If you’ve looked around my website or seen me at SCA events, you might have noticed I’m really fond of 16th-century clothing. And I don’t go much earlier than this era. In fact, I often joke that 1530 is “early period” for me (when, in SCA circles, “early period” means Norse, Viking, even Roman garb).
Here is my 1590s gown made of white silk, inspired by various portraits of Queen Elizabeth I’s maids of honor. I wore it at 12th Night 2014.
At Purgatorio 2013, we premiered Gianetta’s new outfit, a Venetian 1580s gown, to complete the obligation of my Queen’s Artisan duties. However, the outfit isn’t entirely done — I still have accessories to make (such as the partlet with ruff, camicia with Liz’s embroidery, & a jeweled cap), & I intend to pearl & bead
For the Costume College Gala in 2013, I had a hard time coming up with something to wear. Originally, I wanted to make the 18th-c. masquerade gown I’ve been lusting after for years. I have the main fabrics, I know how to design & create it, I have scads of research about it. Heck, I
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
This is the ladies auxiliary of the Tactical Alcohol Consumption Squad, as formed by Kevin Roche and Andrew Trembley. They created the St. George Special Forces to consume absinthe, so, with Kevin’s blessing, we created the Pink Drink Commandos to consume Cosmopolitans. Any gal who enjoys a Pink Drink can join — just use the
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 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