Early Halloween ~ Marie Antoinette

For the past few years, I have always celebrated Halloween early at Gaskell Ball instead of the usual 31st of October. Last Saturday, I finally achieved a minor goal of becoming Marie Antoinette, garish Rococo makeup and all.

Before the night's festivities, I spent about half an hour on makeup. To capture the over-the-top macaroni look, I used Kryolan Aquacolor white, drugstore cream blush, and "Death White" face powder from the Spirit Halloween store. I chose to take it easy with the eye shadow with only pink and violet in addition to mascara. No fancy makeup brands were used. Aside from the Kryolan white (which is becoming easier to find in specialty shops), everything could be purchased in a drug store.

Next came my beloved peach lolita dress, a lucky eBay find. No, I don't have a full Georgian gown yet, but the short length of this dress makes it perfect for dancing. It's flirty too! The wig was a rental, dressed up with some of my own flowers. I adore wigs! 

Best of all, I had my very own lascivious dandy! The coat and wig are from an old theatre company.

The ballroom put some flats of enchanting turf in the lobby, and Duke was, naturally, riveted. 

His glee was not shared by all the guests that night...

It was another heavenly night, filled with music, friends, and laughter. Danced with my favorite partners and a few new ones, and managed to have both the Sir Rogers prove exceptionally humorous. Finished it off with hot chocolate and carrot cake in Berkeley! Ah!

Gaskell Ball - October 2012

Another fantastic, wondrous Gaskell Ball! The October Ball is always one of most exciting, and for good reason! It's a "Fancy Dress" ball, which references the Victorian practice of dressing up in fanciful, historic, and Shakespearean costumes. So, we spend the night dressing up as Victorians dressing up...

The ceiling...

Duke and I originally planned in going in Indian dress, but we still need more accessories before we can really do those outfits justice, so we wore our Lolita outfits. I wore my favorite Peach Dress, cream tights, character shoes (brand new!), and lace socks, while Duke wore his minty Nehru jacket, trousers, and expansive bow. I wore Victorian-style side curls with flower and rose clips. I had nice curls when I left the house, but sitting quietly in the car was enough to straighten them. I still can't get my curls to set!

We arrived right as the Grand March started, but I had to dress and apply makeup in the ladies lounge, so we started dancing halfway through the first set, starting with a Congress of Vienna (our favorite dance). It's a unique feeling to know a choreographed social dance like the Congress. I'm usually looking at my beau, but every so often I take a glance at the floor and the other dancers. To see a crowd of beautifully costumed dancers partaking in such a romantic tradition gives me a sense of security and satisfaction. Ah, everything might turn out all right. Civility, gentleness, and elegance still exists in the souls of these good people. With every step and gesture, we keep these practices alive.

 

Here's a video of the Galop from that night! There is usually only one Galop per night, and boy, that's enough! It's a fast, frightening, fun, slightly dangerous dance that is usually described as "Victorian Bumper-cars". You hold your partner close and charge  into the crowd, trying your best not to slam into anyone, but casual bumps are normal and fun. It's even better to charge at your friends! Some people try to cross the brass disk set into the center of the floor as many times as they can. You are at the will of your leader, and there is always lots of joyful yelps and woohoos. You can see Duke and I come into the center of the video at 0:04.

Turning into a puddingpuff in the lobby.

After singing our praises to the Queen (yes, we sing "God Save the Queen" after every ball), we headed off to Afters in Berkeley, where I had an apple torte, vegetable chili, and hot chocolate! Can't wait until next the next ball in December!