Magic in Real Life: Making Elsa’s Spirit Dress, Part 1

Elsa, my major costume project of 2020, deserves a few blog posts of her own. This post is mainly about the planning and analysis of the dress.

My Favorite Movies for their Costumes

Sometimes when I watch a movie, I'm just in the mood to look at pretty costumes. Aside from the fact that I'm a costumer, I'm a highly visual person in general. Character development is definitely important to me, and I like a good plot as much as anyone else, but having a beautiful set, good …

How to Research Historical Fashion

Hi everyone! I know it's been forever since I last wrote on this blog. Between college and my personal projects, I've had no time for blogging. But college is finally starting to wrap up for me, the entire world is shut down from the coronavirus, and I have no job due to the economy being …

How to Write About Corsets in Historical Fiction

Are you a writer of historical fiction? Do you have characters who wear corsets? Are you someone who pays attention to detail and wants your writing to feel real? If so, then this post is for you! I am a writer, amateur historical costumer and corset maker/wearer, so I'm here to offer my advice on …

Making a 1912 Princess Slip- And Final Titanic Pictures!

Making a early 1910s princess slip was the final step in completing my evening gown ensemble. Historical costuming is all about creating the right silhouette (body shape and proportions), so making the princess slip was a vital step in making the costume look historically believable. This post is partially a fashion history lesson, and it's …

Tiny Corseted Waists of the Edwardian Era

If you research Edwardian fashion online for two minutes, you'll immediately find hysteria about the poor fainting women, oppressed by their corsets and struggling to breathe. This is due partly to all the photographs we have of women with exaggerated hourglass figures that many people today find unnerving. Then we tend to assume that the …

Movie Costume Review: Wonder Woman

Let me be perfectly honest- when Wonder Woman first came out a couple weeks ago, I assumed that it was not the type of movie I would be interested in seeing. I assumed it would just be a postmodern feminist rant with lots of thoughtless blowing things up. But I heard such good things about …

Analyzing a REAL 1910s Tea Dress!!!

Always go into your local antique store when you get the chance. Always. A few weeks ago, my mom and I wandered into this antique store that we literally drive by all the time. We had never even been in there despite all the times we drove past it! As it turned out, the place …

Lessons from the Past on Making Ballgowns

It occurred to me the other day that we really don't make ballgowns like we used to. And I'm not talking about my nostalgic feelings of the Edwardian days and earlier, where I think the style was so much more elegant and tasteful than it is today-- nope, I'm talking about the raw practicality here. …

Analysis of Modern “Medieval Fantasy” Fashion

Hey everyone, I know it's been a LONG time since I last posted anything! At least two months, I know. This is mostly because college has hit me really hard, and it's not fun. ;-( I have pretty much no time to sew or write or do things I actually like anymore, so yeah. The …