- Mood:
happy
( lots of pictures... )
- Mood:
geeky
Books
- StrenthsFinder
- New Moon
- The Men’s Burgundian Costume papers – it’s been so long, I can’t even remember what I needed to do to consider them DONE :-(
Sewing
I haven’t actually sewn anything for over a month due to the papers… I’m getting very antsy about that…
- Of course, since I sorted though my stash I’ve been rather taken with working on my steampunk outfit – honestly I don’t think the dress itself will take all that long to do (assuming the chiffon cooperates… which is probably a very bad assumption…) it’s the wig and the accessories that are intimidating.
- Writing my petticoat paper defined the mistakes I made in my first couple Belle Époque petticoats…I wanna get back to the “petticoat project” and try again now that I’ve integrated all my data into new and better hypotheses…but where's the time to do it in? *sigh*
- It’d be really nice to finish the accessories of at least one outfit to go with my yellow GFD… I don’t like wondering around feeling half dressed… even if I’m the only one who can tell…
Research
I really really want to get my dining room table cleared of the current research project before Thanksgiving… but that takes time. I’ve got a lot of Elizabethan photocopies that need to be annotated … the project is just not keeping my attention. There are just too many things I am not fond of in mid-late 16th century fashion. That’s not to say that there aren’t some portraits that I find utterly enthralling. There certainly are! The percentage is just much less then my previous long-term research projects. *Sigh* (I know, for SCA costumers not adoring the second half of the 16th century feels like sacrilege… *sniffle*) I really want to move onto putting together Belle Époque research binders or 1830s research binders. I also need to put together an overview binder of all the projects in my stash. And the one for the “I wanna do it” projects. And I need to complete a catalogue of my vintage collection. (It sad, but I realized a couple years ago that the binder illustrating my collection was missing a number of pieces so I gotta do a census. :-S ) But I promised m’self that I would do at least one SCA-period research project FIRST... If I loose focus now it’ll just be yet another unfinished project making me feel like I can’t get anything done. But I already feel like I can’t get anything done! *POUT*
I think I’d like to regress back to being two and sit down in middle of my sewing room and throw a temper tantrum, kicking my heels and waving my arms and everything... pity such behavior is frowned upon. Maybe it’s like my finances; I’m just flailing in too many directions at once. :-S
- Mood:
exanimate
- Mood:
blah
"Underwear and lingerie. Instruction paper with examination questions. Pt. 1-3. 1st ed. 10 A, H, C. Scranton, Pa., International textbook company [1916] cover-title, 3v. Illus. Svo. (Woman's Institute of domestic arts and sciences. Inc. : Department of sewing, associated with the International correspondence schools) © Лрг. 12, 191«: 2 с. and aff. July 8, 191G; A 434856." (link to cite on google books)
Why, oh WHY can't I find a copy of this book?!?! I thought I had. But it arrived today. It's the 1937 version. NOT useful when I want the stuff on Edwardian and Teens era petticoats!!!! *gnashes teeth* I can also find the 1925-6 2-part version. I cannot find the 1916 3-part version. *POUT*
The closest i seem to be able to come is the very interesting PDF of "Plain Undergarments" on this page: http://www.yellowzeppelin.net/Mary_Picke
Yes, based on the subjects of my last posts and their general scarcity you might be able to guess that I'm very busily writing a paper on Belle Époque Petticoats.... i think maybe I've gone a wee bit overboard... and I'm certainly at the "kill it. kill it now." stage. I'm definitely at the authorial griping stage; but as my favorite author mentioned in an essay i just read, "listening to me you wouldn't think I like the writing, but I would object very strenuously if anyone tried to take it away from me." (slight paraphrase there, since I'm don't feel like finding the exact quote - but that's very much how I feel at the moment ;-))
- Mood:
aggravated
- Mood:
pleased
TYVM!!
- Mood:
sleepy
Of course, that's my own fault. I like to be busy... and somehow it feels like part of the job to talk to as many people as possible :-S The people really are the plus side to being Cleftlands' Seneschal - I have gotten to know a lot more people in the barony then I knew when I stepped up and they're/we're/you're all very cool :-)
- Mood:
sleepy
It's (of course) VERY cute. There are a huge number of sensors on the thing, though... I am very much afraid that I'm going to break it when i paint it. If I can even get it working in the first place :-S
- Mood:
discontent
Is it a postitive thing that my boss had to fill out a questionaire to make sure I didn't have the H1N1 virus? I dunno... but it was kinda touching. 'Specially since I think she and I have been out with the same thing. :-S
- Mood:
sick
It’ll be made up in a very plain high-necked, floor length princess-lined 1900s-esq dress. Like the all over lace dresses that just seem painted on over the corset:
( +3 )( 2+ )
That’s the kinda thing I’m gonna try for as my base garment ;-) Less poofy sleeves then the top dress, but 3/4 length. I want to make this a bit more egdy, though – I don’t want to do a period hair (or wig) style – I’d like something more in the vein of these:
- http://www.gala-nocturna.com/
- http://www.viona-art.com/pages/frameset0
1/setmenu.html (most especially in the 10th row down: the Birdcage one, with orange hair, and also the bride. Side note – do take a gander though the other photos, I am completely enthralled with Viona’s costumes – such attention to detail, including hair and makeup, as well as playing with shapes just totally ROCKS! ;-D) - http://darkromantics.co.uk/
This is not an esthetic I’m familiar with – I need many more examples to be “seeped” in it enough to do my own design in that style. Do any of you have pointers?
Initially, when I wrote this I was having trouble with accessories. Which was a real roadblock to the project, as Steampunk is ALL about the accessories. I was having trouble ‘cause the standard “adventuring”, “gears”, and “mad scientist” type accessories don’t quite go with my Steampunk Social Climber idea. But I surfed and found some brilliant ideas:
- A totally oversized feather boa: http://www.ostrich.com/boa/Turkey-Ruff-F
eather-200-gram-Large.html - Edgy kick-ass Victoriana boots: http://www.goodgoth.com/ladiesboots.htm (the Splendor-130 style, about halfway down the page. Lots of other cool ideas there, too ;-))
- And the real piece d’resistance: I’m gonna get one of those purse-dog sized robotic dog toys (this or this) and re-paint it to be steampunk-ish, in coppers, golds and bronzes =D (I don’t know how much more kit-bashing it will require then just painting; I haven’t seen either in person…) I’m having visions of saying “Come, Fido” and being a complete bimbo over my “pet dog” like the heroine of Legally Blond :-D
- Of course there will also be long ropes of pearls, a monocle, net gloves, some sort of asymmetrical hair ornament, etc. But it’s those three accessories that make me feel like the concept has really gelled ;-)
Before I thought of the robotic dog, I was kinda worried that my accessorizing was going to be too historical and not punk enough. Very few of the posts on
- Mood:
artistic
- Mood:
sick
- my circa 1904 lingerie dress is sniffling and making forlorn abandonment sounds in my general direction
- a spectacular vintage 1904ish wool suit just arrived (Total SQUEE!!! Unfortunately it doesn't fit any of my dressforms very well, so the display pictures will leave much to be desired :-S But the suit! Want, want, want !!! :-D)
- I've been completely artistically absorbed in a 1900-ish Steampunk concept all week *rubs hands gleefully in appreciation of my devious plan ;-)*
- while trying to track down a rather misplaced inspiration picture for the steampunk outfit (and it took me THREE DAYS to find it. I swear I'm going to have to start creating the 1900s research binder purely in self defense. Sometimes there are down-sides to having a very large library; I completely misremembered which book the photo was in...). ANYWAY, while flipping though almost all of my museum catalogues I found this:
http://www.kci.or.jp/archives/da_popup/i
There are even better pictures of it in the Kyoto Costume Institute publication Fashion. I am tempted to copy
Yes, I am avoiding doing the tedious work I should be doing on both my upcoming YWU'd paper and on my 1860 skirt. It's that hard-slog middle part of a project stage. I expect it's going to last quite a while with this one... given my other commitments :-S
On a completely different topic, I saw Up last night with
- Mood:
contemplative
I have a lot of fabric. 5 large plastic bins of “unassigned fabrics” (increased from 2 before I started the re-organize-the-stash project!) Also, I have 61 separate projects which have fabric that passed my initial sweep. Oddly, this number is not as overwhelming as I feared it would be. It’s still probably 15 projects beyond my comfort level – 45 is a number that could be done in 10-15 years. Originally I had feared that I’d have more fabric then was possible to make into garb in my lifetime :-S. I’m sure the projects can be pruned down more, as not all potential projects make me purr equally:
- It’s much harder to “edit” ill-chosen fabric/projects when the choices are recent; I’m still too close to the initial obsession…. :-S
- It’s hard to “edit” ill-chosen fabric when the inspiration itself is extremely seductive. I have 3 different lengths of goldenrod wool. I am completely enamored of this picture by Hans Holbein (and think it would be incredibly amusing if I finished the outfit before I turn 34, given the title… ;-) ) Unfortunately, I am not sure that goldenrod is the right color yellow for this dress, no matter how good I look in it. However, due primarily to the seductive qualities of the Holbein painting, the project survived my purge, goldenrod wool intact. The painting is just too enticing for my feeble willpower; it should be required to go veiled ;-).
- It’s hard to “edit” a project when the fabric is ill chosen, but the accessories are incredibly enticing! (I have the cutest patent leather 1950s purse, little black hat and patent leather shoes! They need to be used! Unfortunately, the fabric I have assigned to them is… well, it’s a little bit stiff and heavy to make a good 50s dress. Unfortunately the swatch I got before buying wasn’t large enough to realize that… *sigh*)
Some further random observations:
- 61 project boxes means I’ve got to be consistently very good about “no buying fabric for projects I don’t already have boxes for” and not adding a new project box without first completing a different project. On the plus side, I’m very close to filling up an entire plastic-bin shelving-unit thing with COMPLETED projects! *preen*
- It is much more relaxing to have a 1-box, 1-project rule. Even if it means I’ve invested in a bunch of “half-sized” boxes to hold “little” projects. For example, before I started my reorganization 6 different regency outfits shared the same box. Two have now been moved to the “unassigned projects” box, and 4 of ‘em have each been given their own “half-sized” box (bigger is probably not required since I already have most of the regency under things… unless the hats end up taking a lot of room, but that’s what hat boxes are for ;-)) This makes them each less intimidating, ‘cause I don’t have to mentally deal with all the others. Except in the two instances where multiple projects use/will be using the same (large) bolt of fabric. Those’ll have to share space until one of the projects has claimed it’s share of the yardage. (Thus I’m back to waffling over which to do first – the Nancy Bradford 1806-9 regency or the Tidens Toj regency. They share the same 20 yard bolt of ivory cotton voile…)
- Interestingly, I feel like I’ve been obsessed with the 1890-1918 period for the last 5 years, I have very little fabric devoted to that era! Apparently my obsessive tendencies have been focused on vintage garments, rather then increasing my horde. This is actually kind of relieving, as I probably have a year’s worth of research to do before allowing myself to design “off-the-cuff” for this era. Of course, I am very much looking forward to that freedom ;-)
- I really, really, really need to be careful about the mid-way-though-the-project desire to “do multiple versions!” I have 4 un-started 1950s projects and 3 different 1930/40s outfits, all inspired by my floral 1950s dress from last fall. I have no idea where I might wear any of ‘em if I did finish ‘em. Besides, who needs 9 outfits from the same 15-year span? Apparently I thought I did… and the ideas/fabric/patterns are still entrancing enough that I couldn’t bring myself to completely cull the projects… (Although I did get rid of a couple of the 1930s ones… I love the Hollywood glam; but I so do not have the starlet figure… :-S)
- I now have all these orphaned accessories… not at all sure what to do with them :-S. My current non-project assigned accessory storage devise is already full… *sigh* Any of you have advice on this score?
- Mood:
accomplished
Examples:
1910-14 Jeanne Hallée Blue Velvet Evening Dress
1912 House of Drecoll Yellow Dress
1913-14 Jeanne Hallée Blue and Green Evening Dress
1910-14 Callot Soeurs Evening Dress
1912 Brown Evening Gown
1910-11 Callot Soeurs Fur Trimmed Dress
1911-14 Yellow Evening Dress
1911 Lucile Ivory and Black Evening Dress
1912 Ivory and Black Lace Evening Dress (second set of pictures down)
1913 Pink Brocade Evening Dress
(Yes, Poiret is the designer referenced for the period in all the costume books… but … Lucile, Paquin and the Callot Soeurs play with texture and layers a lot more… :-))
Ever since I first started buying vintage clothing I’ve been looking for a super-wonderful early teens evening dress. My brain is littered with remembered images of dresses on eBay that I did not win (highly regretted, those…*sigh*). I do own a number of teens evening dresses, but not one of them scratches the high-fashion itch:
- I have a pink early teens evening dress that… well, it’s fashion-challenged. I think it was fashion challenged at the time it was made. :-S I bought it for sewing reference thinking it would scratch the itch and decrease my obsession. Didn’t work at all.
- I have a fascinating ivory late-teens evening-dress-styled wedding dress. It’s complicated. So complicated that I am not 100% sure where all the pieces attach to each other! I love it, but it’s not at all in the long & thin early teens style. It’s more the ankle-calf length, strange asymmetrical layers-on-layers look that you see starting around 1915 though the early 20s.
- I have an early teens ivory and gold evening dress that looks like what a fashion-conscious woman would do on a limited budget. It’s lovely, but only makes a nod at playing with shapes and textures that the high fashion designs are extolling.
4 weeks ago I thought I found a fascinating black early teens evening dress on Ruby Lane. I bought it. They’ve refunded all my money. No explanation at all. No email, no phone call, no nothing. The only reason I even noticed that they refunded my money was that yesterday I actually went to PayPal and opened my account page (not something I usually do) to change my YWU’d subscription to include the new Foundations Revealed magazine, and noticed that I was showing a positive balance. (A very weird occurrence; no balance is usual for me…) I am GRUMPY. *grumble*gerrr*pout* I thought I had finally solved this yearning, and now nothing. I didn’t even get a note of apology! And, because I didn’t notice it for 2 weeks, it’s going to make balancing my checkbook a tediously complicated process! :-(
Now I’m back to *wanting* with no discernable (or even vaguely affordable) object. *sniffle*
- Mood:
cranky
- No more LJ access from work *sniffle*sniffle*
- Giving up Starbucks as part of my newly implemented "Vow of Frugality" is harder then I expected… and it’s not the caffeine withdrawal that I’m talking about! I’ve switched to making my beloved Chai tea lattes at home… but I miss the lunch-time excuse to get out of the office and stretch my legs (having a goal in mind helps a lot with the motivation)… This time of year, walking around the lake shore at lunch doesn’t appeal; it’s all cold and windy. Plus, I haven’t found a nice route yet. I miss getting a friendly smile and having the barrista’s know my name… *pout* Sadly, I just did the math, and it costs me pretty much the same to make the tea at home as to get it from Starbucks. *double pout* I suppose that means I should completely switch over to tea… *mournful sigh*
- These issues are on top of being (almost) at the beginning of the most mind-numbingly dull kinda review work at the day job. Has to be done, but...Bleh. Current estimate: A month of BLEH from the work-side *more pouting*
However, needleworker's was wonderfully uplifting tonight!!
- New attendee! wheee! :-)
- The Cleftland's Needleworker's guild was awarded a Purple Fretty [an award for service] at the event I missed this weekend *Woot!* *HAPPY DANCE* *Punches air!* :-D !!!! (Seemingly, for work done during my tenure as guild mistress! *preens about such spiffy people who let me lead them around ;-)*) Apparently, it's the second Purple Fretty the guild has won *more preening* :-D (the first was in 2003, so it had absolutely nothing to do with me ;-) )
- The people at needleworkes are so cool; they make me feel so very loved! *happy, contented sigh*
- Mood:
loved
Is anyone from Cleveland thinking of going? Wanna share gas/hotel costs?
- Mood:
anxious
- Mood:
amused
I gotta go see this exhibit: http://dept.kent.edu/museum/exhibit/gaze
- Mood:
artistic
8polaris8 graciously agreed to take photos of me in my not-so-recently finished Edwardian underwear. Much fun was had! I thought y'all might enjoy the pictures too:
http://c3po.barnesos.net/~polaris/Photos/2
I've never seen the underwear from the back and I'm now feeling totally inspired again :-D The Past Patterns #109 petticoat is very much a 1898 shape! Which wont really work for my super narrow front-clingy circa 1904 lingerie dress, but it leaves me formulating tailored Edwardian suit plans *happy sigh* Or maybe the way-late-19th century leg-o-mutton sleeve outfits.
I'm being very inspired both by this and by this :-D Kinda different, but I can see doing either or both. The pink would be such fun to swish around Costume Con or Costume College in! (Of course, the pink is probably 1901-7 rather then 1898-ish... and the suit is 1900...:-S so much for appropriate inspirations. Guess I'll have to look at more pictures ;-) ) There's always the Keystone Jacket stuff ... 8-D *wonders away whistling happily*
- Mood:
giddy

