I love costumes. I always have. As kids, Betsy and I had an ENORMOUS dress up collection, and as an adult I think I have even more. I love going to faerie festivals, renaissance faires, steampunk festivals, period balls, you name it! But with everything being canceled this year, I haven't gotten to dress up much (though I will admit, I have taken to wearing my costumes around the house, much to my husband's amusement). So I've decided for this blog post we're all going to live vicariously through my pictures of costumes past. I also want to share with you some links to some of my favorite vendors for costume pieces. This is a tough time for small businesses, so I encourage you to support them!
Reyen Designs - They have the most beautiful hand dyed silk pieces you'll ever see. It's impossible to not feel like a fairy while wearing their work. Pendragon Costumes - They have a few different lines of costume pieces, and they're all amazing. Renaissance, steampunk, futuristic, etc. My most favorite costume piece I've ever purchased, a green steampunk-inspired corset with attached bustle skirt, came from them. Damsel in this Dress - She makes comfortable corsets. I can give no higher endorsement, lol. Those are just a few of my favorites. Who are your favorite costume makers?
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We had our first Facebook and Instagram live sale on Sunday! It went great, and we learned a lot of things. Most importantly, I realized after we were done that I went into it assuming everyone watching was already familiar with Whimsy and Fluff products, so I didn't talk about what we make and why we make it!
So now I'm going to. My previous blog post talked about how I first came up with the idea to use vintage sheets to make bloomers, so if you're curious about our "origin story", go check it out. But there are so many benefits to using not only an upcycled material, but vintage sheets specifically, so let's talk about them! 1. It's eco-friendly. The environmental impact of fabric manufacturing is intense. There's chemical waste, greenhouse gas emissions, tons of water usage etc. I'm (obviously) not a scientist, so I'm not going to get into the specifics, but by using already existing materials (that might otherwise be destined for the landfill), we're cutting down on the need to manufacture those textiles! Plus, once I (Marissa) cut the fabric for the bloomers, I pass the scraps on to Betsy to use for the embroidery, so our own waste is minimal! 2. They're sheets. Which means it's material that's been specifically created to be soft, comfortable, and cool. Cool is the key word right now; summer literally just started a couple of days ago and we've already been experiencing temps in the 80's! The fabric I use to make bloomers is breathable, light, and as one customer told me, "so much more comfortable than regular pajama pants". 3. They're vintage, which means they're pretty! There's just a certain vibe that vintage sheets have. And they come in such variety! Yes, they're mostly floral, but even within that there are so many different styles. There are bold flower power patterns, soft and romantic patterns, and sometimes patterns that you would never expect (the greatest pair of bloomers I ever made were from a vintage sheet with cowboys against a red background. Amazing). 4. They're one of a kind. There have been points in the life of Whimsy and Fluff where I played around with making bloomers out of new fabric. And every time I've made a pair of bloomers out of new fabric, I brought them to an event, and someone else there was selling a piece of clothing made from the same fabric. And not to say that's bad, but let's mix it up a little, you know? I'm sure eventually someone else will realize that vintage sheets make pretty fantastic bloomers, but right now my bloomers are unique! One sheet only yields two, maybe three pairs of bloomers, and I always mix up the styles, so you know you're wearing something that no one else has! In short, they're pretty awesome. I love people’s reactions when they realize all our skirts and bloomers are made from vintage linens. It’s not something most people would have thought to do, but it was the most logical thing for me! I grew up surrounded by antiques. My mother loves all things vintage, and our house was always full of treasures from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. Eventually, she decided to start selling antiques, to feed her habit, as she would say, and that was the beginning of Moongarden Antiques (now Moongarden Vintage). I’d long been accompanying her to yard sales, estate sales, and auctions, and we upped our game once she started Moongarden Antiques. It’s like treasure hunting. But we were constantly coming across really cool things that had just enough damage to make them unsellable. My mom had long been re-purposing things (read on to see the hankie quilt!), so when we pulled a mildly damaged vintage sheet out of a box of linens, it clicked for me! This was a box lot we'd gotten at an auction (this was about 10 years ago, and I think I still have the quilt with that particular hankie). We love a good box lot, because you never know what kind of treasures you'll find. This particular box contained a lot of vintage hankies, which is liking striking gold for my mom, because she takes those hankies to make hankie quilts: Are you starting to see where my upcycled inspiration came from?
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November 2020
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