How can a costumer resist when an exhibition comes to town displaying works from 1850-1910? The girls in Brisbane certainly can't. We were lucky enough to find a mutual date for all of us to attend the Modern Woman Exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery (QAG) in May. The exhibition displayed a selection of works from male and female artists throughout history. There were some truly amazing pieces on display and we all gazed in awe at the detail achieved with pastels - there may be some art lessons in our future. One truly unique piece on display featured a musical evening scene that was painted to be made into a fan. On our way to the gallery shop, we were sidetracked by many other pieces of historical art on display - these ones owned by the QAG, so were able to photographed. Three hours later, we sat down to lunch. While there, we decided that these sort of outings need to by much more frequent - it was a lovely and relaxing way to spend a Saturday morning.

We are talking Steampunk. I had been wanting to organise a Steampunk event for the Australian Costumers Guild for some time now, and took the chance this year. And since I had a safari costume in the plans what better event to do than a safari to the zoo? We headed to the Alma Park Zoo in Brisbane (located on the North Side of town). It has been around for 70 years, so it is one that is very well established, and I must say rather beautiful.

When it came time to try and hide my then half turquoise coloured hair (now half blonde) for a regency costume, I started searching around for turban hats. There are a lot of different styles and some that I would dearly love to have a go at some time, but for my first turban, I took it to it's simplest form and whipped up a really quick one. I was really pleased how it turned out, so when I made a couple for my mum for her Birthday (she does not have much of an aptitude for doing her hair), I decided to take a few shots and put together a tutorial.

Last weekend I attended Supanova, the main popculture convention that runs in Australia. For the first time, it was held on the Gold Coast (normally April is in Brisbane). And of course, I attended. I headed on down on Friday to check into our hotel for the weekend. We were lucky enough to be staying 1 block away from the convention centre where it was to be held. It made for a really easy walk over. It started on Friday night for the opening ceremony and the costumes came out. I will start with what I wore for the weekend.

And then came Sunday. I should have said no, but at the time, I didn't think how exhausted I would be after a full day of costuming. At any rate, I attended a tea at Miegunyah house (a historic house in Brisbane). The ACG were invited to add colour during the opening of their current display - a history of spoons.

The second Titanic event that I attended was a full fledged 10 course dinner. Hosted by one of my wonderful friends - she put in so much work! The menu came from the original menu of the last dinner served on the Titanic, the music was the music played at that last meal, and everyone was dressed up in their Titanic finery. There were 16 in of use to sit down to dinner.

With the anniversary of 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic this weekend past, many people around the world jumped on the 1912 bandwagon and hosted any number of events. For me, I attended two.

My Edwardian projects are underway. The stays are complete. They are made of a white stripe weave fabric, 2 layers of white quilting cotton, and the lining layer. I used up some pink sweets scraps for the lining - just cause I like the prettiness. It has 1.2cm wide boning channels with sprung steel inserted. The bright red lacing will be replaced, it was just the only stuff that I had on hand.

As for the fit, it was supposed to be quite a bit bigger on me so that my attempts at weight loss would mean that the stays had extra lacing room. There should have actually been more of a 3 or 4 inch lacing gap. I guess my only other disappointment is that the waist is a little on the big side for me. I am really pleased with it through the hip though - it really smooths me out in the front and it actually reduces my hip measurement. If I have time, I might consider making a smaller one for myself.

Last weekend I attended a house warming party. A costume friend of mine recently moved and wanted to celebrate with Tupperware and fondue. Of course this lead to dressing up, most especially since tupperware first came out in the 1950s. Not to mention that some of us are always looking for an opportunity to dress up. It was a really wonderful evening. 

It's been a bit of a while since I last costumed, but that is always a really nice thing in the heat of our Australian summer. There is nothing more unpleasant than sweating into your lovely gowns. That being said, I hosted a regency tiffen for my mum's birthday last weekend. Thankfully indoors with the aircon cranked. It was a lovely and simple afternoon where we all sat around sipping tea and pink lemonade and snacking on the lovely items that I had made. I spend most of Saturday cooking up a storm.