Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Teegs' playing dress ups..

Since it's holidays & all, we figured I could get away with posting a little non-Ink & Spindle related shenanigans!

2010 for me, has been the year of the dress-up: there's been pirate, ball-going belle, gangster's moll, Jessica Rabbit, and then over the last couple of months I've been busy with some extra-curricular activities (not that kind, you guys! Sheesh! The sewing kind!) & the following are some pics of the fruits of my labour.

Backstory: You may remember back in October we posted about our fav new neighbours here at Younghusband, Revolt and how they were throwing a big ol' opening night party which, quite conveniently for me, happened to coincide with my birthday! The other awesome thing about the opening night was that it was Steampunk dress up!! And all my friends were gonna be there. Yay!

It was all I needed to go a bit mental in the costume department, to be quite honest.

Clockwork wood nymph costume

I happened to have some rather lovely silkpaper faerie wings which I had made a couple of years before & with the skills, assistance & workshop of the amazingly talented Master Sam (he is my armoury/metalwork teacher) we steampunked them up a bit & made them all wind-up, clockwork-y..

Clockwork wood nymph costume

It became the basis for my whole costume: Militant Woodland Nymph Princess!

Militant because I had a gun, Woodland because I was all green/brown & am a lefty-hippy-type, Nymph because I'm a redhead & Princess because it was my birthday. And because I had a crown..

Check it out you guys! I made a corset! Well technically, it's a stay (Butterick 4254). There's 12 metres of boning in that thing...

Clockwork wood nymph costume

This is me on the actual night - with all my extra paraphernalia (including a glowing vial of magical potion), and with make-up & hair.. 'scuse the low res.


















So that was that one. Cool, huh?

The next dress up was for Jewel of the Night - a step back in time from the 1920's to the 1950's.

With the help of my Twitter buddies, we decided I should aim for 1930's Gown'd Screen Siren.

This inspired many an internet search & many elaborate drawings & one long and involved conversation with Suzie, and in then end I quiet simply ran out of time to do the original (read: convoluted) design, which was going to involve a lot of drape & bias cutting. Two things my skill level is significantly underdeveloped in.

Then, on a night out with my dear, tiny, fellow-ginger, Kiwi friend Anthea, we quite randomly came across a rather fantastic, deco-inspired necklace & my gown appeared fully-formed in my head!

I found a pattern that was pretty darn close to my mental picture & seemed easy enough to tweak to be what I had in mind (Vogue 7365) & then a trip to my ol' buddy Nikki at Tessuti Fabrics, where we scoured the store looking for the perfect fabric (it was of course, the first one we looked at, but one must be sure of these things..!) I strolled home, over-the-moon, with 4 metres of a gorgeous, green silk. It was beautiful to work with.

And so I made this.

1930's screen siren gown
The front

1930's screen siren gown
The back

1930's screen siren gown
Cowl & clasp detail

You can see from the above two shots that I deconstructed the necklace so the front had little beaded clasps that matched the main pendant at the back. Y'know, to tie the whole outfit together & whatnot.

I was a little concerned about the potential for an extreme wardrobe malfunction, but the chains were all very obedient & stayed linked together, bless them.

I only have a crappy iphone pic to show you what I looked like on the actual night..


















I *really* want to wear this dress again. Will someone take me to the opera, please? :)

More pics here if you'd like to see!

Good times.

xx Teegs

22 comments:

Bec Clarke said...

Just lovely, both those costumes are amazing. I would so want to wear them at every opportunity.

Michelle said...

Wow! Both costumes are so beautiful, and also breathtaking! What a clever chops you are!

Frankie and Ray said...

You're amazing! And I'd just die for your beautiful skin....sigh...too much time in the sun...

Thea said...

What a great post. You really are a creative genius! Have a Happy New Year. x

Jess said...

Geez.....more fuel for my girl crush!

yardage girl said...

Amazing, amazing, amazing! Nic x

Renae said...

I've already told you on Twitter you looked absolutely amazing and your costume skills are awesome, but Twitter feels like 'throw away comments' so I'm repeating myself here for longevity!!
You look amazing!

Andi said...

OMG you're GORGEOUS!!!

Jeanette said...

My goodness, you look stunning in both outfits. I can't decide which I love most, they are both beautiful. x

nikkishell said...

You are the bees knees!

Anonymous said...

Tegan, I think I am totally in love with you... and your haircut as well...
I am just a little bit far from you...
Romain, pink city's guy

Lexi:: PottyMouthMama said...

Holy guacamole. LOVING these images. You are amazing and so talented. AND HOT!

katie walker said...

those dresses are beautiful!! i love them both!

leslie said...

holy shit, teegs, you RULE!!!

Eva said...

Amen ;-)

Unknown said...

How fun to get all dressed-up and you pull off both looks effortlessly, the outfits are amazing - "What a swell party, swell party. Swelligant, elegant party this is!" (Cole Porter). Hope 2011 brings more chances for you to express your creativity and skill in all sorts of fabulous and fun ways :)

Jacinta said...

Oh Teegs you look AMAZING! I esp love that first photo. What an awesome job you did. Stunning.
Now what are your rates? ;)
xo MODELmumma

Juicy Roo said...

Awesomeness. Beyond awesomeness. I am glad you mentioned that you agreed there was potential for chain malfunction: I was afraid to ask, but like any screen siren you make it look like there wasn't a doubt in the world that it was all going to stay together! Clever clever girl, hooray for gingers. xo

Unknown said...

Love the costumes! The steampunk wings are great and that green dress is stunning! I wish I had one!

Lizzy 海韵 said...

Teegs these are amazing! I especially like the fairy, It's rather inspiring as I've been trying think of some costume ideas. By the way I love your name! it's awesome!

Amy said...

These are both absolutely incredible, just stumbled across them looking for nymph inspiration. Wish i had your talent! xXx

blackberryhorse.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Hi, I found this blog post through a pin on Pinterest and before I repinned your absolutely stunning steampunk wings I wanted to make sure you were actually okay with your pictures being pinned.