Wearing Chemise A la Reine at Wallington

This July I had a day out at Wallington, another local(ish) National Trust property, with my friends. It was originally meant to be a historical costuming meet up but it ended up just being two of my friends and I (one in 1930s historybounding and one in lolita). Regardless, we had a really fun day and took loads of photos so please keep reading and have a look at all the photos we took! 

Shift - Handmade
Stays - Spinkleglas
Pocket - Handmade

False rump - Amazon (I know)
Underpetticoat - Handmade
Stockings - Anachronicos
Dress - Fanplusfriend, altered by me
Belt - Rosetta Swan
Wig - Styled by me
Hat - Aliexpress
Rose pin - Rosetta Swan
Necklace - Vintage
Shoes - Rumbelinas, painted by me

We got to Wallington at lunch time. The plan was to have an outdoor picnic but British weather is never that kind and it was a sporadically rainy day. We ate our lunch quickly while hidden from the rain so we could go inside ASAP. Of course as soon as we finished eating it stopped raining for a while, so we got our first photos out near the entrance of the house.

I love the dynamics the wind added to this photo!

A little about the outfit: I'd had a lolita Chemise a la Reine sat in my wardrobe for years as it was no longer my style in lolita but I liked it too much to get rid of. I've been having some sewing lessons recently with someone who specialises in historical clothing, so I thought altering the dress to be full length would be a good project. The fabric colours aren't a perfect match but I'm so happy to give my dress a new life!
I also styled the wig myself and will be posting a blog about it soon~

When I saw this urn I thought it would be fun to pose like I was in a portrait with the plan to edit the photo to look like one. Of course if this was an actual 18th century portrait there'd probably be a couple cherubs somewhere in the background and the sky wouldn't be so white (they'd paint some big fluffy grey clouds).

We did get serious photos here but this one was the best lol

When we got inside the staff at the door were quite excited about my outfit which was fun, they said I reminded them of the portrait in the dining room, which you can see later in the blog~ 

We actually headed upstairs first. Wallington has this stunning foyer that lets the light in so nicely, and the ceilings were beautifully ornamental. As you can see we had some trouble turning off the flash on my camera but we figured it out eventually!

 

I really loved this room with the panelled tapestry walls and conversation chair!

A very nice man took this photo of me and was kind enough to send it to me

We then made our way downstairs to check out the dining room and living room. Both of these rooms are so gorgeous, with beautiful vaulted ceilings, ornamental plaster, and just generally feeling very light and airy. Plus they matched one another with a blue and white colour scheme. 

Unfortunately it was at this time it was announced the house would be closing shortly; can you believe the house shuts at 3pm? For some reason I was under the impression it shut at 5pm with the gardens and to be honest I don't understand why it doesn't. I think I had just forgotten though, so my bad. 

So, we had to rush around these rooms to take our photos and have a quick look, and we didn't get to have a good look around the rest of the house. I think that just means I can go again to look around more though, maybe wear another outfit and take more photos lol.

I forgot to take any selfies but Ruby got this cute one with me in the background

As we left the house the weather was doing okay, so we decided to try our luck going to the walled gardens. It was more of a trek than I expected but it was definitely worth it. Of course as we got there it started raining, but it was only light and didn't last too long so it wasn't too bad. As we were standing around, Ruby offered to go to the lower part of the garden and take a photo of Eleanor and I, and I think it turned out really nice (the first photo in this section).

The gardens were very beautiful, all the flowers were so colourful and smelled amazing. I loved the pathway with the leafy arches, as well as all the urns, there was also a nice pond at the end of the garden. By the time we had looked around all of the walled garden we were absolutely exhausted and my camera was almost completely out of battery. We managed to get one last photo as we left and as we made our way back the rain started up again, it was kind of it to wait until we were done in the garden haha!

What I can only describe as goth flowers

Overall the day out was so much fun and I'd really like to go back sometime. I have another historical costuming meet up planned for August which I hope will have a bigger turnout, but even if it doesn't I'm excited to dress up again. 

I'm also hoping to make more things in my historical wardrobe(s). I still don't feel ready to make any main pieces yet but I'm currently working on another pocket, with plans to make some garters and maybe mitts, and I've been thinking about making an Edwardian hat too.