Steampunk for Kelmarsh

Just a quick update with some sneaky peeks of what I've been making ready for Kelmarsh.

These will all be for sale on the Sunday (if I have space!) and I can make to order.

First is a taffeta bustle skirt with apron drapery, peplum and lapets in 'brazil'. The skirt and the bustle are seperate garments so can be worn seperately for maximum flexability.


Then there's a gorgeous little victorian style jacket in pink silk with black lace trimmings and ribbon. The photos also give you a little glimpse of the English silk waistcoat underneath and the victorian style blouse.

Festival of History 17th/18th July 2010

I am very pleased to announce that I shall be taking Blue Lady Couture to the annual Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall. With thanks to an old friend I hope to have a selection of items for sale and on display including ladies and gents waistcoats, skirts, corsets and jackets.

I am now frantically sewing to try and get as much made as possible!

Costume updates

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm gradually adding to my costume pages and it has been updated today with some lovely Edwardian garments. Keep checking back as there's still more to come!

Some unexpected gems discovered.

While I was on holiday I didn't go out on the hunt for costume specifically, but I always keep an eye out and it's awlays nice to stumble across some delicious examples to add to my research library.

My first discovery was tucked away in a cupboard of all places in the delightful National Trust property of Townend. Out of the light, but such a shame! I wasn't able to get any photos sadly, but sheltered in the dark was an 1830s wedding gown in delightful sprigged silk. Although undoubtedly faded, the silk was still crisp and would likely have been a rich cream or even a primrose yellow (a popular colour of the period). The gown itself was simple in style with a waistband about an inch wide at the fashionable height between underbust and natural waist. Full leg o' mutton sleeves taper down to tight cuffs and the skirt falls in folds from the gathered waistline. The most interesting and distinguishing feature of the gown was the capelet style collar. Two tiers which tapered down to rounded points extended to the waistline, edged in piping. Although indistinguishable, I suspect the capelet extends into a single rounded point at the centre back.

Blue Lady Couture

I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to my new website http://www.blueladycouture.co.uk/. I shall run it as a sister site alongside Joanna's Bridal, but the focus shall be more on costume pieces. There will also be an online shop where you can have garments made to order and delivered as well as my fully bespoke service if you want something extra special.

There will be lots more added on over the coming weeks and months, but here's a quick example of the outfits I made for the 2009 Hallowe'en Whitby Gothic Festival. The first picture was featured in the Whiby Gazette newspaper.

Bronte back on our screens!

It was with great interest that I heard about not just one, but two new Bronte films currently in production!

BBC Films are revisiting Jane Eyre, with Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) as the heroine, while Film Four are planning a remake of Wuthering Heights.

I've always had an interest in the tragic Bronte sisters since visiting the pretty Haworth parsonage where they lived and experiencing the bleak and windswept moors that inspired them. Both tales could certainly be described as gloomy, almost foreboding. The opening chapters of Jane Eyre certainly set the atmosphere. I never finished Wuthering Heights as a child. It's a far cry from the almost sickly sweetness and light of Jane Austen. As much as I am a 'Janeite', I can only admit that there has most definately been an Austen overload in the past few years. I think it's interesting how the fun and frivolity of Austen suited the mood of a care free modern society, but as recession and money worries loom over us, these darker tales of the mid-nineteenth century are the order of the day.

You can read more about the films and see a sneaky peak of the new Jane Eyre at http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article7106879.ece

I am a Steampunk!

Just when I didn't think I could find time to indulge in anymore hobbies and interests, I find myself right in the middle of one!

I stumbled across Steampunk quite by accident at the end of last summer. I'd heard the word banded about on various forums and websites, but it wasn't until the Victorian Steampunk Society came to Lincoln for their first annual UK convival, that I realised what it was all about. After a little research I soon realised that I was a Steampunk and all my nostalgical whims and fancies fitted right in!

Initially an offshoot from the Goth scene, Steampunk claimed a much stronger historical interest, inspired by science, technology and adventure as much as Victorian romanance and gothicism. Steampunk is particularly influenced by authors such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, capturing the Victorian fascination with technology and using it to push the boundaries of science and reality. For many, the ideal Steampunk world is characterised by a Victorian London below a sky filled with airships taking travellers and adventurers to the majestic realms of Africa and India, or even beyond the stars to the moon and Mars. Some even claim the ability to bend the laws of time. Of course this is all conducted with the most polite and genteel of Victorian mannerisms, also impeccably dressed and sporting the latest brassy gadgetry to get you out of any fix.

The costuming is such an important part and everyone has their own individual take on it depending on who they're portraying, what the occasion is and quite how far they visualise the Steampunk world. For some, it's a passion for Victoriana, mixing more modern styles with corsets, bustles and top hats. Others go for a more military look using British Empire regimental and expedition styles often accessorising with pith helmets. Then there are the airship crews, the airship pirates, engineers, mad scientists, time travellers, librarians, historians.....
That's the thing about the Steampunk genre. There are so many takes on it and you can bend it to wherever your interest lies, whether you see yourself as a Neo-Victorian, retro-futurist, dieselpunk, cyberpunk or are just plain enthusiastic about steam engineering technology.

It's a funny old world. I was brought up spending my holidays being taken round museums and heritage railways. Combined with my natural love of costume and the past and a husband equally enthusiastic as well as being a converted and confessed steam addict. It was only natural, I suppose, but I couldn't hide my enthusiasm for turning my needle and thread towards this exciting new outlet. The magic of course being the fun and the only restriction, the imagination. Steampunk isn't period perfect, so the creativity can run riot with colours and fabrics that capture the spirit of Victorian adventure and discovery, but with modern twists or even the essence of a different period. You could wear an eigteenth century pirate coat with first world war breeches and a victorian blouse and waspie corset.

To that end I'm really excited to announce that I'm going to be concentrating a lot more on producing Steampunk clothing alongside my bridal wear. I'm already working on some classic neo-Victorian crisp cotton and lace blouses with ladies silk waistcoats inspired by Dorcas Lane's costumes in Larkrise to Candleford. There will also be corsets and skirts influenced by late nineteenth century dress as well as more regency style bolero jackets.

I can't wait to share the pictures of the finished articles in anticipation of holding a trade stall at the second Lincoln convival.