If I were going to Costume College

It's Costume College week! Costume College is a 3 day costuming convention held annually in California. I've been twice and it is amazing! I'm really bummed not to be going this year but maybe next year. Since I won't be joining my friends in the costuming festivities, I thought I'd day dream about what I would bring instead.

Thursday evening pool party

I'd go pool side in my 19-teens nautical ensemble. It's quite comfortable to wear which is a must after a day of travel.

Friday Classes

I love wearing vintage during the day at Costume College since it looks great but is comfortable. Plenty of people wear regular clothes during the day but I like to dress up the whole time! A 1940s linen suit is chic and easy to wear.

Friday Ice Cream Social

What's more perfect for an ice cream social than a mint sundae dress? It's another effortless outfit that won't take up much space in my suitcase. When you're flying to Costume College, every extra inch counts!

Saturday Classes

I couldn't go to Costume College without one of my favorite costumes ever! My English fitted gown is made of wool and also has an under dress so it's quite warm. Yay for air conditioning!

Saturday Gala

I promised myself that my next Gala dress would be my Borgia dress, but since it is just a bodice and a whole pile of silk right now, I'd take my striped Italian gown for the Gala. It makes me feel so elegant. And it's also a great dress for air conditioning.

Sunday Classes

By the time Sunday rolls around, I'm always exhausted! And tired of wearing corsets. So my 1930s beach pjs would be perfect for the last day of classes.

If you'd like to see what I've actually worn to past Costume Colleges, check out all of the posts here.

Costume College: Haul

A big part of Costume College is shopping! Especially if you don't have really good local fabric stores. So let's see what I got!

2 yds red rayon for a blouse

3 yds of 30s looking striped rayon

4 yds of pink rayon for a 40s blouse and skirt

5 yds of embroidered cotton for an Edwardian dress

While I didn't buy anything at Mood, the guy there gave me a bag to commemorate my first visit (or possibly for the free advertising....)

McCall's 9953 50s evening gown patter which I got for a steal since it was missing the envelope. Also some vintage crochet hooks.

Remix shoes! I thought they were so Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday plus they were on sale so I had to have them! I also got a pair of seamed stockings from What Katie Did.

Huge stash of buttons! The bottom sets are vintage and the rest are modern.

I also snagged 100 yds each of black and white rayon seam binding and some pretty floral trim.

Costume College: The Exhibit

Every year there is a costume exhibit at Costume College! There were some really great ones on display this year.

A striped bustle dress!

A recreation of Rapunzel's dress from Tangled.





A Lord of the Ring's costume! So great!



Super pretty Edwardian chemise and corset!



I love the black, white and pink combo! It's so modern! Just goes to show that everything comes back into style at some point.



Another pretty hat!

There were loads of other pretties too! You can check out a bunch more photos over on my flickr.

Costume College: Come to the Gala!

I did a bit of filming this year at Costume College! Enjoy this footage from the Gala!



PS I was going back and tweeking settings on some of my old posts a two accidentally got reposted yesterday! So I did not, in fact, graduate this weekend! Sorry for the confusion!

Costume College: Sunday

This year four of us complete a secret group project involving plaid silk! We all used the same fabric to make dresses from different time periods but kept our exact plans a secret until Costume College.

A dizzy of plaid!

Even our backs were pretty!

Katherine of The Fashionable Past (aka Koshka the cat) did a fabulous Regency dress.

Plaid really lends itself to interesting self-fabric trims and Katherine did a really great job with hers.



Ginger of Scene in the Past did 1860s (ie Civil War). Love it! The trim is so striking and I love the bow at the neckline.



She looked so elegant!



Lauren of Wearing History did an 1869/1870 dress. It's from a cool transition period between hoop skirts and bustle dresses. I love in between periods.



Super pretty!



I did the 1950s!

I found this great vintage pattern and when I saw the green plaid on the cover, I had to make it!



It was so fun to wear and I am in love with silk now! It makes the most amazing sound when you wear it.



And it wouldn't be Costume College with out a bit of silly!

Costume College: Saturday

The Gala at Costume College is the time to show off your prettiest, most special or favorite costume! And this year did not disappoint! I had a hard time picking photos to share because everyone looked so fabulous! Be warned- many photos ahead!

Ginger of Scene in the Past-Isn't she so fabulous! The color of this gown is so gorgeous in person.

Dress fluffing!

Love the hair!

If you'd like some more background on her costume, you can go here or here.

Lauren of Wearing History.

She looked so fabulous! Aside from just having a stunning dress, she accessorized it perfectly.

I just adore the back of this dress!



Beth of V is for Vintage in a stunning vintage dress.



These three ladies wore gorgeous natural form dresses!

I'm so sad that none of my full length shots of these ladies came out but I love this shot of their gloves and fans. So elegant!



Me! I already posted heaps of photos of this dress so you can check them out here if you missed that post.

Costume College: Friday

For whatever reason, I decided that it would be a good idea to wear my Edwardian corset and underpinnings all day on Friday even though I'd never worn them for more than an hour or so.....

I wore my 1916 nautical dress!

This corset ended up not being very comfortable to sit in because the boning in the front was too long and poked my legs. And I picked up a new pair of stockings right before I left and I must have picked up a size to small because they started cutting off circulation to my legs. So for the latter half of the day, I stood as much as possible and scandalously wore no stockings. Live and learn.



For the ice cream social, I wore the 1914 day dress. I felt so pretty! :D I actually made it to the ice cream social early enough to get ice cream and socialize with people before the market place opened.

Ginger of Scene in the Past looking pretty in red!



1940s does 17th Century pirate



After the four Disney princesses at last year's gala, there were quite a few more this year. But these Disney villains rocked it! :D