It’s raining! There’s nothing prettier than a June Shower in the West. 🙂
I‘ve been going through the photo archive and came across a couple of pictures that were taken of me at an event at Old Tucson Studios. Here I am wearing an early 1880s day dress made of antique (pre-WW1 era)  plum/wine-colored silk matte brocade for the bodice and overskirt, and the skirt is a dyed to match silk faille trimmed with burgundy silk velvet, thrown in the dye batch to coordinate. The chapeau is an original 1880 (and rare) “flowerpot” hat, complete with original milliner’s tag on the inside, the sterling sash pin is from the time period as well.
And in this picture, I’m sneaking out to Chinatown…
Adam and I hamming it up for the camera…
It was cold the day we were there and it even hailed- but all the better excuse to be able to wear my winter clothes. 🙂
And just for something different today- this was taken at Old Tucson Studios a couple of years ago when we were there attending Wild West Con. It was a cold March day so wintery attire was in order… 🙂
Las Saturday, I had the opportunity to visit  Old Tucson Studio’s movie ranch at Mescal (aka Mescal) to do a photo shoot and otherwise participate in a gathering bringing together of those who either worked on the movie Tombstone or are “Tombstone enthusiasts.” Organized by my good friend Laurie Jagielo, this event honors both the movie and those who worked on making this iconic film. Located close to Benson, Arizona, Mescal is an 80 acre open movie ranch with a western town, various ranch buildings, and a lot of open space with no modern structures in the background. Over the years, Mescal has had a lot of westerns filmed here to include Tombstone and The Quick and the Dead. 🙂
So without further ado, here are some pictures. First, there was the pre-event party (and birthday party for one of the participants) at Big Nose Kate’s in Tombstone:
First there was the dressing of the organizer herself, Ruby Whirlwind (aka my good friend Laurie Jagielo…here she is pausing for one quick moment before dashing off to her appointment:
And of course, myself. I decided to go “saloon girl” for the night. The proper historical look is a lot more covered up than what people expect: 🙂
First, the underpinnings…
And now the dress…
Getting ready for the evening’s festivities…
After dressing others, this is about as good as it was going to get for me. Yes, I actually stepped away form the sewing machines!
And for the festivities themselves, here we are! Can you see a common theme in the style colorway? 🙂
And even Doc Holliday (aka our good friend Stephen Keith) can cut up a bit…
And on to Mescal…
Mescal was beautiful and the weather was extremely cooperative. I haven’t been to Mescal in years but things for the most part hadn’t changed…well except that Herod’s house was completely destroyed (I wonder HOW that happened? 😉 ).
Here Doc Holliday takes in “his” town… 😉
And here I am, fresh off the stagecoach from Benson…here’s a better view of the saloon exterior:
And now for a few of me… 🙂
Peter Sherayko and I…remember Texas Jack Vermillion from Tombstone? Part of the event was a special birthday celebration for him, hosted by Laurie as well.
And one of me in the saloon…(Photograph by Guy Atchley)
Group Portrait (Photo by Guy Atchley)
And the group shot, I’m up towards the top in the right, next to Doc Holliday. The dress should be a giveaway. 🙂
And here’s me at the end of the day, back at No. 11…tired, but happy.
And to top off the day’s fun, a Jack Russell hug. <3 Three days of very little sleep, my corset is the only thing keeping me vertical! Mescal is a fascinating place with a lot of movie history and I look forward to going back in the future. And that concludes my very busy week in Tombstone. See you down the trail! 🙂
Taking a quick break before the second round of excitement starts. I had a quick thought this morning…I realized that I know my neighbors first (and last) names and sometimes they even visit. In LA, that would be…just weird. 🙂
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