The theme for Costume College 2026’s Friday Night Social was My Villain Era Party, and it took me a while to figure out what to wear. C’mon, villains, that’s right up my alley! There were too many cool villains to choose from. Finally, I settled on Erzsébet Báthory, the so-called blood countess who bathed in the
The theme for Costume College’s Thursday night welcome party was “Camp! Cinema” in 2026, and part of the description included: “Think What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? meets Pink Flamingos, with a dash of Rocky Horror and a full face of glitter.” And for the first time in a long while, I was inspired to
My house turned 100 years old in 2026, so I decided to throw it a birthday party! I did a ton of research about my house and the neighborhood, and even though I’m not a fan of ’20s fashions, I decided to make a ’20s dress for the event. The party was “1920s costume admired
Since we didn’t go to Carnevale in 2026, Kendra and I decided to throw a big birthday party for ourselves. Our birthdays are in the same week in February, and often in the past few years we’ve been in Venice so there’s no need for an additional party. So this time, we rented out Little
For some reason, I fixated on this one Edward Gorey illustration and wanted to make the outfit. It’s big and shapeless and not directly connected to a specific historical period (unlike some Gorey drawings). It seems this drawing wasn’t part of a book or story, and according to one website, this drawing is part of
The Bella Donna Historical Performers were invite to participate at the Wyld Hunt Fae Ball in 2025. The event’s theme was fairy and fantasy, but somehow we landed on doing witchy dark group costumes. We all bought the same filmy black fabric and made our own style of drapey gowns with it. Everyone created some
For a trip to France in 2025, I wanted a new outfit and was inspired to try the levite style because it’s a little more casual and it just seemed interesting. Also, I was inspired by Kendra’s book and articles she’s written on the topic. I considered draping a pattern based on her work and
While many of us simply adore immersing ourselves in past times, the history, the fashions, the literature, and all the ephemera, one thing we take for granted is our modern corrective eyewear. If you’re lucky to have 20/20 vision, or still young enough that the natural degeneration of eyesight due to aging hasn’t caught up
I had one last-minute “stretch goal” costume for Carnevale 2025 that I managed to finish — I wanted to use the 2 yards of bisexual stripe silk from Silk Baron to make a jacket from the tried-and-true JP Ryan 1750-1780s jackets pattern. I also had some purple taffeta in the stash that coordinated well to
For a Noah’s Ark themed party at Carnevale 2025, I looked around at what costumes I already had that I could use and found Leonard’s leopard-print silk breeches and waistcoat. Perfect base for an 18th-century-ish leopard! I found a faux-fur vest on eBay and carefully chopped it up to make a tail, mitts for front
Remember that 18th-c. Does 17th-c. Masquerade Gown that I was so excited about, but then got almost finished making and hated it? When planning for Carnevale 2025, I came upon a way to resurrect it into something more me that I could love — and get multiple uses out of. The party theme was Cabinet
When I heard there was a Pre-Raphaelite ball at Carnevale 2025, I poured through paintings for inspiration. I love this style and have several pre-raph prints hanging in my house, so there were many to chose from. But being me, I also wanted something dark and gothy, which isn’t as typical of this genre. Then
One last project for 2024 — a new caftan to wear in Cancun! I found this pink bat-print cotton and just had to make it up into a retro ’60s caftan. Easy-peasy project and I definitely want to use the pattern again, especially since I already have several caftans in this exact style, both vintage
It’s been a long time coming, but I finally finished Leonard’s pink suit! I made the pants and waistcoat back in 2023 and commissioned the matching coat around then too. But I never got around to trimming the coat until I was inspired to wear the whole outfit for the Salon at Palais Royal event
Sometime in early to mid 2024, I got a hankering for a new 16th-century outfit. No reason, nowhere to wear it, just wanted one. And not necessarily a fancy one either. I decided to order the Tudor Tailor pattern for a woman’s round gown and see how that made up. Although first, I realized I