A couple weeks ago, as we drove down to a local museum, we decided that we should go watch the Canada Day fireworks. I was pretty sure I would be working until early evening, but that doesn't matter much in Edmonton. The fireworks don't start until 11pm, because it's not dark enough until then to appreciate them.
We thought we'd head downtown a little early and have a picnic first. I cannot remember how picnic attire came up but it did. "What does one wear to a Canada Day picnic?" we asked ourselves. "A Regency dress, of course!" I declared.
There was a brief pause. "BEST IDEA EVER!" we said.
I already had a dress made, complete except for a hem. My companions did not, but the dresses are so easy to put together it doesn't take long. I briefly pondered making a new one in the two days before the event, but decided that I made such a fuss over getting my current dress hemmed that I wouldn't give myself the extra stress.
But now I have a new worry. Head coverings. Up until probably the 1960s, no one left the house without some kind of covering on your head. It simply Was Not Done. Not that anyone but us will care that our heads are bare, but we're already going with historical underpinnings and dresses, why not add that one extra layer and have our heads covered too?
I used this tutorial at Simplicity.com to modify a hat I purchased at Walmart into a bonnet. It has a straw brim and a baseball-style crown which I can wear perched on the back of my head and tied beneath my chin for a reasonably close historical look. The crown needed covering, and I had to add ties of course. I used some scrap satin and ribbon, and overall I'm quite pleased with the finished product :) It took around 2 hours to make, and had a total cost of approximately $15.
Here's how the hat used to look:
Here's my materials:
And the finished product:
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