All of us at the Fort Bridger Mountain Man Rendezvous. I sewed all the costumes--mostly 3 weeks prior to the event. Agghhh!!!! I love it though. So this post is going to be heavy on costuming details. Lo siento. But it's the way I keep notes on sewing projects.
So the Fort Bridger Rendezvous is supposed to be pre-1840, emphasis on 1825-1840. It kind of stinks because really the earliest women settlers were mostly just missionaries to Oregon at that point. And it's a rendezvous so no fancy gowns--however I didn't go to the Trapper's Ball so maybe there are more fancy dresses there. The 1830's are funky as far as dresses go but seem out of place for the rendezvous. I don't want to spend the money on buckskin. And anyway, the whole thing is not historically accurate at all as far as any white women go so I guess, whatever. All that being said, what I SAW there was anything from amazing 1760's to really horrible 1860's (I'm referring to the quality of the costumes fyi). Regency was well represented. As was anything "pioneer-ish." I tried for mostly 1840's. Mormon pioneer all the way. :)
See, AMAZING! The guy on the left sewed them. The guy on the right does leatherwork for when they come as mountain men.
Beautifully done 1820's/1830's. I love the green velvet ribbon.
And this is the era, 1760-70's, that I want to do next for my girls and I. I talked to her mom quite a bit. Her dress was impeccable too. Swoon worthy. And then there was the horrible, polyester hoop skirts that looked ridiculous. And the guy dressed as a saloon girl. And the guy in JUST a breech cloth. And the Disney-ish Pocahontas dresses. On the whole though, not even in the same category as the Renaissance Faires' cover-my-children's-eyes costumes. Yay!
You can get an idea about what the adults were wearing by what the kids are wearing. I was so super impressed by it all. There were some stellar mountain men costumes. And I've never seen so many teenage boys dressed up.
And my friends, the Bloods. One of their uncles has been coming every year for 22 years, so they come often with them. There was quite a few kilts.
Anyway, for our costumes, I used Elizabeth Stewart Clark's patterns for the girls. They each have a chemise, stays, and two petticoats on underneath their dresses. The patterns include size 2-14 and are WONDERFUL. The dress pattern comes with several different neck, bodice, and sleeve options and I just let the girls pick whichever they wanted out of all of them. Kiersten's dress I made for Danica years ago from a Laughing Moon pattern. I made Devaney's Indian costume years ago too. Sebas's shirt was the Buckaroo Bobbins pattern I used last year to make all the cowboy costumes. And Ander's shirt was the same pattern and one I made last year and pants from the DI.
For Jubal and Lando I used Elizabeth Stewart Clark's little boys' patterns. I think Lando's fit him too small even though he fit the measurements exactly. And I tried to free hand draft down the pattern to make Efraim's dress. That did not go so well. (The apron is a free pattern on Elizabeth Stewart Clark's site).
And Leo's shirt was Truly Victorian's Men's Victorian and Edwardian Shirts pattern. He got charged coming in the second time (the event is free if your dressed up), so he definitely needs some accessories like a belt or hat. Next year I should make him some pants. My dress is the one I made Megan years ago. It fit me better than if I had tried to fit it to myself. Yay! I had stayed up till three in the morning trying to sew myself a dress, but um, I DIDN'T fit it to me, and it was way too big, and not finished and I was tired and so I was soooo happy that Megan's fit me.
On another note, I couldn't find any examples of stuff to bring for the kids' trading session--it's all supposed to be pre-1840s type items. So in case you need ideas, here's some of the stuff that was there: a slate, paper dolls, a knife sheath, an old kids' native dress, candles, marbles, pouches, and we brought candy. The kids LOVED it by the way. And Anders made out like a bandit. Here's the recipe of the Butterscotch candy from this website And here's the other candy we made: Peppermint Creams from this website.
I don't recommend trying those rock crystal lollipops. So finicky!!! Gah. None of ours worked. What a waste of sugar.
10 years ago
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