Finery Blog

Meet Your Board: A.J. Wu, Webmaster

Why costuming? What brought you here? I started out making clothes. One Halloween, I decided to make a costume and I got super duper obsessive over the details because that kind of thing is fun for me. I had so much fun with it that I went online to find other people who enjoyed costuming, and discovered cosplay. You mean […]

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Remembering Jwlhyfer Karnstien de Winter

“Dressing well is always possible; and what other people think is of no relevance if what you are wearing suits you.” Jwlhyfer Karnstien de Winter Jwlhyfer majored in Performance Art at the San Francisco Art Institute. They wrote, directed and performed in Theosomorphia, Danse Vampyresque, Wolfbone, Winter’s Dream of White Roses, and sang in Dweller at the Gates of Silent Memory among other pieces. They had […]

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Meet Your Board: Natasha Borders, Events Coordinator

Why costuming? What brought you here? I’ve begun sewing when I joined the SCA a long time ago while in business school in Central New York, needing to make outfits for me and my husband, and it has become a life-long hobby. I’ve always enjoyed dressing up, and the historical dress is just really cool! I’ve mostly made Rennaisance and […]

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Former Board Member: Sara McKee

Why costuming?  What brought you here? Costuming brought together my love and knowledge of portrait miniatures and fashion history combined with the need to have a creative outlet. I also just really like to dress up. Do you do anything else crafty or artistic? I try to take ballet class when time allows.  What was the first costume you made?  […]

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Meet your Board: Jillian Eittreim, Costume Academy Coordinator

Why costuming?  What brought you here? Art is probably the main reason I am into costuming now, starting with the illustrations in the fairy tale picture books I read as a child, and then later with the opulent portraits of Renaissance and 19th century. Some memorable picture books from my childhood were Fritz and the Beautiful Horses by Jan Brett […]

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Worn to Dance: A 1920s Fashion and Beading Exhibit at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles

By Kij Greenwood Buckle up your dancing shoes and throw away your cares, because the Twenties are coming back around! Almost one hundred years ago, the Jazz Age saw dramatic social change in America. A new generation of women was, for the first time ever, voting, driving, spending their own money, smoking and drinking in public, bobbing their long hair, […]

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Call Me Demelza Poldark

By Jane Xavier Dougherty The second I saw Robin Ellis as Ross Poldark galloping along the dramatic Cornish coastline, back in 1975, I admit to being entranced by Poldark. Set in the late 18th to early 19th centuries, Winston Graham’s novels of Cornwall came to life on the TV screen with all the drama and sweeping romance my teenage brain […]

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Jellyfish gown at the Dragon Con Friday Night Costume Contest

By Sahrye Cohen Kym Barrett, the costume designer for the movie “Aquaman,” was inspired by the weird and wonderful marine animals of the ocean world while designing the Atlantean clothes and armor. When I saw the glowing jellyfish dress that Mera wears to the Arena Duel, I knew I wanted to bring the dress to life. The light-up jellyfish and […]

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Interview with Officially-Licensed Mucha Jeweler Kelly Morgen

By Jean MartinGBACG Finery Editor How did you start making jewelry? What was your inspiration in starting out? I originally fell in love with jewelry making while I was studying abroad in Florence, Italy during my junior year in college. I immediately realized that this was it: here was exactly what I wanted to do with the rest of my […]

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Former Board Member: Nene Kalu

Why costuming?  What brought you here? I first got into costuming through Lolita. While Lolita isn’t a costume, it introduced me to a world of alternative fashion and combined my interests in history and fashion aesthetics. What’s your costuming focus? I’m currently focused on learning about 18th century patterns and dressmaking. However, I absolutely love the styles of the 1850s […]

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