Countdown to this year's Fêtes de la Nouvelle France!

January 2009                     
I attended the fourth annual "Party Hearty" for Ottawa's Heart Institute dressed in style. Using a Vogue pattern by Badgley Mischka, I made a fabulous fuschia dupioni silk dress with an embroidered black organza trim. Pictures will be up soon. I finally received the DVD from the TVA interview last summer. I am currently trying to post it on YouTube.

September 2008                           
The trip to Quebec city was a great success. I want to thank all the wonderful photographers that I met who sent me photos taken during the festival. During the festival I was only able to attend one costume contest because the weather was terrible. It rained most days during the week, and I didn't want to ruin my costumes. I did, however win a prize during the one contest I managed to participate in.  

Halloween is coming up fast, and I'm not even sure what my costume will be yet. We'll have to see.

August 2008                         
Every year in Québec city, there is a large festival celebrating the arrival of the French settlers to "la Nouvelle-France". This year's celebration is going to be like none other, marking the 400th anniversary of their arrival in 1608.

To celebrate the 17th century in style, I am working on a French dress reminiscent of the style in 1649; a higher-waisted brocade bodice, pearls, organic cotton petticoat, puffed sleeves with laced cuffs.

Last year was a great success with my pink polonaise. The costume was a reproduction of a fashion plate from the "Galerie des Modes" of 1778-1787, down to the very last stripe. As it was my first time attending the festival, I have made myself some notes for this year's attendance. A hat pin is crucial, purses are annoying to carry, and a parasol over such a huge hat is redundant. Last year saw 35 degree Celsius heat during the festival, and cold water bottles inside one's panniers are not a bad idea.

The pink striped Polonaise (pictured on the right) won me best overall costume and also best costume in the "noble" category.

July 12, 2008                           

I was interviewed for the francophone television show "Via TVA"; They are doing a tour of Canada, interviewing French people who do interesting things. I asked a few friends to model my costumes, and out we went to the Experimental Farm's flower garden, each girl with armfuls of costumes and accessories, under hot 35 degree Celsius midday sun, followed by the "film crew" (consisting of Andrew the camera guy and Léo, the coordinator). I think we all had a good time, the girls all had fun playing dressup (or so they assure me) and have mentioned that we should all play dressup again sometime.

The segment should appear on TVA in about 2 - 3 months, but I will most likely be posting a copy of it on YouTube.