Costume College Professional Pictures

These photos were all taken by Andrew Schmidt for Costume College 2014.

On Friday Night, we had the Ice Cream Social. Being a lagger, I completely missed the ice cream, but Tanya and I snuck out for a little sumthin sumthin at the bar. There's also gin in that flask, but funny enough, I never got around to drinking it.

1980's Thrift Store dress with the shoulder pads and sleeves removed. Thrift store spangled purse. Headband cobbled together from Joannes, Shoes I've had forever from Macy's. Stockings from thrift store rolled down with rolling garters from the CoCo marketplace and a flask from the marketplace.

Saturday night was the Gala. You've heard me kvetching about putting that together already. Here's the whole finished look.

The plaid silk was won in a raffle. The skirt, overskirt and bodice are all Truly Victorian patterns. The black trim was removed from a tutu I found in my garage. I have my hair up in a hair piece I made from a long gray cosplay wig. Gloves I found at the thrift store.

I am wearing a bustle under there, it just was half of a pair of pocket panniers I made with really cheap plastic boning. It didn't have enough umph to keep everything up. The flowers were also kind of stuck on last minute also. It's also too short. I will save this one. I have silk left, so I'm going to make a large pleated ruffle to go around the bottom to lengthen it. I'll also make a real bustle to wear under it. I plan on making a lot more goo ga's to add to the overskirt also.

On Sunday Afternoon we had the Ascot Tea. I already had my walking skirt and gibson girl blouse I made for the Asilomar event. I added a black wool jacket I found at the thrift store and a hat I made for a Mae West costume I wore a few years back. Those are totally the same flowers from my bosom the night before.

I do think the jacket is worth reworking for real. I may end up making it into a 1930's or 40's jacket instead of an Edwardian. The purse was also found at the thrift store.

I did get a pretty good Facebook profile pic out of it.

Stress Cake and Anxiety Salad, Saturday at Costume College

This blog post had too many words. Saturday was a mixed bag for me. We had arrived on Wednesday and I only had to finish the trim on my Gala dress, so I thought I would have plenty of time. I just didn't. So when Saturday rolled around, I was a stress case. I had my only limited attendance class; "It's the 1860's and still handsewn" I didn't think this would be a problem for me since I've actually sewn an entire Dickens dress by hand before. I kind of thought it would be cake.

Stress Cake

The class started out fine. We practiced some hand sewing. I was actually a little further ahead than some of the people around me, so I was feeling a little cocky. Then the part happened that I had completely forgotten about. "we will fit your bodice using a 19th Century pattern system and then you will start construction" I hadn't worn my corset, so when we were going to begin the fitting process, I had to run to my room to put on my corset.

Bonus points if you know what movie this is from

I ran up to my room and grabbed my corset. Even though I had laced it to make it possible to put on myself, I COULD NOT GET IT ON. I was getting increasingly agitated, not knowing if they were waiting for me, not knowing if it just didn't fit me anymore. Arrrgh. Finally, I just grabbed it and ran back downstairs to class hoping someone would just help me put it on.

Well. I had completely not taken into account the fact that we were going to be draping the pattern for each other and I would be completely responsible for the fitting of someone else's costume. I have draped a piece of clothing for another person zero times. Nope, nope, nope. Here's the thing. I am great in a crisis. I have saved lives. Literally. I'm the person you want in a zombie apocolype, but my being responsible for a fitted bodice for another costumer, nope, nope, nope again.

For some reason, I had though we would be fitting our own bodice. On ourselves. This would be almost impossible, so I don't know why I thought this, but I did. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't stay. They thought of trying to maintain while pinning on another person that I didn't know, just started giving me that 'Wa wa' feeling in my head. Any of you who have had anxiety attacks or a panic attack know that feeling. So I calmly took the teacher aside and kind of explained what was going on and that I just couldn't stay. She was very very nice, but I was twenty kinds of relieved to get out of the classroom.

Since I now had a large chunk of free time ahead of me, I decided the best thing to do was just sew. I ran into Jennifer (of So Steady as she Sews) and of being a friend, and told her what happened and she was calm and I felt better. I went to the Marketplace again because shopping is my happy place and ran into my roomate Tanya, who is one of the most maternal people I have met and I felt even better.

I went to the room and grabbed my bodice and sewing stuff. I decided to go up to the Hospitality Lounge so I would be around other people sewing last minute stuff. No one was sewing though, so I decided to head to the bar to sew (as you do) Now that was super positive. I sat next to Ariel, the little mermaid, who was having a nip or two and met Chrissy (of The Laced Angel) and of being really cool. I had a little cocktail, some good chat and got my sew on. The whole drinking with a mermaid thing put me in a good mood, so I made a lot of progress.

Photo from Most Popular and Best drinking games on the Web because that's a thing

Now somehow or other it was TIME FOR THE GALA. I know time must have passed slower than that, but between the tears and the vodka, I don't remember it passing. I literally couldn't have dressed without Tanya and Melissa. They ironed my dress, sewed on a hook and eye, hot glued my bodice flowers, etc. Melissa even had to SEW ME INTO MY DRESS. I had to be sewn into my dress because my corset did fit me, very tightly and the bodice was now too loose.

They were ready before me and looking fantastic by the way. These photos are "borrowed" from Jennifer.

Tanya

 

 

Melissa

 

Jennifer

Once Ken and I hit the red carpet and then entered the Gala, it all was worth it. Everyone was stunning. The food was excellent. I met Gina of ( Beauty From Ashes) and of super talent.

Gorgeous Gina. Photo from Marie-Jo Dulade-Coclet

Gina also managed to get a great picture of Ken and I in all our glory. There are things I will change on the dress (not being sewn into it for a start) but all in all I was pretty happy and Ken is so great at dressing himself. I did have to beg off early because my corset was just too tight and even though my friend Mary tried to help loosen my stays, I just couldn't move.

Photo by Gina White

I learned some hard lessons this day. Finish the garments you plan to wear to events before Costume College, no matter how little you think you have to do. Friends are good to have,especially when they can also sew. There is no substitute for an actual bustle under a bustle dress. Don't tight lace your corset when you have eaten all the carbs. There is no anxiety attack too great that it can't be helped by drinking gin with mermaids.

Costume College Friday Blur

Friday. Friday? Friday......? Friday at Costume College kind of went by in a blur. Let's see. We woke up at the crack of 6:30. (we did this every day, not even on purpose) The L.A. sunshine sweetly singing to us like little birds. This is a good thing, since we had so much to do. Well, I actually had very little to do, since I'd cancelled my tour to FIDM. I thought I would end up taking more classes or work on my Gala dress or something. I didn't really end up doing that.

We did make it down to the Freshman Orientation at 9:00am. Poor Elizabeth, who was giving us the orientation had very little sleep. She managed to be funny and informative at the same time anyway. Here's a "proof of being awake" selfie courtesy of Tanya.

I'm becoming very aware of the fact that there are very few costume pictures on here. I am the worst blogger ever. I don't even own a camera. Thank goodness for other people.

Ah, I also managed to take in an 18th century hair demonstration from Kendra from DeMode Couture . I think that was Friday. Note to self, "blog right after you get back from an event. You are a flibbertygibbet" She wrote and amazing book on styling your own hair or a wig in 18th century style. There are definitely tips in there for working with wigs and hairpieces from any time period.

Buy the book here

Then what happened? I spent a bunch of time in my hotel room watching tv and sewing my gala dress. This was necessary as it was becoming increasingly obvious that it was not going to be finished in time. Then Melissa and Tanya came and rescued me with early entry tickets to the amazing marketplace that was set up in the hotel. I fell in love with one stall in particular.Acme Notions.

So many cool vintage bits and bobs. I think I went back about six time

Then all of a sudden it was time for the Ice Cream Social! Time she does fly. I had my beaded flapper dress made from an eighties dress to wear and at the marketplace I found old fashioned Roll Garters. These are basically just giant hair ties that hold your your stockings up without having to wear a garter belt. There's a really great explanation of what that was for on the Vintage Dancer site. I also scored a cute pink flask which I tucked in my garter.

The flask looks just like this.

You can get your own on eBay

Somehow we manged to be late. Poor Melissa was still sewing sequins on her dress, so Tanya and I went down to check it out. She looked AMAZING. She will no doubt have fabulous photos on her own blog, Sewing with the Benevolent Devil. By the time we got there, the ice cream was all gone, so we did the logical thing and skipped out to the bar.

Yes we snuck out of the Ice Cream Social for cocktails. What?

But, thank goodness and Geri Rex, I have at least one picture of what I wore.

I'm pretty sure Tanya took this picture.

A bunch of us (see previous post of all kinds of ladies around a big table) had some dinner and I'm pretty sure that's all we did. It's fuzzy though.

Like real college, only with more corsets

If I wait until I get my professional Costume College photo's, I will never end up posting anything. Much like actual college, my fondest memories are less about the academics and more about the people I met. First let me introduce my roomates. Tanya and Melissa. Thursday Night was a 70's meetup for friends from The Greater Bay Area Costume Guild. The official CoCo theme was Tiki Party, but we flew in the face of rules. Mwahaaaahaa. (There are no rules) Very different women with very different housekeeping habits. Okay, well SOME of us were very messy and liked the room really cold and SOME of us were very tidy and would have liked it a little warmer. In order to protect the innocent, I will not say which is which. (although, I'm pretty sure you guys know which one I am)

Tanya and Melissa, Photo by Laurie Tavan of Daze of Laur

And Lisa made four on Wednesday Night

I literally dressed from my daughters closet and grabbed an awesome suede jacket. I just happened to have a halter jumpsuit hanging around, so this costume was pretty easy.

Going for that blurry "I'm with the band" look

One of the things I noticed about Costume College, is how easy it was to talk to people. I can be a little introverted sometimes. Oh, I can ACT like an extrovert, especially with a little gin in me, but most of the time I get nervous around new people. This is one of the few places I've been to where it was easy to make friends. I'm not even kidding, pretty much everyone in this picture became friends with each other with something like, "You're pretty. I like your dress. Do you want to be my friend?"

Carol, Meredith, Lisa, Mary, Melissa, Victoria, Tanya, Geri and Me! Photo taken by a random dude using Geri Rex's camera

New friend Jennifer of So Steady as She Sews

So that was Thursday. I'll do separate posts of the other days.
 
I promise to post more detail and better photos as they roll in. There are some great pictures on Flickr. Here are some more of the pool party. Costume College Pool Party 2014.

CoCo-A-GoGo

Only two more sleeps til Costume College! Well, only one more sleep til I check in at the Marriott. I'm so glad we are checking in a day early. I'll be doing some last minute sewing. I know I won't be alone. I'm holding off on purpose on some of the trimming for my plaid bodice, because there will be vendors at the hotel and I might want to incorporate some of the trims on offer. Because I was originally going to take a tour on Friday, I have a large span of time to do with what I want. If I'm feeling confident that my work is done, I'll drop in on some classes. If I'm freaking out, I can use the "panic room" on Friday night and maybe get some help.

Turns out I don't have to come up with a costume for the pool party, because our 1970's birthday party meetup is the same time. I'll be rocking a Penny Lane in Almost Famous kind of aesthetic.Well maybe a Penny Lane meets Rhoda aesthetic. We'll see.

That's Kate Hudson, not me, you know in case you were confused.

Yesterday was a day of madness. Nothing was safe from my scissors and thread. All is fair in last minute costuming frenzy. I was eying the cat, but she was having none of it.

Like this, only with scissors

Stand by for Costume College photos! You may have to stand waaay by.

Never have I ever

Never have I ever......matched plaids
Never have I ever......worked with silk taffeta
Never have I ever......made a Victorian Bustle Gown

So this makes perfect sense, since I have a whole month (not including work days, vacation in July, and sleeping) to make it.

Here's a sneak peak of my Costume College Gala dress.

Not the WORST for someone who has never matched plaids

The inside of the bodice needs to be boned. The directions say to make bone casings and sewing them to the interlining, but I'm all like, "I'm doing a lining anyway, why don't I just hand sew some channels and put the boning between the interlining and lining?

Because I shouldn't smoke crack before I hand sew

No one would really be looking at the lining, so I don't really mind the uneven sewing (the dark lines are disappearing ink, so they wouldn't show after I ironed it).

 

The problem is sewing the lining in. If I do the boning channels, then instead of sewing the two pieces right side together and then turning it, I would have to stitch it together afterwards. This would be fine if it didn't have these pleats in it. I  don't know if I am making sense, but I think it would be wonky.

So I'm going to unpick the channels and sew the boning in with casings. You know, like they said to do in the first place before I decided to be such a smarty pants.

In other news; my corset doesn't fit. I was bigger when I made it, so the lacing in the back completely meets and doesn't reduce my waist at all. I'm telling you right now that my pretty plaid bodice is NOT going to fit without some semi-tight lacing.

This photo is of the corset 20 pounds ago.

It's also a little bulky because it has three layers and the binding is too thick. Since I used expensive spring coil bones and it's essentially a good shape, I'm going to unbind it and figure out how to take in a seam without undoing the whole thing. I just don't have time. I'll then rebind it with something a little less bulky.

Never have I ever....done any of the above things. So...bottoms up!

I won! Costume College Scholarship.

I just found out yesterday that I am the lucky recipient of a Costume College Scholarship. There is a good chance that, if you are reading this blog. (helloooo, Bueller? Bueller?) then you already know what that is. Just in case you don't, Costume College is an amazing four days of classes and events all put on by costumers for costumers and a chance to stay immersed in that environment at a hotel the whole time. These are my people. For more information, check out their website

http://www.costumecollege.net/

Beside classes, which haven't been released yet, there are several events. Although wearing large overwhelming costumes to the actual classes is not encouraged, the events are another story. There is a Pool Party, An Ice Cream Social, An Ascot Tea and the Time Travelers Gala. All I know for  sure, is that I'll be rocking some kind of 'My Fair Lady' type outfit for the tea. Maybe a Poiret inspired dress with an enormous hat.

Not this one, but something like it

I'm also pretty sure I'm going to go 18th Century, probably 1760's for the Gala. Since Ken is going to accompany me, I need to make something for me

Just a little something

and for Ken

Don't tell Ken, he'll never know unless he reads this blog. Mwaaahhaaaa

Okay, so probably not in those colors, but I'm awfully tempted.