A bit more from Costume College

Off to the Thursday night pool party! I wore some new Wearing History pants I made out of very lightweight wool. I love this pattern! They are just the best pants.

We had an absolute blast staying in our Airstream by the beach. It was kind of a bummer to drive back and forth to the Marriot every day, but I think the view was worth it! It was only about a 20 minute drive through the canyon. And we were able to have our pups with us!

I didn't dress up fro Friday, but Saturday morning I got up and into the 1770's early so I could make it to my limited class, which required one to come dressed in stays and petticoat. For fun, I went the extra mile and dressed completely in 18th Century undies. I wore my new stays and shift, a Marseilles cloth petticoat, striped linen bedgown (which I love love love!), dimity kerchief and Sarah Juniper shoes. I also dressed my hair. I had brought a wig, to make it easy, but I decided I hated it at the last minute. Surprisingly, my hair only took about fifteen minutes. I teased the crown, smoothed hair over it, and strategically arranged my shoulder length hair into buckles with a curling iron. I'm shocked, but I have had better luck making historical styles out of shoulder length hair than I ever did with hair down my back! I didn't bring any period hair dressing supplies with me, so I used hairspray and brushed on some face powder.

After the class, I changed into my yellow silk gown for the afternoon. I attended a very full class, so I got a bit wrinkly smooshed into the seat. I'll have to get better pictures of it one day, because I really like the dress, and it fits well.

Sunday morning I was totally exhausted, but wanted to make it to one of the 9am classes. Laying in bed, hitting snooze, I decided it was just as easy to put on early 1900's as it was to put on jeans, and it was the last day anyway, so I put on the Robe de Madras for the class. I like this dress, but hated it on me that morning. I should have taken the time to accessorize properly and do my hair, but I was just too tired. I had a cap with me, but was holding it when someone snapped my picture in the Starbucks line. 

When I packed, I wasn't sure how much I would get to actually wear. I am pleased to say, I made the effort, and wore everything I brought, except my teens evening coat. When I left for the gala, I totally forgot to bring it! But it was fine, because I would have been hot anyway and then had to carry it around. I'll try to remember to post about it soon.

SaveSave

An Edwardian Robe du Soir for the Coco Gala

All of Costume College was great, and the gala was definitely the icing on the cake. So many gorgeous gowns to drool over!

You know what happens when you're having fun? You don't take enough pictures! Ah well, I was happy to at least get my dress from most angles.

And I really loved both making and wearing the gown I chose. The gown was mostly based off of this 1913 - 1914 gown. I had some serious time constraints, so the fabric had to change, as finding the perfect coral silk was difficult. Also, the silk satin I chose was much too drapey for the more structured skirt on the original, so I used the skirt pattern from Ageless Patterns #1362, which I had on hand. That worked beautifully, and gave me more time to play with the rest of the gown, but more on the construction further down.

Accommodating the weather, 1860's style.

Well today was fun. It's the first chance I've gotten, in months, to cinch up the corset and engage in a little time traveling.

It's usually sunny and hot for the reenactment here in town, so I planned a new sheer dress, based on this pretty thing at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht. Do forgive the hem. The grass is quite high and messy, but on level ground, it hangs nicely all around. 

I used a white semi-sheer cotton, dotted with lilac. I'm usually not a huge fan of purple, but this fabric, I just had such a thing for.

Eventually it will have three ruffles on the skirt, but I ran out of time. The last one is still on my sewing table waiting to be applied. One of my favorite details of the dress is the ruching on the sleeves, that match the skirt, which can be seen on the top photo. Another detail I like, is that the hem that one sees is actually a large ruffle. This is nice, because the skirt remains frothy and light after the hem tape is added to the foundation skirt. I noticed this with special thanks to the zoom feature on the website.

Little did I know, when I laid out my summery sheer, the night before, that the weather was going to go crazy. Apparently it poured rain through the night. By the time I went to park, it was windy like crazy, mixed with bouts of blazing sun. The sontag and shawl went on and off and on and off. Thank you, easy layers.

Actually I was very comfortable all day. I'm always so surprised how accommodating to the weather historical clothing is. Even the under sleeves help with wind and sun and cold. I was never too cold, and the only part of me that was bothered was my face, which got nicely wind-burned. By the time I got home I was pink!

I made the sontag last year, from a mix of patterns on Ravelry. I'm not sure which ones. I asked for help on it at a knitting class and the teacher wrote me up something easy to follow. It's all garter stitch, so it was super beginner friendly.

It was so nice to have with me today. Very, very warm and cozy, and such a nice accessory, as well.

Ooo ominous clouds...

I love this one! Some guests asked for us to pose for a photo, so my mom (who was lovely and surprised me with much needed coffee), snapped one, too. Can I be a little jazzed I got to take a picture with Mr. Lincoln? His hat. So awesome!

This little nugget was an eBay find. I think it's 1850's. The wind took a little bite out of my hair, but I was pretty proud of it, just the same. No hairpieces! Woot!

And a very special guest came to visit me today! My darling little puppy surprised me, bringing my husband along, too ;)

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween yesterday, too!

A Ball

The Stolen Kiss, by Fragonard

Over the weekend I attended to the Road to Regency Symposium, held at the Gadsby's Tavern Museum, in Alexandria, Virginia. It was a wonderful event. So many great workshops and speakers! An especially fun thing was getting to put on the white gloves and study a large assortment of extant garments, owned and shared by Mary Dearing. 

But today's post is about the ball. At the end of the weekend, everyone got dressed up and celebrated with a lovely ball. The attire spanned the 1770's to the 1820's. I went for about 1790, and took inspiration from one of my favorite paintings, The Stolen Kiss, by Fragonard. 

We started the evening -- we being my husband (who was such a sport, he even dressed up!) and I -- downstairs at the Tavern for dinner, then headed up to the ballroom. I started the night wearing a kerchief. I had with me a fur trimmed cloak, as well. I never did get a picture of me wearing it, but it was a fun accessory, not that it was really cold enough... I also accessorized with a powdered, hedgehog wig, trimmed with a black bow, a la the painting, my blue silk shoes and some aquamarine earrings.

Everyone looked so amazing!

Surprisingly, of my whole ensemble, my fan seemed to be getting the most attention. I say surprisingly, because it was a last minute addition to my outfit. The morning of the flight I decided I wanted a fan, so I took a white paper fan from Townsend, outlined it in gold marker, and glued a printed out painting on it, which I also outlined in gold. It was such a quick and easy project. I'm glad I made it now.

Below has got to be my favorite picture of the whole night. And I took it totally by accident. For those who haven't been to Gadsby's, that little doorway, up on the wall, is the entrance to the musician's balcony.

Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures throughout the evening, and even less were taken of me. Isn't that how it always goes when you're having fun?! Below is a fun one, though, via twitter, taken by Gretchen Bulova.

When I found out I was going to the ball, and needed an outfit, I originally purchased some pink fabric to do up. When the days kept passing, and the fabric didn't arrive, I went through the stash and found the blue/brown shot silk (reads as green in the photos) that I had bought back in 2010, with the Fragonard painting in mind. Once I unpack, I'll have to take proper pictures of the gown and accessories to share how they were made up.

It was a really fun night, and whole weekend, and everyone I met was lovely and so welcoming. I can't wait for another one!

Oh, and p.s., I wore my new rump and it turned out great! ;)

Day Two at Spring Mountain Ranch and a Green Silk Dress

On flat terrain, the dress hangs about an inch
above the ground.

On Saturday I went back to the ranch for a few more hours spent in the 1860's (I also had another costume party to attend the same day!). So far, my thoughts: I love love love the sewing, I very much love the wearing, but wearing out in the foot high grass, stepping over cow mess, roasting in the sun... Not my favorite thing in the world. I guess I'm more of an indoor girl.

But I totally still had fun, don't get me wrong!

So anyway, the most important part: the outfit. I wore a green silk dress with black velveteen trim. I accessorized with the same jewelry as the day before, though I swapped the brown silk belt for black and switched to another whitework collar. I had planned on a pretty cream silk bonnet, but it was quite hot and sunny, so I stayed with the straw hat. Ah, shade. 

I love the buttons! Antique black ball buttons.

A good pic of the buttons, collar, hair and piping.

Pattern shopping!

In other news, thanks to Sandy I have rethought my Burnley and Trowbridge mantua workshop plans this weekend. As bummed as I am to have to cancel, I'd rather just go another time, than chance hours in airports and delays and ick. Though I must admit, the possibility of sewing with no power did sound intriguing. Haha authentic! Ah well, another day. And best of luck to everyone on the east coast. Stay dry and safe, folks!

Next up for November: bustle era! Stay tuned.

A Halloween party and a most awesome pouf...

The pouf! Omagosh it was large - and heavy - but it was a blast to wear! I got the wig from Antoinette's Atelier. She makes the most amazing and beautiful wigs. My own hair is powdered and incorporated into the front. It was actually very easy to do. To attach the wig, I left an inch of hair out along my hairline, from ear to ear, then put the wig on, securing it along the front with a bunch of pins inserted at an angle, not straight back, so they would catch my hair underneath. Then I curled the hair left out with a small barrel iron and pinned sections back into the wig. You can see what hair is mine in the pictures pretty easily, but in person it looked more like part of the wig. Then I sprayed hair spray and took a brush full of Ageless Artiface Perfumed Powder and coated my hair before the spray could dry. Be generous with the powder - the more the better. It will probably go everywhere, so be prepared. I put everything on but my dress before the powdering commenced. When I had sufficient powder I sprayed again... Then powdered again... Then sprayed yet again. I will say, it stayed pretty powdery throughout the night. Success! I also used a little of Ageless Artiface's Liquid Rouge. It's a lovely color, but it stains your fingers/countertops/everything like crazy, so proceed with caution.

And the pouf from all angles...

The plumes are ostrich feathers. Each plume has three or four feathers sewn together down the spine. To get the plumes to curl forward I wrapped them around my fingers and gently curled them into shape. Each plume is sewn to a bobby pin. Once pinned into the wig, I used a couple more bobby pins to secure it in place. The sparkly swag is actually a necklace from Forever 21. I pulled off the chain and pinned the decorative part into the wig. After these close ups were taken I also added a marcasite, rococo bow brooch I got in Williamsburg. Never too much sparkle!

How to make the plumes: Lay the feathers on top of each other, making sure the spines are aligned from the base to the tip. If you have any slightly shorter feathers, I would recommend sandwiching them in the middle. Then starting at the base (the thickest part of the stem), secure a thread of the same color as the feathers, and start to sew, spiraling the spines, up towards the tips. This takes a bit of care to avoid tangling the thread up with the unruly feathery bits. Do keep the thread taught. When I reached the top, I doubled back a little, to a thicker part of the spines, and secured the thread and snipped the excess. Take care not to pull too tight and break/crease the spines. To attach the bobby pin at the base, I used a second length of thread, doubled it up, and wrapped the stem and the bobby pin together, passing the thread through the bend in the pin. I suppose you could also hot glue the pins on, but I'm not a huge fan of hot glue.

Some other treatments you can do to the feathers are to trim the really unruly edges, to make them more uniform, or you can curl the edges with a low heat curling iron. Apparently you can also curl them with a blunt scissors, like you would curl ribbon, but I was too scared to do this and take a chunk out. If your plumes are looking a little sad, you can fluff them over steam and it poufs them back up. You can also use a curling iron to put some curl in the top of the plumes. I just used my fingers to do this, and I blew on them a little, like when you blow on your sunglasses to clean them. It's a little warm and moist so it helps set the curl. Take care to be gentle when curling the plumes so they don't snap.

Just one of each size feather. A little sad.

Three feathers layered. Much more grand!

You can see the thread sewn around the spine of the feathers.

And some pre party pics of the whole ensemble...

And that's a palm tree behind the flapper's head...
not more plumes!

My husband's clothes were ordered from Jas. Townsend and Son. I think he's starting to come around to the whole costuming thing. At first he was like, what is this? What's with all these layers? But now, when we were in Williamsburg, he saw an 18th century hunting coat and he was like, "Can you make me one of those?" And there was this little twinkle in his eye. Ooo someone caught the bug!

Halloweens Past

As I was browsing through my computer this morning, I came across some fun costumes from past Halloweens. Thought I'd share some pictures and how to's. Have a Happy Halloween everybody!

Last year around Halloween I got a little obsessed with watching The Tudors. A few weeks before Halloween I decided I wanted a Tudor gown so my Husband and I ordered some costumes online, thinking I had no time to make one. Well his turned out great, but mine didn't fit at all and was just a polyester mess, so two weeks before Halloween I bought fabric and stitched my little heart out! Actually I don't really remember rushing. Just sitting on the couch for days, watching Ghost Adventures and putting this together. Love it! I want to wear it again some day. I wish I had a picture of me in it.

It is worn over a shift, 16th century stays, a farthingale, petticoat and a bum roll. When I wore it, I also had a girdle. I found a gorgeous one at Sapphire and Sage.

Queen Eliazabeth: Schloss Ambras Portrait Girdle
from Sapphire and Sage

I modified a simplicity pattern for it and also got some help from my Tudor Tailor book. It's not the most authentic piece, but I don't worry too much about that for Halloween. The baroque pearls and fur are real - okay well they're cultured pearls, but whatever. The black work cuffs are hand stitched by me, using an authentic tudor design. The rhinestone/satiny braided bits at the neck are actually cut up headbands from Target. Always keep your eyes peeled for items that might work in a costume! You never know where you may find things...

The pattern seems to be based on the below painting of a young Elizabeth.

Now on to the 20th century. Ooo the flapper! This was an outfit that I did not lend one stitch to, however I wanted to share it because it shows you can generally always find things in your closet to make a last minute costume. And one that looks good too!

I tried to make appropriate 1920's layers, so under the dress there is a lacey bra for flattening (gotta get that boyish look!), tap pants (if you've never seen them, they're like silk shorts) and a silk and lace slip. I wore garters to keep my seamed stockings up, but you could also roll them down and rouge your knees!

The dress is by Juicy Couture and the shoes are peep-toe, T-straps from - I think - Nine West. The fur wrap is faux fur from Forever 21. The headband is from Target. The only thing I bought for this was the wig. I got it from a Halloween store. I've had really good luck with Halloween store wigs. You just have to monkey with them a little to make them more presentable. This one was smooshed flat so I fluffed it within an inch of its life and it didn't look half bad after that!

And a side note about 20th century undies. Check out What Katie Did. They have great faux vintage lingerie.

For the makeup, in my opinion, the two most important features for the 1920s are the eyebrows and the lips. My eyebrows are much thinker than this, so I smoothed them down with pomade. You can also use bar soap straight from the bar, wax or the special stuff you get at the costume store just for smoothing down hair. I don't know what it's called. Once I had them sufficiently flattened, I dusted them with powder and used a very opaque concealer to paint out the bottom half of my eyebrow hair, so just the top half showed dark. Then I used a brow pencil to draw out the ends past their natural length. For the lips I again used the concealer. With a lipstick brush I drew on the cupid's bow shape. For the rest of the face, for evening, you can use a dramatic eye and some blush. There's a great book about vintage makeup called Retro Makeup, by Lauren Rennells. She also a great hair book, too.

Clara Bow

Please excuse the weird "look up to the left" thing I was doing. I have no idea where that came from. Maybe it was the martinis...

From The Fedora Lounge

From Victoriana Magazine

The picture below was from a looooonnngggg time ago. Pictures of the rest of the dress have evaporated, but I wanted to show the hair and how to make those side curls out of your own hair (if it's long. If it's shorter it's pretty easy). I used a small barrel curling iron and got really close to the scalp. Careful! I used as much of the hair as I could in the curl without it getting too bulky, then fastened a bobby pin through the backside. The excess hair is left hanging out the back of the curl. Here this hair is pulled back and incorporated into, I think, a bun. You could do all kinds of braiding/curling/whatever back there.