All that glitters...

...Is table lamps and shoes.
Or is it "are table lamps and shoes"? Either way, I have a pair of both in wonderful gold hues, and they do wonders for my room designing and costuming efforts, respectively.


A few days ago I schlepped a few items into a huge furniture consignment warehouse that just opened a few blocks from my home, and I plan to schlep a few more as soon as I can. From the same warehouse I purchased a vintage brass tea cart that I'd been eyeing since Thursday, and yesterday I spent a good 3+ hours polishing it. It looks gorgeous, but with some particularly stubborn tarnish that I think gives it character. Everything seemed to fall into place yesterday; I had been thinking about getting some new lighting for my room and, walking home from work, I found a pair of table lamps sitting by the curb as if they had stepped out of their previous home promptly at 8:30 to wait for me to walk by. They're a simple, elegant shape, and seem to be hollow metal that almost matches the tea cart in color. Sitting with them were shades that can easily be re-covered to match my design. I don't know yet if the wiring works, but if not it should be easy enough to replace. Hooray for street treasure!

And remember my shoe-covering efforts? 

Well, now I have a perfectly good excuse reason to abandon that effort, at least for now. From a thrift store in the city that was serendipitously holding a 50% off sale when I happened in, I found an absolutely gorgeous pair of gold brocade shoes in a very interesting style that looks like a variation of fancy 18th century shoes.

(They look a bit whiter in the photo than they actually are, but you can see the pattern really well here.)

I think I'll be able to wear them when I sing in the NJAVO chorus in October, depending on what the rest of my costume is. I shouldn't need an excuse to wear them, and believe me I'd love to have them on my feet every single day, but New York transit system and exhaust dirt would all too quickly change the beautiful gold to the ubiquitous grimy city brownish-sludgey color. Urk. So, they'll sit under my "mannequin" for a while.

New layout!

For personal enjoyment more than anything else (which seems to have been the point of the rest of this blog thus far, though I don't really mind), I've tinkered with the HTML and a few images used in this blog and designed a spiffy new layout. I think the new version is a bit easier on the eyes, meaning it doesn't have the back-to-back red and orange tones that could appear eye-gougingly saturated on some monitors.

The new theme is simpler yet more elegant, I think, and the subject of it has a certain resonance with me.
Bonus geek creds to anyone who recognizes the scene depicted in my new header.

Aside from the obvious cosmetic changes (background, header image), I did some tinkering under the hood and changed the column sizes so more text will fit in a page. The expanses of background space previously left untouched by words was driving me mad.

I might do a bit more tweaking over the next few days, but I'm very happy with how my renovation has turned out thus far. I can't stop staring at the gorgeous silhouette image I found for the header and the lovely black/white/burgundy color combination; I hope my further costumial endeavors can live up to the elegance the new design advertises.
I just put in an order for eight historical patterns at $0.99 each online, so a chance to test my skills should be arriving in the mail within a few weeks. In the meantime, there's plenty of other things to do.

Until I can secure a French Baroque estate for myself, this will have to do.

I have a flair for opulent, French Baroque-type interior design, with a color palette taken partly from that period but mostly from my continued, semi-subconscious favoring of modern goth style. When we moved into my current house, I was given the larger of the two non-master bedrooms. It's a plus for space, and at least it isn't covered with obnoxiously 80's wallpaper, but I swear my room has the worst carpet in the house.

See for yourself here, see also the rolls of fancy paper which I plan to turn into elegant wall art and possibly use to wrap around and cover things like frustratingly modern pencil cases.

Within the last 2 years or so my style has shifted drastically from modern (bold colors, simple shapes) to baroque/Victorian/1700s (jewel tones, flowing lines, and ubiquitous floral patterns), which is why this vintage tea cart I found at a vintage furniture consignment warehouse is holding my jewellery in things from the Container Store.

Did I mention that the walls in my room are stark white? That makes them easy to paint over, but horribly boring until I do. Here's a dramatic sample I painted behind one of my Venetian carnival masks. I'm hoping it will go on more evenly, and perhaps even look a bit darker, once I start on the real paint job using a roller.

Little pillows I bought from Ikea years ago, during my first, modern redecoration. I used scraps of old curtain fabric from the living room, which had a custom made set of gorgeous, sweeping drapes until my roommates got to them and decided they collected too much dust. I might try to make drapes for my window out of the remaining fabric, once I finish the other major things I have to get done in the space.

(Also, that tiny cube in blue floral fabric was once one of a set of fuzzy foam dashboard dice I bought on a whim - why waste the foam? The other die awaits re-covering.)

Fancy frame that I previously found way too feminine, but now fits my style very well. Nothing wrong with a bit of femininity.

You may note that in the frame is a photo from Forbes Life magazine of a few months ago.

It's a peach frock coat by Sete-Cento, an Italian couturier. Just by looking at the name you should have some idea of how much I love this company. I didn't find this image until I'd already started on my frock coat, but from now on I'll use this style of design as my inspiration.

This was supposed to be about interior design, but I can't stop my mind wandering back to costuming. I want to make a pair of stays or corset next, either in plain linen or with an outer covering of green fake-shantung leftover from my frock coat. Another idea I'm longing to get to before the summer is over is an odd mix of frock coat, jacket, and light summer dress in a white cotton knit that would keep me cool in the summer while staying true to my oddly nostalgic fashion sense. More on all of this when life allows.

Silken swirls of gorgeous Shantung

So the swirls aren't really done in the shantung, but I think I could have had you fooled, couldn't I? The color matches so perfectly. I found this thin cording - $0.59/yd! - tucked away in a corner of M&J Trimmings in Manhattan. M&J is a great resource for anyone in the area, I highly recommend them!

As for the coat, here's more of the pictures I promised weeks, possibly months ago.

The design on the front pleases me very much, I think I'll have to add some more around the bottom of the coat and coiling up along the back vents before I can say this coat is truly "finished." I should hurry, though, as it feels tight across the shoulders even with the inserts I added. Damn this wide, operatic ribcage! (But not really - I value my singing over my ability to fit into this coat when it comes down to it.) The worst case scenario is that I would sell the coat on Etsy for some ridiculous sum. Maybe the sum wouldn't be so ridiculous, it is a very fine coat if I do say so m'self.
In the meantime, I'll try and find an opportunity to wear it that won't involve floral pajamas and late night sewing/photography sessions.

Why yes, I do dabble in many, many things

Including jewellery-making, when the urge strikes.

While looking around Pearl Paint for my felt, I happened upon a wonderful green cameo in a metal setting that looks like pewter or slightly tarnished silver, and a package of nine transparant, plumbbob-shaped purple beads with wonderfully intricate end caps and wire loops at either one end or both. The combination of these two things demanded to be made into a necklace, so I bought the cameo and the set of beads for around $7 total. As I hunted in the basement for my pliers, which I'd need to fasten the purple beads to my chain, I unearthed a few unexpectedly wonderful things. Most importantly and unexpectedly, a pair of metal hoops with vinelike loops for attaching earring hooks and dangly beads. I'd had them tucked away for ages without finding any good use for, and they match the design on the cameo setting extraordinarily well. I also discovered a few more modern-looking beads in the same shade of green as the cameo, a ribbon, my trusty  needle-nose and flat-tip pliers, and enough silver head and eye pins to attach everything together. Before the night was over, I had designed and created an updated Victorian necklace and earring set, which I love. (Especially after seeing it in photographs!)

The green ribbon and cameo can easily be removed from the silver chain without having to remove the purple beads or even use a pliers, so if I ever need to adapt it to more period-correct costuming, it won't be a problem at all.

I can't remember the last time I was this pleased with jewellery I made. I think I've worn it every day since I made it.

Make that, "I tip my fancily adorned hat to you."

Hooray!

Inspired by House of Nines design, I made my first cockade tonight to go with my felt tricorne-in-the-making. I bought the ribbon at M&J Trimmings, in Manhattan. It cost about $7 total for a yard of each, which seems very reasonable considering what the ribbons became. Next time (now that I know there will be a next time), I'll try two yards, and go for a fuller cockade. The button in the center was originally meant for the frock coat, until I started using the shantung. The color works quite well with the rest of the cockade, and I somehow prefer this simple, self-covered button to one of the fancier ones available. I'll save fancy for later.

Finishing the entire cockade took approximately 4 hours.

Until the hat is finished, meaning until Pearl Paint restocks my large pieces of felt, the cockade will have to content itself with being stuck onto bags and the occasional lapel.

Oh, and an added bonus...

... It matches the frock coat very well. (Better than this picture makes it seem.)

I tip my hat to you...

Or I would, if it had a brim.
I embarked on making a tricorne a few weeks ago, and its production is now stalled because Pearl Paint has my felt out of stock, and doesn't expect more for a few weeks. I've made the crown though, which in my opinion looks pretty good for a first attempt at haberdashery.



Here's my "hat block." Adapting some online instructions, I measured the circumference of my head, then padded a mixing bowl with paper towels til it had the same measurement. Tape the towels to each other and to the bowl every once in a while to stop your "block" from changing shape, and then cover the whole thing in plastic wrap when it's the right size. For good measure tape the plastic wrap down too.

Here's where I made a substantial mistake - instead of stretching the felt and pinning it, I for some reason thought one could pull the felt down a bit and brush it into a domed shape, agitating the material to make it shrink and re-form as a favorite wool sweater that shrinks in the wash. Maybe my felt wasn't high enough quality ($5 for a 1yd x 2yds piece), or maybe brushing for shape is simply a bad idea. Either way, I realized after a few days of brushing (bordering on over-brushing) that I had to re-check my source.

The hat looks quite good above, because I was stretching it without intending to. All the excess felt around the edges is stuffed inside the crown and down into the glass that acted as my stand.

Before confirming the instructions, I experimented with hat styles:

I'm still unsure whether I'll end up with a traditional tricorne or with some more modern variation. It'll be easier to tell once I get my brim piece on.

I ended up taking the felt off, rewetting it and stretching it over the block as nature intended. The only problem with using a pyrex bowl other than a styrofoam wig rest (other than the lack of it having a stand) (I used a tall but sturdy drinking glass) is that you bend quite a few pins before you figure out what angles are safe to stab at with relatively frail bits of metal.

The result:

A hat squid.

More on the hat later, and its accessory.