Since we didn’t go to Carnevale in 2026, Kendra and I decided to throw a big birthday party for ourselves. Our birthdays are in the same week in February, and often in the past few years we’ve been in Venice so there’s no need for an additional party. So this time, we rented out Little
For some reason, I fixated on this one Edward Gorey illustration and wanted to make the outfit. It’s big and shapeless and not directly connected to a specific historical period (unlike some Gorey drawings). It seems this drawing wasn’t part of a book or story, and according to one website, this drawing is part of
The Bella Donna Historical Performers were invite to participate at the Wyld Hunt Fae Ball in 2025. The event’s theme was fairy and fantasy, but somehow we landed on doing witchy dark group costumes. We all bought the same filmy black fabric and made our own style of drapey gowns with it. Everyone created some
Remember that 18th-c. Does 17th-c. Masquerade Gown that I was so excited about, but then got almost finished making and hated it? When planning for Carnevale 2025, I came upon a way to resurrect it into something more me that I could love — and get multiple uses out of. The party theme was Cabinet
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
One last project for 2024 — a new caftan to wear in Cancun! I found this pink bat-print cotton and just had to make it up into a retro ’60s caftan. Easy-peasy project and I definitely want to use the pattern again, especially since I already have several caftans in this exact style, both vintage
I was hosting a small daytime party at Carnevale 2024 — it was a gaming salon with a “fancy loungewear” costume theme. Since I’d be running around as hostess, I needed a simple, practical outfit (but still fabulous ;). Luckily, I already had a custom-made “Carlotta” Spiderweb Robe from Nicoletta Carlone in purple that I’d ordered
At Carnevale in 2024, there was going to be a Purple Party — a dance party where guests were asked to wear something purple. Now I have a ton of purple in my everyday and costume wardrobes, plus I’ve been getting my (naturally almost black) hair dyed purple for several years. So I could have
Who doesn’t love a costume piece that does double duty? When I saw this pattern by Rabbit & Hat for a lace-up bodice with tails that was intended to be reversible, I knew it would be handy. Turns out, this became the perfect costume for two different vampire balls around Halloween 2023. The pattern itself
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
This was a quickie costume I threw together for Costume College because I’d heard the Friday Night Social had some kind of literature cosplay theme. Also, it was the hottest summer on record, I was only going to be at the event for a short time, thus I needed an easy, comfortable outfit. What’s better
I’d already worn my velvet teagown for two different Mucha-themed events when a group of friends suggested a Mucha meetup at Costume College 2023. As much as I love that teagown, I really did not want to wear it again this year and especially not in L.A. in late July! So I went about assembling
One party at Carnevale 2023 had the theme of “Once Upon a Time” and invited guests to come in any sort of fairy-tale costumes (but no Disney cosplay!). I looked through my closet and decided on something vaguely wicked stepmother-y using my black gothic fitted dress (which I wore twice that year at Carnevale, making
Carnevale 2023 overlapped with Valentine’s Day, so one party combined both for a red / black / white and commedia dell’arte mashup. I did a broken-hearted twist mostly using things I already had in my costume closet, with some small additions. I used the big red coat from my Nadja costume, plus the dress from
The first event of Carnevale 2023 was a brunch, which called for fancy pajamas. I went for deshabille because I had these fun things to wear that hadn’t seen the light of day yet! Starting with a custom Victorian corset by Redthreaded, using a cotton stripe fabric I provided, then a ruffly black cotton robe and