Sophistique Noir Theme Post - Outerwear!

I LOVE coats! Can you tell? I'm currently making a 60's cape and an Edwardian jacket. I've also got about15 more coats than I posted here. A 1940's varsity jacket, a Victorian cape, an uber modern Japanese coat, 2 brocade 60's dress coats etc... Here are a few!

On the left is my everyday coat. It is black wool and made by Shelli Segal. I found one similar on Macy's website and it is $325! Mine was free! It was given to me by my mum's friend who was moving. I added a hood and a Victorian mourning cameo. I'm wearing it with a silk Alexander McQueen scarf I received for Christmas. On the right is a coat my step-mum sent me last week. She was in Target, took one look at it and thought of me. It has a faux fur collar and sort of a swing fit. On a side note, my mum liked it so much she went and bought one too. Oh boy, twins...

 The fur coat on the left is my "Edward Gorey" coat. Thankfully mine is fake! On the right is my silly 1930's hiking ensemble. Everything is scratchy wool that makes me nuts.

The super long military coat is made by J. Crew. I found one like on their site - $398! Mine is from Ross in Los Angeles, marked down several times because no one there has any use for something like this. People always stop and talk to me about it when I wear it. On the right is a silly little wool & sequin cape by Prabal Gurung for Target/Neiman Marcus. I think I could only wear it in the spring/summer around here. 

Right now it is 9°F. That's -12°C! (I know this is not at all cold compared to say, Helsinki, but is plenty cold 'round these parts) 

On toward my two silliest coats. The red coat is from the 1940's, but I "modified" it to wear to the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. It's all sequins and goofiness. I made the hood from pockets taken out of my mum's red coat. My boots are Rockports from Ronsons, for some reason I HAD to buy them. They're pretty decent rainboots, they make me laugh and they were designed by women's hockey great Cassie Campbell. On the right is my WW2 Ike jacket. It's a dude's jacket, but it has patches (a roaring polar bear) on it from service in Alaska.

October 2nd Costume - Corpse Bride

I made this costume several years ago for my mum's Halloween party. My boss gave me a size 26 wedding dress she had, which gave me quite a lot of fabric & lace to cut up and play with. I couldn't bear to paint it, so I painted the shredded lace trim instead. The top is a steel boned corset with little fimo ribs. My veil is a curtain I painted out on the lawn. The wig is the "official" Rubies one & it was a nightmare. I itched all day and night with that damn thing on. 

My boyfriend was Charlie Chaplin that year. He said the corpse bride was his favourite costume on me - probably because my cleavage was on view...

My mum was a clown - do you like the big red lips I painted on her?

October 1st Costume - Revolutionary War Dress

I recently completed this dress - I've been working on it for 3 months or so. It is for my step mother who is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She will be wearing it in a parade and to veteran's events in November. She lives in California, so I only had one opportunity to try a partially made bodice on her in June. Fortunately she and I are of a similar height and size. 

I bought the main fabric for $6, the hat trim fabric for $3 and the petticoat fabric for $4 at the Goodwill. The hat was $1, but I uncoiled it and re did it into a flat crown. The corset is made from leftover upholstery fabric from a job I did and the panniers and pantaloons are from free sheets I got at a rummage sale. I know everything is not totally historically accurate - but it's tons better than a ready made costume bought off the net. It is a mix of old and new sewing patterns. The panniers are from Norah Waugh's  Corsets and Crinolines, although much smaller.

I really must thank American Duchess for all the inspiration for this costume. I endlessly poured over the details of her dresses and hats. Especially the idea for the covered buttons up the front, this solved a huge headache for me!

 My step mum is not a costume person, so I took a series of photos of the proper order to get dressed.

A Wedding In Los Angeles

 

My friends Caesareo & Erich were married August 30th. They have been together 18 years - since high school! They got hitched at the LA courthouse, much to my dismay. I had a whole 1920's themed wedding at the Biltmore Hotel planned out in my head for them!

Caesareo is super talented. It's a wonder he had time to get married, seeing he just completed making the dress Lady Gaga wore at the VMAs. He also made her origami dress too. 

This photo is of the 2 of us while we worked at a theme park I can't mention. We had so much fun there. One night I pushed him around the park in a lost & found baby stroller at 1am. Finally the wheels splayed out & we parked it beside a very famous car that was used in parades. Much to my horror that damn stroller stayed there for months!

Charles Williams Store Catalog Fall/Winter 1925

Up next in my catalog scans is the Charles Williams Store Catalog Fall/Winter for 1925. I bought this catalog on Ebay about 10 years ago.

 

 I love the addition of fur at the hem of some of the coats.

 

Love that bottomblack and red dress on the right.

 

 

Monthly Theme Post - Maxi Skirts

 

Hmmm... maxi skirts.... Knee length skirts and I are friends, but maxi skirts an I are not really friends. The only skirt I have that could qualify for this theme post is the skirt to my half mourning 1880's costume. There is a  matching veiled hat, corset and jet jewelry that goes along with it as well. I made it 4 years ago for my mum's big Halloween party. She hired a magician to perform, who tied me up with ropes that fell apart - magically! 

Anyway... back to maxi skirts. One reason I don't like to wear them is that there is an extreme religious group in my area that subjugates women in a depressing way. They are unschooled, unable to go out alone and have to wear these awful skirts. Of course the men are not subject to any of these regulations. They make me sad when I see them, therefore when I think of maxi skirts I think of them.

Outfit Post - WW2 Soldier

 I finally finished my M-1941 jacket! It went easier than first two I made for sure. I still have to make a sample welt pocket every time a pattern calls for one! I had the fabric lying around for ever, it was almost right, so I dyed with Dylon. The lining is cut from a sheet, and all the notions I bought at Dressew in Vancouver. I think it conceals my girliness, or at least I hope it does! I have to take the carbine back to my dad on Saturday :( Flying with a firearm is no fun, they make you feel like you're committing a crime. My exact helmet is selling on Ebay right now for $410, I paid $40 at the surplus store in Fresno! Please ignore my peeling deck - I sanded and painted it last summer, and already it's awful! 

Max helped me dye the fabric!

Halloween Loot!

My Halloween haul so far... 2 new doormats, tissue, vinyl decals, treat bags, ribbon, ink pads, socks & fabric. I'm sure there will be more to come!

 The tissue is from Target, they had another design with a bat as well. The front has a lenticular graphic on them!

Closeup of the fabric. I've already cut the white & black spiderweb into a 40's style shirt. I think I'm going to use the poison bottles in a paneled skirt.

My Corset Collection

The black waist cincher on the left I wear all the time. I originally made it to wear with an 1880's bustle gown. The corset in the middle is Chinese brocade and is so tiny- 20" waist!  I can't believe this used to fit me! The corset on the right I made to wear to an exhibition of corsets at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Apparently I have 2 orange corsets. I'm not even really into orange but they were both made as part of a costume. The one on the left I hand beaded while watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs one year. It goes to a hot pink and orange can-can dancer outfit. The corset on the right is art of a 1900's-1910's black and orange Halloween costume. Every dot is sequined and the skirt has Beistle cats painted on it.

 

 

I could not get a good photo of the pink corset. In person it is not so shiny and is a lovely raspberry colour. It is an overbust corset with a drawstring at the top to make it secure.  The corset in the centre is a lovely gray/purple and also looks better in person. The corset on the right is my attempt at make a a more vintage looking corset.

 The corset on the left is from from around 1900. It is in rough shape, but I still think it is beautiful. Every seam has 4 channels of boning! The middle vinyl corset is the only commercial one, I think it's from Leg Avenue. Each corset has it's own color coded bag, and they all live in the box my hockey skates came in.