The Gatsby Afternoon Picnic 2014

Finally getting around to posting photos from the Gatsby Picnic a couple of weeks ago, but first...

I also returned from my hometown of Seattle last night, where I was honored to perform in the annual Steamposium convention. It ended up being a sort of unintended Seattle Burlesque reunion for us, and we had Seattle's best all on one stage; yours truly Vienna La Rouge, The Shanghai Pearl, Waxie Moon, Evilyn Sin Claire, Iva Handfull, Inga Ingenue and more. We had a great time, the people at the venue were lovely and accommodating and we hope to do it again next year. No performance images I know of yet, but here are a few silly backstage photos...oh, and a couple of cast members from Firefly just happened to stop by!
Feathered friends; Inga Ingenue and me hamming it up:



So, on to Gatsby photos;
I wore a vintage dress in a soft seafoam color with an ivory satin chevron stripe, from around 1936-37. The hat is a sheer ivory brimmed halo style from the same time frame. Anders wore his WWII Canadian uniform, complete with the Blackwatch kilt.
My dress has a matching jacket, but it needed a cleaning, and it was way too warm that day for anything more than just dresses and light fabrics, or kilts ;) My Edwardian linen parasol came in handy!
And as always, there were so many beautiful automobiles on display:

Same as last year, Johnny just happened to pull up at the entrance to the 'Gatsby estate' in his lovely car to give us a lift to the picnic site...

With Anders

 Daniel, me and Laura enjoying the cooler hours later in the day.

Michael, Anders, me and Aaron.

 It's not a wedding, but it makes for a nice photo. Some kind gent handed me this pretty bouquet of white flowers before we took this photo

At some point the heat (and possibly that second pimms cup) caused much silliness. Here I am spoiling Aarons Deco GQ cover shot.

So many lovely cars (I apologize for blocking them with my fashion posing ;-)

The ghost of Gatsby. Sneaking to the old pool area on the estate grounds with Autumn, Katrina, Erin and Breanna.

Excuse the blurry quality of the following photos, my camera lens is on a rather well worn iPhone...

 Deco deviants!

 Ending the day with some impromptu golf and possible pineapple throw.

Mr. Mosher and an un-thrown pineapple. Good night, Gatsby. Until next year!

Current Doings...

No gown sewing just yet, but I have had time to make a new hat!
Some friends and I are putting together a casual meet up at a historical cafe in Berkley, CA...but dressed for the 1930s ;-) This inspired me to finally get on a smaller project I've been meaning to do. I have a lot of black hats from the 1930s, and I just needed something different. Since I have just enough time, I might as well get a new one done for this little shindig.

A few years ago, I found a really basic hat at a thrift shop in Santa Cruz for about $20.
The label was a semi-high end designer, but the hat was essentially an unblocked capeline (for the 'boho' look, I'm sure) of exquisite burgundy velour felt. I grabbed it with the intention of either blocking it, or cutting and stitching it into a new creation, and it has been in my stash until now.

I chose to make a mid 1930s look by using the crown of the original hat, and cutting pieces from the remaining felt to make a sculpted brim, in a style that sits close to the head with a nice swoop to one side.
A little stitching and a dig through my random findings stash for the little arrow pin, and voila! I have a new hat that looks like a never-worn vintage design.
I think I will be doing a lot more of these hats! Keep an eye on my Etsy shop too ;-)

I apologize for the 'un-done' hair and horrible photos. Hopefully better ones will follow soon:

 I love the little dove tail effect that happened in back.

Future dress project that I MUST DO...

Ok, something just occurred to me.
Week before last, I had the pleasure of finally seeing my favorite film, Amadeus on the big screen.
I was too much of a wee thing to have seen it, or even remember it, in theaters when it came out.
ANYway, I digress;



"It's Turkish. My hairdresser says that everything this year is going to be Turkish".

;-)

Yes indeed, I want to make this dress and hat......or at least my version of it.
Admittedly while the costumes in Amadeus are great but highly questionable in historical accuracy (the women's in particular, there are zippers up the backs of the dresses for crying out loud!), this one isn't so bad.
BUT, there are issues with it. I can see her panniers poking through, the bodice is cut wrong, are there stays under there?
And if she were that fashion and trend conscious she wouldn't be wearing the old style panniers with it, she'd likely have a bum roll and the skirts might even be hitched up into a "Polonaise" if she were in the city.
I could go on and on, but it's a really fun costume and that is what carries though in the scene. The dress *is* Katerina.
One thing I do love, is that they used the Robe a la Turk concept for the dress. Note the little cap sleeves over long fitted sleeves.

So what would I do with my version?
I would keep the Robe a la Turk concept, but make it more accurate.
The front would be a zone front, as most original engravings and illustrations of this style suggest. The film version has a faux "V" front and I really don't like the way it's done. It looks like part of a high school play stage costume. As though it's just pulled tight around her torso and has built in boning rather than a separate pair of stays. Considering the rest of the costumes in the film with zippers, that is likely the case.



I do love the striped fabrics used, and the way they use them here is pretty spot on. During the late 1770s and early 80s, the more you could pile on your dress and head, the better. I've seen original fashion illustrations that support the same use of drapes and sashes on her skirt. As well, the gold bullion tassels and fringe.
And I really want a walking staff. Perhaps an easy project after a trip to Home Depot?
Hers is a little short, but perhaps that was personal preferance back then?



As for her hat and her hair style; pretty darn near perfect.
I may do a slightly different style in both hat and hair to suit my own tastes, but I'll keep the general concept and materials.

While I must be realistic, this likely won't come to fruition anytime soon. I have my gent's wardrobe to sew first, then mine, then the fun crazy stuff such as the above project.
...meanwhile I'll be hunting for the perfect wide red and white stripe silk.
If that ends up a bust, I could just buy some light ivory silk duchess satin, dye some of it red, and sew strips of each color together, making my own striped fabric. This is doable, since it's trimming and not a whole dress that needs to be striped.

Images care of Costume Dramas Obsession.

Bad wig, blue dress....

This shoot was one I did in Seattle, I think around 2006. The blue dress was one I'd made for Halloween, but had kept adding to it. The hat is now part of a burlesque costume of mine ;-) and the wig, well...it had many more uses, but it's no longer with us. It was after this shoot I quickly realized I really didn't like the look of white wigs, and while this one lends an air of 1920s-Hollywood-does-18th-century, it wasn't something I'd be using in the future.
The costume wasn't meant to be at all historically accurate, but it made for a fun photoshoot...

Carnivale Tricorn Progress

It's nearly done, ribbon ties attached as per the client's request. I just want to add a small hair comb to the inside back of the crown for added stability. Hatpins may come in handy though.
The plumes are in a base that can be pinned wherever the wearer chooses, but for these photos, I just plopped them on top of the hat.
Please excuse my mannequin's messy hair: