Bohème Sauvage

The night of my last full day in Berlin was the night before a bank holiday, and on that night there was a wild 1920s party held in a club in Mitte which I naturally felt bound to attend.  Nicole had joined me in Germany a couple days before, and in spite of the loud proclimation of "AUSVERKAUFT" (sold out) on the website we dressed up and headed boldly into the night.  It was apparently our lucky night, since we were allowed in an hour or so after the party started in spite of our complete lack of tickets.

It was called Bohème Sauvage, an event which is held semi-regularily in various locations in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, and Vienna, and the poster advertised 'an homage to Berlin nightlife of the 20s'- Dance in the May in the underworld.

Looking back now, it's hard to properly desribe the event.  Loads of people, various live acts... musicians and burlesque, absinthe bar, gambling, dancing... all in a vintage style nightclub which was slightly seedy, slightly too small, and rather wonderful.

Nicole and I were very lucky at one point to be able to land a seat by the bar, where we were able to rest before plunging back into the crowded dance floor area.  Everything was too dark inside for our little cameras to do any good, but fortunately the official photographer managed to capture us a few times.

An evening of cards and merriment - 1790s Gown

Yesterday evening I attended a Regency Card Party at the lovely Jenny Rose's house, and it was the perfect excuse to finish the 1797 gown which I had started over a year ago. 

The gown is made of white cotton voile and a pale yellow vintage silk organza sari with masses of embroidery and beading.  The cross-front overgown, layered over the separate silk petticoat, is trimmed with silk ribbon and has silk sleeves lined with the cotton voile.  The bodice is lined with white linen and pins shut.  I wore this gown without a corset or any extra support garment, just a sleeveless shift under the petticoat (which is kept up at the under-bust by little inch-wide straps) and gown.  Everything stayed in place and I was super comfortable all evening, which is sometimes the important part.

I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about 1790s fashions... I really love the crazy mish-mash of styles often seen in fashion plates and how ridiculous and over the top it all can be, but wearing it is something else entirely.  Maybe it's because I'm used to much more fitted bodices or at least the slim lines of later regency styles, but I felt a little bit like a marshmallow in this gown.  Puffy gathers all around the body don't really do much for one's figure.

I've said it in the past and I'll say it again and again:  Jenny Rose is the ultimate hostess, and her parties are an absolute delight.  Her seriously impressive collection of candelabras was put to very good use, lighting everything with delicate candlelight.  We nibbled on period appropriate hors d'oevres (my favorite was the syllabub, why it's not wildly popular nowadays is something I cannot comprehend.  Syllabub is like magic in dessert form.) and enjoyed a wide array of beverages, both alcoholic and not.

And of course we played cards!  I didn't try my hand at whist, but had a really good time playing Speculation.  It was a close game, and in spite of not ultimately winning, the aces were very good to me that night.  ;)

(all photos courtesy of Nicole)

Steampunk - Take II

My original plans for Teslacon included three totally different outfits, but due to time constraints the plan was altered somewhat.  On the second day of the convention I re-purposed the military style jacket from the day before (minus epaulets and tassels), and paired it with a matching skirt.  The pleated underskirt is made of the gold silk dupioni which lines the jacket, and the little drape is made of the same green as the jacket.

To be honest, this skirt almost never existed... I had talked about what I wanted it to be, but had run out of time to do anything about it.  The day on which we left I had to work all morning, and Nicole whipped it up based on what I'd described.  Aside from the bow in the back (which is actually the same bow used to adorn the sword scabbard on the previous day's outfit and is attached with a liberal dose of safety pins), the skirt was done that morning in a couple of hours. 

While wearing those short shorts the first day was fun, swords can get really heavy after a whole day of wear and I was very glad to be in something lighter and more comfortable the next day.

These pictures were taken in front of the super-awesome cigar rolling machine belonging to Foundry Cigars.  It was made by Dr Grymm Laboratories, and sort of felt like the embodiment of the steampunk aesthetic.  And yes, that is a cigar in my hand... they even had cogs on them!

Steampunk! The adventure begins with Teslacon III

Having just returned home yesterday from my first Steampunk event, I'm still floating on the high that was Teslacon.  I'll do more individual costume posts over the next few days, but I wanted to rave about the con for a bit first.

Nicole and I took the long drive to Wisconsin together, and the seventeen hours in the car (each way) was not in any way too high a price to pay for the awesomeness that ensued.  Steampunk as a genre has appealed to me for quite a while, and the reality of it exceeded all my expectations.  I honestly can't say enough good things about Teslacon... the immersive storyline was ridiculously entertaining, panels were amusing or informative or both, there were wonderful things to be bought in the dealers room, and the level of creativity shown by the majority of the attendees was beautifully refreshing. 

Most of all, I was impressed by the attitude of the Steampunk community in general.  Across the board, all the people we met and interacted with, from first-time con-goers to in-character staff to enstablished artists and authors, everyone was friendly and open and enthusiastic.  The general attitude was that we were all there to help each other and that information was to be shared and beginners were encouraged and artisans supported each other.  There was no snobbery, no one-up-man-ship, and it was glorious.  The reenacting community could learn a lot from the steampunkers in that regard.

Perhaps best for me personally though, I felt like I could be creative again.  Taking leaps of imagination was embraced and encouraged, and that was a marvelous feeling.

My outfit for the first day was inspired by an image of a military style Burlesque dancer from the 1880s or 90s, with added spatterdashes and a bit of juditious tweaking of design.  The whole outfit is worn over my mid-19th century corset.

The trim on the jacket and shorts is a metallic gimp braid, which was all sewn on by hand after the items were assembled.  I believe I used about twenty yards total for all the trimming.  Detachable lace ruffles are basted into the cuffs.

The little hat is built on a buckrum base and the visor is a rich brown leather edged with gold braid.  And the spatterdashes are a little bit sneaky... I actually fastened them with a long invisible zipper on the inner seams.  The buttons are permamently stitched down and don't actually function.

I had so much fun walking around in short shorts and a sword all day.  The strangest thing was having to remember that my legs had to do something in photographs... I'm so used to being in long skirts when in costume!

Plying my trade at Opsail

This past weekend was spent down in Norfolk for the big Opsail event, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.  I had promised to attend months ago, portraying a portrait artist/miniaturist of that era.  Both days I was there with Nicole, who was demonstrating shoemaking, while Samantha was only able to join us on Sunday.

Prior to the event, I didn't really know what to expect, and had the idea that I'd simply end up talking to people about artists and miniatures during the early 19th century, but that otherwise I'd be able to wander around and visit the tall ships and fort and whatnot.

To my great surprise and delight, people were genuinely interesting in my drawing, and, most specifically, in having me draw them.  I ended up doing a fairly brisk business with the small charcoal portraits, and aside from food breaks I did almost nothing but draw portraits straight the entire weekend.  It was definitely different to be at an event in a historical vendor type of mode as opposed to strict living history, but I must say I quite enjoyed it (even though I never did get to see all the ships). 

Apparently when I draw I look rather serious... I guess that must just be my 'concentrating' face, since I was actually really happy to be doing art again!

Naturally, I didn't get pictures of all the drawings I did for people, but I did get a quick snap of the sketch I did of the scrimshaw artist/sutler who was set up just a few tents down from me and one of Samantha.

An evening in 1912, or, the Epic Titanic Dinner dress

Last weekend I had the very good fortune to attend a truly marvelous, and aptly named, Epic Titanic Party. 

Imagine an evening spent in a pleasant and tastefully decorated home with great company, good conversation, sparkling dresses, lots of champagne, and a mind-blowing and utterly delicious thirteen course dinner.  After the dinner all the guests changed into appropriate 1912 lounge wear, and, well... lounged.  And chatted.  And drank more champagne and absinthe before tumbling into bed.  (I am not too proud to admit that I didn't even get to a bed, but instead crashed right on the floor where I awoke the following morning.)

I can't begin to describe how perfect everything was and can never thank our host, Jenny-Rose, enough for all of her amazing effort in pulling it off so splendidly.

What I can somewhat describe, however, is my dress.

I've always really liked 1912 as a time period and welcomed the excuse to finally make a dress from this era.  I liked nearly every extant dress or illustration or fashion print that I saw, but none of them jumped out as The Dress.  More than any other dress though, I was inspired by this pink one belonging to Queen Maud:

In the end it was easier to not let myself be bound by trying to reproduce a garment, and I eventually simply bought fabric and then fit a design to the materials I had.

The embroidered fabric is an amazing vintage Dupatee which I found on ebay... a purple/burgandy crinkle silk chiffon with gold emboidery and sequins and tiny green and red glass beads.  I then purchased a plain silk chiffon in a matching color, and layered them over a base of congac/paprika/burnt orange silk charmeuse.  Burgandy velvet also decorates the skirt and is used for the bow on the front of the dress.

The charmeuse foundation of the dress is patterned from the 1910 dress in Janet Arnold, and the other layers were simply draped on top.  I can't even begin to imagine trying to flat pattern these sorts of dresses...

I don't really have much to say about my lounging "harem" outfit which followed dinner except that I threw it together the morning of the event, and from start to finish it was done in well under an hour.  Good times...

1860s Wool Day Dress

 

This dress is currently for sale on Etsy!

A Civil War era day dress of lightweight 'tropical' wool of a slate-like blue-grey color. To trim it I used a narrow, gold colored velvet ribbon, which decorates the bottom edge of the pointed bodice and the sleeves.  The assymetrical bodice has domed brass buttons, and a narrow standing band neckline has a white cotton collar basted in.  The plaid silk neck bow is totally seperate, and is held on by a brooch.  The skirt is triple box pleated and the hem is faced with printed cotton.

Like many of my costumes, I did all visible work by hand and used machine stitching only on interior seams.

I wore this dress to Rememberance Day in Gettysburg two years in a row, and made a small but important change to the dress before wearing it the second time.  As you see in the pictures below, the first time I wore this dress I had used black antique buttons on the bodice (which were all I had on hand at the time).  The buttons were nice in and of themselves but really did nothing for the gown, and I swapped them out for the plain brass buttons which I think look a great deal better.

The assymetrical, military inspired bodice was quite popular during the Civil War, and is seen in quite a few images from that period.  My main inspiration for this dress was the CDV below and I copied the ribbon trim on the sleeves as exactly as I could, though my gown only has one row of ribbon around the waist instead of two.

1860s Windowpane Check Silk Day Dress

1800-1810 Cotton Print Dress... and Bonnet!

When planning my hypothetical 1812 wardrobe, one of items on the top of my extensive ‘to do’ list was a serviceable cotton dress in a dark color that could withstand cooking and tearing down camps etc.   I made this dress to wear to the annual Siege At Ft. Erie 1812 reenactment in Canada.

Since I just wanted a nice, basic everyday sort of dress (with nothing crazy design-wise), I worked from the Past Patterns Lewis and Clark Era dress pattern.  The only major change I made was to the sleeves which I shortened, made fuller, and added a drawstring at the bottom.  I also raised the waistline at the back, as it seemed too long for the 1812 period.  The fabric is a dark violet cotton print with cream flowers and tiny cream and dark green geometric patterns.  At least, I am calling it a violet fabric... it’s rather hard to pin it down exactly as in some lights it looks brown, in others blue, and others purple.

I paired this dress with a cotton lawn chemisette based on the 1800-1825 chemisette in Janet Arnold, but putting a double ruffle at the neck instead of the triple mushroom pleated frills of the original.  Also worn is the straw bonnet which I had made the year previously.  It's made from a light-weight straw braid, which was stitched into shape after being soaked in water to become more pliable.  The crown and brim were made as two seperate pieces before being stitched together.  A wired hemp trim decorates the edges, and the bonnet is trimmed with a simple silk ribbon band and a spray of feathers.