2017 in Review and 2018 Plans

With only a day and half left in 2017 I figured it was about time I sat down and wrote my annual year in review post.

This year was a good year for me costume wise. I branched out into a some new era's of historical dress as well as had my first internship. I feel like I've gained a lot of technical skills such as draping and have a lot more confidence in my abilities than I did at the beginning of the year.

In Review

I started the year off by working on a couple of late 18th century ensembles. The Polonaise, and then the Gray Gown.

In February I started working on Padme's Picnic Dress (AKA Project P19), which is still a work in progress.

For Aviation Day I made a 1930's Aviatrix outfit, which I wore later in a 1940's style for Vintage Aircraft Weekend.

During the summer I interned in the wardrobe department of Beauty and the Beast, and during production helped maintain the costumes and worked as a dresser. I have so many good memories from that experience.

Then for Vintage Aircraft Weekend I made a 1940's swing dress.

For Halloween I updated my 1871 dress by making a new shirtwaist and sash for my "portrait" costume.

Next was the 1841 Marie Louise Gown, which is also still in progress. It's close to done, but I got sidetracked and it got pushed to the back burner.

Lastly, my final project for the year is a WWI era corset and chemise, which will have a proper blog post soon.

1770's Polonaise

The Gray Gown

Padme's Picnic Dress/Project P19

1930's Aviatrix from Aviation Day

Beauty and the Beast

1940's Swing Dress worn at the dinner dance at VAW

1940's Aviatrix worn at Vintage Aircraft Weekend

1870's Portrait Costume for Halloween

The 1841 Marie Louise Gown in progress

WWI era corset and chemise

Plans for 2018

Every year I make a post full of idea's of things I want to accomplish the following year, and I usually don't follow through with much if any of the things I hoped to. So this year, I'm taking a slightly different approach.

Instead of having a list of specific costumes, I have slightly more vague goals for myself.

Goals:

-Develop my artistic voice and style. I really want to start finding and developing my style for both costuming and my blogging.

-Focus more on 20th century fashion. I specifically want to build a 1940's wardrobe, as I have several events each year I attend where WWII era fashion is appropriate.

-I also want to explore the fashions from 1916-18. I have some plans already, as well as fabric on the way.

-Finish P19 before Comic Con

Those are the only specific goals I have for this year, but I expect I'll experiment with a couple of other era's and likely continue a bit of 1840's through the year.

And with that, goodbye 2017. Hello 2018!

Merry Christmas

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas! Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday filled with lots of joy and plenty of fabric. ;)

"Portrait of a Lady" 1870's Costume | Halloween 2017

As promised in my last post, here are the photo's of my Halloween costume this year.

Yesterday I attended a Halloween gathering with my family and friends and debuted my costume. I usually tell everyone what I'm dressing up as, but this year I wanted to keep it a secret and for the first time I actually succeeded. Ha!

For lack of a better name, I'm calling this outfit "Portrait of a Lady". I'm not sure if I'm unintentionally plagiarizing something famous, or if I actually came up with an original title, but that's what kept coming to mind when I was wearing it and it seemed like an appropriate title.

 

Photo's courtesy of my sister, Sereina.

I love this concept for a costume because it can be used to turn any historical costume into a perfect Halloween costume. :D

Skirt - this is the skirt from my 1871 dress I made last year, but with the train bustled.
Blouse - cotton shirtwaist drafted by myself with a pattern from Period Costume for the Stage and Screen as a reference.
Sash - self drafted and made from an upholstery velvet.
Wig - heavily modified wig from Arda Wigs. This is my Christine Daae wig I made several years ago and I'm so glad I finally got to wear it after putting so many hours into it!
Boots - Funtasma via Amazon

This is actually a dream costume of mine. I've always loved the 1860's shirtwaists and how informal and casual it looked. The dress the skirt was original made for was less than perfect, and at one point I almost threw it out all together, but then I came up with the idea of bustling the skirt and wearing it with a shirtwaist.

I had attempted drafting a blouse several times before but it wasn't until now that I was actually able to figure it out. I'd still like to go back and make a nicer blouse and add more details to it, but I love the way this looks.

Halloween Costume's for Historical Costumers

With Halloween only a few days away, it's time to pull out the costumes. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because it's an excuse to dress up, and eat way too much candy (but don't tell anyone I said that).

Each year I usually try to make a special costume for Halloween, but this year I didn't have the time to start on anything early enough and I wasn't sure what I really wanted to do. I started thinking up costume idea's that would fit with some of my historical clothing that I hadn't worn yet or very often, because I love wearing period clothing and will come up with any excuse to wear it.

I came up with a few idea's that aren't too specific and can work with a variety of period clothing, which I thought I'd share in case someone out there needs some inspiration.


18th century:

• Marie Antoinette, 1770's-90's
• Eliza Schuyler (Historical or not), 1770's-1810's
• Clair Fraser (Outlander), 1740's
• Elizabeth Swan (Pirates of the Caribbean), 1720-50's
• Lizzie Bennet (Pride and Prejudice), 1790's-1810's

19th Century:

• Cosette (Les Miserables), 1830's
• Jane Eyre, 1830's or 40's
• Margaret Hale (North & South), 1850's
• Christine Daae (The Phantom of the Opera), early 1870's

My Halloween Costume in 2016 - Jane Eyre

20th Century:

• Dolly (Hello, Dolly!), early 1890's-1900's
• Elizabeth Thatcher (When Calls the Heart), 1910's
• Anne (Anne of Green Gables), 1900's
• Nancy Drew, 1920's-60's
• Amelia Earhart, 1920's-30's aviator

Then of course, there's always Victorian "Fancy Dress" costumes, if you have the time to put into it. I love seeing Victorian costumes because they're so unique and usually quite silly.

Victorian bat costume illustration from the 1892 book "Masquerade and Carnival Their Customs and Costumes" by E. Butterick

I'll be sharing my own historical Halloween costume in my Monday post, but for now I have to keep it a secret until after I wear it at a party on Sunday.

What are you dressing up as for Halloween? Do you like to wear historical costumes for Halloween? Let me know in the comments!

It's Christmas!

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas like I am.