Monday 26 November 2012

Victorian circus

Fraulein Frauke Presents took place Saturday and being in good form I stitched on my costume to the last minute. The theme, if you remember, was Victorian circus and I went as a line dancer, complete with a small parasol.




You may notice that the bodice is not green as planned, but purple. That is because I found that I had too little of the green silk- one of the dangers when you buy fabric first and make the pattern after. Luckily I have a lot of cotton sateen that I inherited from my grandmother, so I could make a last minute change. I also managed to go down with a temperature for two days so my sewing got behind schedule. So I’m sort off pleased with my costume. I like the colours and I do think that I have managed to evoke a Victorian feel to it. I’m pleased with the yellow fringe that very nicely took up the colour of the parasol.



However, the fit could have been a lot better. I fitted it on myself with no help, apart from J placing a few pins after my direction. The back was a bit too loose and the bodice was a bit too snug around the hips. It would also have benefitted from a crisper lining and a few well-placed bones. The plan is to evolve the bodice into an 1880’s ball gown, but it will need some re-work for that! As usual I had great fun. The guests had really outdone themselves; I really think that more and more people dress up after the current theme for every new event. It is also such a nice club. Everyone is so friendly and I have never been to a place where you get spontaneous compliment by strangers. And I have always loved masquerades and now I have reason to think up new costumes several times a year.



Klara the Lion, who won price for best costume and Pimpinett. The other winner was a wonderful bearded lady in a striped bustle dress.



The best costumes won a bottle of champagne, but other good ones got a free drink. And I got one! And so did Betty who looked really great as a snake charmer with a truly Victorian Cleopatra-flair.



The rather limpid latex snake. There were other snakes around, but no one as big as Betty’s!



A rather bad picture of the smallest animal on the party. My friend Ragnar had captured a ferocious rhino and caged it. Unfortunately it drunk too much beer and fell of its peg.



A few pictures of the fitting process. I drafted the pattern myself, using a bodice template in Patterns of Fashion as a guide. It evolved a bit as you can see.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You look fab and the party looks really fun! I miss fancy dress parties... all my friends seemed to have reached a stage in their lives where they don't want to do costume parties any more :(
But my daughter does :) and has a circus theme party coming up so I have directed her to see your various inspiring posts on the subject for which I thank you!

Myrtha Meadows said...

Hej raring! Tänkte bara meddela att jag har den stora äran att ge dej the Leibster Blog Award på min blogg idag! :D För att acceptera priset måste man svara på lite frågor etc, så man bestämmer själv om man vill ta emot det eller inte! :) xox

Isis said...

VeraVenus: Thank you! What a pity- I think costume parties are great for every age! I hope your daughter's party was fun!

Isis said...

Miss Meadows! Tack så mycket. Jag är ganska dålig på att ta upp awards, men jag blir glad över att få dem ändå!

patrick moylan said...

i would love to see some one make the male circus costumes..i love them..yours is wonderful btw

patrick moylan said...

i would love to see some male circus performers. i love them especially with largehandlebar moustaches..you lady performer is wonderful

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