I guess all it took was a little whining about not being able to get into the Natural Form/Bustle Era groove, because look at this little number I found.  |
So today I woke up early and put together a quick-'n'-dirty project: a cotehardie. With a dozen-plus yards of white wool/silk from Burnley and Trowbridge lying around, I figured I could spare a few for this first-time attempt. The color might be directly inspired by Waterhouse's The Lady of Shalott, but it definitely won't be a reproduction dress. As of now, I have all the body pieces pinned together and ready to be attached. After that, it's draping and finishing the sleeves (ugh), then eleventy-million lacing holes/buttonholes down the front and up the sleeves (double ugh). SCA players, I will be looking to you for help with the fine details!
Now don't feel left out, you Victorianites. I'm also going to try to tackle a Natural Form gown. Now, I have FOR YEARS wanted to have a beautiful Victorian bustle gown*. I KNOW that when I finally have one, I will have found my favorite era. But I have an extreme mental block when it comes to planning this project. I don't know why I can't wrap my head around the aesthetics of the era. So I might need a little TLC and inspiration for that project, OK? :)
*ETA: Oops, my thoughts ran faster than my typing speed. I'm focusing on making a Natural Form, or perhaps one from just when a little bitty bustle reappears in the early 1880s. I would rather not waster the time (or subsequent luggage space!) on a bustle. I am, however, drawing on inspiration from the entire bustle era for the aesthetic.
But in a historical textile matter, take a look at this portrait of Thomas Cromwell by Holbein. Zoom in to the lower left corner. What is that? I don't recognize the pattern. Do you think it's a rug or a blanket strewn over something? I'm stumped!
What should I
Adopted 2-22-2002
At peace 9-2-2009
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blank
I might have a phenomenal opportunity headed my way that would involve mounting costumes for public display. It's something I would very much like to do, but I'm rather lost as to how I would actually mount the pieces for display. This is, unfortunately, neither a museum setting with mounting resources readily available nor a project with a large budget.
The way the costumes would be mounted would be entirely up to me. I could make it realistic looking, a la displays at Kyoto or the Met, or I can make it abstract, like having the costumes hang from a plain old hanger with little to no "body" visible, provided I somehow give the costumes the proper shape. Human models are out of the question.
I've looked into buying and/or renting mannequins for the display, but unless I can butcher customize them, I doubt I'll achieve the proper fit using an "off-the-rack" form. I'm also considering trying a duct tape form, but that would be a pretty fugly decolletage.
Has anyone out there had experience with mounting costumes for display? Or does anyone have a good idea they could pass along? I'm hopping with excitement about this opportunity, but superstition is getting the best of me and I don't want to jinx anything by saying anything too soon! I appreciate your input!
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I was reading my friends pages, and ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
koshka_the_cat posted that she had THREE gala dresses to wear this year.
Did this really happen?
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I feel horrible for saying this, but I really, really want to go to Costume College. I want to forget that my best friend is dying. I want to finish up some costume pieces and have a stress-free vacation with my costuming friends. There is so much I want to discuss with you guys that I can't do online. I want to ooh and aah over your accomplishments and get the inspiration I've been lacking for mine.
I have no way of knowing how Ma'am is really doing aside from what the vet's lab results are telling me. She is the same old soul she's always been, except now I see she's slower, weaker, and not eating as much. The end stage diagnosis was a complete shock because there has been no change in her demeanor. Part of me wants to forego her kidney diet food and daily sub-q injections, just to give her a stress-free ending. But I will never forgive myself if I look back and feel like I killed her.
There is one more treatment option that the vet gave me, but I opted not to do it. See, your kidneys produce a hormone that tells your bone marrow to make red blood cells. Ma'am's kidneys aren't functioning, so her red blood cell count is practically nonexistent, hence her feeling weak. This last-resort treatment involves injecting her 1-3 times per week with this hormone she's not producing so she can make red blood cells. This also involves weekly monitoring of her red blood cell count. Even if I did the injections at home she would still have to go to the vet at least once a week for a blood sample to send to the lab. Plus, the cost on top of it all... Bottom line, I can't put her through that. But I can't help but feel like I'm quitting on her, either.
I don't know how much time we have left together. In some ways it would be easier for her to go soon. Both of our suffering would end. But I think of yesterday, when I napped on the sofa and she napped on my stomach...I'm tearing up at work thinking about it. I'm not ready to say goodbye. And if I'm gone for five days at CC, maybe she'll think I left her. Remember, it's just the two of us here. I'm her world.
I don't know where this is going. I guess I feel guilty for wanting to forget that she is leaving me. I missed Costume Con 2008 at the last minute and was horribly disappointed. It seems selfish, crass and gauche, though, to choose a stupid convention over the creature I vowed to care for. I'm so in denial. Fuck me.
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I had been immensely peeved when I wasn't selected to teach at Costume College. I had proposed some top-notch lectures (IMHO) and I am aching to add something more sophisticated to my costuming CV in anticipation of applying to grad school at the end of this year. Further, after the burnout of Costume Con, and a thorough self-search about why I costume, I had concluded that a break from Costume College was necessary, and that I wouldn't return next year.
I suppose life happens when you're making plans.
Some of you know that my beloved kitty, Ma'am, suffers from kidney problems. I give her fluids on a nightly basis and she is on a regulated kidney food diet. Today I spoke with her vet about her latest test results. Her disease has progressed to Stage IV renal failure. Terminal. It's a matter of weeks now, if that. Tomorrow we have an appointment to discuss remaining options to make the rest of her life easier.
I'm afraid this means I have to scrap Costume College. I regret not being able to see those of you who weren't able to come to Costume Con, and those of you whom I haven't seen in many years. I want to spend as much time with my little friend before she isn't with me anymore. She is, after all, the love of my life.
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sad
Would such a thing as a 1530s-1540s ivory colored Tudor gown have existed? Internet portrait research only yields the ubiquitous red and black color schemes. Did the introduction of white into English fashion come only after the Spanish influence of Elizabethan times? I'm at work and away from my textbooks and would like to know before I get too deep into the plan I'm hatching...
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Page 60. White redingote. Claimed.
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impressed
( Come visit me! )
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busy
Who on my f-list has made a gable hood? I'm not happy with the results I'm getting using the Tudor Tailor technique. Anyone have good luck with the TT or any other construction method?
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Angela of Burnley and Trowbridge just emailed me and told me she is coming to Costime College! And she is brimging Janea Whitacre with her!!!
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- Location:40.7623,-73.9595
