Costuming - Tumblr Posts
I have finished my black and plaid 1890s winter dress! While it’s based on an extant piece from the 1890s, I used different materials, as I was trying to make the entire thing with fabrics I already had on hand. I’m very proud to say that I bought NOTHING new to make this dress! Everything, from the plaid wool and the black velvet, to the red silk and the buckram, came out of my fabric stash.
The dress is made from 5 yards of black and grey wool, three yards of black cotton velvet, and about two yards of black taffeta, mainly for linings, which I had to finagle from scraps leftover from other projects. The hat is a buckram and wire frame hat covered in red silk. I was going to embellish it with grey feathers, but I didn’t have any in my collection, so that will have to wait until I have some spare cash on hand.
You can read all about how I made the dress, and see more pictures, on my main dress blog. http://mistress-of-disguise.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-black-plaid-1890s-winter-dress.html
I started this project quite some time ago (almost 2 years!) and I’ve finally gotten around to finishing it. I actually finished the embroidery last year, but I didn’t end up finishing the rest of the stomacher until this week. It’s based on an extant example from the V&A dated 1730-40. I copied the embroidery pattern exactly, but I changed the shape of the bottom of the stomacher since I don’t usually costume that early (I usually do ca. 1760.) More photos and making-of are on my most recent blog post : http://mistress-of-disguise.blogspot.com/search/label/18thC%20embroidered%20stomacher
I do not knit, but I have seriously considered learning how, exclusively so I could make one of these.
We have a surprising number of these knitted jackets in museums, most of them of Italian origin, most likely from Naples or Venice. According to the V&A, it seems that they were made in workshops as individual panels that were sold as sets that could be sewn together at home. I'm partial to the green and gold ones, like this one from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Knitted Jacket
1600s-1690s
Italy
Knitted silk jackets were fashionable in the early 17th century as informal dress. This example is very finely knit by hand in plain silk yarn and silk partially wrapped in silver thread, in contrasting colours of blue and yellow. Characteristic of this style of jacket, it has a border of basket weave stitch and an abstract floral design worked in stocking and reverse stocking stitches. The pattern imitates the designs seen in woven silk textiles. The jacket is finely finished with the sleeves lined in silk and completed with knitted cuffs. Along each centre front, a narrow strip of linen covered in blue silk has been added, with button holes and passementerie buttons, worked in silver thread. The provenance of the jacket indicates that it is probably Italian.
Victoria & Albert Museum (Accession number: 473-1893)
A New Crinoline and 1850s Petticoats
Finally getting around to posting about my new 1850s undies! I finished them last winter, but Life happened, so here I am, a year and a half later.
Anyway, I finished a new crinoline and basic cotton petticoat first. The crinoline was made by first making the lower section out of cotton muslin, and attaching twill tape at even intervals. I then made each bone individually, the casing made from twill tape, then the boning threaded through, and then the bone stitched closed at the needed circumference. I played around with the size of each bone before I stitched it to the tapes to get the overall shape that I wanted.
To go over it, I made my standard cotton petticoat with a single flounce.
Then I actually got around to reading period descriptions and suggestions for petticoats in fashion magazines of the time, and found that they frequently recommended petticoats made of grosgrain fabric, with three flounces from the knee to the hem. So, I searched the internet and finally found some grosgrain fabric, which I had to order from Greece. (Spoiler alert - grosgrain and faille are pretty much indistinguishable, which I wish I'd known before because faille is way easier to find.)
Anyway, the construction of the petticoat was not difficult, but the grosgrain fabric was a nightmare. It frayed at the slightest touch, exploding into a thousand tiny shards. My serger was garbage and not working, so I used a side cutter presser foot instead, which sort of acts as a serger. It definitely helped, but by the time I discovered said presser foot, I was already so over this project that I threw it in the naughty corner for months because I couldn't stand to work on it anymore. I finally dug it out a few months later and finished it up.
I have to say, it does give an enormous amount of floof, but I would never, ever recommend making one to anyone else. It was a nightmare from start to finish.
There's a more detailed writeup with more of my petticoat research and in-progress photos on my main blog, so please do check it out!
SELENA GOMEZ — Only Murders In The Building, 1.01
CREEPER COSPLAY CREEPER COSPLAY CREEPER COSPLAY
I finally finished it and got the makeup and everything- The respirator is made from painted foam core, the the tnt is cut PVC pipe with red constriction paper glued to it, and the overalls were based loosely on a pair of overalls I had already, but brought the waist up and changed a few things here and there. Overall really happy with how this came out and I’ve warn the overalls casually an embarrassing number of times because I just really love how they fit and look.
Also just obligatory ooc as I spin and trip over myself because
tweet
Something like this would be so colossally helpful. I'm sick and tired of trying to research specific clothing from any given culture and being met with either racist stereotypical costumes worn by yt people or ai generated garbage nonsense, and trying to be hyper specific with searches yields fuck all. Like I generally just cannot trust the legitimacy of most search results at this point. It's extremely frustrating. If there are good resources for this then they're buried deep under all the other bullshit, and idk where to start looking.
I wanted to go a bit more in-depth with this piece that I did for zukka week 2023 because i got inspired to do more insane clothing details. ID in ALT.
Ramble about the influences/inspirations below:
Design inspirations for Sokka's clothing are mainly Inuvialuit and Yup'ik, with Nenets, Tlingit, and Chukchi inspiration for the tassels, patterns, belt and beadwork. I mixed these with the ornaments canon shows us used by the Northern Water Tribe, and also in Legend of Korra. I got particularly excited about drawing from Inuvialuit sources since the tassels we see in canon look like they could be inspired by this. Going beyond canon's animation-friendly colour scheme, I drew from Nenets patterns/embroidery/sashes and Yup'ik beadwork for accent colours. I think in the future I'd like to find ways to incorporate more Tlingit-style patterns since I rarely see them in fanart (which is a shame - they're stunning), but since they tend to be very big I ultimately decided to only include them as a nod in order to keep the regalia recognisable as 'Water Tribe'. I wonder if I could start using Polynesian influences as well?
Zuko's headdress and particularly the shoulder garment and beaded embroidery draw heavily from women's clothing styles of Lê Dynasty Vietnam. The other main influence is men's royal clothing in Tang Dynasty China, and patterns worn by Mongolian Khatun. Since we have a bit more to go on in canon as to what fire nation regalia looks like, I blended that in as well. I got particularly excited about the embellishments on Lê Dynasty clothes because I could give a little nod to Zuko's dragon-fire by adding more colours to the embroidery. In the future I think I'd want to make the Mongolian influence a bit more obvious... perhaps even push the envelope by incorporating some Bashkir designs, though I'm not sure how well that will go.
So my sister wants to start sewing more, because
a. She’s 5′ 11″ and can never find pants long enough for her legs or shirts long enough for her arms.
b. She hates synthetic fibers as much as I do and it’s difficult to find natural fiber clothes that aren’t made of cotton
c. She’s a biologist and would physically fistfight microplastics if given half a chance
So her gift from mom and dad for her birthday was a sewing machine. Not a super expensive one but a good solid serviceable one.
And recently she asked “So where do I GET wool or linen and thread that isn’t polyester” and mom was like ‘go ask your sister’
And I, of course, crashed into the group text like “GET A PEN I HAVE WEBSITES FOR U” and honestly I’m thrilled about this
I see no difference
Happy Ghost’s costuming and makeup
Jin Xuan/Jin Yan Clothing Analysis
I somewhat shoddily put this together a while ago just to organize my thoughts, and I’m still losing my mind over the possibility that Jin Yan wearing Jin Xuan’s old clothes might have planned from the start. I mean, in the Blood of Youth, Jin Yan is much taller than Jin Xuan, but his outer robes appear shorter or the same length. Then, in Dashing Youth, young Jin Xuan is very clearly wearing the robes that will be Jin Yan’s. The implications, the possibilities… Is allowing Jin Yan to wear his old robes a power move for Jin Xuan? Or is it a sign of past fondness? Did Jin Yan steal them to feel closer to him, or was he given them after a situation like being stabbed or falling in a lake? So many questions, so many potential answers.
Zhuo Qing Clothing Analysis
There has long been symbolism hidden in the five eunuchs’ costumes (such as the similarity in patterns on Jin Xian’s purple python robe and winter green traveling robe possibly representing the desire in his heart to leave the imperial city for the Martial Arts World, and the fascinating revelation that Jin Yan’s current robes are likely hand-me-downs from past Jin Xuan), and the case is true for the fearsome Director Zhuo Qing.
Zhuo Qing’s collar piece is the same as Jin Wei’s, the student most devoted to him in the present day and possibly closest to his heart.
Meanwhile, the patterns on the sleeves and shoulders of current Jin Xuan’s overrobe match those of Zhuo Qing’s. In shedding the robes now belonging to Jin Yan, current day Jin Xuan has indeed taken up his shifu’s mantle. Yet, Jin Xuan doesn’t dress exactly like Zhuo Qing. The layer beneath, of interwoven pale purple, is reminiscent of Jin Yu. These woven strips of fabric could represent loyalty that binds the heart. In Jin Yu’s case, loyalty to Xiao Chong, and in Jin Xuan’s, loyalty to Xiao Ruojin (who, coincidentally or not, will be played by the same actor as Xiao Chong in Dashing Youth).
Dashing Youth Costume Details
The finale has left me with even more questions 😹 Dashing Youth’s Jin Wei is wearing the Blood of Youth’s Jin Yu’s clothes, and Jin Yu has a cool new outfit (and he’s played by an entirely different person than was listed on the cast list—what happened there?)
It’s interesting to see that Jin Xuan and Jin Yan swapped clothes between the shows, rather than Jin Yan merely stealing Jin Xuan’s.
Yes, many questions, but I’m definitely happy to see the five of them together again! 🍠 Here’s to hoping the Dark River show will give some hints or answers to the mystery of the Five Eunuchs’ switched clothing!
𝚃𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚊'𝚜 𝚄𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 - 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚓𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚍𝚞𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗
This particular project will be a blend of two things - Grand Duchess Tatiana's Ulan uniform and a late Victorian walking suit [meaning the skirt will be changed from an asymmetrical riding habit skirt to an 1890s fan skirt, and the jacket will be cut to a curvier profile]. The patterns for the both the jacket and skirt will be entirely self-drafted based on the original photos shown above. Let's go over the materials: For the body of it, I chose a medium-heavy weight [450 gsm] English herringbone tweed in 'Dark Navy'. This totaled to 6 metres. The yellow front is also of tweed, but this time a plain weave and only 1/2 a metre. They are pictured below along with silver dome buttons and an antique fob necklace, because who doesn't need one of those. Additional materials such as trims for the collar and cuffs, as well as the belt, will be shared in a future post.
Photos are not mine [except for last one], I found them on Pinterest.
Being a fan of circa 1890 fashion, I never thought the 1880s would be so alluring...but this 1884 gown has captured my heart.