Too much shopping...er, fun, at the Dickens Fair

Last weekend was my yearly visit to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco. My costume was the same old, same old 1868 gown I've had for years, so I'm not going to talk about that. Instead, I'm going to talk about the lovelies I bought during my visit!

For several years I've admired the feather arrangements and ornaments by PiumaMia Feather Creations. This year, I decided I wanted a feather ornament to put in my hair for the office holiday party. I picked out this collection of blue feathers, flowers, and clear crystals.

Hair clip in shades of blue and clear crystals,
by PiumaMia Feather Creations.

But buying one gave me the encouragement, for better or worse(!), to buy another! So I also bought this large arrangement with red cock feathers, peacock eyes, black ostrich plumes, red flowers and copper leaves. This one works great at so many different angles.

Red and black feather clip or pin
by PiumaMia Feather Creations.

I also paid a visit to Morgyn Owens-Celli of Strawbenders, and picked up this utterly FABULOUS straw hat. It's a modern design, but I find that it works for 1900 or 1930 or 1940 or 1950, depending on how I wear it. I really need to get photos of it on my head, but wasn't set up to take proper photos.

Straw and feather hat by Strawbenders.

Unrelated to shopping, my 1830s bonnet also had its first outing, on the head of my friend Sahrye (this is her blog, check it out, she's extremely talented and creative!)

The very talented Sahrye, in a late 1830s gown by her, and wearing my 1830s bonnet.

Sahrye made her FABULOUS late 1830s gown, inspired by the movie "Young Victoria." Read more about this amazing gown at her blog, It Came From The Stash!.