I'm going to Costume College!

After years of seeing other costumer's share their experiences of Costume College I'm finally getting to go! And I'm so excited! I've purchased my tickets and been figuring out the details. I'll be going with my friend Michaela, who's also going for the first time, and it's going to be awesome!

A few months ago I started a GoFunMe to help me go to Costume College. If you haven't seen it yet you can get to it HERE. I'm so thankful for everyone who has donated so far, and I would appreciate anyone sharing it to help get it around.

I've been figuring out what costumes I want to bring with me to CoCo. From what I've seen people mostly seem to wear historical costumes but other costumes are allowed and encouraged. But I've decided to only bring historical garments since I literally have no events that I get to wear them.

I'm planning on making/finishing several costumes to wear to the events at CoCo. Here's what I'm planning...

First up is finishing my 1871 day dress. This dress has seriously been in the works for a year now and I just want to get it done. It's actually fairly close, but still needs a lot of work. At least it looks like a dress now...

Actually, there's several things that I thought were done on it that I'm going to have to take the seam ripper to and re-stitch. And they're all things that have to be sewn by hand. Ugh. Anyways...

The next thing is my Regency dress. I've actually almost finished sewing the dress, just have to hem it and add a few details but otherwise the actual dress is pretty much done. I still have to make a chemise, the spencer jacket, and find shoes for it. But other than that it's almost done!

Lastly I'm planning to finally make the Wearing History Sailor Play Suite (which I bough the patter and material for last summer). I wanted to make this for VAW last year but just didn't get around to it.

The only other things I really have to figureout is what to do with my hair for the Regency and Victorian era costumes. If you follow me on Instagram then you already know that I just got a major haircut (15 inches cut off leaving me with a bob perfect for the 1920's!).

I'm not so worried about the Regency hair because I'm planning on doing a turban. As for the 1870's... I have no idea's at the moment. I'm contemplating getting some hair extensions but I really don't want to spend the money on it right now.

Well, that's all for now. I'll do my best to keep things updated!

Regency Underpinnings

After watching Pride & Prejudice (2005) I've fallen in love with all things Jane Austen and Regency, and have decided to make a Regency dress! The first step in creating a historical garment always starts with the underpinnings.

This post is going to be all about what a lady wore underneath a dress.

Like pretty much all era's for the last several hundred years, the bottom layer is a chemise. Pretty simple, basically a long shift with a drawstring neckline made usually of cotton or linen.

Via the Met

Via the Met

During the first decade or so of the 19th century it wasn't common to wear drawers. They didn't become commonly worn until around the 1840's, though they were occasionally worn before then. They were originally seen as immodest due to their being cut so similar to men's pants. I don't quite see why that would really matter since no one was suppose to see them. I guess it took people a few decades to realize that too ;)


Next is the corset, or stays. There were two different styles popular at the time, full and half stays. The silhouette of the era had an empire waistline and a high bust. Since the waistline wasn't seen due to the style of dresses the corsets of the era weren't shaped as much around the waist as they were later in the century.

Half stays don't reduce much in the waist (actually none at all since they cut off just a few inches  under the bust). Instead the main purpose of them was to shift the bust up.

Laughing Moon Mercantile Pattern

The next layer would be a petticoat. Petticoats in this era were worn more for modesty than to add volume to the skirts. Because of the narrow cut of the skirt, when walking the skirts would sometimes cling to the legs, showing more than what was generally acceptable at the time.

There were two main types of petticoats - bodiced petticoats and regular petticoats (which I don't know the exact name of this style, if there even is one). The important thing with petticoat's from this era was that the waistline matched that of the dress. So when making a petticoat it's common to use the same skirt pattern that you use for your dress.

Here's a bodiced petticoat, which has a bodice, hence the name. This style usually had darts or gathers to fit the bust.

And here's an example of a regular petticoat with ties going over the shoulders to hold the petticoat up.

And that complete's our Regency foundation garments!

I've already begun working on my Regency outfit and have completed my stays, which I'll be getting pictures of and posting about soon.