Shirley and I are still talking about wanting to start a club of women who love to dress up in replicas of Victorian fashions. We are still in the dreaming stage but we really would love to see it come to pass. I am so jealous of the bloggers I read that talk about meeting with other costumers and how much fun they have together. I have a blast with Shirley and our guests so I know it would be a case of the more the merrier.
We have decided to call it Victorian at Heart. We have also been talking about having Victorian styled visitor cards with our contact information on it so we can hand it out if we meet any potential club members. We have also talked about setting up a Facebook page for members so that we can share information and plans with members. These two things seem fairly easy to do and shouldn’t cause too much cash out lay.
Then we talked about how we wanted our club to function. It is one thing to have friends inviting friends. There is an element of confidence that I have that Shirley will invite folks that will be a good mesh with us and vice versa. When you start reaching out to strangers I feel the need to have some protective fences up. (And so I start a blog and broad cast to the wild blue yonder…I admit it. I’m a walking contradiction.)
Thus we debated rules. We have decided the club will be for fun so non-authentic decisions like machine sewing dresses prior to the 1880s will be OK. Synthetic fibers are OK but they must be believable fakes of the authentic fibers. As I said to Shirley, John Deere print fabric would be out. This decision is because of money mainly. For myself, I can’t afford to be cranking out dozens of silk taffeta dress and I’m not likely to find many ultra low-priced bolts of the stuff in thrift shops. It happened once. I’m not counting on that being common! But, we also decided that we wanted the dresses to be hand-made. They did not have to be made by the wearer but they must not have come from a costume rental place or from the Halloween rack in a box store. And if a members first dress sucks the big one…that is OK. The more of us who gather together, the more information we give and receive.
We have decided that we will allow on-line publication of photographs but only of members who have signed a release and they must agree to not using real names. This was our one and only touchy subject. One would hope that folks not interested in having their photos on social media sites and blogs would choose not join the club. Then again, I’m not interested in getting sued.
Then we decided that, at first, we would aim for a minimum of 4 costumed events per year and members must attend one per year to maintain their membership (reasonable exception to the rule apply). Membership would be free.
Its fun/exciting to dream about starting a club. I feel a bit like a kid again. I wonder where it will be in 10 years. A dusty idea that Shirley and I will laugh about or will there be 20 or more members who meet 4 or more times a year for fun and photos. Will people be looking at my blog and saying “Gee I wish there was a club in my area that did this”? Even better…I’d love it if I found out that someone followed Shirley and my steps and started their own club!
Dreams are wonderful things…..
