The Ol' Pre 1600's Post

If you don't know me (or don't follow my Facebook page) you wouldn't know that I really enjoy making Medieval to Renaissance costumes, ranging from the very accurate to the completely fantastical.

Starting with the most period accurate, this is a cotehardie made off of a pattern of a dress found in a bog in Greenland.

 Now for a mix of accurate and inaccurate, here is my period Flemish kirtle and smock. The kilt and yoked shirt, however, are built for comfort: the kilt is made of cotton rather than a woolen fabric, and the shirt is a 1970's esque pattern that is more Renaissance Faire than it is Renaissance man.

Finally, a simple pouch. This pouch is a simple wool fabric cut in a circle, turned, eyeleted, and then embroidered.

If you're looking for another bit of the Renaissance, check out my Flynn Rider and Renaissance maiden post.

1920's Mini-Post

Happy Friday Everyone! I have been wanting to post this for awhile: the 1920's dress and underdress I made in a night for a birthday party a few years ago.

Here is the underdress. It was a stiff synthetic that let the outer layer hang loose.

Here is the final dress: I just happened to have the pearls and shoes lying around!

Have a good weekend,

-B

Hats Of Unusual Styles (And one ROUS)

Hats hats hats. Rats? Every so often, I get to make a hat (something that fills me with warm fuzzies and joy). And then once in a very blue moon, I get to make a rodent of unusual size.

First, the hats.

"I need an elf hat." He said. This was no problem to me; elves are easy. "Ok. That won't be a problem." I replied. "There's a catch. I need it to be ridiculous. the most ridiculous and potentially ugly elf hat ever." Thus, this hat was born. 

The model is Chris, grumpy elf of the southwest. The bell is really what brings it all together.

Of course, I don't just believe in hats for other people. 

Disclaimer: This hat was not built from scratch. Rather, it was assembled by the dark forces that be. It cost less than $8 to make, including the bird, net, spider, and the flower.

The crow side is definitely my good side. Probably.

I swear I can make normal faces. Just not in hat pictures. Here is the back, net and all. The net does occasionally snap on other things, but other than that there is no downside to this whole affair.

This was actually one of my favorite hats that I made: mostly because I made it from scratch. It was an amazing experience to see a hat from start to finish.

And now for something different.

Meet Ch'p, Green Lantern of Sector 1014. His appearance is based off of The Green Lantern animated movie, where he accompanies Arisia. He is assembled from parts from beaver, fox, and squirrel toys. I think his lantern symbol got swapped after this picture, but almost all of my photos from this period were wiped with my last phone.

Evelyn Nesbit (Fall 2013)

If there ever was a lady who deserved more recognition, it's Evelyn Nesbit. A cabinet card girl from the early 1900's, she was one of the first live models for fashion: she also was idealized as "The Gibson Girl" by Charles Gibson. 

Photo Courtesy Wikipedia

Most importantly (well, for this post anyways), she is a prominent character in the stage musical "Ragtime". I was fortunately enough to make the "swimsuit" style outfit for her Atlantic City scene. You will note that it is neither a period swim suit or an actual swimsuit: the director took this scene in a slightly more creatively liberal direction.

Front.

Back.

Side View. Unfortunately, I have no shots of this from the stage.

Maria (Fall 2014)

Another "Compleat Female Staged Beauty" costume, Maria was super fun to make. Whereas the bodice is not period, the jacket is! It is based off a period (mid 1600's) jacket pattern. The model is Tiffany Lee.

Front. The combinations and petticoat underneath were built by someone else.

Back. You can see a tiny peak of her stays straps here: those were tucked in later.

Action Shot! Tiffany described Maria as shy and demure.

Front and action shot! This jacket was so cool to build!

Back. It was accidentally semi pattern matched in the back. 

Desdemona (Fall 2014)

I love when I get to work on shows, especially when I get to flex some creativity! This piece was done for a production of "The Compleat Female Staged Beauty", which, if you haven't heard of it, you should absolutely look it up! This costume is for the character Margaret Hughes when she plays Desdemona. The model is the wonderful Nicole Lozeau.

Front.

Back.

Nicole indulging my eternal desire for action shots.

Flynn Rider And His Rennaissance Maiden (Spring 2014-2015)

This was a fun costume build! A friend of mine approached me for a Flynn Rider costume back in Spring of 2014, and we worked one out, but failed to take pictures. This year, we managed to get pictures of him and one of my favorite Renaissance Faire outfits that I have made! Here they are at this year's Renaissance Pleasure Faire in Irwindale, California.

Pointy things are the best things.

Lovely shopping shot.

Looking good by the lake.