Accessory Challenge: January Round-Up

You all know about Kendra’s book on 18th-century hair/wig-styling, right? You’ve signed-up for the pre-sale, right? Because it only lasts till the end of January, & if she doesn’t hit the goal, then we won’t get all the fabulous authentic historic images we need, & she’ll have to cut out something crucially important that you really want. Don’t let that happen, m’kay?

If you can’t afford the book right now, just put a mini down payment on it, & that will apply towards your later purchase. Do it now! Why yes, this all fits in terribly well with the January accessory theme of hair & wigs!

Taylor at Dames a la Mode whetted our appetite for hair-styling help with her excellent tutorial on Regency hair. I love all the photos, very useful.

And for a little catching up, check out Sahara Zara Morocco on Shoes First, Then Corset — she embroidered a fabulous Elizabethan coif (I’d totally steal that!) for the hats challenge plus made a cute Regency reticule for the bags challenge.

Who doesn’t love a reticule? Caroline of Dressed in Time embroidered one with a basket motif on one side & her initial on the other. Very sweet.

Looks like you’re all embroidery fiends — Quincy at In the Long Run embroidered a beautiful 18th-century pocket for the bags challenge. I’m impressed by everyone!

The February challenge is jewelery, so let’s bling it up. Pearls, gems, all the bits we use to dress up our outfits. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, & more. These can be extremely easy to make (string some beads for a bracelet) or incredibly complex (paint a miniature portrait for a necklace). It’s up to you, because there are plenty of extant examples dating very, very far back. In fact, jewelry tends to be of the few things that survives all the way back to pre-history. Beads have been recovered from neolithic graves, & gorgeous jewelry survives from ancient Egypt & Greece. More recent eras have loads of jewelry shown on museum websites, so you can go nuts getting inspiration.