Every year we journey to Annapolis for the annual St. John’s College v. Naval Academy Croquet Tournament. It’s the event of the year–not because of the game, which I frankly still don’t know enough about to actually watch with any interest, LOL, but because of the event itself.
I’ve no doubt explained it before–everyone dresses in their finest, the ladies don hats, and if you took a slice of the crowd, you could easily mistake it for an Edwardian gathering.
Years ago I asked for this hat for Christmas, and it remains the quintessential croquet hat. 😉 Sadly, I haven’t worn it for years because the dress I’d gotten to go with it did a serious fading on me (Grrrrr) and looks seriously terrible. But I’ve never been able to find a replacement.
This year I got aggressive and started looking online. I eventually decided to make an investment in this lovely raspberry vintage gown, with the thought that I can not only wear it to croquet for years to come, I can also, if I decide to be brave, wear it to the ACFW awards gala. Watcha think? Ought I be so brave?? Not that the dress itself would be brave, but I’m thinking I could pair it with the hat for conference too, if I’m feeling inspired. 😉 We shall see.
Now the final step is finding some truly fantastic Edwardian-style jewelry . . . but I think I might have the perfect thing, just need to get it restrung. Oh, the Joy of dressing up! Now here’s hoping it’ll fit my sister too so she can wear it to my book signing in Hagerstown, MD on May 5!
(And for you Edwardian fans, I just started watching Downton Abbey on Netflix. Just a random aside . . .)
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
Gorgeous dress AND hat. Need pix too 🙂
LOL, Anne. And I didn't even notice the mistake. 😉
That should say belle, huh?
That dress is fantastic!!! And the hat…AWESOME! Definitely wear it and post some pictures. You'll be the bell of the ball, uh, game 🙂
Ooo, fun! I wish we dressed more too. So much fun. That's why I love this event every year, and I'm seriously considering making the ACFW gala each year an excuse to wear period attire. 😉
I just ordered the dress this morning, Annette. =) I promise that once it's here, I'll have pictures!
It's a ton of fun! And I'm only on episode 3 of Downton, but I'm seeing what all the fuss is about. 😉
Go for it!! I love the dress and the hat! I wish that our culture dressed up a little more often. I also really wished they wore hats like those.
Last summer my family attended a Civil War Ball. We took a few of the English country dancing classes they were holding before the event. It was a lot of fun but a bit complicated. At the dance, you could either dress time period or just formal. My family opted for the time period dress. We turned a few 1980s bridesmaid dresses into Civil war time period dresses, complete with the hoop skirts. It was very exciting and I would love to do it again. Maybe with some different dresses though. Our dresses looked only sort of time period. We would need to hunt down some proper hats too.
Pretty! But I want to see a picture of YOU in them!
Roseanna,
That dress is GORGEOUS! You should definitely wear it to the gala!!! Oh I would LOVE to go to a croquet tournament. Sounds like such fun. Too bad Annapolis is so far away. 🙁
Also LOVE LOVE Downton! Can’t say enough good things about that show, set in one of my favorite eras. 🙂