CYNICAL NEO-PRINCESSISM: 18th Century summer & Rococo-core Birthday

It's been a long time coming but I finally got around to editing all the photos from my rococo summer!

Beningbrough Hall

In June I travelled to York and stayed with Ria for the weekend as we had historical costuming plans! On the Saturday we had a day out in lolita (you can see photos from that here), and on the Sunday we got dressed up in 18th century outfits and went to Beningbrough Hall. The night before we both stayed up late listening to Kate Bush and doing some last bits of sewing, I had to finish sewing my pocket together (I finished the embroidery on the train down), and Ria had a bit of sewing to finish on her dress. Talk about cutting it close lol. I also brought down a hedgehog wig I styled for Ria! That's right, I had to lug two wigs with me on the train lol.

Unfortunately for us the weather was actually miserable. I had planned to wear my mint Robe a la Francais and my lovely new embroidered American Duchess shoes, but thought to double check the weather before packing and decided to go for this outfit instead. Despite wearing the same dress, with and shoes as the last time I wore it, I tried my best to make a different feeling outfit by incorporating the blue, and I really like how it looks! Sadly we didn't get many good photos in the end, but I've compiled the ones that we do have.

Shortly after arriving and starting to take some photos, a staff member approached us and said we weren't allowed to take photos if it was a professional photoshoot and asked if it was just for personal use. We explained that this wasn't a professional shoot or commercial, just to post to my social media (which I don't get paid for or anything) and that we've never been told this at any other National Trust house. Despite just telling us that personal photos are fine, the staff member said they still had to go and ask if it was okay for us to take our photos and implied we couldn't, and then had then even asked us to tag Beningbrough Hall!

I love the composition of this photo, I just wish our faces weren't mid-expression

Seaton Delaval Hall

In August we had our annual meet up at Seaton Delaval Hall. I decided to put together an improved version of my 2022 look. I'd re-styled the wig using a tutorial from the American Duchess book as guidance and think it turned out much better (although the ringlets could be a bit tighter). I also had my gorgeous American Duchess embroidered shoes to wear with the dress, as well as some new accessories.

I think it would've been nice to change it up even more by pinning the back of the dress to a polonaise style, as the dress does have fastenings to do that. Idk why I didn't think to do that ;;

Ria stayed at mine so we could get ready and travel to Seaton Delaval Hall together. We were lucky enough that Ruby could give us a lift there, so we all travelled there together. Since it was just the three of us we didn't have a super ~aesthetic~ picnic this time. It was a really gorgeous day, so we decided to go around the gardens first this time and head into the house afterwards.

Ria put together a 1920s outfit, and Ruby wore a 30s inspired historybounding look. I probably would've fit in better with an edwardian outfit this time so I wasn't so far in the past compared to them lol. I don't regret my choice to wear this dress again though, I love it and I'm happy to have put together an improved version of my previous outfit with it.

As you can see, since we didn't get many photos at Beningbrough Hall, we ended up taking loads this time!

After taking many, many photos of one another around the garden we got some photos together at the fountain and took a break. We were trying to get a group photo on timer when someone very kindly offered to take one of us~!

Eventually we headed inside, where we (you'll never guess) took more photos!

I love this extra layer of history Diane decided to etch into the red panel room in 1987! And I love that the National Trust kept it

While upstairs we actually played the board game based on the history of the house this time, which was quite interesting. We usually just go past- I won. After we finished the game it was close to closing, so we had to speedrun the rest of the house. By this point my camera had also run out of battery, so I had to take the rest of the photos on my phone. It was such a fun day, I can't wait for summer to come around again so we can do more of this <3

Some candids Ruby took of Ria and I as we made our way to the exit:

Bonus: My Rococo-core birthday

Wig - self styled

Nec klace - Etsy

Top - don't recall

Stays - Etsy

Bloomers - taobao

Pannier - Amazon, customised by me

Shoes - 2nd hand, customised by me

Accessories - offbrand

Bag - Etsy

For my 27th birthday in May I decided I wanted the theme to be Rococo-core. I thought it would be fun to have a very ~aesthetic~ party, and I really like the look of rococo inspired costumes. The goal wasn't to be historically accurate, as not all my friends are into historical costumes, but to bring a rococo vibe. The specific guidelines were: pastels, lace, corsets, stays, big hair, curls, pearls, ribbons & pearls, cakes, lingerie, cottagecore, and playful decadence. Most of my friends are into J-fashion so I was confident they'd all turn up looking great (and I was right!).

I'm sure this may drive some historical costumers crazy, but I hope most of you appreciate it~!

I really wanted to have a lovely spread of snacks, so my mum and I spent the evening before and morning of the party making delicious and cute vegan treats. We baked vegan angel slices, made finger sandwiches. and I even put together a little vegan cheese board! My favourite part was the Nipples of Venus, chocolate truffles meant to look like breasts. I'd learned of them from a Max Miller Tasting History video and thought they would be perfect for a rococo-core party, and managed to find a couple of vegan recipes.

As for my cake, we had tried for months to book one to be made in that vintage style but had no response, so we also baked that the night before, and I iced it myself. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, given I don't have much experience with piping.