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Showing posts from November, 2014

Gadsby's Tavern Hunt Ball 2014

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          Last Night, the Hunt Ball at Gadsby's Tavern went off without a hitch. My friend Stephanie and I had a great time of dancing upstairs in the main ball room; originally it was to be in the smaller parlor, but with the capacity of people exceeding more than 80, towards the second half of the ball, we had to move into the main ballroom which was perfect!             We also enjoyed playing a card game called Whist and dice down on the first floor. I got to meet fresh new faces, as well as attendees that I have met before at the Braddock Day Ball, and chat about history with a reporter who writes for the Alexandria Gazette. I also learned a little more about the famous "Female Stranger", and 2 other individuals who passed on at the Tavern back in the 19th century. While it was pretty cool to learn about the history, it was also very creepy.          By the time the ball ended, the temperature got colder and we all knew that it was time to go home. Next even

The Hunt Ball Hair Test

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Since the ball is this weekend, I worked diligently on getting the Regency hairstyle right. I wanted to do something generic but classical, and I after a few tries, I perfected it! . . . Sort of. Because I have a lot of hair, the curls in the back did not want to stay spiraled. So, what I may have to do the night of the ball is add more spiral curls and splash on some holding spray to keep those little buggers curly though out the entire night.

Hunt Ball Gown

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I love the month of November! In spite of the cold, I enjoy looking at all of the different colors of  leaves, and everything else having to do with fall such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and the Gadsby's Tavern's Hunter's Ball. The Hunter's Ball, previously called The Jefferson Ball (sadly Colonial Williamsburg's own Bill Barker, portraying Thomas Jefferson had to cancel), is a ball celebrating everything to do with the hunt: fox hunt, stag hunt, mink hunt... you name it.  Given my limited options (time x money), I had to do some quick thinking on how to make regency ball gown that was related to the theme. I thought about doing something along the lines of a riding ensemble, just like the one pictured below.  It's simplicity is what makes it so elegant :D However, given that I don't have much time to get the materials and the pattern to make a Spencer jacket, I decided to just work with the colors. From my research on British hunting ensembl