CYNICAL NEO-PRINCESSISM: I Went to my First (real) Historical Costuming Event

As I've started getting into historical costuming I've joined a lot of historical costuming and history-bounding communities. One of these communities was having a meet up in May at Beamish, an open air museum which is fairly local to me. This gave me the kick up the arse I needed to get the last few bits together to be able to wear an Edwardian look.

I spent a couple of weeks leading up to the event trying to sew myself some Edwardian undergarments. I'm not great at sewing but they're wearable and even a little bit cute which is what's important. Making them a matching set was fun.

I also tried making myself a black petticoat too, as I had a different outfit to the one below planned. My white petticoat showed through the bottom of the skirt I wanted to wear so I was going to make a black one to wear with it.

Unfortunately I managed to do such an awful job following the pattern that I made mistakes at several stages. I was almost at the finish line when I realised I had made a massive mistake and would have to unpick everything for a second time and start almost from scratch. That's when I decided just to give up and wear a different outfit, lol.

Anyway, onto the actual meet up!

So it was finally time for me to get dressed in a full Edwardian look. I was so excited about it! I spent the day before steaming my skirt as it's made of acetate and wrinkles very easily. It was a vintage find a few years ago and a great back up since I couldn't wear the original skirt planned.

I also spent the day before that styling my wig. I realised I wasn't sure how to style it in a way my hat would sit nicely, and ended up styling it in a more 1910s way. I'm not super happy with the way I styled it tbh, the back is cute but I think the front makes me look a bit like a painted egg lol. Like it's giving 1840s at the front. I think I'm going to restyle it for next time.

Hat - A gift

Blouse - Lace Garden

Belt - Antique

Skirt - Vintage

Stockings - Secret Shop (not that you can see them but they are cute)

Shoes - American Duchess

Bag - Vintage

Corset - Morgan Femme Couture

Corset cover/Petticoat - Gibson Girl Dress

Chemise/Drawers - Handmade

Bust Improver/Hip pad - Handmade

I think this is my favourite photo from the day!

I was feeling pretty shy since I didn't know anyone and it was my first proper historical costuming meet up (I did have this one last summer but that was me hounding all my friends until they agreed haha). I had invited a lolita comm member, Maria, to join me as she'd expressed an interest in getting into historical costuming or history-bounding in the future, but unfortunately I had no wifi connection to communicate with her so we didn't find each other until a bit later.

The people I met first were really lovely and welcoming and made me feel super comfortable. Since everyone was looking around in their own little groups before gathering for the picnic, Charlotte (in the hobble skirt), Sarah (in the sailor bolero), and Craig (the man.. obviously) let me tag along with them since I was on my own. And lucky for me they enjoy taking lots of photos, so I was fortunate enough to have loads of lovely photos taken by Craig!

Two ladies chatting about fancy things like taking a cruise idk

This one really shows off the gorgeous antique belt

Totes just taking a bike ride guys xoxo

We stuck to 1900s town before the picnic, which fit our outfits perfectly. In 1900s town there's a bunch of shops you can go inside. Off the top of my head, there's a bakery (they even have some vegan stuff!!), an old timey W.H.Smith which sold toiletries (I bought some perfume), a sweet shop, mechanic, bank, dressmakers, grocery, travel agent, stables, and some houses. Some of them actually sell things while others are just there for educational and immersive purposes.

At the bakery Craig was kind enough to buy me some gingerbread which was delicious, there's something special about the Beamish gingerbread. I wish I'd bought a loaf of bread too but unfortunately I did not, maybe next time though.

Here's a candid of me someone else took

Then at lunch time it was time for the picnic with everyone. It was held at the park in 1900s town, and everyone just brought their own blanket and food. It was also an opportunity to do some mingling.

I didn't approach anyone because I was too shy but some lovely people introduced themselves to me and I had some really nice conversations. I was a bit worried since I didn't make any of the pieces of clothing that were visible in my outfit, but everyone I spoke to was very encouraging. A lot of people complimented my blouse too which was nice!

Once the picnic was done we got some group photos of everyone, taken by various people, which you can see below~

Once the picnic came to its natural end, we all set off in our little groups to look around the museum again. We made our way to the 1900s pit village/1950s farm with the addition of Ria (pictured in the regency outfit a bit further down) and her girlfriend (who also took some photos of me/us). We would've gotten the tram or bus there but since there was some sort of march for scouts & brownies we just walked; I did learn that there's a funfair at the end of 1900s town though, and I think I'll have to have a closer look next time!

There was also a steampunk meet up happening the same day as the historical one, and since Charlotte, Craig and Sarah also do steampunk stuff they knew some of the people at that meet up; so we got this group photo. Two of the steampunk crew also joined us for the remainder of the day, they had really cool Doctor Who themed looks!

At this point it was not long until closing time, so we got the tram back to 1900s town and got some last few outfit photos and then got some ice cream too before heading home.

Be honest, did I make my bust improver too big? I can't decide ;;

I had such a wonderful day and met so many cool and lovely people. I hope I can attend more historical costuming meet ups in the future! Thank you so much to Amelia for organising this.