The theme for Costume College 2026’s Friday Night Social was My Villain Era Party, and it took me a while to figure out what to wear. C’mon, villains, that’s right up my alley! There were too many cool villains to choose from. Finally, I settled on Erzsébet Báthory, the so-called blood countess who bathed in the
The theme for Costume College’s Thursday night welcome party was “Camp! Cinema” in 2026, and part of the description included: “Think What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? meets Pink Flamingos, with a dash of Rocky Horror and a full face of glitter.” And for the first time in a long while, I was inspired to
When I heard there was a Pre-Raphaelite ball at Carnevale 2025, I poured through paintings for inspiration. I love this style and have several pre-raph prints hanging in my house, so there were many to chose from. But being me, I also wanted something dark and gothy, which isn’t as typical of this genre. Then
Sometime in early to mid 2024, I got a hankering for a new 16th-century outfit. No reason, nowhere to wear it, just wanted one. And not necessarily a fancy one either. I decided to order the Tudor Tailor pattern for a woman’s round gown and see how that made up. Although first, I realized I
Carevale 2024 was the year of last-minute costumes for me! I normally hate last-minute sewing and try to plan things out so I’m done well before the event or trip. And I was this year! But I also got new ideas about a month before leaving for Venice so… One of the events was “A Night
The Bella Donna Historical Performers were invited to perform at Carnevale in Venice for the Boticelli’s Primavera Dinner. While I don’t sing with the group, I’m a supporting member and needed to dress the part. Alas, my old black and gold gown was in sorry shape, and the bodice no longer fit. Also, I’d always
When I decided to go to the Anne Rice Vampire Ball in New Orleans for Halloween 2023, I just wanted to wear something fabulous. Much like when I made my first outfit for the Portland Vampire Masquerade Ball, I let myself fantasize about what shapes, styles, fabrics, and trims inspired me. I wasn’t going to
At some point during the summer of 2022, I was cleaning out my costume closet and decided I could revamp my old 1570s French Valois Gown into something … my friend Loren of The Costumer’s Closet had made some very pretty gowns inspired by The Borgias (2011-13) TV show, and that gave me an idea.
Lockdown was a drag, and I didn’t feel like sewing anything but I had the idea to commission stuff. At some point in 2021, I requested a custom version of this Spanish 16th-century gown from Fiorentina Costuming on Etsy. The fit and workmanship is great, and the style is exactly what I wanted. Highly recommended and
I’ve had this fabric earmarked for Leonard’s 16th-century suit for ages, and I finally bit the bullet and commissioned Jenn to make it for me. After all, she’s the pro, having made countless gorgeous such suits for fellas in the Court of St. George. We had a great time planning the design and during the
Specifically, this is a review of Patterns of Fashion 5: The Content, Cut, Construction, and Context of Bodies, Stays, Hoops, and Rumps c. 1595-1795 by Janet Arnold, Jenny Tiramani, & Luca Costigliolo with Sebastien Passot, Armelle Lucas & Johannes Pietsch, to give the full title and credit to all involved. It’s on sale exclusively from
This is the presentation to accompany the lecture I gave at Costume College 2018. The topic was a look at the documented images of Mary Queen of Scots from her lifetime and her wardrobe inventories of 1556-1569. Mary Queen of Scots Wardrobe Unlock’d – Costume College 2018 class PDF In addition to many online images
This is the presentation to accompany the lecture I gave at Costume College 2018. The topic was what a fashion accessory that we derisively call a “head necklace” over on Frock Flicks, and here I explain that there are a few times and places when this item actually was worn and isn’t snarkable. Myths, Truths,
I’ve only been wanting to make this gown for a decade. No lie — my first blog post about it was in 2009, and I’ve loved the portrait for longer. So for my birthday this year, I planned a fancy dress party where I would be the queen, wearing this dress, surrounded by my ‘court’
Two things you need to know about this dress: 1) Marguerite du Royon‘s heraldry is purple and gold with three fleur de lys, 2) Marguerite started her reign as Princess of the Mists wearing 1490s and has proceeded to wear later and later garb until this, the end of her reign, where she wanted to