Photos from Costume-Con 26′s official photographer.
Empress Eugenie Surrounded by her Maids of Honor, photo by Richard Man
Trystan as the Marquise de la Tour-Maubourg, photo by Richard Man
Marquise de la Tour-Maubourg, photo by Richard Man
Franz Xaver Winterhalter (Thomas) & Marquise de la Tour-Maubourg (Trystan), photo by Richard Man
My weekend…
It was a lot of things. 98% of them amazingly good. The truly crowning jewel, for those who didn’t hear, was this:
Best in Show, Costume-Con 26 Historical Masquerade. Master Costumer for reals.
See also:
The Empress Eugenie Surrounded by her Maids of Honor, photo by Conpix/Night Beat on Flickr
and the original inspiration.
SO FUCKING WORTH IT.
****** (more…)
Posted in 19th Century, Characters 
Tags: costume competition, eugenie project, group costumes 
No Comments »Yay!!!
Well, I’m not happy with mine (it’s a weird dress, but that’s the portrait and era’s fault; I’m so totally ripping the bertha and tucker off after this). But it’s done and mostly fits, especially if I don’t tight-lace (oops, I actually lost a tiny bit of weight after I did the skirt). Added more hooks and bars just now to help.
I uploaded 2 full-length pix to the Eugenie Y!Group. I have more closeup and corset pix for documentation. Had to take all of them in the driveway because my dress does not fit in my tiny house! The hoop takes up all of my little sewing room, but doesn’t fit through any of the doorways once the skirt’s on. That was fun to discover today.
Oh and Thomas and I recorded the soundtrack. He mixed the spoken parts with the music and chatter the Michael provided, and he’s going to put an MP3 up on his server tonight so everyone can download it as a preview.
I kept this running list on LiveJournal as a private post all during the start of 2008 and crossed things off as I went…
Posted in 19th Century, Characters Tags: costume competition, eugenie project, to-do list No Comments »Dharma Trading Company rules the world!!! Dude, I always knew this was one awesome outfit, but these fine folks have, yet again, exceeded expectations! I’ve been hemming and hawing (mostly hawing) about what fabric to use for this last tiny little stupid annoying bit on my masquerade costume. I don’t really have anything right in The Stash, and I finally realized Joann’s wouldn’t have anything either.
So yesterday afternoon, around 1pm, I placed an order for 1 yard of silk at Dharma. It was after the deadline for orders to be processed that day, so I knew I’d blown it. I wrote in the comments box “I hope this can ship swiftly, but if it doesn’t I won’t cry because it’s my own dang fault.” But lo, the order was processed in a few hours.
And I received it just now! Of course, I always get orders quickly because the company is in San Raphael, CA, and I’m in San Jose — just a couple hours away. But man, that was FAST!!!
I totally and completely *BIG PUFFY HEART* Dharma!!!
Btw, the order only cost $5 too — I also love that what they carry is all pretty darn affordable and good quality too.
Eugenie bodice, featuring tucker, made using white silk from Dharma
Anyone have a source — either online or that they can scan and post — for what one of those little lace caps looks like *not* on a woman’s head?
I’m wondering how I should make mine. It doesn’t have ear flaps afaik. In the portrait, it mostly looks like just a back veil. Easy enough to make: gather up a bit of lace, pin on head, ya?
But if there’s a more, dare I say it, historically accurate version, I’ll do it. I just don’t have any source material. I don’t have anything in books that shows one not on a head. I looked through all of Kendra’s Real Women’s Clothing links for this period too, no dice.
Oh and for pinning, should I get old-fashioned open hair pins instead of bobby pins? Will it matter? Those never seem to stick in my hair, but some of you are better with that. Or if s’one out there has a couple black/dark ones I can use, that’d be awesome :-)
One last bit of trim left to add to the bodice. Then it’s all hooks and eyes, baby!
Eugenie bracelets
I actually worked on a bunch of accessorizing late last night because I was fed up with a certain aspect of the bodice (UG-LEE, but “historically accurate”). Some times, you just gotta walk away. And then, after a morning run in the nice, cool temps, I finished almost all of the accessories. Need some more ribbon, tho, before I can really do one thing.
Then it was back to the hideous thing (that I’ll so totally rip off after Costume-Con). Needed a break because my eyes are going goggly, plus I needed to check email for a program book thing (deadline is tomorrow, eek).
I’m gonna get all this DONE. Oh yes I am. And you can’t stop me. HAH! (note maniacal voice)
Eugenie bertha mockup
Berthas are ugly and hard to make! But I’m getting there — evidence is in my folder on the Y!Group. Photo of my bodice with the bertha pinned on and lace pinned on (but not gathered).
OMG I hate berthas! So completely ugly. And it kept angling weird, and the pleats went wonky on me and are uneven and weird and I hope the lace covers up/distracts from the hideousness.
I think I’ll rip the thing off after Costume-Con and just add a big lace ruffle.
UG-LEE.
Bertha with lace pinned on
I hate bias strips! Yet another thing I hope never to make after this costume.
Oh and I’m beginning to totally not see the need for having used silk here either, except for the fact that it’s “historically accurate.” Yep, those dreaded words again. In this specific case, most of the silk is covered up! Such a waste really. I could have used a decent blend or poly for half the price and all the same effect.
The lace on top of it is probably a synthetic (never did a burn test) — I chose it for the pattern since that’s the most crucial part for the reproduction, incredibly hard to find. All the other trim is silk, which is nice, I suppose, but it’s not like you can tell by looking at it. And who’s going to touch it, other than workmanship judges? In any kind of real-life situation, the fiber content is irrelevant for this one.
Sure, cheezy lightweight shiny synthetics = bleh!!! I can’t stand that. Cheapens an outfit and screams “Halloween costume” not “historical clothing.” But there is a middle ground between horribly expensive 100% silk and craptastic acetate.
Ok, bitching over. Back to the grind. I *will* be finished with the main part of this gown THIS WEEKEND, goddamnit. I only have 1 major thing left to do on it. Then it’s all accessories…
I feel kinda like a rockstar because last night I finished all those bloody hand-bound eyelets (though they were not actually bloody, thank the gods) *and* I am this close to being finished with the CC26 program book. The later looks a whole lot better than the former, but still. I’m doing it. Go me. I am getting shit done. Unlike a certain hockey team — eep!
Eugenie bodice, laced-up
Practice eyelets, testing different types of thread
Bleh, hand-sewing. Hand-bound eyelets blow chunks. I’ve done one half of the bodice tho. Think it took about 4 hours (I called in sick to work today — was headachey in the a.m., plus Thomas’ mother was coming down for lunch).
My fingers are sore. Not in an RSI way (yet) but in a ‘wish I could work with a thimble’ way. At least these instructions have been helpful. But it still sucks! And my work looks ugly! Big honkin’ metal grommets would be prettier!
These are the first hand-made eyelets I've ever done and it shows!
Eugenie portrait, sleeve analysis
Ugh, three hours to make one sleeve. Bloody freakin’ hell. Wasn’t even hand-sewn! Just fiddly as all get out. Only took a few teeny breaks to see some of the fights during the Sharks game and relieve my back.
Here comes Calgary, should be interesting.
Nose back to the grindstone…
Eugene sleeve done
Vintage Victorian chemise
I just got a vintage chemise off eBay to wear with my gown. It’s perfect! Fits great and the neckline is the right shape for the low neck of the bodice (at least in a quick try-on last night). My old Victorian chemise is black and I was worried about it showing and about the neckline not being wide enough.
My drawers are also vintage, so I’m rather pleased to have a full set of authentic Victorian undies :-)
Oh and the seller was great — I’d actually missed bidding on the auction, but I asked if she was going to relist it. She offered it to me for the starting price and shipped it super-fast too. Recommended!
