Happy 2022

Once again, the year got away from me, and we are now in another year of this crazy pandemic. This weird semi-normal world where things aren't quite back to normal, yet we are still masking and concerned about the new variants cropping up everyday. I personally have had COVID only once, right after Christmas, when my brothers and sister-in-law were alerted to an exposure after a family gathering. I mostly felt like I had a mild flu. Knock-on-wood, I've been thankfully very healthy otherwise, but busy with the years events; moving out of and selling my childhood home, moving as much as humanly possible to my new place in Boston, purchasing my first sewing machine, flying to Raleigh for a family wedding, losing my job on January 28th, among other adventures that have been slightly stunted by the current atmosphere of the planet.

Despite everything, I still managed to schedule some light in the distance with a rogue Disney World trip at the end of February for the Princess Half Marathon. Now those of you who know me personally, know that I am not an athlete. I'd rather spend my time exercising in a yoga, ballet, or pilates class. The one time I played a sport in high school was my senior year and I signed up for track. I initially signed up for shot-put, but after a week of feeble attempts, the coach moved me to sprints. I still fared fairly poorly at this; one of the meets I placed 6th to last in the whole division. Nonetheless, when I saw the 5K theme for the weekend was Cinderella, I found it my impetus to sign up and run. The RunDisney signups pretty quickly, but somewhere along the way, I also found that Give Kids the World also has race registrations and participants can run and raise money for the Village. At the time of this post, I have raised over $750 and am hoping to raise $1000 by the time I hit the pavement on February 25th.

Character Couture Makeover

So it has been a VERY LONG TIME since I last logged some time here, which is partially due to the whole pandemic that happened and shut down the entire world. Then a new job happened and finally the ability to move out of my childhood home. So this post I meant to type out several months after I came back from Disney World in January of 2020...but over a year and half later here it is. This post is mostly to record my feelings and experiences with Disney's realtively new Character Couture makeover at the Grand Floridian hotel in Walt Disney World. This is just my experience and others may vary, but due to the lack of non-sponsored blogs about this, I felt the need to share. Without much ado, this was a birthday gift to myself on my actual birthday in January 2020.

I booked this package for my actual birthday and spent a good amount of time planning down to the littlest detail. I had already planned that I wanted to be made up like Cinderella, my favorite princess, so I ordered custom printed fabric that was the same as that in the parks and made my dress (no, I don’t take commissions). I would have to say that I had very high expectations and ideas for this whole experience, which was a mistake. Go into this with an open mind and you may be more satisfied. Because my dress was a 1950s style, I was hoping for a hairstyle that was down or had curls, and over all much more sophisticated than what I received. a

To start my day, I had a reservation at the GF cafe, then walked over to the salon for my makeover. Upon arrival, I was the only one there for a makeover which was nice and I didn’t wait long. When I told the stylist what character I wanted and my plans for my hair, she hesitated and stated that when she does Cinderella, it’s a high bun. Always. I shared my ideas but she still fought me a bit because she said that something down wouldn’t hold in this heat and humidity. I ended up agreeing (somewhat disappointedly) and she started. She ended up pulling my hair into a high bun and wrapped it over a foam donut to give it volume, curled my ends, then artistically pinned my hair around the bun. To give me a more vintage look, she did wave the front pieces of hair and pinned that too. As an extra option, they do sell $5 tiaras and sparkly hairpieces to enhance your look. For Cinderella, they clearly usually do a tiara, but I felt that was too obvious. If I had planned properly, I would have made a matching headband to wear with my dress.

As another note, a tween and her mom came in after I had switched chairs and she also requested Cinderella and the stylist went about doing the exact same style as mine, although without the front waves. Kind of disappointing that this stylist didn’t really think outside the box for each client.

After my hair was finished, sprayed, and pixie dusted, I switched chairs to have my makeup done. I requested to have something Cinderella inspired but also somewhat natural. The makeup artist was happy oblige and started with some blue shadow on my lid and some darker brown shadows in my crease and under the brow which seemed like an odd choice for colors. I’m not someone who wears a lot of makeup or eyeshadow so I had her tone it down a bit so most of the shadow was on my lid. It wasn’t anything super spectacular, but it might have been better if I was okay with bolder options. Honestly, next time I’d skip the makeup part and do it myself.

Overall, I’d say the experience was okay. It was nice to feel pampered a bit and get extra dressed up, but I think I had extremely high expectations going into it which made me feel like it was a bit of a let down. If you aren’t super picky, you’ll probably have a better experience.

Despite all this, I did have a fantastic day at Magic Kingdom. I didn’t ride too many rides but nearly every cast member I met sprinkled some sort of pixie dust on me that day, from special desserts at each meal (even breakfast!!) to amazing interactions with characters (Goofy danced with me, Donald bowed like a prince, and the Fairy Godmother pulled out her magic wand). It was a fantastic birthday, despite the misgivings I had with the makeover.

#charactercouture #waltdisneyworld #grandfloridian #grandfloridianspaandsalon

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away

As previously mentioned, I'll be attending Costume College at the end of July and with that comes lots of new projects to work on. For the Thursday night Welcome/Pool Party, the theme is Garments of the Galaxy and I've decided a very fitting choice would be to make a 1950's inspired Princess Leia based loosely on this picture:

This is partly because my original plan was to wear this to my 5 year college reunion this past weekend, but that didn't happen. Moving forward I'm planning to use the bodice and skirt from one retro pattern I own but the elbow length bishop sleeves from Charm Patterns Night and Day dress.

And of course, I'll be decked out with Leia's iconic cinnamon roll hair and some form of a metallic belt. Another bonus wear for this dress is I'll be visiting Disney World in January where the new Star Wars : Galaxy' Edge opens in late August. With all the media from Disneyland's version which just opened, it's going to take a lot of will power to resist the urge to get an annual pass and fly down to Orlando for their opening days. I'm just so excited!

Do you have a favorite Star Wars character?

New Year, New Goals

I realize I've been neglecting this blog, which is entirely because of large amounts of schoolwork, as well as stress and health issues. Lots of fun.

Anyway, with the incoming arrival of my American Duchess "Pemberley" shoes, my brain has been cranking around the clock ways that I can wear them. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know that my very first sewing project was a regency dress made from light blue linen out of the Sense and Sensibility "Elegant Ladies Closet" pattern, sewn entirely by machine. Of course, since then, my sewing has improved by leaps and bounds and naturally I'm aching for another gown...or maybe another 5 or 6 gowns (of all different eras).

Like most costumers at one time or another, I'm currently suffering from costume ADD, with piles of goals I want to achieve. As of this second, I really want to make a new regency gown, but that would require a fresh new shift, a set of short stays, as well as a new pattern (I like the S&S patterns, but I feel like I'm ready to graduate to a better pattern, like the La Mode Bagatelle set). I'm also really yearning to make a pair of 18th century stays and a beautiful petticoat and short gown to wear on top. I'd also love to vamp up my wardrobe with 30's and 50's style clothing (which is extremely difficult in the middle of New England weather without tights and such). I can't make up my mind.

So yes, I have a bunch of goals for this year - here are the most reasonable ones (in no particular order):
- sew up the 30's circle skirt with the green cotton sateen I bought this summer
- finish the corded petticoat I started months ago
- sew a new regency shift
- make a nightgown from the Nick and Nora fabric I got in NYC a couple years ago
- fit the cover for my dress form (it's about time - I've had it nearly two years!)
- hem up the dotted 30's skirt so it's more wearable
- finish the christmas gifts I started
- sew up a wrap style vintage dress (using a pattern purchased on Etsy)

Of course all of these would be a dozen times easier with my own machine, but that can wait until I get a real job.

Oh and on top of all these, I need to apply to all of the internships in costuming/museums (especially those with a living history component) before early March.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a very wonderful holiday season - whether or not you celebrate Christmas. I'm very much enjoying my holiday. Earlier this morning I received several sewing and costuming books (including Lauren Rennells' Retro Makeup book) from my family, along with a note for a pre-ordered pair of Pemberley regency shoes from American Duchess. I also received a few sweaters and tights which will keep me warm at school this coming year. The best gift I have received is the snow outside my window - it's a White Christmas!

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Caught in a Whirlwind

I realize it has been more than 2 months since I have last posted and. Basically this semester has not been a cup of tea - I'm not totally thrilled with my classes, plus I'm taking more credits than my brain can handle so I will be very glad to be done with this fall (exactly 2 weeks to be precise!).

So much has happened over the last couple months, that it would be hard to go into detail about everything that has happened. Instead I will post some photos highlighting what I've done.

I made sushi at an event hosted by one of the student groups and was taught how to wear and tie a traditional kimono (see the rest below the cut)

Here we go again!

Yep, school has started back up again, which means lots of work and little time to blog. I currently have no recent costuming or sewing news as I don't have any projects with me (or I can't find them). I swear I packed my embroidery kit (complete with strands and strands of colorful floss and my pink scissors), but have yet to find it. I am currently working on a couple bibs for my little cousins, but I can't do that because I don't think I packed my kit. Hopefully I can get it soon and then my hankering to sew something will stop.

In other news, Reefer Madness auditions are next Thursday and next weekend. I'm definitely excited about the show, but need to get through auditions first (and figure out something to sing!). I'm not really going for any specific part. I'd love to be Mary Lane, but 1) I'm an alto and 2) I don't know if I would be comfortable with her crazy bondage scene at the end. I think if I actually acted and put all my insecurities out of the way, I could handle it.

I'm also taking a bunch of cool but difficult classes - Advertising and Visual Culture, Intermediate Spanish, Methods in American Studies, West African Dance and Intro to Theater History. Sadly non are costuming related, but we will get to watch Mad Men in my Visual Culture class!! I am thrilled beyond belief.

Out with the Old, In with…the Old?

After a nice vacation and a decidedly undecided hurricane (which luckily only left lots of branches and minor power outages in my hometown, but no internet and landlines for my house), I figured it was time to go through my bedroom and purge all of the unnecessary contents. Now at first glance, I don't look like someone who is messy - I try to be quite organized with important things. But, my room and sewing areas are typically disaster zones when I try to keep them clean. Which is why a yearly purge is usually good for me to keep things under control.

I Keep Movin'

So as my summer internship winds to a close, I am both relieved and saddened to be leaving the theater I worked at. Yes, it was a lot of work, but I actually really enjoyed it (despite a couple blips along the journey). I am definitely a lot more confident in both my costuming and people relation skills, as well as quick thinking and fast dressing (for both myself and others). Of course, with the close of this comes some great memories and experience I can use to move forward hopefully professionally and recreationally too.

Now that I am finished, it's time to finish up those remaining projects before I start school in three weeks. During my time off between the shows last week, I managed to make a lot of progress on my 30's blouse - I managed to line the front and back bodice pieces and stitch them to the sleeves and together at the side seams. I also hemmed the bottom edge. All I really have left is to attach the collar (which has proven very difficult for some bizarre reason - it must be the disintegrating instruction sheet that confuses me), hem the front edges, finish the sleeve cuffs, and work on the buttons and button holes. I don't estimate it to be more than a few hours. I am truly pumped to finish this so I can wear this fall!! I have also sketched out a couple of the designs for Reefer Madness which may or may not go up on here after reviewing them with the director.

My neighbor also asked me to make some curtains for her, which I am about halfway through (but am reluctant to finish because of the massive ironing and straight seams. hehe). I'll have to finish those in the next few days before I leave for vacation.

Watch for photos of the finished projects soon!

Stylin' at the Five 'n Dime - part 2

After much anticipation, I present final photos of my first set of 1930's blouses and skirts. Both are about 95% finished, but completely wearable. I need to readjust the back placket on the skirt, once I purchase a zipper and wash the white blouse to get out any remaining marks, but beyond that, they are beautiful.

TaDa! A nicely hemmed (and horsehaired) skirt and finished blouse. You can really see how the horsehair braid holds out the skirt hem.

The blouse alone. The top of the button holes and buttons are tacked down to create a mock collar. It looks nicer than just a flat front (which is my intent for a second blouse, but that will have a real collar).

The skirt alone. As you can see, it falls to about low calf, which is lower than I'm used to ever wearing, but I think it will prove nice. I plan to wear it out to dinner tonight.

My next set of plans (which I have been hinting at) is to create a short sleeved blouse out of the remaining dotted fabric, as well as a lime green skirt for extra options when costuming this fall. Now, to leave you all with an artsy photo - just me playing around in Iphoto with one of the better shots in my mock photo shoot.

Stylin' at the Five 'n Dime - part 1

I finally hunkered down and got a lot done on my blouse and skirt set - and have something to show for it! The last two nights I sewed together the seams on the spotted skirt and ripped a few seams to make the lining (or my skirt muslin) fit inside the spotted skirt. I sewed them together at the back placket (where the skirt closes in the back, for those of you non-sewers) and then basted them together at the top (so they would stay together until I could get the waistband on. It looks really nice. All I have left to do is sew some closures in the back (snaps, hooks and eyes, skirt hooks, whathaveyou), sew on the waistband, and hem both skirts. One of the hems will have a length of crinoline or (plastic) horsehair braid to help keep its shape. I'm thinking it will be the lining so the spotted skirt will stand out nicely.

I also decided to use my muslin as an actual blouse (I put so much time into it anyway that I might as well use it) and mostly finished it last night. The sleeves and blouse edge are both hemmed, with the buttons sewn on, the only (REALLY MAJOR) thing I am missing is the button holes which will hold the blouse together. Kinda important. I've been trying to get the sewing machine to make the correct sized buttonholes for my 5/8" buttons, but it doesn't want to cooperate. I'm waiting for my mom to help me figure out the machine so I can have a beautifully finished blouse (that is, after I wash it to get rid of any wax paper marks or such). I'm really excited to have made a nice dent in both pieces, but I still have an entire skirt and blouse to go (yay for mix-and-match separates), which I hope to start before Reagle eats my summer away.

So drumroll please….

1930's Hair and Makeup Tutorials

I've started looking into makeup and hair tutorials for the 1930's so I have lots of inspiration for Reefer Madness come fall. I've done a lot of googling and found a reasonable amount of information about makeup recreating, but less detailed info about how to recreate the styled, curly and slim hairstyles. I have to admit that I have never been great with hair (every time I've curled my hair it turns out lumpy and strange - perhaps due to lack of correct tools) and I need specific instructions to create complex styles (which is why I ordered the Vintage Hairstyling book which should arrive soon). Anyway, I am creating this post for use as a basic tool and reference guide for those wishing to get a perfect 1930's look (and also for use during Reefer Madness this fall).

Retro Styling

I finally broke down and bought the Vintage Hairstyling book from the publisher. I was growing impatient with Amazon for not having it back in stock and was having cravings for vintage hair and makeup (for some reason I have had this huge craving to go to the MAC store at the mall and play with all the different lipsticks and eye shadows to create a fancy vintage look). It should come in the next week or so.

I have made little progress on my 1930's dress ensemble. I whipped out the muslin of the skirt in about 2 hours and would just need to put a waistband on it. The shirt is proving more difficult; it is 5 pieces with the front and back pieces connecting and gathered to empaulets on the shoulders. It doesn't sound that difficult, but the pattern also calls for some really funky darts at the shoulders(?!?) and elbows (which will probably disappear when I turn them into short sleeve) which makes for some tricky maneuvering while sewing on the machine. Once I finish this muslin, I'll take apart the skirt muslin and try to line my fashion fabric with it, so I'm not flashing the audience, while dancing.

I also just learned my brother took the car for the weekend, so I'm back to my mom driving me places until they come back tomorrow afternoon. So much for my leisurely excursion to the mall tomorrow.

I also officially start my internship bright and early Monday morning at 9:00. I'll be there all day helping with measurement appointments (which I am very good at ;)) for Oklahoma, so that could get tedious. Good news is that I saw the cast list and I recognize a couple of the names, so it will be good to see those people again.

Something I'm considering

I've been eyeing two different retro books for a while, both of which would help with costumes and such for Reefer Madness (and also fulfill my need for Retro styles for dances and such). The two books are actually both modern and written by Lauren Rennells of The Bobby Pin Blog and Vintagehairstyling.com, two fantastic resources for anything related to Retro Styling. Anyway, I came across the first book Vintage Hairstyling: Retro Styles with Step-by-Step Techniques a couple of years ago and found that it is practically the bible for vintage hairstyling. It goes into detail about how to create the exact look you want and what tools to use, plus also contains dozens of easy step-by-step tutorials about how to create vintage hairstyles. Lauren also recently published a companion book on how to create vintage makeup styles. Like the previous book, I've done my research and it also is very thorough with the history of vintage makeup. Both books look really interesting and useful, but I'm not sure if I really want to spend that much on books. Currently, they are both available on the publisher's website (that includes a shipping fee) and on Amazon (where only one is currently in stock, but includes free shipping). Any Leading Ladies want to weigh in on which whether the makeup book would be any use for Reefer Madness?