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
I joined the Barbie train a little late but also because the GBACG announced a Barbie themed event for 2024. And then I decided to get double use out of the costume by finishing it for Costume College for the movie/TV themed Friday night party. Took a while to decide which Barbie to make but
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
I’ve wanted to make a repro of this gown since seeing the painting of Lady Frances Courtenay by Thomas Hudson at the Huntington in 2011. I love seeing how one era interprets another era, and this style is so romantic and pretty! Apparently, this was a whole genre of painting, a trend for upper-class women
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
I got this length of fabric from Sarah ages ago and had dreamed of making something long, elegant, and flowy with it. Like a tea gown. So finally, in summer 2022, I went ahead and used the Laughing Moon Mercantile princess-line tea gown pattern with this fabric. There was just barely enough of the velvet,
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
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
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 just found these tatted lace masks on Etsy (via Instructables, where I was doing research for work, honest). That could be perfect for Carnivale! See, at Antonia Sautter’s atelier, I tried on a lace mask that fit pretty nicely over my glasses. It was intended to. And I’d thot about trying to make such