Costume recap - The Camococo

Back in 2011, a good friend had the awesome idea to make 18th century dresses out of camouflage fabric (yes, I have strange friends). As I am genetically incapable of resisting a crazy idea, of course I had to participate. Moreover, I wanted to try 18th century clothing for some time, and this was the perfect opportunity. If I got it wrong, at least I wouldn't get it wrong using expensive silk and investing hours of handstitching, right?
I quickly decided that it should be a zone front gown, and that I would use classic olive green camo fabric, combined with black poly taffeta. A huge hat should complete the ensemble.

But first - underthings! I decided to try the Diderot stays pattern from Nora Waughs "Corsets and Crinolines", and it worked like a charm.

Boobies alarm! It's incredible what these stays do to your décolleté...

Looks good, feels good. Success!

They are actually comfortable! I know, fabric is wrong, no visible boning channels wrong, metal eyelets wrong, machine stitching wrong, synthetic ribbon wrong.... but hey, the pattern is authentic! And it fits, which means I can use better materials and invest more work next time without risking that it doesn't fit after weeks of handstitching.

Now for the dress: I used an Anglaise pattern from Janet Arnolds "Patterns of Fashion" and altered the front so it would have the "zone gown" look. I decided that I wanted long sleeves, so I used a long sleeve pattern I found in Nora Waughs "The Cut of Women's clothes". For the skirt I used the tutorial at La Couturiére Parisienne and adapted it so it would fit over a bum pad. I also made a cotton petticoat with ruffles in the back to wear underneath, but I don't think the ruffles add much to the effect.

Anyway, pictures!!

The Camococo dress, complete with hair, hat, and nonsense medals I got from ebay

I'm actually not satisfied with the bum pad. It's too small.

The above two pictures were taken in Leipzig at the Wave Gotik Treffen, where I wore the dress for the first time. The hair is not at all my own hair, but an insanely curly wig, which adds a lot to the whole ensemble. 

I also made the hat from scratch - it has a buckram frame covered with black silk (yes, real silk :D ) and is decorated with organza (not silk), a metal buckle, LOTS of feathers, and a miniature aircraft carrier (which unfortunately isn't really visible on the pictures).

This year, I decided to wear the dress again to Barockfest at Schloss Hof, which is more of a carnival than a serious costume event, so I thought the dress would be appropriate. I also wore it because I don't have another 18th century dress yet, but wanted to go to Schloss Hof. However, it turned out to be the right decision, because I totally unexpected scored 3rd place at the costume contest (which I didn't even know about beforehand)! :D

I restyled the wig to look more like a "Hedgehog" which didn't work perfectly, but it's still okay with the hat ;)

Relaxing in the beautiful gardens of Schloss Hof

With my friends Eleanor Vivian (middle) and BlackAngel (right), who were both also nominated at the costume contest! Congratulations to us all! :)

Costume recap - The Escher Naise

Okay, I have nothing new to show yet, so I'll just start with some of my old projects before it gets boring here.

One of my all time favourite gowns is my victorian polonaise (dubbed "Escher Naise" by my friend Mme. Eleanor Vivian, because the pattern looks a bit like it formed in the head of M.C. Escher).
I made it for the WGT 2010 (gothic festival in Leipzig, Germany), so I didn't bother to use only historically accurate fabric. Besides, it was only my second try at victorian clothing, and I don't want to use expensive silk or wool when I'm not yet sure what I'm doing.So the fabric is some mixed fiber (I think it was actually intended for furniture), the edges are bound with velvet and the sleeves are decorated with two layers of fine black lace. The front closes with hooks and eyes. The skirt is made from ordinary black cotton and has a broad ruffle at the hem, decorated with velvet ribbon.
I used the well-known Truly Victorian pattern, but altered the sleeves so they would look a bit like 18th century sleeves. The pattern went together very well, but I'll probably not use it again, at least not as it is - you see it too often these days, and somehow it's funny meeting people at events that basically wear the same dress as you do. (Yes I know, different fabric and styling and all, but it's just weird when you can tell exactly which pattern a dress was made of from 100 metres away.)

 Anyway, I'm very pleased with how it came out. It fits like a glove, and I'm especially proud of the exact pattern matching in the front. 

Enough of the talking, on to the pictures! 

With lovely Mme. Eleanor Vivian on the left - all the stripes on her dress match exactly at the seams!

Here you can see the pattern better. Picture and editing by Alexander Löbel (thanks again!!).

Again with Eleanor Vivian - picture and editing by the wonderful Alwa Petroni / Graubild

The dress also passed the picnic test! :D (I actually don't have weird super-long legs - I just took off my boots *lol* )

This is how it looks on my dress form at home. The light is terrible and I couldn't close it all the way down, but at least you can see the whole dress.

The drapery from the side...

... and from the back.

And this is the shellfish I wore underneath.

"If you try to park your beer glass on my behind, I'll kill you!"

Heyho!

This is going to be another costume blog! Stay around if you like, and have some tea and cookies.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of what is going to happen if you get me ribbons:

Ribbons!

Stolen from http://cheezburger.com/2326702848