Since it's mid summer now, I feel like this is the weirdest time of year to make a post about last year's Christmas ball, but I thought I might do it anyway. Originally I actually didn't plan to make a post about the ball at all (hence the weird timing of the post). I just feel like the posts about this annual event would be too repetitive as the event is very similar each year (although there are some variations in the program). However, my photos do not vary t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶m̶u̶c̶h at all - they're just photos of people sitting at tables and chatting/dining. But it's been a long while since my last post about this event (four years?) and there is one thing that varies a great deal each year and that is what people are wearing to the ball. So in the end, with this being a blog about costumes, I changed my mind about posting about this event. And I do think there are quite a few nice photos that I would love to have documented on this blog, so here we go!
The location of the ball was different to that of previous years. I personally prefer this location, although it may be argued that it is too small a location for dancing. It isn't as dark as in the usual location at Tenalj Von Fersen.
There was a smaller group of us earlier during the day and more people would join us later in the evening for the ball.
As usual, Johanna brought her lovely jewellery shop with her. She was wearing an early 18th century robe battante (a style that you, regrettably, don't often get to see being recreated) in beautiful yellow silk taffeta!
The photos don't do justice to the jewelry sparkling in the candlelight.
On the left in the photo below you can see Heidi, who was attending first time, and Mia looking beautiful in the candlelight! These two gowns are sewn by Mia, and made with the Fig Leaf Patterns 101 that I also used to make my Williamsburg print gown last year. Oh, and they are both made from Ikea fabrics! Heidi's gown is made from Ljusöga duvet cover and Mia's gown is made with a fabric (that is no longer available) that she accidentally found on a site similar to Ebay. We actually didn't know the fabric was from Ikea until I spotted the same fabric on K. Walter's at the Sign of the Grey Horse blog! You can see more photos of these lovely outfits if you scroll down on Mia's Instagram.
And I wore a new dress that I have yet to blog about. I got my jewelry from Johanna and Mia did my hair which was quite big this time!
Another lovely photo of Heidi.
It is so lovely to see some Swedish guests attending every year!
This is my favorite photo of our squad from the evening!
There's also a full-length shot of us, taken with Mia's phone so it's grainy. (And I'm amused by how much shorter I am than the other two ladies.)
It is so lovely to see some Swedish guests attending every year! Below is Elisa (of Isis' Wardrobe), wearing a beautiful late 17th century-early 18th century mantua, of which she has blogged about.
Here's Anna, wearing a gorgeous mantua, and Maija in her lovely pet en l'air that can be turned into a Brunswick (the photos on her website will have you drooling!)!
Pia singing.
It was wonderful to meet Fredrick Ell (on the left) who was also attending the ball for the first time and chat about sewing with him! He has a Facebook page about his work, if you're interested!
I feel like this is an appropriate photo to end this blog post with, as Patrik's (whom you can find on Instagram as well) expression sums up how exciting it was to attend the ball! ;)
(Isn't it funny how this event is a ball but there are no photos of people dancing... 😅)
