Steampunk World's Fair 2016

The Partner in Crime and I attended the Steampunk World's Fair in Piscataway, NJ a few weeks ago.  Unlike last year I actually remembered to take pictures of our outfits.  Don't get excited, they're not great pictures, but they do exist!  Baby steps.

Friday

We arrived late on Friday night since she'd worked all day and I was furiously finishing up costume bits.  I know this is shocking, but I decided to add stuff at the last minute and then didn't actually have the materials to complete that piece.  Planning!

So Friday we knew we were going to go to the American Murder Song premiere for VIPs.  Bought the VIP tickets especially for it.

We ended up not actually seeing it because we chatted with friends before going to see the show.  That was dumb.  Lesson learned.

We'd decided to go with a dark theme for this night.

PiC is a voodoo priestess.  I lamed out on my costume makeup and just ended up wearing some black and blue stuff that I cobbled together.

The lace shirt is from the Goodwill and worn over a blue tank top from H&M.  Blue and black paisley corset is the 426 from Orchard Corset, and the black skirt is the bustle skirt from hell that I made up for Steampunk Unlimited last year.

 

Saturday

Right, so we decided that for the big Saturday costume we were going to make Strawberry Shortcake and Blueberry Muffin outfits and compete in the costume contest.  We were pretty excited until we realized that when the event coordinators announced the schedule there was no costume contest. *whomp whomp*

Because the schedule only comes out a few days before the event and costumes take considerably longer than that to create we were both already pretty deep into the Berries.

We decided to persevere since at this point I was mostly done with the creation of significant parts of the outfit and she'd already purchased everything for hers.  We were going to look cute either way.

But at the last minute a sponsor came forward and they were able to make a costume contest happen!  We participated but were totally blown away by some of the amazing costumes so we didn't win.  This outfit was so comfortable that I ended up staying in it all day.  Hooray!

Here's me being Lieutenant Strawberry Shortcake, Airship Brigade

Everyone thought I was a stewardess....I am not a stewardess.

I dug myself in pretty deep attempting to make a pair of jhodpurs from the new Butterick pattern (B6340) that just didn't end up coming out to anything that I could wear.  It's actually a pretty nice pattern, but it probably shouldn't be make up in white. (Bad things happened.  That's another story.)

In the end I made the jacket (more details in a future post) and did a quick modification on some pants from WalMart.

I purchased the corset from Timeless Trends and found the blouse at Goodwill. The socks are leprechaun socks from JoAnn's bought on clearance after St. Paddy's Day.  There's an obnoxious buckle just under the knee, it's hidden by the pants.  I already owned the brown boots.

Some detail pictures of the jacket and my adorable strawberry medal.

 

And a better picture of the hat

Kimono Dress

I wore the kimono dress Saturday morning, but styled it differently from last year.  Of course, I have zero pictures of last year's outfit...

Here it is this year.

 

I made a bustle!  And yes, I am in desperate need of a petticoat.  It's on the project list.

The obnoxiously coral underskirt was the last minute project.  I ended up at Walmart around 1 PM on Friday to buy thread to finish that skirt.  Because I am the queen of last-minute costuming the skirt is finished and actually not half bad.

It's not properly made up by any means and the side and back seams are sewn with white thread, but it's in one piece and it's wearable.  

Some (maybe not so) obvious problems with the skirt:  It's too short in the back.  I bought 4 yards of this fabric assuming that i was going to use one pattern and then decided to use a different pattern.  This was probably a good idea in the end, since the new pattern allowed for the giant bustle in the back, but I ended up short about a yard of fabric, so I didn't actually make the pattern properly which ultimately left it short in the back.

It didn't really matter for this outfit since the back is covered. but if I want to make wear it with the bustle and no over skirt I am going to have to lengthen it.  Somehow.  Right.



I also made that giant bustle.  It wasn't as hard as I anticipated and I was actually able to make it entirely in two evenings after work.

It was serviceable for the event, but still needs work. There's some really terrible gathering at the top that luckily got covered by the waistband but I managed to totally mis-measure the waistband so it's too short.  I also ended up having so much trouble with the boning piece at the top that I gave up on it.  I called it done at the time, but I will correct the waistband issue and add the extra boning piece at the top.  I also wanted to add a pleated ruffle at the bottom, but I got lazy (shocking) so I didn't do it.

And yes, I see the very obvious boning through the dress.  I know I am also in dire need of a petticoat.  I actually just bought some sheets that I intend to cannibalize to make a lovely yellow petticoat.  With ruffles.  Progress.

Some close up shots of my hair and the corset.

 

 Sunday

Sunday was a quick pack up and leave.  We'd planned to wear our lovely outfits purchased from Midnight Orchid and I paired mine with a tank top.  Under normal May weather circumstances this would have been perfect, but the weather did not cooperate and we ended up freezing our butts off and changing into civilian clothes in short order.  Unfortunately no photos since we changed so quickly.