MY MIND HAS GONE BACK TO THE 1850s

 This is what happens when you come back from a major costume event, like Costume College: your brain goes wild, and you want to make all the things!

The last couple years there have been many changes in my costuming plans. Life-altering changes strained what I was able to do, and limited events I could go to. All of this apparently depressed me, which I’m just now recognizing. I still enjoyed the planning of costumes and writing about them but when it came down to actually getting out the patterns and fabrics, nothing happened. Mostly I put it off to there was just nowhere to wear them or I couldn’t physically go to, so why bother?

If you’ve been following my blog for the last few months, you’ll see I got partly out of my slump by actually sewing two Regency dresses and coordinating Spencers, all because my friends and I talked about going to a tearoom in Regency dress. They’re not quite done yet (sleeves and hems as usual) but since we haven’t set a date yet, the pressure is not on to push me forward. And then I was delayed with planning for Costume College.

So what changed?

IT’S TIME FOR A NEW BLOOMER DRESS!

A few days after coming home from Costume College and while doing some searching on Pinterest, I came across a link for an interview with a lady who had written a paper on 1850s Bloomer dresses, and she mentioned me in her research! Then I followed the link it had to her article she wrote, and she actually named me in her footnotes!

INTERVIEW: https://history.vcu.edu/.../a-tale-of-two-bloomer...

ARTICLE: https://www.tandfonline.com/.../03612112.2021.1934267

My story about the bloomer dress, and making it, happened 13 years ago. I’ve always wanted to make a new Bloomer dress so I could wear one again. My original green silk taffeta one is kind of warm to wear in SoCal weather and my second brown cotton version didn’t turn out exactly what I wanted in the style, and the bloomers I’d made to go with it were also a bit too short. But after I shared the discovery of that interview, a couple of my friends said they’d love to make one too. The challenge was on! And that started a new planning mode for me. I collected photos together to refresh my memory of them and decide on my fabric and pattern.  

           

I still liked my V-neck version using Simplicity 3855 (1850s) bodice but this time I didn’t want the pagoda sleeves I used on my brown version.

                         

I already have two cotton reproduction 1850s fabrics a friend had given me a few years ago that I plan to use. I’m leaning towards the blue fabric, since I’ve already made one in green. And it’s a color I’ve never used.

      

PINK STRIPED 1850s DICKENS DRESS

And then another conversation came up: what to make for the Riverside Dickens Festival fashion show next February? And of course the Port Townsend Victorian Festival is a few months later. 

I started thinking about a dress I had begun planning during the 2020 Pandemic and had bought fabric for. I still wanted to make it. Yesterday while looking for something totally different, I found a bag that had the bodice for it already cut out. The Universe is speaking to me again!

                     

I used Simplicity 9761 for the bodice but don’t plan on using those sleeves. And unfortunately not the skirt portion either because it takes a total of 17 yards to make that dress and I only have 9 yards of my fabric.  

         

I may try a full skirt like the lady in this photo did where she used a wide horizontal border of her fabric around the bottom. That was the dress that first inspired me to make it.

                                                 

MAD FOR PLAIDS!

While looking at the earlier Simplicity pattern and the McCalls one, I remembered that I had also wanted to make another one of them in plaid again since I sold my first one I’d made. My two inspiration photos show the peplum over the skirt I want but I also love the V-neck. I have so many silk taffeta plaids now in my stash to choose from. So it may get a kick in the butt too.

                                                                                                                                                     

Some of this may sound repetitive of what I’ve written about in the past. I talk a lot but don’t always produce. (Yes, there’s a closet behind me that still has a few unfinished dresses in there). But I’m hoping with some goals coming up, and the idea of a group costume, it might help me out of my slump.

It’s also time to make a new Victorian corset. After wearing mine at Costume College, it again reminded me that bones were poking out of the back into my lower back, and the fabric is tearing around the knobs on the front busk. At least it still fits so I can use the same size for it this time. That will be at the top of my list.

Lest I forget, one other costume got me excited to try making one for Halloween, of all things: a Spider Lady. Inspired by my friend’s own costume, I’m planning my own but totally Halloween-oriented. The bright orange fabric with spider webs on it will be made from a caftan pattern, with a giant fuzzy spider on my head. The pattern is supposedly easy and quick, so that’s a big benefit. 

COSTUME COLLEGE 2025: MY 22nd YEAR ATTENDING

Many of my costume friends and I were reminiscing about how many years we had all been coming to Costume College, and about all the changes that had come about in that time, especially with all the genres involved in it now. Many of us were around back when the smaller College was held at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, and when we outgrew it for classroom and event space, and room availability, we moved to the Woodland Hills Marriott. When the area around that was changing and we could see the writing on the wall of the changes the hotel was making, we moved on to our current hotel, The Sheraton-Gateway LAX, which is very close to the airport. All three have always kept us within an hours drive to our beloved Fabric District in downtown LA, which is one of the important aspects of our locations.

Over the years, class offerings have changed (we take what our teachers offer), and many of us historical costumers were commiserating at how few there were for us now. But one of my friends noted that maybe now WE should start teaching more and sharing all our knowledge to pass on to the next generation. So we’re all thinking along the lines of that now. See how this is all relating the our recent theme of “The Costumer’s Journey”?

COSTUME EXHIBIT

Once again, I was going to run the Costume Exhibit at CoCo, where attendees display the amazing costumes they’ve made. My original theme, “How Far We’ve Come”, was to tie it into the main theme and showing how our choices of genre and abilities have changed and improved over the years. But as we got closer to the event, as attendees were discussing doing mini-theme, or shadow groups, I thought we really needed to have some of the previous themed groups displayed there also. I contacted a couple of my friends, ok, I begged a couple of my friends to please consider bringing them for the Exhibit. I had a good response on that, and they ended up being a focal point of the room. The rest of the submissions were historical and cosplay.

The first large group was the “Montgolfier Balloon Accession” of 1783, and they chose to wear Regency  outfits with it. The “balloon” was a Chinese lantern they decorated and hung on an IV stand. And they made banners to go with it. They had shown up at the Gala in 2024, and I knew I had to have it in the Exhibit.

The second large group was “Regency Goes to the Ball”, with five ladies and two husbands in their finest Regency outfits.

Other themed outfits were from the “Marvelous Monstrosities” and “Constellation & Galaxies” but ended up with only one from each to display.

                            

These were the historical submissions, starting with 1870s to 1912 to 1920, on one side of the room.

  

The other side of the room were the Cosplay themes.

                       

To fill in one area, I had a table of antique and vintage hats, starting from 1883 to 1950.

                                

 

                                 

FRIDAY NIGHT SOCIAL –“The Adventurer’s Club”.

THE SPACE JANE BATTALION -our mini-themed group                                  

Having been involved in multiple mini-themed groups for the last 10 years, I was happy to find one for the Friday Night Social: The Adventurer’s Club, where we could honor the original symbol for Costume College: Space Jane. She was designed by Chuck Koviac many years ago and combined the two favorite genres of Costumers Guild West: Victorian and SciFi. So we have an image of a Victorian lady outfitted for space travel.                                                     

Our mini-theme was the Space Jane Battalion. To follow the image, I wanted to re-use a dress I’d made a few months ago for my outfit, an 1873 blue striped Seaside dress. I like being able to just add accessories to fit a theme. I wasn’t able to find a helmet as they were all sold out but I did find an antenna ball headband, silver gloves, and a raygun with fun sound & color effects.

             

CLASSES I  ATTENDED

I only attended two classes this year, “How Not to Look Awkward in Photos”, and a workshop, “Put a Bow on It”.  The photographer’s class gave me a few ideas of looking towards the light, and having my arms in graceful positions, like a ballerina. I was able to use that while posing in my Gala outfit. The “Bow” class demonstrated an interesting method of tying the ribbon around your hand, in and out of your fingers, and then pulling the ends to make a bow. That was confusing. But constructing a bow from 3 pieces of ribbon worked much better and I liked the final look it had. And I can use this technique for giant bows on my dresses.

GALA  -“Roaring ‘20s-Choose Your Century”.

Most people chose the 1920s for their outfits, which included myself, and there were a few 1820s but I’m not sure about earlier time periods. And of course many chose to wear whatever their favorite outfit was, which I often do. My costume was a 1920s Erte-inspired dress. I really felt good in it and received lots of compliments. And it was so comfortable without having to wear a corset this time. I bought the dress on Amazon after doing a search for caftans, and this one popped up in the Middle Eastern designs. Then I found a velvet turban and added my black ostrich feathers to it. Voila! It was done. That was one of the easiest costumes I’ve ever put together, and no sewing involved!               

       

TRUNK SHOW

This was the first time I became a vendor, "Fichus & Pelerines", for the Trunk Show on the last day of CoCo. It’s open to attendees who run a small costume-related business and is only 2 hrs. We each had a 6ft table to set up our wares on. I bought a couple nice shirt display stands to put my samples on. Since 2017 I’ve been hand-sewing fichus and selling them to my friends and on a Facebook sales group. I just enjoy doing some hand-sewing while I’m watching TV at night, and in the last few years I added pelerines to them and enjoyed adding pretty lace to the edges. So for the past year I had been sewing and accumulating them specifically for this event. I accumulated a total of 56 to bring this year. I had to rush over to set up in time as I had to also close down the Costume Exhibit just prior to it. And then of course we had the mad dash of the shoppers being released into the room. It was so much fun, and I was rushed at times. I did well with my sales and am considering doing it again next year. I probably should consider bringing a friend to help me next time. Sadly I had no time to shop there myself.

PURCHASES

I didn't buy a lot this year (I have too much anyhow) but in the Marketplace I bought some beautiful vintage white cotton trim that was wider than I've ever seen and was told you could even run a ribbon through it. I bought a roll of pink dotted white ribbon and the black feather with a loop that makes it so easy to attach to a hat or your hair from the “French Kiss” vendor. I also bought a busk for my much-needed new corset.

On the last day, I stopped into the Bargain Basement when it was $5 for all you can fill in the black garbage bag. I didn't expect to find much but there were still LOTS of fabric left to dig through. I'm most happy with the issues of Costumer's Quarterly magazines, and the bolt of black illusion net and the white stiff netting (great for sleeve puffs) I got. I bought the pretty flannel with pink flowers for one of my neighbors. The cream ?? not sure, just cuz. The sapphire blue silky fabric is enough to drape over maybe a 1912 dress. Or maybe just make a scarf. 

As always, I came home excited about making a couple new costumes, and surprisingly, they are all from the 1850s, along with an idea for a new Halloween costume. My next blog will be about my 1850s ideas.