It's been almost two months since I attended the 2nd annual Miss Fisher Convention. If you don't know about Miss Fisher, she is the main character in a series of books by author, Kerry Greenwood. The books inspired an Australian TV Series called Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. A quite liberated lady detective, Miss Fisher, lives in 1929 Melborne, Australia. The Convention, celebrated everything "Miss Fisher". If you haven't seen it, you should. Fantastic show and books and her snappy dressing (ie. beautiful costume design) inspired me to create a whole wardrobe and rope my friends into coming along for the ride.
Photo credit goes to Ms. Jone Stebbins and Angie Berson, who are pictured below. They got quite a few more shots than I over the course of the event and have allowed me to use them here.
The Convention took place in Portland, Oregon, at the Embassy Suites Downtown. We decided to stay at the Hotel Deluxe which was very close and very pretty, as you can see from the photos above. Just the doors to get in are amazing (see above photo)
It all started on Thursday evening at a cocktail party. You can see me above trying to make off with a bottle of Champagne. I got to meet several people I follow on Instagram including the darling Jacqui & also Mary from The Miss Fisher Philes podcast.
My outfit consisted of a camisole & trousers (from my wardrobe basics post) a velvet coat I made and adapted from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library straight coat pattern and an upcycled & refashioned 1970's hat. You can see it's original incarnation here and I'll be doing another post on that hat soon. Please let me know if you would like to see a post about the jacket. I would be happy to show you the adaptation process.
Day two followed swimmingly with several lectures. My favorite lectures were about Women's undergarments in the early part of the 20th century, lock picking and Egyptology. Each of the presenters were engaging and very informative. We all dressed up in 1920's style clothing.
My friend Angie wore a simple, silk embroidered ecru dress that I made several years ago, from a vintage table cloth. She looked fantastic and wore head band that she had from her wedding, along with a long strand of smoky quartz and her own bag and earrings.
Jone wore a dress she sewed herself from another Vintage Pattern Lending Library pattern. You can find it here. The fabric was rayon and silk purchased from Stone Mountain and Daughter in Berkeley, CA. She looked smashing.
As for myself, I wore a completely me-made outfit (aside from my hat made by Cloche Call Hats - more about that later). The floral jacket pattern is from a discontinued Decades of Style pattern that I adapted for a woven and also with a contrasting neck scarf. Printed cotton lawn and silk\cotton Sateen from Britex fabrics. The blouse was self drafted. You can read more about it on my blog post here. The skirt was adapted from a VPLL dress pattern.
We had to leave the event for a short time, to get ready for the Masquerade. Sadly we missed Mary and Jo Jo Stiletto's interview with actor Ruby Reese, who plays Jane, in the TV series. But wonderfully, it was recorded and released as a Miss Fisher Philes episode. Yay! You can listen to it here.
I wore my cape and gown to the Masquerade. It was surprisingly comfortable and I felt so glamorous. Angie wore a true vintage dress from my personal collection along with her grandmother's (Australian) Ostrich feather cape. Jone wore a black dress, hand made headband and mint green kimono style jacket that she made. How lucky I am to have friends who will dress up with me!
The Beautiful Laura (with Fiancee Sean) who gave the undergarment lectures. You can find her on Instagram as @winters.lore and her fiancee @hotrodsmitty
This group is so elegant and dapper and I do love a leopard fez, don't you?
This Aviatrix was my favorite Miss Fisher
The incredible Jacquie and a winning Miss Fisher all in Red.
Jone, Heidi & Angie
These ladies were so glamorous in their beaded gowns.
There were so many great costumes and gowns at the Masquerade! And so many "Miss Fishers". Our dear friend Heidi was able to make the event as well and made it that much more special.
Angie and I breakfasting at Gracie's The wonderful restaurant at the Hotel Deluxe
Jone getting her hat order settled with Cybelle from Cloche Cal Hats
Saturday was filled with more lectures, a luncheon and plenty of shopping. Jone and I both bought a hat from Cybelle of Cloche Call Hats. I was also fortunate enough to find this 1920's silk bed jacket at the Beyond Mirays booth! Can't wait to wander glamorously around my house wearing it. It's so pretty with the contrast stitching, embroidery details and hand made frog closure.
The Con ended with a lecture about food and cocktails from the era - tings that one might eat & drink at dinner party with Miss Fisher. The lovely hostesses, Tamzen & Tarah even gave us a menu with recipes. The icing on the cake was an invite up to their hotel room for a sampling of cocktails. How lucky for us! And Tarah's husband demonstrated his skill at peeling a lemon (see above). I guess that should be expected from a professional lock picker (ie - Security Specialist).
Overall, I had a wonderful time and look forward to next year's Con. What do you think? Will you join me?
Until next time, Happy Sewing!
xoxo Jennifer
