Well, we spent a good day in Tombstone- I was very busy as one of three judges for the costume contest which was sponsored by the Tombstone Vigilantes. We had a good time judging the contest, there were many excellent entries and two hours later, we had out decisions.
Yes, it was definitely blue dress today! Here’s some more pictures…
We’ll have more soon!
Good morning! It’s Sunday in Tombstone and today is the big finale of weekend- more details on that soon…in the meantime, here’s a few pictures from yesterday.
Yes, it was definitely red dress day!
We finally made it into town and had a nice walkabout…it was nothing dramatic but it allowed us to wear some of our clothes. And yes, today I opted to wear the red dress!
Our passion to help set the standard for reproducing late 19th Century garments begins with an understanding of all the details found in original/extant garments. Often, when we look at reproduction garments (film, reenactment, old time dress-up), we notice that they often repeat the mistakes found in tired, mass-produced reproduction patterns. To us, the only true way of recreating late 19th Century garments are by starting with an examination of original/extant garments. All our designs are based on originals garments and probably 80% of those specific designs are based on extant garments in our collection; if you view our social media (Facebook, Instagram), you will see our designs next to the originals that inspired them.
Side-by-side comparison. Now, bear in mind that our designs are not always line-for-line reproductions but rather we use various period design elements and combine them to create more of “inspired-by” creations.
This is the heart of the patterning/design operation- pattern pieces are checked by placing on a mannequin as well as “walking” the pieces and truing up the edges. Yes, this takes time and effort but it avoids mistakes and saves a lot of time and eliminates a lot of grief in the end. Trust us… In future posts, we’ll have more on our design philosophy.
Good morning from No. 11! Friday was a pretty uneventful day and we spent it in regular clothes, catching up with various household choses and a shipping run to Sierra Vista. Pretty boring stuff! As of late Friday, there weren’t a lot of people in town, at least now the way it was when we first started coming here in 2002 (we bought No. 11 in 2003). Back then, the event “Rendezvous of the Gunfighters” was held and it was quite the event, attracting just about every Old West-themed reenactor group in the Southwest. Getting a hotel room was impossible (unless you booked up way in advance) and there were lines running out of every bar and restaurant. It was quite the spectacle, to be sure.
Unfortunately, time, the Great Recession, and changing life circumstances slowly put an end to this and now, most of the visitors are the more “normal” sort of tourists. The event itself has gone through a number of name changes and such so things are on a smaller scale than they used to be. There’s still gunfighters…just fewer of them. For us, thing really haven’t changed much except that No. 11 has gone through a number of transitions and improvements and it’s better than ever and we’re hear on a regular basis, whether it’s for an event or a non-event weekend.
Just for perspective, here’s a picture of the living room at No. 11 not long after we bought the house:
And after…
OK, we went a little nuts with the pictures but you get the idea…it’s been an interesting, sometimes bumpy trip but 22 years later we’re still going strong and we have a lot of plans for the future to include another film so stay turned for more.
