Mighty fine shindig!

[rymenhild]

There is a very good reason that I was not online last night.

I went to a ball. This was not just any ball. This ball was pulled straight from the pages of a Jane Austen novel. Gentlemen in tailcoats and cravats spun ladies in bustled gowns about the floor, to the dignified strains of a brass band. When I was not tripping over my own and my partners' feet, I spent most of the evening gawking at my own gown, a sea-green and pearl confection that my roommate found for me at the Salvation Army. This gown would make Kaylee Frye beam for days. (Weeks?) The green overskirt, gathered with white ribbon bows above three rows (!!) of white lace ruffles, floated above a wide hoop skirt; a tight bodice and low puffed sleeves displayed more of my upper half than I ever show.

I actually felt girly in that gown. It was ... peculiar. Maybe I should have taken my temperature. I might be sick!

Anyway, it was a lovely evening, and now I have to use the last hours of the weekend to catch up on my actual work.

Comments

[bluesbell.livejournal.com]

Sounds enchanting! Lucky girl...

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

It was lovely, yes.

Also, I don't think I ever congratulated you. Mazel tov!

[gramarye1971]

Dressing up? So much fun. *beams*

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Also, you rock. Cadfael showed up in the mail on Friday, and I am waiting until I have actually accomplished something worthwhile before I watch him sleuth. Maybe one evening this week after I finish my grading goal or something. :D Thank you!

[gramarye1971]

*dances* Now that sounds like an excellent idea. Enjoy!

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Glad it was fun! It was, in fact, a most impressive gown.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

And you didn't even see the hoop skirt!

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Oooh...

I think photos are in order, personally.

[cataptromancer.livejournal.com]

Precisely. We have these ways of preserving visual images that are quite effective -- they should be used!

[woodwindy.livejournal.com]

Wow! Sounds splendid... I second the vote for pictures!

[watersword]

That is a fabulous reason for not being online. Pretending to be a girl can be quite fun!

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Does this description mean that it also included proper dancing rather than bopping around on a dance floor shaking your hips and not doing much else, let alone interesting things with your feet? If only Brandeis' formal were of that nature, zodiacmg and I would actually go, and we'd go with enthusiasm... (And hten I'd hae an excuse to dress up, and I Like excuses for wearing lots and lots of pretty fabric. Dressing up in dresses that don't have lots of fabric seems a bit like a waste, to me.)

And I'm all for pictures too...

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Yes, there is proper dancing. Mostly they do waltzes, with a few polkas, schottisches (?) and set dances. Alas, I'm horrid at waltzing.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Waltzing, for a follow, is mostly a matter of following assidiously, at least as I manage it. Otherwise all those turns are horridly confusing. But if you stick to just your basic step and letting your partner sweep you wherever he/she will, it's often pretty reasonable- at least the very basic stuff, which is all I've actually learned.

From the one brief instruction I had in polka, it doesn't seem like a formal dance at all. But that was polka as taught by an international folkdancer...

[ladybird97.livejournal.com]

*swoon* That sounds glorious! Yes, pictures, please!

[obopolsk.livejournal.com]

That sounds wonderful! Glad you had a good time. :)

[nigita.livejournal.com]

Um, yes, that's a good reason. You'll share a photo with your flist, by which we can at least vicariously enjoy a ball?