And the last for Costume College: Gala
Thanks to jenthompson, I settled on fancy dress for the Gala. No surprise that I'm coming home to the 1860s! I've always loved how those hoops look with short skirts, too, and this is a great opportunity.
On the left, The Star!
I love the colors. White makes me glow, and those medium blues supposedly bring out my eyes. Plus it's almost ridiculously simple in design, except for the sleeves.
The fabrics I have not pinned down yet. The underskirt and blue look like silk moire. Nowhere to be found at the moment, at least not in those colors, and while I'm not a starving college student I'm not willing to spend $30/yd yet. Still, I'd like something with texture to it. When I posted over at the Sewing Academy, Jessamyn suggested silk/cotton satin from Thai Silks. She said it's lovely stuff and good to work with. At $11/yd, I'm willing to try it! I'm okay with taffeta for the blue, and the overskirt looks like taffeta as well.
So what about the sleeves? What makes it hard is that they're drawn with drape AND body. 1860s silks were not very drapey; chiffon and gauze, at least in their present limp forms, were not really used. One person used two layers of silk gauze for similar open "angel" sleeves; that would work, since those open sleeves will flow. My concern is that this variation has more material, and will collapse under its own weight instead of being cloudlike. The other sheer silk I can think of, organza, has way too MUCH body and would look like a big poof. Then there's leno, or gazar maybe, but I just don't know. What about a silk/cotton voile? Except voile is about the limpest stuff I've ever seen. Silk/linen might work, but 1860s wear pretty much abandoned linen in all forms. Help!
As for the stars, I need a new design. I don't want to cover cardboard with aluminum foil; it looks so obvious! But someone suggested Dresden foil, which I'd never heard of but seems just perfect. Of course I can't find ALL the different sizes of stars (most are too small) and no diamonds at all. I like these starbursts in the middle best. At 3.5", they're doable for the biggest decorations.
And these shooting stars are 3 1/2" long as well. There are smaller ones, too.
Any ideas? This particular design area is not my expertise! Also, gold or silver?
On the left, The Star!
I love the colors. White makes me glow, and those medium blues supposedly bring out my eyes. Plus it's almost ridiculously simple in design, except for the sleeves.
The fabrics I have not pinned down yet. The underskirt and blue look like silk moire. Nowhere to be found at the moment, at least not in those colors, and while I'm not a starving college student I'm not willing to spend $30/yd yet. Still, I'd like something with texture to it. When I posted over at the Sewing Academy, Jessamyn suggested silk/cotton satin from Thai Silks. She said it's lovely stuff and good to work with. At $11/yd, I'm willing to try it! I'm okay with taffeta for the blue, and the overskirt looks like taffeta as well.
So what about the sleeves? What makes it hard is that they're drawn with drape AND body. 1860s silks were not very drapey; chiffon and gauze, at least in their present limp forms, were not really used. One person used two layers of silk gauze for similar open "angel" sleeves; that would work, since those open sleeves will flow. My concern is that this variation has more material, and will collapse under its own weight instead of being cloudlike. The other sheer silk I can think of, organza, has way too MUCH body and would look like a big poof. Then there's leno, or gazar maybe, but I just don't know. What about a silk/cotton voile? Except voile is about the limpest stuff I've ever seen. Silk/linen might work, but 1860s wear pretty much abandoned linen in all forms. Help!
As for the stars, I need a new design. I don't want to cover cardboard with aluminum foil; it looks so obvious! But someone suggested Dresden foil, which I'd never heard of but seems just perfect. Of course I can't find ALL the different sizes of stars (most are too small) and no diamonds at all. I like these starbursts in the middle best. At 3.5", they're doable for the biggest decorations.
And these shooting stars are 3 1/2" long as well. There are smaller ones, too.
Any ideas? This particular design area is not my expertise! Also, gold or silver?