a shortage of boys!). And since I was a boy, that I didn't feel as special.
Anyways, I hope his faithfulness is shown to you this week.
Love through him,

Winnifred, Anne, etc.

I know, I know, it's been a while since I've posted. We started school Tuesday, though, and anyone who's ever been in school knows the first week of school hits you like a wave that you weren't expecting. I have Biology every Tuesday (plus homework on the other days), Algebra every day, history, literature, and random miscellaneous thingers. Also, as mentioned in the last post, I'm in drama.

The play is Anne of Green Gables! My sister and I are so excited. One of my best friends got Rachel Lynde! Nan got Marilla! And I... got Anne! It's so unbelievable! I've never had half the lines I had (which is cool, but I'm not sure how I'll memorize them all!). It's so weird to have so much attention when I've always had small parts (except Mr. Beaver - that was a biggish part, but it wasn't as fun because I was playing a boy).

So that's been really exciting. Our first read-through was Wednesday. The script isn't as good as we could wish, but it's not as bad as some. To quote a wise old man, "It's not as good as it should be, but it's not as bad as it could be!"

But also, I'm going to have to either dye my hair (my mother would correct me "color, not die!) or get a wig. I'd rather die my hair, but, although the picture of the girl with the lamb isn't me (obviously), my hair is the same dark black. I just don't know if my hair would go all the way red, without bleaching it (*shudder*). So I don't know.

Yes. The picture. This is Winnifred, from my laundress story. It's the perfect picture. She looks sort of sad, curious, suspicious, and mysterious. I didn't think Winnifred had bangs, but you can't quite tell from the picture whether the girl actually does have bangs or whether it's just the way her hair is parted.

Last weekend we went to my grandma's cabin by the lake, so I'm kind of sunburnt. But it's freckling out. :)

Hot hot weather.

It is hot. It is the last day of April, 82 degrees, and sleet is predicted for May 2nd! So this is the midwest. We have a saying: If you don't like the weather here, wait 5 minutes and it will change!
I've been contemplating moving to South Dakota or Canada – somewhere that never has temperatures that exceed 80º (or 85º, in heat waves) and has a 100% chance of snow every winter.
Like 6 inches of snow. For two months straight. :)
Or maybe England... I might like England – or Scotland – or Ireland – or France – or the Mediterranean! Pretty much Europe entirely. But especially Britain.
I do not like the heat. I like it cold. And so I sit inside and blog. I would rather be outside enjoying the beautiful spring afternoon/evening. But this is not spring weather, it is summer weather. But anyways.
I'm having trouble with Maurelle. I'm supposed to write this story for school, and I want to finish/chip a way at my Arthurian Chronicles this summer, so I'm trying to finish it. But I'm at the hardest part: the very middle.
Mostly I've been reading Ben-Hur and knitting. I like knitted washcloths, so I knitted one. But I think I should have used different yarn because it doesn't work the greatest. Now I'm trying to knit a shawl but I don't think I have enough yarn.
And we've been really busy in the last week, so I easily found excuses for not writing (I'm using one right now: I need to blog!). I was in Arsenic and Old Lace (I was Officer O'Hara – we had a lot of girls playing boys because there are 10 boy parts and 4 boys). We had practice Monday-Wednesday, show on Thursday, rest on Friday, Show Saturday afternoon, then we stayed to watch the other show (the homeschool group I did it with did two plays this semester), and then struck the set. Hmm... One says "I'm going to strike the set" but it doesn't look right to say "we struck the set"...
I really want to work on my laundress story... And my gladiator story. AHHGH!
Maybe someone can help me with Maurelle.
See, the problem is this: I'm more likely to write a "man who learned better" story than "heroic quest" story. I'm supposed to write a heroic quest. But I have a hard time with writing a quest type story unless it's an ACTUAL quest.
So Maurelle's object is her freedom. The thing she learns is to be more selfless. So I had a chapter on her learning to be more selfless. But the thing is, I don't believe we can learn to be selfless by ourself. And she isn't a Christian. So I thought about having her become a Christian and she learns (a) to be more selfless and (b) outer freedom isn't important because she's free in Christ.
But that would have two problems:
1) It takes the story in a totally different direction. I didn't want this to be a salvation type story because I'm bad at writing those. This is because I myself didn't have a conversion moment, an actual time I can point to and say, "Here I became a Christian." I've been raised Christian, so I don't know how to realistically write about a conversion moment.
2) If I write this, it's no longer a heroic quest because she doesn't strive for her object and win it.
My sister Nan suggested she learns to trust. I like this idea, and it comes naturally from the story:

Gabrielle shook her head again, sadly.

“There is not one who is free, Maurelle. Not you, not me.”

“You can have anything you want!” I gasped, realizing I had said the words aloud. I turned, and fled back the way I had come. I passed the campsite and stumbled along until I came to a thicket so dense I could not pass through it. I flung myself down and cried, then, sobbing. Was nothing trustworthy or sacred?

No; no, it wasn’t. I had always known that. It was the creed I lived by; the standard by which I justified all my actions. I had come up against a cold, hard wall, but it was one I had always known (with my mind, if not my heart) to be there.

This thought was no comfort me.

It was Gabrielle’s parents who had betrayed me; I would have no guilt in carrying out Raoul’s orders, even if I knew, in my heart of hearts, that they were not as innocent as he made them out to be. By luck, by fate, by some good fortune, I had been offered a way out, not three days ago.

But could I trust him?

I felt cold, and not just because of the icy wind. I couldn’t trust him anymore than I could trust Gabrielle. I  couldn’t trust anyone. Had I not just realized that?

You don’t need to trust him.

The answer came so naturally that I wondered at not seeing it before. I didn’t need him, and I didn’t need Gabrielle and her pampered parents. I could tell Gabrielle what she wanted to hear and give Raoul what he needed – just so long as it fit my purpose. I could play on both their needs, and still get my freedom.

I stopped crying; things would go on as before. I had no need to feel sorry. I would be free, and no one would stand in the way of that.

The only problem with this idea is that it takes the story in a different turn. But, still would the freedom thing.
So maybe I will pursue this direction. Meeps. I guess I should. But if I do I have to rethink the whole rest of the book. AGAIN.
I need to work on Maurelle I guess...