Category: Costume College

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Obligatory Costume College Post

Whee! This weekend is Costume College! I’m heading down Thursday afternoon and back on Sunday afternoon — no time (or money!) for a fabric district run. I’ve lost all of my paperwork so can’t at all remember what classes I’m taking, except for the limiteds which are: Cranach dress design/construction, corset cover construction, and modifying shoes. And I’ll be teaching two: an overview of bustle era hairstyles (lecture), and a hands on Victorian bodice draping class.

On Friday night for the GBACG meetup I’ll be wearing my candy cane 1870s dress. Saturday night at the Gala I’ll wear my courtesan gown, which will be fun to wear in an INDOOR environment! I’m trying to put together a slightly more period hairstyle to go with it, so spending lots of time in the bathroom wrestling hairpieces. It looks like I’ll be so busy during the days that I’m not planning to dress up, plus that means less stuff to carry. Full report (and photos, bien sur) forthcoming next week, altho I’m moving so I may lose my web connection.

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Costume College Meetup

Will you be attending Costume College this year? Are you a GBACG member, friend, or Northern California costumer? Or do you just want to hang out with some cool people? If so, please join us!

GBACG COSTUME COLLEGE MEETUP
FRIDAY, JULY 29
9:00pm
AIRTEL PLAZA HOTEL BAR (Clipper Club Lounge)

Any Northern California costumers (or anyone interested in hanging out with us!) are invited to join us for a chance to mingle! After you’ve had a browse in the marketplace (which opens Fri. night after Orientation), come by the Clipper Club Lounge (on the first floor of the hotel) for a cocktail or soda (you buy).

No costumes necessary, although if you do dress up, we’ll be sure to point and say, “ooooo, PRETTY!”

GBACG members: don’t forget to wear your guild pins throughout the College weekend, so we can all recognize each other!

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Costume College

Costume College class schedules arrived this week and I, like so many other costumers, am all aflutter. (For those not currently signed up, the class list should be posted online sometime early next week if you’re interested in perusing). My a-fluttering has been a wee bit dampened, however, by the fact that the class I REALLY want to take directly conflict with the classes I’m teaching. rraanncnzzzznreaknzakfdndf!!! (I am teaching a lecture overview of women’s hairstyles of the bustle era, and a hands on Victorian bodice draping).

So my choices for limited classes are: 1) German Cranach gown construction/fitting (a period that I’d love to do), 2) Edwardian corset cover hands-on making (I’m hoping this will help me conquer my fear of tucking and insertion and all the bazillion little things that make up Edwardian whites), 3) Wig restyling (I forget the title, but it’s all about manipulating wigs, something I need to know more about), and 4) Modifying shoes (conflicts with one of my other choices, but the only other one I’m interested in so it’s here as a backup). No tours for me, as none catch my fancy and I’m skipping the garment district this year as my carpool group is short on time, plus I’m be slapping down large sums of money in just a few weeks in gay Paree!

Who’s going to Costume College? And if you’re not, WHY NOT? (Okay, okay, you have no money, but other than that there’s no excuse!)

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Report: I Am Not Dead!

I have been, however, sick as the proverbial dog since Wednesday. I know you all know, but there’s nothing worse to a costumer than taking TWO sick days and not be physically able to sew. Okay, I did a tiny bit on my Wings of the Dove dress (post forthcoming), but really nothing in the scope of having TWO DAYS OFF. So in non-fever, nose blowing news…

I’ve added a review of A Very Long Engagement to my 20th c. costume movies page.

I’ve caved and decided I am going to Costume College, where I shall be teaching a class on bodice draping and another on hairstyles of the bustle era.

And Sunday I dragged myself off of the couch (outside? there’s an outside?) to go Costume Academy, which is the GBACG one-day multi-class costume workshop. Attended Margo Anderson’s class on courtly women’s costume in the Elizabethan Era, then had lunch and looked at pretties (we had a dealer’s room this year!) and bought some vintage buttons — bought four (I know, they were expensive!) white satin with a little embroidered black flower 3/4″ vintage 1870s buttons, and five 1″ sorta brass colored will-work-for-Renaissance vintage buttons (I’m thinking I’ll incorporate these into my jeweled-belt-for-which-I-don’t-know-the-name for my Venetian gown) — and THEN taught my class on bustle gowns/overskirt (apron/poufs) draping. The class seemed to go well, in that some people said so afterwards, but I was so sick and out of it that I feel like I was very scattered and uninformative. It’s also SO annoying to try to teach an overview class without being able to have a bazillion images. I brought 11×17 color photocopies, but because of cost could only have about 20 images, when I would have loved to have shown much more (esp. undies, more construction details, etc.). I skipped the last class to return to my proper place on the couch.

And now I have to go back to work today! Whine!