Yarrrrrr, part 1

 (apologies for the dreadful formatting, I'm still figuring Blogger out)

Occasion:
Halloween Party of the Damned

Competition description:

Best costume, best pirate

Project:

The Gothiest pirate that ever did Goth

Selection:
We're in a new place, with new friends and co-workers, which means we get to recycle all of the old jokes, stories, and kickass accessories one more time.  When I found out that the pirate-themed part we'd been invited to had a competition, and that nobody who would be there had seen my metal corset yet, the core of my costume was suddenly obvious.

Priorities:

1.  Pirate
2.  Corset
3. Using existing fabric stash as much as possible

Plan:This is where a design sketch would be, if I'd ever transferred it from brain to paper, which I seldom do.


But it seemed like a ladies' 18th Century redingote would suit my purposes; properly piratey, but would sit under the corset.  For reference, I checked out Le Pacte des Loups, particularly the costumes for Marianne:

The jacket from the Snowshill Manor gown seemed like a pretty good example to base my draft on; the side-back seams with deep set-in pleats, and an open front.  I used the drawings in Patterns of Fashion for lengths and proportions, though I didn't include the lapels, and I used a very different sleeve.

 I wanted a fabric that would show off the steel corset well, so I used some leftover black-on-black
damask for good contrast.  A cranberry burnout velvet would do well for contrasting cuffs, and I wound up cutting strips of it along the near-bias of the pattern to bind the whole jacket.





Because the whole thing was going under the corset, I didn't include buttons or pockets, and I wound up leaving the front loose, where the Snowshill jacket had a tuck that turned into a pleat at the waist.

 At this point, by the way, I realized I had a twofer: Pirate costume this year, Vampire in the style of Anne Rice next!  Aah, fabric selection.

Oh, those pleats!

The hat is a basic tricorn, with a maribou boa whip-stitched onto the edge.

The feathers are from a floral component (seriously, when trimming hats, hit the floral section first.  The scimitar pin was a gift from my mom.










 








Also, just not pictured, I wore a simple chemise with a scoop neck for modesty between jacket and corset, the leather pants from the Hawkeye adventure, my fancy lace stockings from Florence, and these from American Duchess, with big black satin bows instead of the shoelace.

Please excuse the terrible makeup, it’s drugstore halloween crap, because the good stuff got purged when I moved…last time. But the party theme turned out to be not just pirates, but undead pirates, so ghastly makeup was the only option.

Speaking of ghastly, all the lighting at the party was green, with a little bit of blue, so all the effort I went to matching the reds was utterly wasted.  Except, of course, that *I* knew it matched.

At any rate, it went over well:

Up next, Piracy part Two: what he wore

Elizabethan Hawkeye

Occasion:
Agincourt Tourney, “Hollywood Says Hooray For Archery!” costume competition

Competition description:

Historically accurate version of your favorite Hollywood archer

Project:

Elizabethan Hawkeye

Selection:

The problem with this competition is that the obvious female archer costumes in movies are defined by the elements that make them not period: The slashes on Merida and Susan Pevensie's sleeves, for example. So to make either costume authentic, you have to remove the element that makes it definitive, or compromise historical accuracy. When looking at male archers in movies, however, Hawkeye's costume immediately jumped out as easily translated to an Elizabethan style. Also, it seemed less likely to be done by someone else in the same competition, unlike Merida or Katniss.

Inspiration images:

Hawkeye

Leather jerkin at the Museum of London

  

Critical/adaptable design elements:

A sleeveless leather jacket

Color blocking on the chest

SHIELD badge on chest

Tight pants

Ankle shoes

Design elements that just don't fit:

Weird side padding

Knee pads

Superfluous zippers and strapping

Design Rationale:

 The MoL jerkin is already a sleeveless leather jacket.

The color blocking can be achieved by only doing the punchwork on a selected area of the jerkin, and using a colored lining to show through.  

The front zipper will be replaced by hooks and eyes up the front.

My beautiful repoussé fyrd medallion will make a good and fitting stand-in for the SHIELD badge.  It's not historically accurate, but it's SCA-appropriate, so I'm calling it good.

Leather pants were acquired from a thrift store, and cut off at the knee to conform to 16th century aesthetics.

My Mary Rose shoes are the right period for the jerkin, and happen to be ankle-high and black.  Easy.

As far as the problematic design elements go, I took the easy way out and just ignored them.

Side note: the comic book version of Hawkeye is very different from the movie version, but the competition was specifically about *Hollywood* archers, so I used the movie version.

The finished costume:

  

Doublet: 

I patterned the jerkin from my own sloper, using the layout for the MoL jerkin in Patterns of Fashion as a guide.  I made it a little roomier than I usually do; my silhouette isn't exactly masculine, and while I couldn't disguise that,  I could choose not to accentuate it.

I cut out the pieces, punched the holes, dyed the leather (it was already blackish, I made it darker), and then assembled it by machine, lining it in a burgundy red silk leftover from another project.

I bound the edges with black silk, for simplicity, with the exception of the shoulder wings, which were left unbound because they were tricky and I was running out of time.

The Fyrd medallion has a soldered chain permanently attached, so I made a round pouch to to act as a frame for the medallion and to hold the chain, which was then mounted on the doublet.  I used as few stitches as possible to mount the badge, so that it could be removed later if I wanted to use the doublet for other purposes.

Trunkhose:

I found a pair of black leather pants at the thrift store for $12, which turns out to have been staggeringly good luck, because I've been looking since then and haven't seen anything like it.  They had jeans detailing, so I removed the belt loops and the back patch pockets.  They were also too big in the waist, so I took them in at the center back, which involved removing the waistband from the back third of the pants, taking in both the pants and the waistband, and then sewing the waistband back on again. Coincidentally, this alteration gave the pants a fuller seat, allowing them to sit a little higher and providing a slightly more period silhouette.

The legs I just cut off at the knee, and turned the raw edge under and topstitched.  Not a professional job, but good enough for this costume.

The patch pockets were both sewn and glued down, which means it was clearly visible where they had been before they were removed.  I disguised this as much as I could by dyeing over those areas when I dyed the leather for the jerkin.

Accessories:

I wore black tights so I wouldn't be fighting with keeping stockings up all day.  I wore my Mary Rose shoes, which being black, ankle-high, and appropriate for the time period were a natural choice.  I chose an Elizabethan shirt with a good ruffle at the neckline but sleeves that will roll and stay up easily.   I wore my hair in a french braid, because it's the simplest, most "invisible" way I thought of to keep it out of the way.  I can't hide the fact that I have damn long hair, so I ignored it instead.

The costume was well received.  Unfortunately, I don't have any photos (that I like) of the whole ensemble being worn.  Maybe someday.

Next up, Halloween Piracy

Future home of my crafty adventures!