Edwardian Girl Summer

 

In May, I attended my first historical costuming meet up of the year at Beamish. Ria came up to stay the weekend so we could both go together. 

The dress code was 19th century, so I went for an 1890s sort of look with my Lace Garden set I'd been looking forward to wearing. I love puff sleeves so much! I think the set was supposed to be 1830s inspired, but I felt like it could work for the 1890s. In the future though I might get a different skirt to pair with the blouse because I feel like it's a bit bulky looking overall, I need something that's slimmer at the hips rather than so gathered. 

With it I wore the gorgeous embroidered American Duchess boots I received for christmas, as well as the La Femme En Noir reproduction hand belt I treat myself to (because the vintage 70s ones are never cheaper than £300 lmao) and a brooch that looks like a mourning brooch I've had for years.

I also made a hat! I wanted it to be able to be worn with anything in my Edwardian capsule wardrobe, so I gave it a black base with an array of pastel flowers in a pink green and white colour scheme.

I tried covering a spot up with brown eyeliner to look like a mole but idk it it looks good

The first thing we did on arrival was head over to Pockerly, where we looked around the garden and house, but didn't venture over to the landscape or train track area. After that we walked to 1900s town (a mistake, my feet hurt so much by the end of the day, should've got the tram lol). Once there, we got snacks at the bakery before having our lunch at the bandstand and then getting some group photos. 

Amelia made outfits for her nephews and nieces, very cute!

Gossiping outside the milliners

We tried getting some nice photos in 1900s town, however we were being stopped every 2 seconds by other people asking for photos. Instead we went up to the pit village, where for whatever reason I didn't take any photos. Once we did head back to 1900s town, I did get some nice photos of me walking which feel like those street photography photos from back then, even if everyone in the background has modern clothes on haha.

This would be so cute without that pesky banister in the way. Also have no idea what happened in editing for it to be misaligned??

We of course looked around the houses in 1900s town, because they're pretty good photo ops when you're in the clothes of the time. Before leaving, we had a go on the carousel as I still had a few tokens left from the Beamish lolita meet earlier that month (you can read about/see photos here). By now it was close to closing time and we were absolutely exhausted.

The following month, in June, I organised a meet up at Crook Hall Gardens in Durham. One thing I really liked about Crook Hall in particular is that it's so easy to get to from the train station as its only a short walk away. Once I got on the train I realised I'd left my camera at home, so we had to take all our photos on my phone instead this time, but I think they turned out really nice.
It ended up only being Ria and I, but we had a lovely day and it was so much fun! The weather was perfect~

The first thing we did was make our way through the beautiful gardens to find a spot to have our picnic. We didn't have the most ~historical~ picnic this time, since it was just the two of us. We both brought strawberries, which were comically different sizes lol.

After that we packed up our stuff and looked around the gardens properly, and got many lovely photos. It was such perfect weather and a really lovely day!

I decided to wea my GibsonGirlDress lingerie dress set again, but changed it up by wearing my gold belt as well as my black American Duchess boots which tied in with my handmade hat nicely. I also thought my little peach cherub brooch would be a nice touch as well as a locket necklace. My legs were far too hot in those stockings though, I think I need to find some that aren't as thick.

It was such a beautiful and hot day we got ice lollies, hung around enjoying the day, and taking even more photos. Yet somehow we still ended up exhausted by the time the garden closed and we had to get the train home.

I'll be posting even more of this years historical costume looks soon, the next one will have my 18th century outfits~!