Dapper Days at Disneyland!

 

 

I return! And with tons of photos! Just this last Friday I participated in Dapper Days at Disneyland. Its a fantastic event where everyone comes dressed in either their vintage finest or just in something fashionable to come play in the park for an evening. And even though my feet are killing me for wearing impractical shoes, I still had a fantastic time!

 

So prepare yourself! We took a TON of photos of us looking ridiculously dapper, that day! Lets start the show!

 



 

I hauled out my Dio de Los Muertos dress for the occasion and switched out my witch's hat for a vintage pill box hat that used to belong to my grandma.  I just told everyone I was dressing as the Haunted Mansion. Unfortunately my favorite ride was closed as the refurbish it for the holidays, but at least I got to stand in front of it for a quick pic!

 

 

 

 

Two of my elegant lady friends, Ana and Sara posing with me in front of the Mansion. Yes, Sara is wearing a Perry the Platypus dress. It was fantastic!

 

 

 

Jackie, Alison, and Miguel joined us a bit later on. Here's Minnie Mouse looking dapper with all of us.

 

 

 

The Tower of Terror? EEK! So Scaaaary!

...Okay no, not really but the photo is pretty dang cute.

 

And another pic of us doing the saucy face as we waited for the tram to the park.

 

 

This cast member was a great sport. We kinda dragged him into this photo with us over at California Adventure. By the way, the new remodel of DCA is quite amazing! I can't wait to go back and play some more there!

 

 

CARS LAND! I'm not a huge fan of Cars but the new Cars Land in DCA is really amazing.

 

 

And here are a few other Dappers I managed to snap some photos of.

 

 

The first group of Dappers we ran into, just as we got off the tram. They were adorable!

 

 



Dapper Peter Pan and Dapper Tiger Lilly. I absolutely adore how they looked!

 

 



And these two gentlemen where my favorites of the night. Full out 1970's chic, INCLUDING a vintage grad night button, a vintage shoulder bag, and paper bag from Disneyland circa 1976. Got to love men with an eye for authenticity.

  



I definitely plan to return for another round of Dapper Days (though I'm not sure if I can make the February date coming up). I am dying to make a Mad Men style dress A'la Joan Holloway with some little Disney accents here and there. The crinoline was starting to get on my nerves and I think A good pencil skirt would show off my curves better.  Already I can't wait!:)

Tah, Darlings!

San Diego Comic Con! Annabelle and Archer!

I usually go to SDCC every year to help out with the SCA table. But this year I actually had time to cosplay!
Who KNEW?
It wasn't anything too special mind you. Since my summer schedule is usually pure insanity I didn't really put anything new and spectacular together. And the one thing I did put together was a total thrift store find.

The big one was being a part of an Archer Cosplay group. For those who don't know what Archer is, well, here's the website. In a nutshell its a hilarious and raunchy cartoon set in a 1960's-esque spy world. If you're into sharp dialog and some insane cartoon comedy, I highly recommend it.

My friend Sherief has been wanting to do an Archer cosplay group for a while now and asked if I could step in as Mallory Archer, the title character's heavy drinking overbearing mother.

Yup, That's Malory.

And yeah, I only had...let see... about 1.5 days to pull this together. Oh yeah, I learned about the group a while ago but with all the stuff I've been doing? Yeah. 1.5 days. So my cosplay isn't exactly accurate but dang it, I did my best in what time I had!

I am gonna be a sexy broad when I hit 70.

The whole outfit was found at Amvets literally ten minutes before they closed for the day. I took my husband with me who apparently is good luck on thrift runs. Usually, I'd be searching for hours.

 The whole outfit was a whopping $14. Go me! The jewelry is my mothers old jewelry from the late 80's. She gave me a bag of the stuff thinking I would use it eventually in my costuming adventures. She was right!

The flask was a last minute save by a friend. I wanted to bring a highball glass but completely forgot it. Luckily a friend of mine had a flask as part of his steampunk gear and was willing to let me borrow for a while.

Here's the entire group.





Left to Right Character wise: The Wee Baby Shamus, Pam, Cyril, Carol/Cheryl, Ray, Kimiko, Dr. Krieger, Mallory, Sterling, and Brett from I.S.I.S.

Pam, Carol/Cheryl, and Mallory.

We really had fun doing this. And the people who recognized us flipped out when they saw the group. We were even featured on Io9 in one of their cosplay galleries!  The group of us are hoping to do another cosplay next year. Lord only knows what it may be but I'm sure we will be amusing the heck out of ourselves.

On Saturday, there was a big steampunk gathering. I couldn't resist putting on my Annabelle Leigh Langly costume again. I worked my butt off on it so I am getting as much mileage out of it as I can, dang it!

My friend took these great pictures of me all Annabelled up. You can see the mismatched stockings and my work boots finally! YAAAY! And a great side shot of my bustle.

Yeah...I really love wearing my Annabelle costume!

And even though this one is from LoJ and not SDCC, I still wanted to post it because its a great photo. Finding a photo of me NOT looking like a complete doof is hard to find sometimes!

Photo by The Frame Guy.

And thus, my crazy costuming summer comes to a close. It was an adventure to say the least! Right now its all about studio clean up time and SCA garb planning.

 I'm hoping to delve more into the world of Italian Ren and Persian goodness. I also finally have all the pieces I need to work on my Victorian walking dress!  But for now, a good rest is what I'm looking forward to.

Cheers!





Labyrinth Of Jareth 2012: Annabelle Leigh Langly is Complete!

Left to Right: Ellyn, Me, Jen, and Ace

All done!
Here is my group heading out to LoJ on Friday night. I absolutely love this event. Of course the fact that it's a masqurade ball is the main reason but still! I really think I'll be doing both nights next year. One night is just not enough!

I have to say that this is my favorite costume I've made for LoJ to date. It turned out lovely, it fit perfectly, and it was extremely comfortable all night. I never wore a corset for long periods of time before so I was shocked how comfortable it felt and how great it was for my posture all night.

Here's the picture its based on again:

Pretty dan close, I'd say! I am very happy with the color changes I made. I only wish I had a better shot of the mismatched stockings. They were one of my favorite parts of the costume.

Yes, that is a ferret on my shoulder. The character owns a ferret named Senor Squeakypants. Yes, Squeaky is wearing tiny goggles.

...what do you want from me? I'm a gamer!

Senor Squeakypants was the most popular one in our group that night. I should haul him around everywhere.

My friend Jen went as her character and Annabelle's bestest buddy, Madam Jezebel Norton. We had lots of fun piecing her costume together. And our colors really complemented eachother.

Behold! Poofy Steampunk Butt!

The blouse exceeded my expectations. The fabric looked fantastic under the lights, breathed like a dream, and was very gentle against my skin. I loved how the sleeves looked especially. And yup, those are my Regina goggles. I'm getting as much milage out of them as possible.

I'm seriously considering hauling the Annabelle costume out to San Diego ComicCon for the steampunk meet up. I would like wear it again.

Even though Friday is the quiet night at LoJ I still saw some amazing costumes that evening. Here are some of my favorites!

Madam butterfly was my absolute favorite of the night.

Awesome bird people!

Lovely Steampunk ladies. The photo does not do their dresses justice.

Two more of my cohorts, Capt'n and Michelle looking rather spectacular.

SO much love for that hat!

A wonderful blue fairy.

I wish this picture turned out better because this Queen of Hearts was simply stunning!

A Junk Lady and a rather jolly Sultan. That hat! So much LOVE!

Even though I didn't make it to Saturday evening, my friend Ace took TONS of photos for me so I could see all the lovelies I missed. I'll be posting those photos very soon...as soon as I have a chance to look through all of them and drool.

I'm already excited to go back to LoJ next year! I'm thinking of putting together some form of Valkyrie costume perhaps for one of the nights. Though knowing me, I'll change my mind fourteen times before I get there.

Until then I really don't have any pressing projects... which feels odd after almost three months straight of working on things. I'll be probably puttering around with some SCA garb soon (I'm in need of another Viking) and as soon as I find the right green linen, I'll be putting together Merida's (from Pixar's Brave) gown for Halloween.

Until then... I'm not quite sure what to do with myself.

LoJ Costume in Progress! Annabelle Leigh Langly.

Labyrinth of Jareth is creeping up on me yet again! Luckily this time around was prepared and started work on my costume at the beginning of the month instead of oh, 2 days before the actual event. I'm glad I did too because this one is extremely different from anything else I've put together.
I'll be heading to LoJ on Friday night which is steampunk night. So I figured I'll put together something somewhat steampunkish for the evening. At first I was going to put together an old ornery prairie woman (and I still may do that for a future date). But then I drew this:

Above is a beloved original character I created named Annabelle Leigh Langly. She pretty much resides in a wild west steampunk world. I really had a blast designing her look on paper so I figured why not try to bring it to life?

I'm a masochist sometimes.

Here's some progress shots:

I wanted the blouse to be very light and sheer. I ended up stumbling onto this strange yet pretty gold netting. Its not really netting as much as webbing. The pictures don't do the sparkle justice.  Its a bit Frankenstein-ed from various patterns I had laying around. I'm not sure why I decided to get so fancy with the seams since you're not going to see them. %90 of the blouse is hidden by the corset.  The sleeves proved a bit of a challenge since they are so sheer and I didn't want the elastic to show though. I did some trickery with gold ribbon to hide it.

Here's where I left off last night. Everything is in dire need of closures right now. I foresee lots of hand sewing in my future this week.

Once again, I Frankenstein-ed a bunch of patterns to get the skirt right. I was originally going to go purple for the skirt like in my drawing. But I fell in love with this plaid while fabric shopping and went this route. I'm actually really happy with the choice. The original design tended to chop my body up into sections, making me look short and squat. Since the corset and the skirt are so close in tone, they really do a good job lengthening my body and making me look a lot less choppy.  I also changed the stocking colors to black and burgundy to keep with the tones.

The corset I got from Corset Story. They have amazing sales so if you're in the market for a corset I highly recommend them. Also, their shipping is very quick. The corset fits me far better than the form since I'm... well... squishy.

I'm going to need to punch some extra holes in the belt too.

I'm guessing I was standing on one leg when I took this photo. The bustle in the back is so far my favorite part of the costume. Its from a Truly Victorian pattern that is deceptively easy. I'll be adding some sort of steampunk-ish looking brooch/doodad on the butterfly part of the bustle to dress it up. To get the bustle to hang where I want it, I'll have to Macgyver it to the belt then attach the train sides to the apron front.  Honestly, I'm not looking forward to attaching that train to the leather belt.

So the big parts are done! WOO! From this point on its just finishing work and detailing. I still need to make a pair of brown fingerless gloves, find a steampunkish belt pouch, put closures on the skirt and blouse, and then do all the little details to make it look like a finished piece and TAH DAH! finished!

More photos to come soon!

12th Night Dress 2.0.

Caid Coronation! WOOO!

I was asked to be on royal court this time around. I'm pretty stoked for the job and this Saturday I was sworn in. So of course this meant, time to haul out the court garb!  I just got back from Potrero War so the idea of me trying to whip up something new was laughable really. (Trust me. I only pretend to be that fast.) Since I only wore my 12th Night gown once before, I figured now would be a good time to haul it out, spruce it up, and wear it again.

I even got some decent pictures! Check it!

Sans Jazz Hands.

I tweaked the dress a bit here and there, did some minor repairs, then added the gold baubles to the sleeve ties to make it look more finished. Really, the only major thing I did to the dress was add the pearls to the trim, which instantly dressed up the entire outfit. Here's a detail shot:

I love sewing little doodads to garb. Its an addiction, really. I may add some more beads to the trim later on. It depends on how obsessive I get before the next time I wear this dress.

Here's a few more photos of the day:

 Its gettin' all Disney Princess up in here!

Lady Sabyna of Aydon (aka, Ace) and Lady Giovanna Ricci (aka, me) 

Me with The Honorable Lady Reina MacCormick aka, sexy Ty.

It was my first coronation, and even though I was sweating like a teamster due to the climate, I had a fantastic time!

And speaking of beading. I also beaded the heck out of my last 12th Night dress. I totally forgot I had photos of it!

I beaded this and wore it for Calafia Anniversary last year. I've been wanting to punch up the original beading on this. I think I managed to pull it off decently.

Next up, Labyrinth Ball! I'm starting my costume for that tonight so Progress photos to come very soon!

Cheers All!

Steam Punk Dance Costume Photos.

I finally found a good pic of my Dance costume for Gaslight Gathering! In usual fashion, I was too busy running around like a crazy person to haul out my camera...such is my absent minded way. But I did get this one great photo of me!

Photo taken by Mr. Muggles, He always makes me look good!

In reference, here's the original sketch again: 

Not too shabby! In retrospect, I think I'm going to change the shape of the sleeves of my chemise. They seem a bit too wide in photos. But they moved really well on the dance floor. Still, I may narrow out the sleeves and keep the flair at the elbow only.  The ensemble was extremely comfortable for a full day's wear. I was a bit worried since both the ghawee and chemise were mostly polyester. But it breathed great!

Here's me in action... Ignore my dancing concentration face. I need to work on that.

Photo by Jerry Abuan.

As with most of my steampunk stuff, I'll be doing little tweaks here and there when I need to wear it. But overall I feel this was a success.

The entire crew. Photo by Jerry Abuan.

My next venture into costuming will be at Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball. My friend Jen and I will be heading out as Steampunk style saloon girls. Progress shots soon to come!... Now that I have all the materials finally that is. Also, all my patterns are FINALLY bought to start my Victorian Walking dress. Better late than never I say!

 

Also, I'll be donning my 12th Night dress soon as I head to Caid Coronation in June. Hopefully I'll remember to get some decent photos of it. Cheers until then!

Gaslight Gathering Dancewear!

I'm Back! And sewing like the wind!

Gaslight Gathering is approaching and the Calafian Middle Eastern Guild has been asked to provide ambient entertainment again. Needless to say, I am STOKED!  Finally the three of us dancers decided to put something together... at the last possible minute of course. Well in my defense I DID buy the fabric weeks ago.

We're all going for a basic ghawazee and flowing pants look. I went with a very rusty color pallet to fit in with the whole steampunk feel. Here's my basic design sketch for what I'm trying to do:

Rust orange for the ghawazee,  beige for the chemise, and orange for the pants. You can't tell in this photo, but the fabric for the pants have some gold sparkle in it. I used a basic ghawazee pattern and lengthen it to a little above the ankle. You can't tell in the photos, but the side and back seams are split up to the hip for movement.

Work in progress!

Found some nice frogs at Yardage Town for 1.50 a piece. So much nicer that the $6 a piece Joann's was asking for.

Here's where I stand so far with it. Its pinned a bit halfassed to the dress form in this pic. I was tired last night.  Yes, I am using that bra YET again. I took many a finger wound for that bra so I am getting my fill out of it! I'm considering taking the hem up of the ghawazee a few more inches. Not sure if I'm happy with where its laying.

A quick detail shot of the patterns.  I was at first afraid to use so many prints but since they are both small and subtle I went for it.  I've been on this weird "I NEED TO WEAR PRINTS" kick lately.

And that's where I am about now. I should hopefully have this all done by tomorrow if the fates allow. I also am in the middle of making a cowboy duster for my friend, and another ghawazee for a fellow dancer. Needless to say my plate is full!

Stay tuned for pictures of the finished product!