Behind the Seams

Jan 14, 2015

A Couple of Updates {Plus a Question for Y'all!}

Ah, where to begin. Okay, so I got a job and started on the 2nd which is great because it means I'll be making more money and will have a bigger costuming budget. The not as great part is that I work between 12 and 4, 4 days a week which takes away some of my time that I would spend on costumes.

So my costuming progress may be a little slower. Although this week I have gotten a bit done on my Christine wig! Which brings me to my next 'update'.

I took a break from working on this because I ripped out 7 wefts and replaced them with the new long wefts only to realize I stitched them in too tight making it so the wig didn't fit my head properly. So I had to rip out all 7 of the wefts and stitch them back in again.

But I got it done and that's the important part, right? I also found it's much easier to do your wefting with your wig on a wig head. Before I just held it in my hands and hair was getting all tangled and in the way. It's much easier to do it on a wig head.

The wig I got was curly and the new wefts are super straight, so when it's down it looks ridiculous! I braided it before putting it on to get a look at the length, and this is what it looks like. Sorry for the poor quality, it was dark and I didn't want to wait 'till the next day to get a picture.

The braid is almost a yard long!

I'm doing some curling tests with some left over wefts to find the best method for curling this thing, I tried putting it in foam curlers and then using the hairdryer to get it warm. But it didn't really work. So now I'm trying it with boiling water.

I also want to find out how long the curls will last. I've heard that synthetic hair will hold curls for a long time, which would be really nice! So once I find the method I like I'll be testing that.

Okay, the last thing is actually a question for all of my followers. I've been thinking for a long time about starting a costume vlog. I haven't come across anything like that before and think it would be kind of cool.

I've never done a vlog before and have thought about doing it but I don't think I would have enough to put in for my everyday life. But I would have a lot more content if it were a costume vlog because it's something I'm really passionate about.

So what do all of you think? Should I give it a go?

Dec 26, 2014

Bustles, bustles, and more bustles!

Before I started working on the wishing dress I never realized just how much I love bustle dresses from the 1870's and 80's. They're shape is just so different from any other era and they're so pretty!

Now that I have the proper underpinnings for a dress from this era I've been thinking that after I make the wishing gown I will make another bustle dress, but more historically accurate.

Here's a little history on the rise and fall of the bustle.

The bustle started to appear in woman's fashion in the last few years of the 1860's. The bustle continued to grow larger while the skirts grew smaller and the cage crinolines went out of style. In the early part of the 1870's the skirts were still quite large, flat in the front but still fairly full in the sides. But as time went on they started to get smaller while the back increased in size.

Originally the bustles were high up, but as the years went by it lowered until it finally disappeared in the middle of the decade. For the next several years it was fashionable to have a very slim figure, known as the natural form, which had a long straight bodice and the back was also long and straight.

The bustle returned in the 1880's. The skirts were much smaller and not as full on the sides, but the bustle had returned. They grew larger as the years went by and were quite large in the late 1880's before the bustle went out of fashion again by the early 1890's.

Here's some gorgeous bustle dress inspiration ranging from the early 1870's to the 1880's.