Hi, I'm Alex - a historical costumer and serial hobbyist (sewing, crochet, embroidery, jewelry-making, digital art, etc).
My grandmother shared her love of historic and vintage clothes with me. I learned to sew for my dolls and stuffed animals before growing into sewing for myself.
I went through J-fashion and steampunk phases before settling into historical and sometimes vintage fashion.
I started blogging about my sewing projects on Wix in 2017 and started sharing on Instagram in 2018. Then in 2023, due to some technical difficulties (aka not wanting to pay for media storage space for Wix) I backed up all my articles here.
I intend to share more as I continue to sew, especially now that I've joined a local SCA group!
Looking for something specific? Check out my Blog Tags!
I don't really do one-off ensembles in my historical costuming. I tend to lean towards small, almost capsule wardrobes for the eras I've done (or am planning to do) so that each piece in the "wardrobe" is as versatile as possible.*
My Regency wardrobe is a good example of that. I have one Regency dress. A basic white dress, specifically chosen because I knew I'd be able to layer and accessorize it, changing up the look every time I wore it.
Now obviously not every era has such an obvious, easy to coordinate option, so I go back to modern capsule wardrobes for inspiration and create a color scheme for each era I want to do.
Creating Your Pallet
If I already have a fabric or an accessory in my stash, that serves as my starting point. If I don't have something in my stash, I'll pick a project idea to serve as my base.
My Regency wardrobe actually started with my stash. I made that white dress knowing that I had several small lengths of blue fabrics in my stash that I could use for bodices and reticules. I knew that red coral necklaces were popular in the Regency era, and I knew I wanted a (faux) one. I was able to find a red pashmina shawl pretty quickly, too. So my pallet became red, white, and blue, which was feeling... unnecessarily patriotic. So I've opened my pallet up to include brown, grey, yellow, and pink, but as accessories, not main colors.
My Greco-Roman-ish wardrobe, on the other hand, started from a color pallet I found on Pinterest. Seafoam green, stormy blue, and pale amethyst. (A nice, muted, analogous color scheme.) I bought a blue double gauze for my chiton (which I later replaced with a better blue lawn) and a minty green lawn for my pallas. I've made a few necklaces to match - one stormy blue shell and pearl, one amethyst and aventurine, and one aventurine and amazonite.
My Italian Renaissance wardrobe was inspired by contemporary paintings - rich reds, golden yellows, warm pinks, tawny orange. I've only made one red gown, but I've already made sleeves in two shades of red and one yellow fabric, and I know all those sleeves will coordinate with any future gowns I make if I stay in my color scheme.
Pick Your Neutrals
Shoes are often the most difficult purchases for a historical costume, and they're not cheap. So having one pair of shoes that works for multiple ensembles for an era can be very helpful. Choosing a neutral color for your shoes can help.
My 1890s color pallet started with some charcoal grey suiting, some teal and black shot silk, and a variety of plum-colored fabrics I've been accumulating. I chose black as my neutral for the 1890s wardrobe because it would match all three fabric stashes (destined for three technically separate ensembles, which I know I just said I didn't do) effortlessly. I'll bring in white and ivory as accents, too.
I went with brown for my overall medieval/SCA wardrobe. It's easy to find brown leather items like shoes, belts, and pouches, and it goes well with the mostly warm-toned color scheme I'm using (navy blue, olive green, mustard yellow, and tawny orange). I used brown as my Italian Renaissance neutral as well so that I can reuse and mix-and-match accessories, and I'm using it as an accent in my garb, as well.
For practicality's sake, I won't be getting white shoes for my Regency ensemble. I was lucky enough to thrift pointy-toed grey flats with a fun "laced" detail that keep the shoe secure while dancing, and eventually I'd like to purchase brown booties for heavier walking.
Conclusion
Having a set color scheme for historical costuming can be so helpful for keeping your look coherent and guiding (or at least limiting) your fabric, trim, and accessory choices.
*Color schemes are obviously also useful in creating a one-off ensemble that looks nice, but I think they're something that can be overlooked in a more mix-and-match wardrobe. Or perhaps a wardrobe's color scheme takes more conscious thought than a single ensemble's, which can be a bit more vibes-based.
Artist: Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (Austrian, 1793–1865)
Date: 1828
Medium: Oil on fabric
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Description
This portrait typifies painting in Vienna between 1815 and 1865, an era known as the Biedermeier period, during which the Habsburg government promoted positive artistic depictions of Viennese life and culture. The mountains in the background express both the artist's romantic fascination with nature and patriotic devotion to his Austrian homeland. The sitter, Crescentia Seilern, was a prestigious member of the aristocracy who married Hungarian reformist patriot István Széchenyi.
The fastest way to accomplish The Project is to cease being afraid of The Project. The Project cannot maim you. The Project cannot kill you. The Project is more afraid of you than you are of it. It is okay if The Project turns out differently from how it was in your head, and it is okay if it has flaws. You are capable of engaging with The Project.
It's been radio silence from me lately, and for good reason - I'm moving!
Or rather, I'm basically done moving out of my old place, but still have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do in the new place.
I'm really excited to have a dedicated (mostly) sewing area again, AND a small closet just for craft supplies! I've already got some of my historical costumes hanging in that closet, and the few long rolls of fabric I have are in there too.
What I purchased four years ago to be a work table spent the last two years as a dining table, and it is now returning to being a work table (give or take a few nice dinners).
I'm really hoping that having some space to spread out and leaving things out will help me get sewing again in the second half of the year!
My sewing area is functional, if not entirely complete. I've been taking advantage of my shorter commute to sneak in ~20min of sewing time in the morning before work.
Sometime earlier this year I cut out a bunch of projects, including an 1890s short/under petticoat, so I pulled that out and started sewing it up. It's been going quickly so far, but I fear the impending ruffle may slow me down (that will be the last step too, which doesn't help)
Anyway! I'm so happy to be sewing (by machine) again
first assigned reading in my textile history class is about orientalism and the political appropriation of the paisley print and kashmir shawl by the british written by a south asian researcher
You actually cannot skip to being good at a creative endeavour that you haven't put much practice into. You cannot trick your way out of the 'knows that your work is not what you want it to be but don't know how to improve it' stage by planning or reading or talking about it really really hard. At some point you just have to craft through it until your brain finds it's own unique way back to the 'everything I make slaps' stage and be prepared to start the cycle all over again. You just have to make that project you're excited about slightly less good than you want it to be. (Says this standing in a pool of blood and covered in blood and also coughing up a little blood)
It's been radio silence from me lately, and for good reason - I'm moving!
Or rather, I'm basically done moving out of my old place, but still have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do in the new place.
I'm really excited to have a dedicated (mostly) sewing area again, AND a small closet just for craft supplies! I've already got some of my historical costumes hanging in that closet, and the few long rolls of fabric I have are in there too.
What I purchased four years ago to be a work table spent the last two years as a dining table, and it is now returning to being a work table (give or take a few nice dinners).
I'm really hoping that having some space to spread out and leaving things out will help me get sewing again in the second half of the year!
Now that June is basically over, let's look back on May...
I wanted to take some time in May to do some quick "mending" projects (ok some were technically washing and finishing and stuff) in attempt to knock some small, quick projects off my list and get things back to being wearable/usable. Plus, I was feeling a bit burned out after the sewing I did for the JAF and wasn't up to tackling any larger projects.
Here's what I finished:
Repaired the drawstring on my silver and blue reticule. The drawstring came undone and slipped out a few years ago and it's been sitting in a bin ever since. I literally just needed to re-thread the cord through the drawstring casing and tie a new knot.
Fixed the straps on a thrifted slip. One end of one strap came off in the wash, but thankfully I didn't lose the slider! I was able to repair the strap to full functionality. Then, because it was bothering me, I un-did a previous owner's repair on the other strap and re-did it, because the previous owner had left the strap twisted.
Finished the raw edges of a medieval t-tunic shift I was given. I did a quick machine zig-zag stitch over the raw seam edges, did a double-fold hem on the sleeve cuffs, and did a very narrow double-fold hem on the neckline. The skirt was hemmed by the original owner.
Finally washed an oil stain out of a green ribbed shirt I have.
something ive noticed after being a hobby cosplayer for years is that in a lot of places the general consensus seems to be that wearing costumes in public is weird and/or socially unacceptable, but whenever I'm in costume in public while on the train to the con venue or having a photoshoot on location or something, people by and large fucking love my costume. they think it's so cool. kids think my costume rocks. their parents are impressed that I made it myself. random grandmas tell me my armor kicks ass. I was at a japanese garden once and barely got around to doing the photoshoot me and my homies came there to do because swathes of visitors who had never heard the word cosplay before were lining up to take a picture with me.
it's the same thing with adjacent hobbies like larp or reenactment or fursuiting, the general image of the hobby is that you're weird nerds (and probably also sex perverts) for playing dressup despite not being a child but when you're actually in costume the response from random normies is categorically positive. I inevitably get weird looks from the kind of people who think having a tattoo is an affront to god but they give me that look for just existing with blue hair and pronouns too and the people who actually talk to me always do because they wanted to tell me they love my costume. and the response that always gets me the most is when they say it looks fun but they would never dare to do the same. it's such a shame. why did wearing a silly little costume have to become an act of bravery.
A couple of years ago, a bunch of Star Wars costumers went to a state park and met for a photo shoot. The organizer notified the park staff that we were coming only to take still pictures, no video, no commercial use items. We gathered together and lugged our stuff into a fairly low traffic location, set up a portable changing tent for those who needed it and got dressed.
Our scout troopers and Jedi and Sith posed against the rock crags and forests and in dappled sunlight. We got great pictures.
And every once in a while someone would come around the bend and find something TRULY unexpected.
Most people scrambled backwards or ducked behind the nearest tree, apparently thinking they'd stumbled into a film shoot of some kind. A few took pictures from a distance.
Once we explained, all of them were delighted. How strange. How wonderous. Two little boys took pictures with every single costumer, a woman sat on a rock and just watched, one guy called home to FaceTime his brother.
The world is mundane and predictable and painful sometimes. And breaks to that are magic. Little bursts of a world turned on its head. In the best way.
