Finally! The gown itself is done! Finished the last rows of the blasted ruffles and hemmed and trimmed the skirt. I love the ruffled skirt now — when I put it on, I realized how perfect the ruffles go with the polonaise. Ruffles give extra fullness, as a petticoat would, but better. The pouf of the ruffles balances the pouf of the pleated polonaise “bustle” in the back. It looks absolutely faboo together, and, yes, it was worth it!
Sushi necklace & earrings
Finishing touches: Hung some of the sushi beads (plus tiny black bugle beads) from black venice lace to make a choker. Did the same idea on earring hooks, for a matched set.
Sushi hairsticks
Two of the sushi erasers already had holes in the bottoms — the perfect size to fit on the ends of chopsticks! I can use them alone as hair sticks or poke them through the bow at the back of the hat, a la hat pins.
For the hat, I gathered up a tube of black tulle and tacked that around the brim of the hat, to give the sushi erasers something to nestle in. Added a black silk flower from the Stash. Glued the erasers down and used a couple more of the large sushi beads too.
Decorated sushi hat
So the gown is complete. (And I hear you all breathing a sigh of relief thinking “thank the frickin’ gods, now maybe she’ll shut up about the damn thing!” heh, no such luck, kiddos 😉 See, you must understand, I will have almost nowhere to wear any of these costumes. I just don’t go to that many costumed events, & the ones I do attend don’t necessarily have anything to do with my latest costume obsessions. The sushi victorian is a slight exception, in that I’m making it specifically for an picnic in October. But still, I’ll get to wear it that one day for a few hours, & that’s all.
I’ve resigned myself to not wearing my costumes. I don’t have much choice about it. Yet, I can’t stop myself from creating more of these ridiculous outfits. Thus, I feel compelled to take & post as many pictures as possible of the process & finished project. Pictures online have replaced wearing costumes in public for me. Egotistical? Sure. Narcissistic? You bet. But it’s all I’ve got, so gimmie a break 😉
Another thing — I think I missed my calling in costuming. I’m really enjoying these silly costumes much more than the serious ones. I should have been a costume humorist. I wasted so many years making proper Renaissance court gowns & serious fantasy things when I’d have been better at funny costumes.
Finally, let me crow a little bit about the fact that I have completed the vast majority of the whole costume (only hat, choker, & T’s cravat & pocket square to make) this far in advance! Based on tonight’s meeting w/a contractor, it looks like September will be taken up with remodeling the garage, so it’s a damn good thing I’m done w/the sushi victorian now. The picnic is the 1st wknd of October, & I’ll have no time next month to do any costuming. Whew.