I'm Fully Aware How Tardy This Post Is (Halloween 2010)

So, I know that this post is over 2 weeks late, but I've been half-busy and mostly lazy. That may also have been the reason that, despite planning, I was still sewing my costume as I left for my weekend plans.

My last post was detailing my plans for my costume, and not long after that I actually made a muslin of the pattern I found - Vogue 8508. It was the only pattern I found that had a stand-up collar of the size that Altaira's was. (There were lots of costumes with close-to-the-neck stand-up collars, but only one that reached nearly to my shoulders.) I had also bought the fabric by that same time - a gold block trim to mimic the heavily studded areas and a gold satin flecked with glitter for the main fabric. It's not quite similar, but I wanted to make it work as best I could.

The original pattern is for a wide A-line dress, not a near skin-tight dress as the original was. Though I was going to work on truly altering the pattern, I ended up just sewing the shape in - pinning and marking where to make the shape into the dress and adding a zipper (which, by the way, I used far too little of) so that it would fit like a glove, all said and done. I also meant for the dress to be a little longer than it ended up being - though it's not as lewd as I thought it might be at its current length. It was quite a simple pattern to put together - raglan sleeves attached through the collar (or a facing, should you not need a huge stand-up collar) and some simple bust darts. In its original form, it's a pretty cute 60's-inspired dress.

Here is the final product!:



This is actually just about how I wore it - there is actually a long-sleeved gold shirt underneath, and I had mustard gold tights and those little flats. And, of course, I had curled my hair to emulate Anne Francis'.

I spent my Halloween weekend down in New York City with my friend Laura - going to interesting parties, carving pumpkins and having a grand old time. One of the best events was the Phantasmagorey brunch, hosted by Dances of Vice (whose Halloween event I attended last year.) It was most of a show than a party, but all of the performers were excellent. We showed up late, but did get to see the Ghost Train Orchestra and some great burlesque performers (including one on aerial silks!). We were in an awkward spot, up in a balcony, but it was an excellent show and there were so many wonderful costumes that I wish I could've gotten a better look at.

Though no one recognized my costume, I did get some knowing "oh!"s after mentioning who I was dressed up as. It was another great Halloween, full of excitement and good friends. I can only hope that they get better as time goes on.

at the Phantasmagorey brunch

Halloween is quickly approaching...

The decision for this year's Halloween costume was difficult for a long time - I still wanted to look fabulously vintage, but the only thing I could really think of was Judy Garland (while swilling liquor and downing placebos) - other thoughts came in and went out, but nothing really called to me.

Then, just a couple of weeks ago, I watched The Forbidden Planet and I saw it:



Anne Francis' gold dress! I wish I could get someone to be my Robby the Robot, but I think that's asking a bit much at this stage. I'll probably end up with a slightly longer dress (that one could end up a bit.. immodest, to put it kindly), but I can't wait to construct and wear this iconic sci-fi dress. (I'm such a sci-fi nerd, which you probably can't tell by the rest of the posts to this blog, so I can't wait to tell people about how I live on a different planet where monsters from your Id may come to kill you. If you haven't seen The Forbidden Planet, you probably definitely should!)

I'm a little slow on the uptake, so I'm going to go out and get my pattern today (just my luck, there's also a Vogue pattern sale going on this weekend, starting today!) and start cutting out a muslin to play with the construction. I'm using Vogue 8508, which was the only pattern I saw with the large, oval, stand-up collar the dress has (and I couldn't contemplate drafting), but I will have to do some major alterations to the body of the dress, as it's not a wide A-line style.

I can't wait to break out the sewing machine again! It's been far too long!

Vogue 2609, or How To Halloween

What is the best fabric to make a muslin out of? Just plan muslin? Some old fabric laying around? Or could it be $2-a-yard purple satin?

I went with the last option for this year's Halloween cosutme: Vogue 2609. A 1934 design, I wanted to look my best for the party. Now, I didn't plan this costume out well in advance. Oh, no. I barely knew what I was doing a week before and had no idea what I would be that night. When I found out it was an Edward Gorey-themed party (hosted by the lovely Dances of Vice), this pattern immediately jumped out from my memory. Maybe not so turn-of-the-century as Gorey, but certainly in a fabulous and macabre feeling, if made in the proper way.

Awkwardly brushing out the edges of the caplet featured in this pattern

I've never sewn this pattern before, but I was confident in my sewing skills, so I cut out all of the pieces (including two of the godet pieces the same way - so in the final product you may or may not notice that one of the back pieces is ... not as shiny as the rest of the dress, because it's sewn in backwards) and set to work on sewing it all together.

The open-back design! (That tie at the bottom is supposed to be tacked down - pshaw, it's fine!)

What I noticed, looking at the pattern back (which I did not have the convenience of doing while I was at the fabric store, the pattern being out of print) was that it didn't have a zipper. I had bought one anyway because I figured it needed to be closed somehow. Well, this being 1934, they didn't exactly have zippers. They had snaps. And I wasn't going to put in a whole long set of snaps, because I like simple solutions. So, I ignored that part of the directions and did it my way, putting in my zipper. I felt happy to have bested the patterns of the past with the technology of the future.

The next part that unsettled me, in reading the directions, was the fact that the godet (the skirt part at the very bottom) was supposed to be appliqued on. Again, I was not doing this and decided to do it my own way, which I saw as the correct way. I just sewed the godet to the dress, as one would do - right sides together, make sure to get it all pinned down, sew together, turn right side out. (I was kind of nervous that the applique-style attatchment might not work as well, for some reason, and so I just felt more comfortable putting the skirt in the way I did.)

The last surprise of this dress was the contrast fabric. When I was getting it cut, they told me the price, which was far more than the dress fabric. I thought it was right-side out on the bolt, because it was satiny, and just said "Whatever" and went with it. Well, after I cut the pieces for the dress and went to get them ready to attatch, the two halves of the fabric didn't want to come apart. I took a pin and separated some of the remnants from my cuttings and learned - a bit to my horror - that this was no satin at all. This was some kind of terrible, weird Latex-coated fabric. There was no turning back, though, as this was probably a day or two before and I didn't want to get anything else. I would deal with it and triumph over it, as I had with the rest of this dress.

But I think, in the end, it turned out quite spectacularly in the end. I was happy to tell people that I'd made my dress, and though I personally don't have any photos of myself at the event, I did find one from someone else where I'm in the background:

Photo by Gabi Porter for MetroMix New York
(more photos here)

Yep, right there. On the right, with my lovely open back and my friend who came with me to the most magnificent Halloween party I'll probably ever attend. I hope to go more of their events sometime, just to see all the people who get so done-up! (You should search for more images and just look at all the gorgeous things people wore. Really. I was amazed.)