In most respects it appears to be a run-of-the-mill Colorado garden party – until you spot the furry ears and tails worn by all the females. The gathering’s been billed as a tea and cake party, but there’s free-flowing champagne and open use of marijuana by some. The handful of men are dressed up too, in puffy shirts, vests, hats, and formal pants, shoes and riding boots. Other women clatter across the porch in high heels. They recline on blankets in the grass, while in the parlor some sit delicately on upholstered chairs as a man plays classical piano. The roughly dozen women in attendance, most in their early twenties, are wearing an assortment of slip dresses, gowns, and corsets, all inspired by Marie Antoinette-era fashion. It’s a stunning Saturday in the middle of May, and there’s a party going on. Somewhere in the northern stretches of the Colorado Springs suburbs, enveloped by trees, is a tony neo-Victorian house, painted sky blue with a white wraparound patio and a picket fence enclosing an expansive green yard.
