Rebecca Maiten (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
theladyrebecca) wrote2012-09-24 12:26 pm
theladyrebecca) wrote2012-09-24 12:26 pm
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Costume College Wrap-up: 1860s Gala Gown
For quite some time, I've wanted to make a ballgown bodice to go with my black and gold plaid skirt that I made for Dickens Fair two years ago. Luckily, I had almost a yard of the fabric that I've saved for that purpose. Considering I knew my Candy Bustle dress would be daywear, and therefore, inappropriate for the gala, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to make it (you know, other than all those Gaskell balls I always wanted to go to, but never actually made it to while I lived in CA).
I didn't have much time, since I started less than two weeks before CosCol, but I managed to pull it together, and I like the end result. The overskirt is pleated directly to the bodice, which laces up the back. A lot of handstitching went into the bodice, since the bertha is almost entirely handsewn, plus the binding, and all the pickups, flowers, and hems of the overskirt are handsewn. I also had to handsew the overskirt to the bodice.
I wore it over the cage crinoline and petticoat that I made for the Candy Bustle, plus my corset and a modern camisole (whose straps had to be pinned down below the bodice to keep them from showing). I couldn't find any good shoes for it last minute, so I just wore my ballet flats. I paired it with a tiara from ebay, and vintage gloves I found at Value Village, and stuck leftover flowers in my hair. It was a lot of fun to wear, since we decided to not to the gala food, and instead went over to the mall and ate in the Italian restaurant there. Navigating the hoops through the mall and restaurant were quite comical, and I had to sit waaay far forward in my chair. But it was so worth it, and I plan to skip the gala food next year as well. We did go back to dance and chat afterwards.
First two photos by DA Sandoval, second two by Andrew Schmidt
I didn't have much time, since I started less than two weeks before CosCol, but I managed to pull it together, and I like the end result. The overskirt is pleated directly to the bodice, which laces up the back. A lot of handstitching went into the bodice, since the bertha is almost entirely handsewn, plus the binding, and all the pickups, flowers, and hems of the overskirt are handsewn. I also had to handsew the overskirt to the bodice.
I wore it over the cage crinoline and petticoat that I made for the Candy Bustle, plus my corset and a modern camisole (whose straps had to be pinned down below the bodice to keep them from showing). I couldn't find any good shoes for it last minute, so I just wore my ballet flats. I paired it with a tiara from ebay, and vintage gloves I found at Value Village, and stuck leftover flowers in my hair. It was a lot of fun to wear, since we decided to not to the gala food, and instead went over to the mall and ate in the Italian restaurant there. Navigating the hoops through the mall and restaurant were quite comical, and I had to sit waaay far forward in my chair. But it was so worth it, and I plan to skip the gala food next year as well. We did go back to dance and chat afterwards.
First two photos by DA Sandoval, second two by Andrew Schmidt