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 completely failed to get photos on my own camera at 12th Night, but luckily friends took a few nice pictures of my new outfit. Here is my sleeveless zimarra worn with the 1530s gown (no, not historically accurate, but the combo looked nice for one event :), and I even whipped up a new
As advertised by Loren, this costume was both fabulous *and* comfortable to wear! My version was much more voluminous than the other ladies, but I planned it that way. I wanted to float around on a big cloud of silk. And I did. Good news is that this will become a Costume College tradition, so
A bio-queen a la “RuPaul’s Drag U,” even tho’ nobody figured it out at the time. This was the costume I pulled together at the last minute for Costume College’s Saturday-night Gala. I intended to be a female drag queen — a faux queen — but everyone just thought it was me dressed up extra
At the Valhalla Renaissance Faire, I wore the completed & “proper” version of my Venetian courtesan gown, this one made in a luscious raspberry-colored silk damask that I’d hunted for months to find (& oi, it wasn’t cheap! but sooooo pretty!). Sarah made the gown, same pattern she designed for the tourney version, & I
This is the first version of my Venetian courtesan gown, made by Sarah. We decided to do a test-run in tourney-friendly cotton damask fabric to make sure the pattern worked before cutting into the $38/yard silk. Also, who doesn’t love having two dresses? Sarah draped the bodice based on period designs with some specific tweaks
I wore the completed heuke & the Flemish gown at the SCA March Crown, & everything worked wonderfully! The weather was supposed to be rainy, but it ended up overcast yet dry until we were ready to leave that night. However, it was windy all day, giving the heuke a real workout & proving that,
Here is the finished gown, in photos taken by Wendi Koble, right before Sarah’s Laureling ceremony at the SCA West Kingdom 12th Night 2012. The only thing I’d change is that the silver, black, & pearl girdle I made ended up a few inches short (but I swear, I measured!), so I couldn’t wear it
After the initial wearing of this gown, I added more trim (because really, everything in my world needs more trim). And then I wore it again, several times, and with different accessories. And when our household, the Chateau Rose, participated at the first-ever San Jose Renaissance Faire in August 2011, I wore the gown and
Wherein I cross-dress to portray part of Marie-Antoinette’s court as we frolic at the Petit Trianon…,
Long time, no update! Nearly a year later, I realized I could/should wear this outfit. I was a little concerned about the size (having started it so long ago), but realized it fit rather nicely without the corset. Just needed an additional set of eyelets on each side for better lacing, plus hooks and eyes