The one that was discarded (for now atleast): Pinkie Pie Grand Galloping Gala gown

At first Pinkie Pie was among the cosplays instead of Fluttershy, but changes happened when we couldn't find an agreement in the design of her costume. This is the doodle the cosplayer made for me:

At first I thought the crinoline era of Victorian Period would be the one for Pinkie Pie. I mean, look at that floof on that dress and the bell shape. So I did some image search.

Yup, there's the bell shape alright and the layering is quite there, but I just didn't get the Pinkie Pie feel. I mean Pinkie's parties are wild, colorful, full of cakes and generally just, par-teys. Somehow the image I got from Victorian era just didn't seem to fit. Frustrated, I flipped through my book when I saw the light in form of a Queen.

Marie Antoinette! 18th century France! The parties of the Versailles! "Let them have cake!" (yes, I know Marie Antoinette never actually said it). I mean even that huge poof of hair is just perfect for Pinkie Pie. So I dug myself into the section of robe á la francaise, and lo and behold Marie Antoinette had another answer for me:

I literally screetched out of delight when I turned the page to find this. I mean, this is exatly how I see Pinkies gown, it nearly even has the correct coloration. Too bad the cosplayer was not delighted about the fact that she'd stuff herself into a robe á la francaise, so when I proposed the Edwardian gown and Fluttershy, it was more to her taste than the pink floofy froufrou. Well, these things happen. I'd love to make this gown one day when I have time.

Early plans; Rainbow Dash Grand Galloping Gala gown

I thought I'd get this done nice and easy. The period for Rainbow Dash is ancient Greece/Rome, so my first thought was to make it easy as hell. Just a plain white chiton undershirt and rainbow colored himation.

But this plan didn't meet the acceptance of the cosplayer. She wanted something more in the lines of an actual dress. So I did a test try for an victorian bustle dress, because the drapery looked like a pony's tail.

It was a good plan, I just was not happy with it nor was the cosplayer. It was not the correct timeline for Rainbow Dash and it just didn't feel right. So our friend doodled a dress that was more on the lines of what Dash's dress would be.

And since I wanted these gowns to have an actual existing garment to base on, I was happy to stumble onto this dress while doing research. It's along the general lines of the accepted doodle and more-or-less period accurate. So I made more doodles on this design.

I'm still waiting confirmation on wether she wants the long rainbow train or the short.

Week 2&3: Lucrezia

What have I been up to... Well, as  far as sewing goes, right now all I've done is patch my fiancée's pants (useful), knitted the Shamaness shirt hood (slow) and thought how to start the first Assassin's Creed costume.

The one being Ezio is quite a straight forward copy of the original, but three were "original" designs. First one is for the poisoner, Lucrezia. (yes, I know in the game Lucrezia is one of the bad guys).

Here is my character scetch on her:

Bleh, I really need to get back on drawing more... Anyway, sorry about this image being in B&W, my tablet pen has done a runner and I need to catch it before coloring. I'm taking a few liberties to the actual time period correctness, but I think the game also takes a few liberties, so we can put this on artistic freedom. The color combo for Lucrezia is green/teal and white.

I'm planning on modifying the Butterick pattern B4486 or The Poet Shirt for the shirt. The collars I have to redraw, and maybe do some twinking on the sleeves.

For the corset I ordered the Steampunk Asylum corset pattern from Harlots & angels in Etsy. In the pattern the lacing is in the back, but I'm not sure wether I want it to be there or move it to the front. I drew it to be in the front, but I think I like it better on the back. I still have to think about it. I also have to tweak, lenghten and puzzle out the hem.

I've used the B5265 pattern more than once for making different capes and found it easilly modified, so I'm going to use it again. Like going back to a dear friend.^^

The hood is something I have to puzzle out myself. I know I have the instructions on how to draw a hood pattern somewhere...

What else... Since I am using the rumor that Lucrezia Borgia used to poison (to my knowledge there is no actual historical evidence, just rumors) people by using a poison filled ring, I need to find something suitable. I've seen a few good candidates on etsy.

Lucrezia Borgia

I think I will also get myself a book about Lucrezia Borgia. It's good to get to know the person from whom I am building this fictional character.

Book: History of Costume by Carl Köhler

History of Costume by Carl Köhler
Dover Publications
464 pages
First published in english by George G. Harrap and Company in 1928.

Cover image by Amazon

I've been reading this little book lately. It's about the size of a pocket book, so it travels well in my bag and is not too big to dig up on public spaces and easily slipped back into the bag. It starts the historical timeline from the ancient times and goes up to the 1870, which is understandable when you look at the first publication date.

The book is full of information about men's and women's clothing, some of the garments are patterned in the book and can be remade from the measurements given (with adjusting). The book is well illustrated, this edition has all the images in black and white. The 1928 edition had some of the plates in full color. I felt that some of the images were in odd places and when reading, I needed to flip forward or backward to find the image that the book refered. Since I have a few books from this period, I'm taking it as the style of the layout.

The text in the book is well written and full of information. It's very academic language and it sticks to the facts known when written. The language is rather tiring reading, even if it is very interesting.

I'm still not knowledgable enough about how much the information has changed since this book was first written and if there are errors in the facts of the book.

To whom I recommend:
- Anyone interested in clothing history.

To whom I do not recommend:
- Anyone wanting to read a very academicly written book.
- People who need pictures to understand the text complitely. There's a lot of information in this book, more than the illustrations can cover, and in some points I felt that it was hard for me to understand because there was no picture to help me.

My general opinion of this book is good. It has a lot of the information about the ancient and middle age eras that are a black hole in my clothing knowledge. Yes, it's hard to read and understand at times, but with a dictionary and slow reading I've gotten throught.

I found my copy in eBay, but it's also foundable in Amazon.

Please note that this is purely my opinion and impression of the book!