And one-two-three

A number of years ago Gaius and I attended a Regency ball at Darkover Con. I did great at the set dances but quickly discovered that I had no clue how to waltz, much less follow a partner's lead.

Last night at the urging of my friend Merrin, I sucked up the nerve to attend Friday Night Waltz at the Oakland Veteran's Hall. (Yes, I know it was Saturday, but they do Friday's in the South Bay and I understand the Veteran's Hall is a new venue. Whatever.)

Despite a long, proud and distinguished career as an insecure wall flower, I survived the 2 hour beginner's class, several waltzes during the dance sets afterward and even did a little swing dancing.  I got dizzy a lot, particularly when dancing with Merrin's nine year old son, Aidan. I  did better with partners who could lead with authority and I was counting like mad throughout. Merrin scolded me for not finding a partner for the second Congress of Vienna set, but sitting out to watch helped me get a better handle on the choreography.

So, the question remains, dare I dig out my Regency for Gaskell's, next weekend?

Operation Horizontal Stripes

  
I asked O-sensei if he could identify the provenance of this photo he has on his website. The response:
" If memory serves, it's a Muromachi era kosode. I can't recall whose -- there's a part of me that wants to say "Tokugawa" but... argh......Hafta go look it up."  Which means he will inevitably forget to look it up. Tony's  THE  go-to gaijin on Nipponica for SCA applications, but he had a tendency to get sidetracked or just plain go missing.

The reason I want this info is that the striped linen I found on clearance at Stonemountain & Daughter is similar. I got a lot done this weekend and all that remains is to attach the collar and do some internal seam finishing on the sleeves. My linen is a beige tone-on-tone jacquard with a narrower dark stripe between wider pale bands.

I've changed my mind about overdying - it's luscious (well, in an understated, summery way), as is.

On the somewhat related theme, I happened to channel surf past something on the Style Network about the costuming for Showtime's "The Tudors." This lady, whose name I have mercifully blotted from my memory, got into the same jar of hallucinogens as the folks who brought us Memoirs Of A Whiny Mutant From A Vaguely Asianoid Alternate Universe.

I once made a married man I'd only known for three days blurt, "Wow, you look beautiful!" while covered in silk from nape to wrist to ankles and wearing an upended basket with curtains on my head. So PULEEZE do not give me this crap about historically correct dress not being sexy.