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 …

Making a 1912 Titanic Era Ballgown

After a full year of doing on-and-off work on my 1912 gown, I was starting to doubt my ability to get it finished- and now, it's actually done! Imagine that! That doesn't mean the whole project is done. I still have yet to make the petticoat; I wanted to have the circumference of the skirt …

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 …

The Underrated Awesomeness of 1930s Fashion

The 20th Century is an era that most people know something about, regarding the fashion. A large percentage of the population today (myself included) was born in the 20th century, and we have a lot of popular media portrayals of the various decades. People often have a vague idea of the flapper fashion of the …

Making Edwardian Combinations (Chemise and Drawers)

One of the disadvantages about living in the Edwardian era is that you never got to show off your chemise, corset or petticoat- even though those foundation garments are absolutely adorable! I absolutely love some of the more "scandalous" photos from the 1900s and 1910s of the girls in their corsets and petticoats. I know …

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. …

A Little Tea-Dyeing Adventure

Now that my corset is done, it's time to move on to the next phase of the Edwardian project: the combination chemise, petticoat and corset cover. As always, I like to prep my fabric before I use it, and that's what this post is all about. For those of you who follow the Facebook page, …