I work a full-time (frequently more than 40 hour a week) job and when I'm not working I'm usually working on some project. Unfortunately, since I'm such a terrible procrastinator, I'm usually running tight against a deadline and don't have time to take progress pictures. And then I'm inevitably forgetful at the event and don't take pictures there. So then there are no pictures for the blog and I always say I'm going to take some at another time but then that never happens and who wants to read a blog post with no pictures anyway?! So then the posts never happen...
I have some time off of work and I'm going to try to get some pictures and write ups of my 2016 projects done while I'm home and get started on some 2017 projects. I'm really terrible about taking pictures, but I'll share them where I have them.
Summary of 2016 Projects
The Final Wicked Faire (February)I decided that I was going to this the day before and desperately raided my stash to find something to wear. I pinned (literally, with safety pins) a chiton together from stash fabric and bound it with my corset. I made a quick and dirty floral crown and was...I dunno, some kind of pagan goddess? It worked.
Steampunk World's Fair (May)
Several outfits, but most of them I've worn before. I have (truly terrible) pictures of every one of them though! I did make a Military Strawberry Shortcake costume that was super fun, but not actually worn for very long at all.
Bought a cute dress from Amazon and wore it with a vintage hat. I felt a bit like Madeline in this one.
Bastille Day (July)
My most ambitious project of the year. I made stays, a petticoat, and a jacket, Pictures of this also exist!
Jazz Age on the Delaware (July) (scrapped for 20s tea because it was 10,000 degrees that day)
Easy, easy costume. Found a white dress-like thing at the Goodwill. Wore it over a slip with stockings and my American Duchess Gibsons.
Harry Potter Book Release Party (July)
This was the same day as Jazz Age and at midnight....I wore a men's dress shirt, black skirt, and Ravenclaw robe and tie purchased from Amazon.
Pirate Weekend at the PA Ren Faire
Rewore a pirate outfit I made years ago. It was almost 100 degrees that day and my shoe broke; not an awesome day.
Time Traveler's Weekend at the PA Ren Faire
Cop-out costume. I'd just gotten off an international flight two days before and was not making anything. Wore a sparkly tank top, maxi skirt, and awesome floral headdress with horns that I'd bought at Steampunk World's Fair. I was going for some kind of maenad a la True Blood.
Steampunk Unlimited (October)
Rewore my black kimono with a new skirt.
Medusa. I'd planned to make a chiton, but couldn't find any fabric I liked. I stumbled on a weirdly appropriate bridesmaid's dress at the Goodwill the day before and wore that. I made hair "snakes" out of floral crinoline, which worked surprisingly well.
Halloween at the PA Ren Faire (October)
Cobbled together an autumn colored outfit from bits and bobs in my stash. Made a quick but effective bodice the night before.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (November)
Rewore the white 20s style dress with a sweater and grey cloche hat. It worked surprisingly well!
Star Wars Themed Christmas Potluck (December)
Bought white jeans, white turtleneck, cream colored vest, and grey boots and went as Leia on Hoth. Possibly the lowest-stress costume I wore all year.
1970s Themed Christmas Brunch (December)
Made a fabulous vintage 70s re-isusse from Simplicity. Made it up in an obnoxious orange and teal plaid. It was awesome.
Christmas at Longwood Gardens (December)
Made a new late-bustle era dress. It wasn't as intense as I thought it was going to be.
2016 Takeaways
I'm doing a lot more costuming events than I have in the past and I'm learning the value of rewearing or repurposing clothing. It's really just not possible for me to make something new, from scratch, almost every month. I don't have the time or the funds to do that.
Along with that, I'm starting to understand the value of building out a "wardrobe" of sorts. I don't generally stick to any one period, but once you have the basics it's much easier to build out. With the steampunk events I've been doing I've got lots of things that can be put together to make new outfits and it's much easier for me to build outfits with a bustle now that I've made one and don't need to worry about making that in addition to the the rest of the costume.
Some of these events really challenged me to be creative, usually because of time constraints. I'm also learning that other people don't see that I've safety pinned something together or bought something at the Goodwill, they only see the finished product. My Wicked Faire and Medusa outfits ended up being really impressive, even though I didn't spend much time or money on them. I'm not about to start stop sewing and start safety pinning everything together, but I also don't necessarily need to spend tons of time on an item that I'm probably only going to wear once.
2017 Goals and Events
First things first: Take pictures. Actual pictures, not selfies. We're making progress on this and for bigger events we're getting better about taking pictures right away before we forget. Baby steps
The partner in crime and I seem to both be getting into 18th century costuming and I intend to build out that part of the costuming wardrobe. I've picked up some wool to make a riding habit and I've got some stash fabric that is begging to be made up into some other 18th century items.
I need to make some foundation items for various periods: a good chemise, several petticoats, a bumroll, bumpad, pocket hoops, 18th century pockets, some head coverings and pocket hoops.
We'll be back at Steampunk World's Fair this year and have plans for some 18th century events later in the year, possibly something Edwardian early in the year.
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