costume college ?

[lady constance]

does anyone know if they offer these courses online? or any historical costume sewing classes online?

and....

has anyone heard of the website " your wardrobe unlocked ".........????

you pay monthly to join, but you have acess to sewing tecniques and directions for historical sewing thru the centuries,,,ohhhh and KASS IS ON THE WEBSITE.... OFFERING advice and how to and yadda yadda yadda....( this webiste is AMAZING... and even locked out of things you can see things.....

[callenish gunner]

The $190.00 membership annual fee put me right off it! Buying a few good books would seem a better value to me at least

[LadyBarbossa]

Nope... haven't heard of any of those.

I was lucky to have grown up in a Mennonite area, with practically everyone around me knew how to sew in all sorts of ways. :)

Give it a shot, Constance. Let us know how it goes.

~Lady B

[Rumba Rue]

I went to the second (I think it was the second one) Costume College up in San Jose, CA. years ago.

I was impressed by the dealer's room, but the prices on even the smallest buttons were outrageous!

Also, it's a very tight group and very much what we call 'costume Nazis'.

I was so disgusted by the stuck up attitudes of people I never went to another one.

A 190.00 membership? They are OUT OF THEIR MINDS!!!!!

I don't care who is on their roster, as Callenish said, you can get far more out of books, and other sewers here than at that place!

Don't waste your time or money.

[lady constance]

as always, i get very good advice here.........

i found a TON of bloggers who have done mantuas, bodiced gowns,4 or 5 different sets of stays from various eras....

and you guys are right.. 190 dollars in books would probably be a better bet.....

and the blogs are freeeeeee!!!

and rhumba stitch nazis frighten me....those poeple cant (or dont) use reason or logic and know nothing about metaphysics and have no concept of how to proceed in the process of argumentation.....

thanks guys! and gals!!

[Jack Roberts]

Metaphysics for making period garments??? Wha??? Ok....

[LadyBrower]

I have heard good things about costume college... And I happen to like "stitch nazis" and wonder if I should refer to another controversial conversation on use of terms in a derogatory manner... I find that there are people who may come off high and mighty, but often this is explained by their passion for their craft.

I also wonder about your assumption that "those poeple cant (or dont) use reason or logic and know nothing about metaphysics and have no concept of how to proceed in the process of argumentation....."

I think this is a very rude statement, especially considering the required use of logic and reasoning in the recreation of historic costumes. I wonder further (well, only a little) about your ideas concerning metaphysics and your Belief that such lowly people as such concerned with achieving accuracy brilliant construction (stitch nazis) could not possibly possess the mental capacity required to understand any philosophy.

Forgive my rudeness.

[lady constance]

Lady Brower,

i can hear what you are saying....

i suppose that i can see that i am brooding over injury from the past.. that nots very healthy for me. i amlearning to forget anothers wounds to me.

i suppose that i know of many others who have been wounded themselves by others.

i try to balance these 2 thoughts:

1. the first one to cry 'fowl' or 'offence' or 'prejudice' of another is usually the one whom refuses to see anothers point of view and their rights......... think ACLU

2. truly humble people simply cannot be offended by another if they can keep perspect ive scope and sequence in mind. ( think in the whole scope, does it really matter that another offends me?}

quite simply, i am guilty of both. and so is everyone else.....

the only fair thing i can say is that ALL of us are learning to speak CHARITABLY to others and ALL of us are learning to think CHARITABLY about others' actions.

i desire to understand why some seem to enjoy critiquing others { and that also includes me!!} what do we gain in doing so?

what do we lose in doing so?

and perhaps we should ASK before we comment on someone elses things.....

i seek to neither inflame nor enrage anyone!

so before this entire thread goes into flames....

[Jack Roberts]

Well (Dang it!!! There I go pulling another thread off topic) critiquing is one way for others to improve. I know when I was learning how to play music if I wasn't critiqued I wouldn't have learned how to play properly. True we talk in a medium that can be easily misconstrued. For me it depends on what question is asked. You want to know if it looks good or are you asking if it is period correct? I will give 2 different answers depending on the question. If you don't want to be critiqued don't ask. Simple... Just take a look at the "You in Your Garb" thread in the "Crows Nest". I have never seen anyone really slammed for anything they post. Just compliments.

Just my 2 pence.

Edited February 5, 2010 by Jack Roberts

[Matty Bottles]

hey, different folks get different things out of the hobby. I think from some of the responses to this thread that we all realize that. The key to certain individuals is to be able to control your participation in the interaction. for example, there's a guy I only see for maybe TWO hours a year, over the course of three days of reenactorfest. I rarely see him at other event, or, if I do, we're both too busy to talk. And I am completely fine with that. This guy would be considered a 'stitch nazi,'and over the course of our conversation I learn some stuff, we share some stories, and then I walk away from the interaction satisfied.

But if I saw him everyday? That would be a bit much. So I leave when I know I've had enough so that we can remain friendly. Does that make sense?

Anyway, back to the thread. It doesn't hurt to just buy the books first.

[LadyBrower]

I do agree, that money in books would be a better start, and there are plenty of free blogs and people who want to help. Then, when you have acquired the key materials and talked to people who know what they are talking about and still feel like you want to join the site- go for it. For myself, I try to start "free" and go to "highly suggested" or required.

[LadyBarbossa]

Stitch Nazis or not, it's constructive critisizm and praise for at least the effort rather than destructive critisizm and attitude that makes someone welcome or reject a type of person. There are some Costumers who are open to other Costumers and some who don't since they see others as competition and they feel they are better than others cause of the knowledge they have obtained. It's a lesson learned for us all. That's them. Oh, well.

Keep yo'r eyes open, Constanse. Occassionally on those blogs and elsewhere, they may post about an open enrollment workshop. Might be from a college or from a living history group. I know the NWTA has been doing a workshop of this sort at a college with the assistance of the college for at least 3 years now, going on it's 4th year.

:)

But, yes... I have found books to be such INCREDIBLE help.

~Lady B

[Capt. Sterling]

Metaphysically speaking... Proverbs 15:5 applies to any aspect in life whether coming from one's father or them that have spent the time learning a subject. FWIW take what folks offer no matter what tone it may be delivered with... if their attitude is wrong, truly that is their problem, the knowledge they pass on is, hopefully, still accurate, attitude or not. Still it behooves each of us to check it out for ourselves when we have the time to do so

I must agree that books, especially any boasting primary sources, is the best place to start.

[Rumba Rue]

It wouldn't be so bad if the costumers who think they know it all wouldn't tear up someone else's hard work.

There are good costumers and bad, it depends on what you're willing to put up with.

[Bright]

Have yea seen this place on the web ?

http://www.renaissancetailor.com/site_map.htm

[Bright]

A stitch in time ;-}

Edited February 5, 2010 by Bright

[lady constance]

ohhhh yah that ren tailor website is awesome.... so motivating and full of ideas and how to's-- THANKS BRIGHT!!!

been a few days, but i wantd to once again say thinks for all of your guys' input and advice...

now back to the fingers of my stays....the color is simple navy on onse side and cranberry on the other.. just does not feel glamourous enough....i am a commoner in real life...i want to be the elite,well dressed,and look fabulous when i re enact!!!... but that does not ever turn out well.....i am more suited to being at the camp fire cooking , cleaning and mending for my brood!

[harmanhay]

does anyone know if they offer these courses online? or any historical costume sewing classes online?

and....

has anyone heard of the website " your wardrobe unlocked ".........????

you pay monthly to join, but you have acess to sewing tecniques and directions for historical sewing thru the centuries,,,ohhhh and KASS IS ON THE WEBSITE.... OFFERING advice and how to and yadda yadda yadda....( this webiste is AMAZING... and even locked out of things you can see things.....

Hello Lady Constance, I've been to Costume College just the once, and found it to be an incredible event peopled exclusively by wonderful, helpful people. Some I know, some I don't, but regarding Rhumba's comment about costume nazis, you may be interested to hear the other side of that debate.

There's a particular group of friends who go to Costume College who are well known for their fabulous blogs - everyone knows who they are, so I suppose they're generally considered to be the "cool kids". One of them wrote an exasperated blog post after 2009's event about the bad press she was getting elsewhere online because, in the cacophany and excitement of the weekend, she supposedly "blanked" someone she didn't even know.

Because everyone knows who they are, she sometimes feels that that's quite a burden - they have to be pleasant and buddy-buddy to every single person they see in and around the hotel, 18 hours a day for four days - the price of celebrity, I suppose. And that makes them appear aloof sometimes. Just an alternative viewpoint.

No, they don't offer the courses online, but as a matter of fact, Your Wardrobe Unlock'd was designed to do exactly that.

Your Wardrobe Unlock'd is - disclaimer alert - my site. Yes, there is a charge. There is a charge because there is no advertising whatsoever; the content on the site is paid for directly by the members. Writers are paid a nominal amount, not for glorified blog posts with a couple of helpful pictures, but for full-on, in-depth projects and tutorials tackling the subjects that bloggers don't have the time or inclination to cover. Articles have a *lower* limit of 2000 words and 25 images - usually step-by-step photos - which is usually far exceeded. Sunny Buchler, to name but one writer, regularly turns in pages and pages and pages, and literally *hundreds* of photos for each article. Many how-tos stretch to multiple monthly instalments. Some are very friendly and practical, others are full-strength academic papers. Where books give you patterns, we give you the how-to, in full (our published writers are set free to write as much as they need to - we don't edit them down to the bare bones as their print publishers do.)

On Foundations Revealed, the sister site, there are studies of historical corsets wherein the writers have taken multiple detail shots - many more than in any book - and given patterns; Jill Salen has expanded on the information in her "Corsets" book with a tutorial on how to take your own patterns from antique pieces such as those in the Symington collection. We have flossing tutorials - the members asked for it, because you can't find them in books.

Because the members are paying, we produce specifically what they ask for. In practice, this means lots of surveys and a lot on drafting. People are sick of trying to shoe-horn themselves into commercial patterns - we show you how to make your own to your own measurements and how to re-size historical patterns like those in Janet Arnold's books (Yes, books are invaluable. Use them in conjunction with the site), and corset drafting - complete corset drafting for curvy Victorian corsets, not just a standard quick, free tutorial that someone wrote in their bedroom after college one night. :)

Lastly, we happen to have the research queen on our staff. Want to find online free instructions for knitting a pair of 1870s stockings? Antique tailoring and dressmaking instructions for a specific fashion? Really cool fashion plates for a specific year? We can show you where.

OK, ok, I'll stop. Long story short, I've worked my @ss off on these sites, so has my Editor and writers, I believe in these websites and they cost money for a reason. They're there to build a community around the best and most qualified costuming resource on the Internet. With hundreds of members, no dip in popularity during the recession, and as winners of a Nottingham Creative Business Award in 2009, looks like I'm not the only one who thinks so.

As before, just wanted to give you the other side of the story. Best wishes! CH

[lady constance]

CH--

thank you for coming here and answering!!

and feel absolutely NOOOOO guilt for plugging your place!!!

i hope you choose to stay here and get at least a few new customers... i hope the money follows your love and expertise of your craft!!( as the experts,dreamers, and theologians claim it does!!}

this is a great sandbox to play in here at pyracy.com :) ( there , i shamelessly plugged us!!}

:)

lady constance

feel free to go over the jumps thread and critique my pattern design...LOL!!

[harmanhay]

Thank you Lady!

Furthermore, anyone who's already written on this thread is welcome to email me at <info at harmanhay dot com> for a free month's membership. Then you can give me an objective opinion on whether you think it's worth $190 for a years' membership of both sites, and give any other constructive criticism that comes to mind. Best wishes, CH

[lady constance]

well Lady CH,

that is a generous offer i will not refuse....!!

when i am not so ill(hopefuly i wil be recovered tomorrow} you shall find a note in that inbox of yours...

i will take any spare prayers for my and my childrens return to health!

[Ivan Henry aka Moose]

I have heard good things about costume college... And I happen to like "stitch nazis" and wonder if I should refer to another controversial conversation on use of terms in a derogatory manner... I find that there are people who may come off high and mighty, but often this is explained by their passion for their craft.

I also wonder about your assumption that "those poeple cant (or dont) use reason or logic and know nothing about metaphysics and have no concept of how to proceed in the process of argumentation....."

I think this is a very rude statement, especially considering the required use of logic and reasoning in the recreation of historic costumes. I wonder further (well, only a little) about your ideas concerning metaphysics and your Belief that such lowly people as such concerned with achieving accuracy brilliant construction (stitch nazis) could not possibly possess the mental capacity required to understand any philosophy.

Forgive my rudeness.

Agreed - Well put Lady Brower!

[Ransom]

Ding, ding, ding.....Mod interruption, mod interruption!!!!!

Let's carry on without any more references to ill-advised word usage. Any derogatory terms/statements used by either side is in bad taste and completely counter-productive to any passing on of knowledge. Yeah, it still happens, unfortunately, but please, don't keep quoting and perpetuating the issue. We're adults, remember, and shouldn't have to resort to calling people names they don't deserve.

Ding, ding, ding....Mod interruption is now over. Thank you for your co-operation.

[Rumba Rue]

I liked hearing about the other side of things. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

It's up to the individual what they wish to do.

[Matty Bottles]

Eh. I feel like it's been resolved pretty well. These are the same arguments that have plagued this board since I first joined. They'll pop up in other places, might as well keep this thread clean.

Not that I think those terms or these discussion should be excised from the boards. Don't get me wrong. I love a good argument. I've tried to start a few myself. Maybe I am even trying to start one now... Anyway, I just think in this particular instance we've moved past it pretty organically, and we have some of the parties from the website in question on the board and even willing to offer a sample so we can come to our own conclusions. That's pretty a good resolution, if you ask me.

I don't mean cut out the original posts, or never talking about this again. I just mean going back and quoting after the discussion has resolved, or at least everyone has agreed to be polite.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Matty Bottles