Miss Texas Czech Queen to be honored with Queen's Ball

The new Miss Texas Czech Queen will be crowned on Saturday, April 28, 2012 in West, Texas. Many thanks to our reigning Queen, Miss Amy Holecek of West, Texas. What a wonderful Queen she has been! Her Little Czech Sister was Kynlie Foit.

The Czech Heritage Society of Texas is making final plans now for the pageant that will be held at the KC Hall in West. The pageant is held annually at the club's state meeting and is open to the public. Opening ceremonies will be at 9:30 a.m. On-state interviews will be at 10 a.m. and kroj modeling will follow at 11:30.

After a barbecue lunch, the CHS will hold their business meeting. The crowning of the new Queen will be at 3:30 p.m. If you plan to attend, the CHS asks that you RSVP to 254-863-5665 so that they can get an accurate meal count.

New this year, will be a QUEEN'S BALL sponsored by the McLennan-Hill chapter of the CHS. The dance is open to the public and will also be held at the KC Hall from 6-10 p.m. The cost is $8 per person. Music will be provided by THE CZECHAHOLICS.

Guests are invited to wear their Czech kroj. But if you don't have a Czech costume, the dress is casual. For more information, call 254-863-5665.

I hope you can make plans to attend. I will be sure to be there and who knows, I may even wear one of the Czech costumes I made!!! What do you think, should I?

Antique Costume

You may recognize this costume from a previous post (May 2011). It was given to me by a reader of this blog. (Many thanks!!) It is quite old and the person who gave it to me said it has been in her family forever. The costume appears to be Bohemian, possibly from an urban setting and would have been worn by a mature woman.

I cleaned the blouse with a gentle detergent, Biz and Shout. I put a color catcher in the water just in case the black thread along the neckline started to bleed. The lace appears to be handmade, and it is beautiful. I took the vest and skirt to the cleaners. There is a white underskirt that is heavily pleated. I have not cleaned it yet; not sure how without ruining the pleats.

I still have much to do but I thought you might want to see what it looks like all put together. I will post more pictures as I make progress.

Many thanks to the fans of my Facebook Czech Costumes page for their expertise. Click the Facebook icon to the right of this page and you can follow the comments and meet others interested in Czech costumes.