I'm in a bit of dreamer's state these days.  It's the result of a long January that has rendered me broke for the rest of my month which means I have to amuse myself with the contents of my dusty wardrobe.  By dusty, I mean, I have to keep pulling things out that I haven't worn in an eternity and deciding what fate they shall face; the bin or rejuvenation.  I tend to always opt for rejuvenation because I'm a hoarder.  Such is the case with the Primark military jacket which I dramatised with a white felt ruffled train.  Then incidentally, Foto Decadent has given me much reason to indulge in my absolute love for all things 18th century, aristocratic and decadent with these posts of Marie Antoinette, Joshua Reynolds inspired images...

Bernard Tartinville

Carl Bengtsson

So... the combination of being skint, staring at my wardrobe for far too long, staring at Foto Decadent for far too long and a spare hour to myself meant I happily indulged in an oufit that is by no means practical or realistic.  I could only ever hope to nod towards a disparate number of things that are vaguely 18th century, seeing as I don't have a massive mantua dress just hanging in my wardrobe, so it's not supposed to convey historical accuracy.  The mask reminding me of masked balls frequently held in great houses.  A feather that I recall from Stella Tillyard's biography on the Lennox sisters being talked of as being 'the latest fashion in court'.  The stockings which I layered over white tights again taking me back to a passage in the aforementioned Tillyard biography.  The coat is like a hybrid of 18th century militia uniform and a ladies night-cape.  Then the layers of tulle just to point out the sheer number of layers that were worn if you include all manners of underwear. 

No it's not a very early Halloween costume but an hour of amusement that might provoke some delving into incorporating 18th century elements of dress into everyday outfits.  Or I'm just incredibly sad and have no life and get joy out of playing random dress-up. 

(The title of this post is from Henry Fielding's 'Tom Jones')