Diary of a Costumer

I slept through my alarm Sun morning, and my roommate woke me up at 7:10. My goal had been to get to the Bargain Basement line by 7:30 - aaahh! So I super scrambled, and got dressed crazy fast in my 1850s sheer dress. I literally somehow got all my makeup and hair done, and fully dressed in less than 30 minutes, which is totally a record for me by a long shot. (I usually take 45 mins-1 hr in the morning, and easily 1.5 hrs when I'm doing historical hair/costumes.)



So anyway, I made it to the line soon enough to be in the second batch of people allowed into the Bargain Basement. That said, I was really disappointed in it this year - not in the quality/quantity of stuff, but in the rudeness of the lady helping with the checkouts. After I made my offer ($20 for two grocery bags worth, which seemed totally reasonable to me), she dug through my two bags, and pulled out a torn up fur, rudely saying that the fur alone was worth more than that (it wasn't - it was small and torn), so she took that out, and still took my $20, which, without the fur, made my haul very small. I got a few pieces of scrap faux fur (which will hopefully be just enough for the Winter Bustle I'm making), a small piece of tan wool fabric, some millinery flowers, 3 cut-up patterns, two wide laces, some metal buttons, and a pair of 18th c style buckles (which turned out to be AD buckles, so at least that was good to learn). But in other words, waaay less than I usually get from the Bargain Basement, yet I think it might be the most I've paid there. So rather disappointing...

Anyway, I dumped my stuff in my room, grabbed a muffin from the Concierge lounge, and scurried off to Luca's 19th C Silhouette class. I now plan to make all my stuff with padding (after I make the proper corset, of course!). Next, I took Francis's Galliards dance class, which was very fun - I swear, between his class this year, and ashamanja_babu's dance class last year, I think I have more fun in the dance classes than in any other CoCo classes! I want more! I also went to Laura's class on dating historical garments, which was very informative, and she helped me narrow down the dates on my new 1890s walking suit (probably mid-1890s, even though the sleeves aren't crazy huge, because it's not an outfit that's at the height of fashion, anyway).

That was it for CoCo classes. I did spend some of my other time on Sunday hanging out with Harry Potter friends, doing readings of the new play. We made it through the first act together, all playing multiple characters, and it was awesome! I also re-learned how to play Whist. :) But eventually, it got too late, and I had to go pack up my stuff.

Monday, I took all my luggage with me on the tour bus to the fabric district. (I always do that, since it's so much easier to get to LAX from the fabric district with a shuttle or Uber, and just fly out that evening). I did have some nice finds in the fabric district - I bought two new Disney cotton prints for skirts for my shop (and a villain skirt for me!), something like 15 yds of dark forest velvet ribbon,and 8.5 yds of forest green wool for my Winter Bustle. I rarely find reasonable wool in the fabric district, and while it was definitely more than I usually like to spend on wool (it was $12.50/yd), it was the perfect weight and color, and I haven't seen that color online recently. (Oh, and I can't think of the store name right now, but it's right across from the guy known for his wool in that sort of indoor area off of Maple, I think).

No pics of anything, but you can see the fabric in my etsy shop, and if you're interested, it's available as yardage or in my simple skirts.

We shared a Lyft back to LAX, killed time before flights, and then CoCo was officially over. :( Is it time for next year yet? 

I purchased some wool from the recent Fashion Fabrics Club wool sale, but I'm not entirely pleased. I got black tricotine, and a blue lighter weight wool. Unfortunately, the tricotine has a quite distinctive weave, and the blue is basically tropical weight, and both of them are very smooth. Not exactly kirtle (black) or skating bustle (blue) worthy.

In the past, when I've bought wool that isn't thick and/or fuzzy enough, I've put it in the washer/dryer, and it's gotten softer, thicker, and fuzzier, but none of those wools started quite this smooth. Is that still likely to work with these wools?



Oh, and if the answer is no, is anyone interested in buying some wool off me? ;)

I flew down to L.A. last weekend, for a quick trip. The real reason was for my grandma's 90th birthday, but since it was also my birthday, I got to have a little fun in the fabric district!

( Fabric District Fun under the cut! )

I flew back to Seattle Monday afternoon, and finished up the Rapunzel skirt on Tuesday. I'll post pictures soon, but now I need to start on the bodice.

All this curtain-along talk is seriously tempting me. But I already have so many things on my plate (and a definite lack of funds) that I know I shouldn't jump in. If I ever finish the stays, the first thing up will be my red wool 1780s riding habit, which is based on this portrait of Baroness Crussol. Somewhere before Thanksgiving, I also need to finish a mockup of a late Victorian/early Edwardian jacket for my mom (the final will be her Christmas present). And I was still thinking I might want to throw together a Victorian fancy dress costume for Halloween. Plus, this year I'm finally going to make the robe a la turque that I bought fabric for over a year ago. And I bought a ton of fabric in the fabric district to finally start making some Regency things. But I think not having any events to wear this stuff to is really hindering any potential progress. I miss being in the Bay Area, where there was always some sort of upcoming event! And I'm jealous of all you east-coasters, who at the very least have a bunch of reenactments you can visit...

So I don't know - should I be weak and jump on the bandwagon? (I tend to have a rule that I never pay more than $7/yd for fabric, unless it's silk.) Or should I be strong, and just actually work on the projects already on my plate.

And as far as the stays go, I did actually start on the binding. But I still have a long road ahead of me.

I was very bad today. I went into Joanns to get more buttons, some twill tape, and some ribbon for my teens bathing suit shoes. What should have been a <$10 trip wound up turning into a $98 venture. Somehow, I wound up walking out of there with the items I went in for (though not really, since they didn't have those exact buttons I wanted), plus 5.5yds of light blue embroidered cotton, 5.5 yds of a floral embroidered white net (I'm thinking of using both for a Regency dress), 6.25 yds of a gold diamond tucked taffeta, the new Simplicity pattern for the Steampunk bolero jacket and bustle, a pack of five nail files, and 8 clearance spools of ribbon. Bad Rebecca.

Since my All About Wool book is already in Seattle, and I am still in CA until the day before the wool sale ends, can anyone tell me what kind of wool would be best for a late Victorian bathing suit? I'd really like to take part in the sale (despite my bad experience with fabric.com last time), but I don't know what type to get. I was looking at this one but honestly, I don't know my wools. So help, please!


And as far as the move goes, the car is almost all packed. Unfortunately, I don't know how to get everything else that still isn't in the car to fit. Like my elliptical cage crinoline.... And my Edwardian hat.... Any suggestions?