Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Jane Austen Evening 2011 - Menswear Recap

The men pulled out all the stops this year at the annual Jane Austen Evening! The ladies looked lovely, as always, but I thought the men really stepped it up. I've got a few pictures to share of the dapper men - but I missed quite a few, there were too many good-looking gents!

And first, what you've all been waiting for...drumroll please...

Chris in his suit! Here he's got on his tailcoat, waistcoat, shirt and cravat. You can see the little ventilation hole in the shirt that he insisted on leaving open lest he die from the heat. The 1930's pants were a big hit - lots of men were wearing modern pants, and he even got a few compliments on them.

 The annual meeting of the Tolerant Husbands Society. This Society is also open to any male friends or brothers that one might be able to bribe with cookies.

Look at the fabulous fit on this outfit! You have to be confident to wear it, that's for sure, and he was quite snazzy. I like the shirring at the sleeve cap. 

I snuck a back view - since he was gracious enough to pose for the front, I figured it was okay. :o) 

Another Chris! This gentleman sews his own clothes (maybe sometime I can get mixed up and bring him home instead of mine? Nah, we'd just fight over the ironing board or something). He's the mastermind behind this Royal Naval uniform that I've drooled over many times - I was so excited when I saw him walk by and had to go over to introduce myself!

I got a closeup of his neckcloth, very impressive! Chris said he used rice starch on his cravat, and Lauren realized that he used the Perfect Pleater for his shirt ruffles. I found his post on the rice starch on the Regency Society of America message boards, where he is a frequent poster, and I'm sure would be willing to answer any questions you might post. I'll probably pop over with a few of my own!

 Undoubtedly the cutest young gentleman at the Ball. Look at those stockings!

These next two outfits might be my favorites of the night, for sheer ingenuity. These men were accompanied by lovely ladies who deconstructed and repurposed thrifted suits, and turned them into incredible regency wear. What a great idea! you get all the fun of making cool collars etc, without having to make the icky welt pockets! (And they were quite well-done too - it wasn't until I was told *the secret* that I saw how they were remade!)

Another repurposed Regency suit, and the fine lady who made it. 

Showing where she pieced the tailcoat together - cut a little off the front, add it to the back, and voila!

And here ends my menswear recap...don't worry, I know I still owe you a review of the waistcoat I made, and probably a couple other things... :) If you want to see the tasty cookies from the event, pop over to V is for Vintage and say hi!

10 comments:

  1. What a fun time! The coat looks splendid!

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  2. Thanks so much! I need a little break from this project, but I'm inspired by the linen coat you're making and I'd like to try one. I think Chris would appreciate having a lightweight coat (especially if we attend any Regency events in the warmer months!).

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  3. That looks like a great evening. I am currently doing a dissertation essay on Dandies and Dandy culture in the modern day, and having just found your blog and had a quick scroll through, I can see it is going to be a useful link. I was so busy looking for modern day dandy equivalents, I didn't stop to think about all the men dressing up as the originals, it will be an interesting tangent.

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  4. My first impression of the 1930's pants was that they were "Cossacks", wide trousers gathered at the ankles. So the look is quite Regency-period!

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  5. Oh right! The Cossack look was exactly what we were going for! How clever of you to realize. ;)

    Thanks for finding me here - I look forward to seeing you at another event!

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  6. I love your blog! My teenage children (son age 16 and daughter age 13) and I are going to a Regency Ball in March, along with a group of their friends. We are diligently working on costuming. The women's costumes are EASY compared to the men's! LOL Thanks for the idea. BTW, my son wants to go 'steampunk' though I know that it is usually a more Victorian look. Any ideas for me?

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  7. What a wonderful night that was! Of course Chris looked amazing! Seriously, you can't even capture how brilliant this coat was in photos. In person it's just to die for! A standing ovation for your skills of a husband dresser :)
    All of the men dressed wonderfully!
    Heh. Tolerant Husband's Society. And how! Hehe
    xoxo

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  8. I was wondering if you made the awesome 30's pants and if you had a pattern idea. The coat looks really nice! I made a similar one for my husband a year earlier and would have appreciated all the documentation you did to use on mine (pad stitching-which I opted not to do!, etc.) I LOVE it when people share their projects and knowledge and what they've learned throughout the process. :-)

    Karen (the Mrs.)

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  9. I didn't make those pants, Chris actually went to a tailor with a copy of the Sears catalog in tow and had some made. But Evadress has a couple repro patterns for men's trousers that you could try.

    http://www.evadress.com/mens.html

    And thanks for the compliment! I'm hoping this blog will be useful to someone down the line. I'll be adding more when I make him some new stuff for next year's Ball.

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