And the last for Costume College: Gala

[nuranar]

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?

Comments

[jenthompson.livejournal.com]

Oh wow! I love the Dresden foil stuff! Do you think the little delicately pointed stars will be strong enough to not get bent when you wear it? I would think a chunkier star would hold up better... but I have no idea how strong this stuff is. Could you take some of the wide border strips and cut them into squares/diamonds? Or maybe put two triangle shapes together? Or if you could find more of them, maybe you could turn a filigree square on its side to make diamonds: http://www.etsy.com/listing/64335075/package-of-10-highly-detailed-vintage?ref=sr_gallery_15&ga_search_type=all&ga_includes%5B0%5D=tags&ga_search_query=dresden+foil&ga_page=3&ga_facet= Or a square window or frame? But I also think it would look just as nice with two different types of stars - maybe one traditional and one more medallion-like.

Oh, and I vote for gold! I think it'll show up better on the white fabric.

As for the fabric, Fabrique in Richardson has a whole section of white bridal silks and heirloom cottons, and they are having a 30% off sale on Saturday and Monday. Maybe it would help if you could play with some different options to see what drapes the best.

[christylee.livejournal.com]

Gold! --->helpful!

Gah!!! Y'all are going to look so awesome!

[suededsilk.livejournal.com]

*squee* 1860s fancy dress! Love the design. All of your CC ideas sound amazing. (Hopefully, I'll be able to see them in person, if all goes well...)

IIRC from my perusals of it at the fabric shop, silk/cotton voile would be too limp for a proper cloud-like effect.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

*g* Thank you! I'm really looking forward to seeing you - I wasn't sure if you'd make it for anything.

That's what I figured. At first I thought "silk!" and then it was like - wait, that's voile...

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

LOL for real!

:D Thank you!

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

That's a good point. In the period regular ball dresses were notorious for being damaged or ruined after one wearing, simply because they were so delicate; I figure fancy dress is even more of a one-time thing. So I guess it would be all right if some get bent. I might be more careful with the back of the dress - and good thing I won't have to squish into a car to get there!

If they're really flimsy (I know it's some kind of foil-covered pasteboard, not just foil like Valentine doilies) I might be able to double them up. Especially the big ones with the many points.

I really hadn't thought of cutting up strips - great idea. And the squares, too.

That makes two votes for gold! Good point, it'll show up more with this one being light-colored; other nighttime fancy dress is usually dark.

That would be fantastic. I don't think I've been there; what's the address, and do you know their hours?

[fancyfrocks.livejournal.com]

This is going to be AWESOME.
I'm totally stumped on fabric though. Seems like you'd almost need something like a sheer crepe, but I don't even know if such a thing exists. Maybe a very light and semi sheer china silk, but I love the idea of sheer drapey sleeves.
When I saw the stars I thought of stars like this:
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/glitter-star-garland/?pkey=gthmoccxms Glitter! Hehehe

[fancyfrocks.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be contradictory and vote bronze :)

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

:D Thank you!

I know, it's really tricky. I'm hoping I can get to Fabrique and play around, as Jen suggested.

Heh, that could make an impact!

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

LOL! If you can find 'em, I'll consider it. ;)

[jenthompson.livejournal.com]

http://www.fabriquefabrics.com/

[girliegirl32786.livejournal.com]

That will be a fabulous costume!