Hello, I’m Christina! I often get asked what got me interested in historical costuming, so here goes! It all started by watching my mom sew Halloween costumes for me every year – so, before I can even remember. I eventually got into the fabric stash and then ahold of the machine which I always seemed to “break.” She would come and rethread it for me, then everything would be fine…for a minute!
The real desire to sew something “historical” came from being in Choir and Theatre in Highschool and needing costumes for performances. I needed a costume for a duet I agreed to perform and decided to make a corset-looking-thing out of red satin and lace. Once I had finished sewing it, I decided I needed to make another one! I couldn’t stop. Soon, a pile of polyester and lace bodices and petticoats had been created and were covering the floor! A profusion of Halloween costumes and pirate ensembles followed over the next several years. My mother was always willing to go with me to any crazy event I found as long as I made her a cute outfit too.
When I moved back home in 2006 after being away at college, I decided it was time to get serious about a goal I had with some friends from Highschool Choir – to form a Charles Dicken’s Victorian style Christmas Caroling group. It took me many years to sew all the ensembles, but in 2011 we were able to go out singing for the first time. 10 years later and the costumes and music are…mostly complete!
I was sewing other things during this time too, but it was before I had discovered Costuming Blogs and my first attempts were purely imaginative. I did eventually discover some great bloggers sharing their Elizabethan Costuming knowledge and I purchased “The Tudor Tailor” at one of my first Renaissance Fairs. So exciting!! I really struggled with getting this era right – the Blue and Burgundy velvet gowns that I’m finally happy with on my Portfolio page were about 10 years in the making!
In 2009, I got tired of being in a bubble and frustrated at not having any friends who also sewed their own costumes. I decided there must be some other costumers nearby – I lived next to Los Angeles after all! A quick internet search and I discovered that “Costume College” (an annual convention where one can learn from others who love all things costume!) was happening in a couple weekends – 5 minutes from where I lived! I drove to the Airtel and checked out the marketplace. There I saw a lovely girl my age doing her shopping in a perfectly accurate18th century ensemble. Oh my gosh!! I attended the next year, this time at the Marriott in Woodland Hills, even though I only had one Ren Fair costume to wear and I knew it wasn’t very good. It didn’t matter…I was going to get better! (Pic below is from 2019 – I’m better now lol)
At Costume College 2013 I decided to wear my Christmas Caroling dress to the Ice Cream Social and was approached by a group of lovely ladies who said they did Civil War Reenacting and was I interested in joining them? I wasn’t really sure what reenacting was and honestly, that sounded very strange to me at the time, but I was excited to have an excuse to research another era and make lots of new dresses! And petticoats – I LOVE making petticoats!
So I joined the Historical Citizen’s Association and became very involved in reenacting both the Civil War as well as my new favorite – the American Revolutionary War which we started doing in 2016. I have a canvas tent and we camp outside and everything.
In 2015, there I was at Costume College again – that place is magical by the way. This time I met a wonderful new friend who introduced me to the Historical Tea and Dance Society. She reassured me that it wasn’t weird dancing with a bunch of random guys I didn’t know – which had been my main concern! After one event, I completely fell in love with dancing and waltzing and began going to every event possible and even decided to start staying for the dances that happened at the reenactments. Turns out I had been leaving events early and missing them!
I suppose the next part of the story is not as happy – 2020. I used to get together with friends a lot for sewing time where we would share what we learned, give advice on resources and ask those juicy questions you just can’t seem to find a straight answer to online. There was usually copious amounts of tea and chocolate involved. And often shopping – after one such sewing date we decided to go to the local thrift store and I found this amazing 1950’s coat! Gah, I missed that so much when Covid hit and sewing parties and events came to a halt.
What I missed was being able to show a friend how to do some cool technique that was difficult to explain. And I felt bad for all the tutorials I had promised my friends I’d make “some day”. So I decided to start making videos and posting them on YouTube. My first attempts at “videography” are cringeworthy, although the process of actually uploading a simple video was surprisingly easy. I forced myself to make and post videos even though I wasn’t sure how. And there was no one who could come over and show me. But it doesn’t matter, I’m getting better!
I hope you enjoyed my story! Let’s keep learning from each other and sharing our experiences so that we can keep this delightful adventure alive! Check out my Portfolio page if you haven’t yet. I’m adding my favorite pics of all my ensembles there.
*Christina