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
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
After Carnevale 2024, I was randomly hankering to make something! And I had this gorgeous burgundy liquid metallic velvet in my stash that somehow said “princess gown” like Sleeping Beauty style. Which technically is a mid-15th-century Burgundian style like this Pinterest board and these: Complete with the pointy hennin, of course. But I wasn’t interested
This was my simplest and cheapest costume for Carnevale 2024! For the Pleasure Barge of Cleopatra, I made a Bastet outfit inspired by a Bastet statuette I’ve had forever. She has very tall, pointy ears, so I made those out of some stiff black fabric and interfacing. I bought a silver necklace and matching cuffs
I’d already worn my velvet teagown for two different Mucha-themed events when a group of friends suggested a Mucha meetup at Costume College 2023. As much as I love that teagown, I really did not want to wear it again this year and especially not in L.A. in late July! So I went about assembling
One party at Carnevale 2023 had the theme of “Once Upon a Time” and invited guests to come in any sort of fairy-tale costumes (but no Disney cosplay!). I looked through my closet and decided on something vaguely wicked stepmother-y using my black gothic fitted dress (which I wore twice that year at Carnevale, making
For a Carnevale afternoon tea with a mystical tarot theme, I dressed as the Queen of Swords, who symbolizes woman as widow, crone, and divorcée. Obviously, this card speaks to me, and I was excited to create all the layers of meaning. In the classic Rider-Waite tarot, the Queen of Swords is wearing a cloak
In an ongoing quest to figure out 18th-century men’s pants for me / Leonard, I started a new pair of breeches that were just going to be to test out the pattern but have developed into a whole new suit. I made umpteen mockups of the fall-front breeches from the original pattern by Eagle’s View
Carnevale 2023 overlapped with Valentine’s Day, so one party combined both for a red / black / white and commedia dell’arte mashup. I did a broken-hearted twist mostly using things I already had in my costume closet, with some small additions. I used the big red coat from my Nadja costume, plus the dress from
When Nadja opens a nightclub in season 3 of What We Do in the Shadows, I immediately wanted the red outfit she wears! It’s just so flashy and fun. Also, it’s a little less “typical vampire” than a lot of what she wears, and thus a bit less like my own everyday clothes or things
This costume idea had been brewing in my head, but it wasn’t until a combo of pandemic lockdown and an excellent cosplayer opening up for commissions that it came to fruition. I’d been dreaming of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane image (which I have a huge poster of) and his Ziggy Stardust persona, but done as
The best party of Carnevale 2022 was Tricia’s Pirates and Mermaids Party on a historical ship that sailed around the lagoon all night! It was a super fun theme in a kick-ass location with awesome people. I didn’t know it would turn out so great, of course, when I was planning my costume, I was
I missed a few Carnevale parties in 2022 because my luggage was delayed by four days. But I wore most everything around at some time, like this mishmasy-y fantastical outfit that’s kind of 1920s with an exotic flair. I just wanted an excuse to wear this gorgeous purple velvet cocoon coat with a fur collar