One Must Travel, to Learn...

For me, this often means physically travelling to workshops, conferences, and historical sites relating to my wish to better portray history. These last two weekends I have done just that, attending a B&T polonaise workshop (of which I have zero personal pictures- we were very industrious and I just didn't think to snap a shot! Check out their facebook page for pictures of the class.) and the Colonial Williamsburg Wigmaker's conference (for which I also have a sad few pictures to show.)

Both experiences we valuable to me and I learned so much, met some really great new people, and spent time with friends whom I don't get to see in person very often. That alone made both trips priceless.

I was fortunate enough to see some wonderful items pulled from storage relating to the wigmaker's trade and am looking forward to applying some of the techniques, tips, and tidbits I gathered from the various presenters.

Samantha from The Couture Courtesan did an amazing presentation on ear irons which, even though it's not my primary period, was truthfully one of my favorite talks of the weekend. I hope she publishes soon!

Friday evening was the opening reception, and guests were encouraged to attend in "our finery." I wasn't sure if I was actually going to dress in my historical clothes for this (more to bring on the plane) but ultimately I decided why not. I wore my (not quite finished) Italian gown and made up a new wig to blend with my own hair.

Overall, I was happy with the look, but of course there are little things I'd like to fix- you know, like finishing the gown and cuff hems and playing with the hair style a bit more. But, no blog post is complete without pictures, so here are the few I was able to manage of myself for my future reference and for your entertainment. =)

Using a flat iron to set papillote
curls. 

Curls set and ready for frizzing/powder.

Front selfie.

Side selfie.

Hair close up 1.

Hair close up 2.

I always learn so much when I got to these types of events and can't wait for my next opportunity. On another note- I just found out today that my topic proposal was accepted and I will be traveling to St. Charles, IL at the end of January/beginning of February for Military History Fest to give a talk on getting started as a living historian. More on that to come, I promise!