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
I’ve had this fabric earmarked for Leonard’s 16th-century suit for ages, and I finally bit the bullet and commissioned Jenn to make it for me. After all, she’s the pro, having made countless gorgeous such suits for fellas in the Court of St. George. We had a great time planning the design and during the
My favorite outfit of Carnevale 2022 turned out to be this dark confection made mostly of purchased items with loads of alterations and embellishments. And that rather sums up my ideal approach to costuming! Actual sewing irritates me, but taking various things and hacking them into my vision and loading them with trim is what
One of the events I planned to attend at Venetian Carnevale 2020 was the “red party” held by friends — it was a dinner where guests had to wear a little bit or a lot of red. I went through quite a few costume concepts for this one because I thought I’d wear something from
One of the events my friends and I planned to attend at Venetian Carnevale 2020 was the Napoli Ball, and 1860s evening attire was requested. But Victorian ballgowns bore me, so I decided that Leonard should branch out from the 18th century. I bought a black wool tailcoat tuxedo, a waistcoat, and a shirt. I
For Venetian Carnevale 2020, I wanted some kind of harlequin outfit because that’s so iconically “carnevale.” But it had to be in my favorite gothic colors, and I couldn’t find any fabric remotely close to that. The obvious solution was to make my own, but wow, that sounded difficult! So I talked to my mom
Many of us have seen this delightful painting with an 18th-c. gent wearing leopard-print breeches and waistcoat. It’s the generically named “An Interior with Elegant Company” by Venceslao Verlin (d. 1780). While I can’t find much about this specific painting, there are other images from around 18th-c. Europe of men and a few women wearing
I had dreamed of returning to Venice’s Carnevale for my 50th birthday — I’d gone for my 40th birthday and wanted to bookend the decade in an even more spectacular style. Alas, I’m spending this birthday in the middle of a divorce and having just moved to a new house, which used up all my
By Lady Violet Ruthvene in the SCA, written to help the West Kingdom prepare for a masked ball Two great medieval traditions made mask-wearing popular among the citizens of the Republic of Venice: the festival of Carnevale and the Commedia dell’ Arte theater. Between these, you have a variety of mask styles to choose from,
Photos from Venice, Italy, in February 2009 during Carnivale. Also, here’s a costume video shoot of me. It features my mother and step-father, all at Campo San Zaccaria. Click the image below to play or click this link — Trystan’s carnivale costume video. The video is about two and a half minutes long, and the
It’s done. All hemmed, trimmed, even skirt hooks and miscellaneous tacking. Now it’s late, my back is killing me, I’m going to bed. But the gown does look damn good, if I do say so myself (also, it’s done just shy of 2 weeks before we leave — BOOYAH!!! m/ !!1111!!!!)
I feel like I’m never going to get this damn dress done! Hemming takes forever. I’ve got tons of trim to put on. OMG!!!11!!!111!!
It’s only a paper stomacher… The easiest thing to pattern. Just stick some paper under the francaise and draw a shape. Smooth out the lines. *Ta da* It’s a stomacher. For the actual item, I used an inner layer of white mid-weight canvas-y stuff, covered w/the pink silk on both sides and the sari fabric
I was about to post a picture of trim pinned to the Carnivale gown’s stomacher and ask “is this too much?” and then I realized, no, there is no such thing as “too much” on a Carnivale gown. It’s like a Spinal Tap “none too black.” Add moar trim! Big fluffy craaazzzy trim! (Not that
It was kind of a girlie weekend, in more ways than three. Saturday, I did a ton of pleating and pinning and re-pleating and pinning to build the petticoat for my Carnivale outfit. I just took two widths of silk — made the back one half-again as wide, for some oomph — and stitched them