Monthly Archives: August 2015

Sunday was the last day at Costume College (and the last post in this series). Soon  we can get back to the regular business of sewing!

Sunday morning was the Breakfast with the Bennets event. I brought a Regency dress and originally planned to attend, but I decided to eat breakfast in my room and then line up early at the bargain basement. (On the last day of CoCo, there is a huge garage sale of donated items that benefits the CoCo scholarship fund. There is always a ton of fabric and trims, and various other things like clothes, accessories, and books).

I didn’t have time to make a new dress, so I wore an old one that’s been retrimmed once before. I really should make a new Regency dress. I’ve sold/given away the other ones, and this is my only one at the moment! My matching bonnet also had an unfortunate mishap in the week leading up to the event, so I am bareheaded.

I didn’t take a lot of photos on Sunday, because I was in class for the bulk of the time. In the morning I was in Mela Hoyt-Hayden’s wonderful millinery flowers class. (Afterwards so many of us wanted to get together to make silk velvet flowers!) I also took Kendra’s amusing class on 18th century hats.

The ladies from Colonial Williamsburg had a great class on 18th century mantua-makers, and draped a mantua right in front of us! I was impressed that the cutting was eyeballed, instead of measured.

I had a few favorite outfits on Sunday. First, there was this wonderful Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell group.

Look at these cute regency outfits by Abby and Nicole (and check out the dagging on the spencer!)   I love outfits that are simple, but well-done and accurate, and Natalie did a wonderful job of recreating Liotard’s Chocolate Girl painting.

It was an exciting CoCo, and I am looking forward to next year! I already have some outfits planned . . .

Saturday at Costume College was another great day for seeing lovely costumes! I spent a lot of time chatting, taking photos, and browsing the marketplace. I would have taken more classes, but never underestimate how long it takes to make several costume changes, and feed yourself in between!

I had been thinking of taking the “Haslam System” classes, but slept in, and took my time getting dressed and socializing. Saturday morning I wore my Game of Thrones Kings Landing dress.

In the middle of the day I attended my limited class “Mysterious Illusions: Creating Seamless Lace Garments,” taught by Rory Cunningham. I also wandered around and ran into many lovely garments, such as these bustle dresses by Merja, Elizabeth, and Jen.

There were mermaids by the pool, and Kim helped one back into the water.I was very excited to see Jenny Rose’s black chemise gown, since I have been planning to make one of my own. I loved making my white chemise so much I want more in other colors!

Before changing into my gala dress for the evening I had one last outfit change: getting into my AAGPBL Kenosha Comets baseball uniform with my teammate Monica!

There were many stunning gowns at the Gala and in the line on the way in. Natalie’s gold and black teens dress is just like a fashion plate!

This Queen of Hearts costume was really awesome in person.

   Lauren and Kaila looked so pretty in their 18th century gowns.

Kendra’s court gown was just faaabulous.And the other court gowns in attendance were quite lovely, too!

At the Gala dinner there were these kooky flower costumes.

I really liked the use of beetle wings on this gown.The green and black looked great together, and the silhouette is just perfect!For the Gala dinner I wore my silk chemise a la reine. I forgot to bring along my blue book, to appear more like the portrait the dress is based on, so I used the purse I had for my Friday Night Social outfit. My wig got a little smashed on the trip down, but I like how the whole ensemble turned out. I am looking forward to making more chemise dresses in various colors of cotton voile!

More photos from Saturday can be seen on Flickr.