Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

COMMENTARY

silk vs. polyester blues

Okay, I don’t know about you, but I get really anal about 2 things:

1. Using fabrics that suit a particular era (eg 1870s screams taffeta, 1890s screams satin)

2. Natural fiber fabrics (both because they’re so much more lovely but also because they’re so much more comfortable to wear)

So I’m thinking ahead to a Particularly Smashing Event coming next year from the GBACG (more details soon) set in the 1890s. Now, I could finish my poor neglected bead embroidered evening dress, but one of the main reasons it’s been relegated to permanently-on-hold is I never liked the fabric (color and the fact that it’s synthetic).

So I’m starting to think about making something new, and for me, 1890-96 just requires satin. But here’s where the budget kicks in! It just seems impossible to find nice, heavy (bridal/duchess) silk satin at an affordable (for me) price.

So for those of you who work with satin, what do you do? Deal with icky polyester, shell out for expensive silk? Get charmeuse and underline it with something heavy? And does anyone know of any good cut-rate sources for satin (online or in the SF Bay Area)? I know about Silk Connection but I’m scared of dyeing, and Thai Silks is totally outside my price range at the moment.

Posted on

COMMENTARY

heart of the forest faire

Thanks to the always available option of sewing oneself into one’s costuming, I made it out of the Heart of the Forest faire in Marin on Sunday. (I started on Sarah’s [www.modehistorique.com] suggestion of using ribbon for lacing — see my last post on my 1560s Nuremberg dress project — but only got one side done and was out late dancing on Sat. night).

The faire was fun, but (obligatory) not Black Point (the site of the old northern Calif. Renaissance Faire, and the location at which I used to work). Lots of great costumes, of which I photographed only a fraction. I got to dance in one stage show with the English country dance group I used to perform with, the Merrie Pryanksters (and I’ll actually be performing with them in two weeks at the Golden Gate Renaissance faire — hey, it’s like 15 min. from my house, how can I not?).

My dress worked out well except I definitely need a more appropriate hat and sleeves to complete the look. I’ll try to do something before the Golden Gate faire, but we’ll see.

There’s a few squinty-eyed photos of me and my dress (hey, it was BRIGHT) plus a few random costumes I liked:

Posted on

COMMENTARY

gaskell ball

I went to the August Gaskell Ball on Saturday night in my green 1880s(ish) bustle gown. There were more people dressed up in period costume than some of the previous balls I’ve been too, including two other bustle gowns (including my friend Bridget). We all got excited about doing a Buccaneers (BBC miniseries, based on the Edith Wharton novel) event for GBACG — I’m going to be the social-climbing Lizzie Elmsworth! (Not that I look a thing like her.)

I was really inspired to get cracking my 1875 red & white striped bustle extravaganza, but I have to wait until Gatsby is over (speaking of which, KNOCK ME OVER WITH A FEATHER — my “I don’t play dress up” husband wants to wear a golf outfit, including PLUS FOURS, to Gatsby).

Posted on

SITE UPDATES

site housekeeping

Just a bit of housekeeping: I’ve decided to “file” my on-hold projects in the costume galleries pages (the 1780s capote — awaiting trim — is now linked from the 18th c. creations page; the 1870s parasol and the 1890s bead embroidered dress [someday!] are on the victorian creations page).

I’ve added a project page for a later-this-year version of Miss Bartlett’s (played by Maggie Smith) suit from Room with a View.

And I morphed what used to be my 1930s hats & hairdos page into a misc. images page, which includes all of the images from the 1930s hats & hairstyles pages, plus a few fashion plates and family photographs.