In an ongoing quest to figure out 18th-century men’s pants for me / Leonard, I started a new pair of breeches that were just going to be to test out the pattern but have developed into a whole new suit. I made umpteen mockups of the fall-front breeches from the original pattern by Eagle’s View
When Nadja opens a nightclub in season 3 of What We Do in the Shadows, I immediately wanted the red outfit she wears! It’s just so flashy and fun. Also, it’s a little less “typical vampire” than a lot of what she wears, and thus a bit less like my own everyday clothes or things
This costume idea had been brewing in my head, but it wasn’t until a combo of pandemic lockdown and an excellent cosplayer opening up for commissions that it came to fruition. I’d been dreaming of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane image (which I have a huge poster of) and his Ziggy Stardust persona, but done as
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
One of the events my friends and I planned to attend at Venetian Carnevale 2020 was the Napoli Ball, and 1860s evening attire was requested. But Victorian ballgowns bore me, so I decided that Leonard should branch out from the 18th century. I bought a black wool tailcoat tuxedo, a waistcoat, and a shirt. I
Many of us have seen this delightful painting with an 18th-c. gent wearing leopard-print breeches and waistcoat. It’s the generically named “An Interior with Elegant Company” by Venceslao Verlin (d. 1780). While I can’t find much about this specific painting, there are other images from around 18th-c. Europe of men and a few women wearing
This has been a bucket-list costume for ages, yet I finally made it as a quickie last-minute version in less than a month. The occasion came about because Bella Donna Historical Performers were singing at the PEERs Bal des Vampires right after Halloween, and they decided that their costume theme would be around the Bram
For the Costume College 2015 Gala, I wanted to go along with that year’s “Plucked From the Pages” literature theme. And one of my all-time favorite book characters is Cathy’s ghost in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. It’s such an iconic scene from gothic literature. Of course, I’ve made this costume before back in 2002
When the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild announced a Game of Thrones event at the glorious Castello di Amarosa winery in Calistoga, February 2015, I really wanted to go. For a while, it seemed like finances would conspire against me, but I had a little help from my friends, and the plan came together. But
I have a hankering to recreate Charlotte Brontë’s going-away dress, c. 1854. Specifically to wear at Costume College in 2015, since the theme will be “Plucked From the Pages,” aka books and literary characters. I have a pattern (really just a scaled diagram) taken from the actual dress that is at the Brontë Parsonage Museum
In case you haven’t noticed, I kinda like to combine books and costumes a bit. Also, books and costumes and movies. So over on Frock Flicks for National Book Month, I rounded up my top five and bottom five movies adapted from books, with an emphasis on costume. There’s some Jane Austen, natch, and a
My BFF Sarah & I have talked about doing this cosplay for ages, & I’m SO FREAKIN’ HAPPY we finally did it at Costume College 2014!!! This is perhaps the most fun I’ve ever had in costume. She was Patsy, I was Eddie. We stumbled around, pretending to be drunk, acting bitchy (shush, we were
For Costume College 2013, I was invited by Loren to join a group creating Disney villains — but 18th-century versions! This was inspired by a group of costumers who had done 18th-century versions of Disney princesses at the previous year’s Gala & were planning to wear their outfits at the Ice Cream Social. Since I
This is the gown I made to portray Veronica Gambara, the hostess of the “Feast in 1530s Correggio” at the SCA’s Collegium Occidentalis XLVII. I was running the event and wanted to cap off the day with a festive meal set in a specific time and place in history (which is not typically done in
There’s not much to show for it, but really, I’ve started and am, in fact, well on the way with my gown to portray Veronica Gambara at the Collegium class “A Feast in 1530s Correggio.” The gown is a loose interpretation of the portrait shown on the right. Except I’m using burgundy velveteen from The