In my previous posting, I addressed what gentlemen should do with their hats. I will now briefly address the ladies, for whom the rules are altogether different.

As with a gentleman, when a lady went outdoors, she wore a hat. It might be a practical hat or sensible bonnet, or it might not serve any conceivable purpose of protecting the wearer from the ravages of nature -- it might be little more than a tiny caricature of a hat, but it would be a hat.

The subject often comes up at living histories and vintage dances of when a gentleman should wear a hat and when he should remove it. While the stuff they told me in the Army about "Hats on outdoors--hats off indoors" is not a bad rule of thumb, in historical practice, it wasn't always that simple.

This is a repost from my old blog of an entry dated December 2006. I am no longer handling ticket sales, and with the crap economy, sell outs are not as pervasive as once they were, but most of this still applies.

This is a typical tail suit from just before the period that is the primary focus of my website - but since men are notoriously slow to cast aside unfashionable garments that still fit, this is, with the exception of the shirt collar and tie (which seems to be an area where men did keep up with the times) what you might see on an older, more conservative man until the early '60s.

This is a very sober, typical business suit of the early 20th Century. Note the commuter-friendly ticket pocket on the outside of the coat.

The sack suit in these images dates from around 1880. While most sack suits of the time tended to be in sober colors like black and dark gray, a general exception seemed to apply for plaid and plaid sack suits. While not a dominant style, they were not uncommon and allowed a rare opportunity for exuberance in a period of otherwise restrained male fashions.

I recently built a web page to demonstrate an easy way to create a search form you can drop onto any web page that will search your library's online catalog.

The form is accessing the EOS International Sales Department's demonstration catalog. The same model, by changing the specific names, values and URLs, can be used to access many other SQL based online databases.

It also includes a demonstration of and link to one of my favorite tools, "Feed2JS", which takes RSS feeds and turns them into web content.

3rd FRIDAY of EACH MONTH
7:00 pm -­ 10:00 pm
Doors open at 7:00 pm; dancing begins at 7:30 pm

Join the Simi Valley Victorian Dance Society one evening a month for waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and a variety of other dances of the 19th Century ballroom.

Programs will feature instruction and open dancing.

Historical attire is not required. Recorded music. Beginners welcome and no partners required. Comfortable shoes recommended.