Odd that I was able to post more during cancer than after treatment ended … although, since then, I’ve started a new job, my cat died, and I’m now dealing with some post-treatment health problems that will keep me from sewing & costuming for a while. So yeah, never ending. Basically, my right arm (where
Are we really almost there? Yep, the last few challenges are in sight. I started this after Costume College last year & intend to wrap it up with CoCo this year, because the theme will be accessories. I’m also teaching three accessories classes at Costume College: History of Purses (from about the 10th c. to
Here’s a little bling from the accessory files for February’s challenge… Jen of Suburban Pagan made a sparkly Regency necklace in the rivière or collet style. Gorgeous! SaharaZaraMorocco of Shoes First, Then Corset shows us two renaissance girdles, both beautiful! I have an 18th-century style portrait-miniature necklace for sale. It’s a historical style, but I
You all know about Kendra’s book on 18th-century hair/wig-styling, right? You’ve signed-up for the pre-sale, right? Because it only lasts till the end of January, & if she doesn’t hit the goal, then we won’t get all the fabulous authentic historic images we need, & she’ll have to cut out something crucially important that you
Ok, so I failed on December’s challenges — blame cancer & trying to get my life back together after chemo. Blah blah blah, sick of excuses & sick of being sick! But that’s mostly behind me now, so onward & upward. We’ll take a month off from accessorizing & start the new year with all
The Accessory Challenge isn’t dead — sorry for not posting about it for the past, oh, month, but this last round of chemo was kinda brutal & I didn’t feel like sitting upright & staring at the computer for any length of time (tho’ yeah, I did have a day or two where I could
Looking through all of your blogs, I found a plenthora of pretty hats finished in September! And at least one of you started a purse! Yay! I’ll admit, I’m still working on hats myself (mostly modern stuff because I’m totally bald now, due to chemo, tho’ I also made a new 16th-century coif & re-trimmed
You might think of the purse as a pretty modern invention. Not so! People have needed to carry their crap around for millennia, both women & men. Here are some nifty purses to inspire your next project.
The first month of Accessorizing Head to Toe has kicked off with some lovely results from you creative costumers! Here’s what I’ve found on your blogs & the Flickr pool so far — feel free to add more in the comments below.
While the goal of these challenges is to make accessories for costumes — historical, science-fiction, fantasy, whatever — this first challenge of “hats” hits close to home for me. See, I’m starting chemotherapy at the end of August to treat breast cancer. As most people know, a major side effect of chemo is hair loss.
Hats are everywhere! Until the 1960s, most every adult wore a hat in public, especially outdoors (tho’ it’s urban legend that JFK is to blame for the demise of hat wearing). They were practical & fashionable. Tons of hats exist in museums, & you can see how they were worn in context through artwork &
Need help making a hat? The Interwebs are your friend! Don’t be shy, get a helping hand. I can’t vouch for the historical accuracy or efficacy of all of these sources, but they looked interesting to me & can at least get you going. Arranged chronologically by historical era: Reconstructing the French Hood: An In-Depth
Since the first Accessory Challenge theme is Hats, I thought I share some that I’ve made. And then I realized that, since switching my website to Word Press almost 2 years ago, I still haven’t moved about half my photos & dress diaries here. Ooops. So a lot of the hats I made & gave