Something I'm considering

I've been eyeing two different retro books for a while, both of which would help with costumes and such for Reefer Madness (and also fulfill my need for Retro styles for dances and such). The two books are actually both modern and written by Lauren Rennells of The Bobby Pin Blog and Vintagehairstyling.com, two fantastic resources for anything related to Retro Styling. Anyway, I came across the first book Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques a couple of years ago and found that it is practically the bible for vintage hairstyling. It goes into detail about how to create the exact look you want and what tools to use, plus also contains dozens of easy step-by-step tutorials about how to create vintage hairstyles. Lauren also recently published a companion book on how to create vintage makeup styles. Like the previous book, I've done my research and it also is very thorough with the history of vintage makeup. Both books look really interesting and useful, but I'm not sure if I really want to spend that much on books. Currently, they are both available on the publisher's website (that includes a shipping fee) and on Amazon (where only one is currently in stock, but includes free shipping). Any Leading Ladies want to weigh in on which whether the makeup book would be any use for Reefer Madness?

Beautiful day?

Happy Easter! So far, it has been beautiful outside (I went to brunch without a coat today), but I have been stuck inside prepping for all sorts of mayhem. We have our senior banquet today, so my entire house is setting up for the banquet in the living room. It looks really pretty. However, this morning the first years decided to make breakfast in bed for the seniors, but almost burned the house down. I guess they got toast stuck in the toaster and it started burning. Typical. So the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate around 9:30 am. It's a good thing one of the HONS came and knocked on my door otherwise I would have still been in pajamas.

Also this morning, an alumna came and photographed my room for one of her upcoming exhibits. She specializes in photographing personal spaces and one of my peers had sent around an email that she was going to be photographing in the area, so I signed up. I wasn't actually in the room while she worked, but I do know that she used my regency dress and chemise, my corset, my copy of Corsets and Crinolines, and my sewing box in the photos, which is cool because those are some of my most treasured items I have at school. I don't know exactly when the photos will go up, but hopefully before finals. I'm also hoping to get a copy of two of the photos. That would be cool.


Now back to work on something (maybe stats homework or my Material Culture essay about toys). Au revior!

Merry Christmas!

Yes, another year come and gone. I'm done with my first semester of college and I'm nearly 19. Jeez times flies fast. Christmas was very nice this year (if you don't count my awful cold complete with headache and runny nose - I've gone through several tissue boxes in the past couple days and my upper lip is chapped from blowing my nose so often). I received a couple pairs of shoes, some socks, candy, as well as 3 (well 4) new books. One is Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail by Lucy Johnston, Costume in Detail by Nancy Bradfield, and Patterns of Fashion 1: 1660-1860 by Janet Arnold. I've heard they are all really good books to have in the library for a costumer :) So glad to add them to my collection along with Lucy Barton's Historic Costume for the Stage, James Laver's History of Fashion, Kyoto Costume Institute's Fashion, and Cut My Cote. I'm also waiting for a copy of Stage Makeup by Richard Corson (it's in the mail) for use in my J-term Stage Makeup Course.

I've also been inspired to do something over my break. I still need to finish my corded petticoat (once I find the spool of hemp someplace in my house) and make a new regency chemise (from the remaining batiste from my victorian chemise and drawers). I've been eyeing the JP Ryan stays pattern and kit from Silly Sisters for a while, so I'm planning to order that soon so I have something to work on when I'm back at school in a couple weeks.