Specifically, this is a review of Patterns of Fashion 5: The Content, Cut, Construction, and Context of Bodies, Stays, Hoops, and Rumps c. 1595-1795 by Janet Arnold, Jenny Tiramani, & Luca Costigliolo with Sebastien Passot, Armelle Lucas & Johannes Pietsch, to give the full title and credit to all involved. It’s on sale exclusively from
For the Costume College 2015 Gala, I wanted to go along with that year’s “Plucked From the Pages” literature theme. And one of my all-time favorite book characters is Cathy’s ghost in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It’s such an iconic scene from gothic literature. Of course, I’ve made this costume before back in 2002
Did you know Kendra wrote a book? My BFF Kendra wrote an awesome book about how to style 18th-century hair & wigs, chock full of historical research & documentation. It was ready for sale at Costume College 2014, so I wanted to help promote it. I decided to wear the wig I modeled for her
Kendra mentioned this to me at Costume College & I was all “meh.” And then I realized, hey now, I can Carnevale-ize this baby! It’s a two-fer — make a big crazy 18th-century court gown now, goth it up & do it in OTT me style, then I’ll be all set should I need to
For Costume College 2013, I was invited by Loren to join a group creating Disney villains — but 18th-century versions! This was inspired by a group of costumers who had done 18th-century versions of Disney princesses at the previous year’s Gala & were planning to wear their outfits at the Ice Cream Social. Since I
A little something we did in France!
It was freakishly hot the night of the party, so these are not the best pix o’ me, as wearing a wig makes me pour gallons o’ sweat (I’m *such* a lady). But halfway thru the night, I went to the restroom and saw myself in the mirror and realized, damn, this looks good! Totally
For the Northern California Pirate Festival in 2013, Bella Donna attended as “The House of the Rising Sun,” a New Orleans house of ill repute and gambling establishment. So we dressed in essentially 18th-century undress, plus lots of makeup and bling. Since I wasn’t satisfied with anything in my closet, I whipped up a new
This has got to be my favorite costume I made for the Chateau de Pys trip — the black silk francaise that I hand-sewed 75% of (not necessarily by choice). That amount of hand-sewing is a first for me, and hopefully a last. But it looks good and didn’t fall apart on first or second
I haven’t really blogged this outfit because I made it up pretty fast and out-of-my-head. It’s a basic kimono shape that I free-handed, using old bamboo/cotton mix sheets for the lining and silk taffeta for the outer. This proved to be an incredibly comfortable and stylish combo. The trim is some metallic stuff from Jo-Ann’s,
Pictured here at Chateau de Pys in 2013, this redingote is made of a striped rayon/mystery fabric, fitted out with velvet batwing collar and cuffs painstakingly hand-edged in silk ribbon. It’s paired with the same black silk petticoat I wear with a lot of my 18th-century outfits. I added a simple black fichu to fill
First worn at Chateau de Pys in the south of France, 2013. Made of silk-cotton border print fabric lined in cotton. Accessorized with a silk organza cap I made from my own pattern (about half hand-sewn), a silhouette pendant given to me by Kendra some years ago, and a silver bat brooch I bought in
I don’t have any sewing progress photos because I’m just going, going, going. Also, the black francaise took up permanent residence on my dressform for months, so I couldn’t photograph anything else effectively (I tried some iPhone mirror pix in the middle of fitting stuff on myself, & wow, those sucked). The to-do list for
But let’s not get too excited about it. Here’s why: Much of this stripey redingote was made three years ago & has languished in the UFO box, so I didn’t have a ton of work left to do on it. But because I’d started it so long ago, it wasn’t in great shape, &, of
The problem with working on several costumes simultaneously is that I don’t get that “ah, finished!” feeling from having completed any one item. All my projects are in a state of half-done, all at the same time. It’s annoying & not my usual mode of operation. But I’m in deep now, & there’s no turning