Edwardian Ball

A couple of weeks ago, Mark and I attended the Edwardian Ball at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco. Not having a proper ballgown, I pulled out the next best thing: the skirt I wore as a bridesmaid in my friend Laura's wedding ( a wedding is sort of ball-like, right?). As it turned out, the skirt worked beautifully with this ruffled top by Sequoia and Gita, which doesn't typically get a lot of wear except for parties and going out; it's something even I wouldn't dare to wear at work. In order to give the skirt fullness and length, and also to bring in a little black, I layered the skirt and top over my black tulle-skirted dress, and topped the whole thing off with my brown and black waist cincher corset.

Mark wore some new high-waisted trousers and a button-down shirt that he got from Gentleman's Emporium; we were both impressed with the quality of these items, especially for the price (pssst: they have women's clothes too!). The vest was thrifted and embellished by Mark, and both of our hats were made by me, natch. I also made the hat that I loaned out to our friend Cat, who is in the photo above with Mark. The plume of burgundy feathers looked gorgeous with her full-length vintage gown (which you'll just have to take my word for, because I took these photos with my phone instead of a proper camera, and the flash wasn't strong enough to get any detail).

The ball was really wonderful, with a lot more going on than I expected. Whereas Steamcon was, well, mostly a steampunk convention, the Edwardian Ball was loaded with entertainment, interesting exhibits, and other delights. There were some great musical acts, a trapeze artist, an indoor croquet course and best of all, an absinthe bar! Not only that, but the costumes were simply out of this world; San Francisco is certainly a town that loves to have an outfit for every occasion, and people really lived up to that reputation and put a ton of effort and creativity into their outfits. The whole event was truly a feast for the eyes.

Next year we'll probably be looking to get a vendor table for our shop, because as expected, hats and other accessories were popular items in the vendor hall.

For some delicious eye candy, be sure to check out Neil Girling's blog The Blight for a stunning gallery of Edwardian Ball images.

The indoor croquet course. Note all the hat-adorned heads in the background.