Costume College 2026 Recap, Pt.2

On Friday at 9am the classes commence!  I started off bright and early with the Intro to Irish Crochet Lace Making class.  Unfortunately, I was not able to make the lecture on Dressing Like Your American Girl Doll, as it was opposite that.  After that, I dipped into Creating a 1930s Gown, From Fabric Scraps to Fashion, and Costuming for Every Body panels, all of which were fabulous.  The Lounge was also open at this point, with tables of snacks to grab, and hot tea, coffee, lemonade, fruit punch, and iced tea to drink.  I kept popping in through the weekend to fill my tumbler with that last one. ^_^

After classes ended, the Marketplace opened!  I went and perused, though I held off on buying anything until Saturday.  There was also the Friday Night Social, which I avoided.  In a crowd, the low buzz of background conversation often makes it difficult for me to hear what the person right next to me is saying.  Hooray for auditory processing issues!  But my roommate E. went and had a good time.

Saturday started slower for me.  I went to Creating an Elizabethan Capsule Wardrobe and took lots of notes, followed by Trash to Treasure Costuming.  Then it was time for my second limited workshop of the weekend, Beginner's Bobbin Lace.  I initially struggled with it, but after I finally understood the instructions, I loved it.

My bookmark isn't quite finished yet, but I've learned two patterns and am poking at resources to see where I can learn more.  I'm not sure yet if I want to invest the time/money/energy to going heavily into this craft, but it's certainly intriguing to me.

After that class finished, I grabbed a bite to eat, perused what had been donated to the Bargain Basement, and rounded out the day with Custom Costumers Luggage V.2 (which was largely identical to last year's version of the class, but has reminded me to be on the lookout for college trunks at thrift stores), and Finger it Out: How to Fingerwave Your Own Hair, during which I took copious notes.  Then I went to the Marketplace and shopped!

The Marketplace at Costume College is a truly dangerous place to one's wallet.  Particularly with Atelier Mela being there for her last year, and Silk Baron's drool-worthy wares.  In the end, over Saturday and Sunday, I limited myself to largely notions-and-trims purchases at Lucky Deluxe:

 and Acme Notions:

I fully admit to being jealous that E. lives incredibly close to Lucky Deluxe's physical store.

Saturday night at Costume College, is, of course, the Gala Ball.  Which I don't attend for a couple of reasons.  One is the aforementioned noise issue; another is social anxiety; the third is a lack of fancy garb (and a lack of impetus to make said fancy garb).  Instead I used Google Maps on my phone and walked about a mile to the closest In-n-Out in my 1920s clothing, and ate there.  It was warm but not oppressive, and though it was the busiest In-n-Out I've ever been to (which, being fair, I was there on Saturday at dinnertime), it did have the advantage of being right under LAX's landing path, which was cool.  After I got back to the hotel, I checked out the auction and raffle items, didn't see anything I wanted, and went to take a shower and get into PJs.  Also to handwash a pair of my 1920s nylons and hang them to dry, since while I thought I'd brought three pairs, I apparently only packed two!

When E. got back from the Gala, she and I agreed that we wanted to get up in time to get tickets for the Bargain Basement sale in the morning, so I set an alarm and we turned in.

Costume College 2026 Recap, Pt. 1

So we went to England for just shy of a month (of which I will do a separate recap later), and then I had one week to recover from the jetlag before I hopped onto another plane to go down to Los Angeles for Costume College. Literally one week - we stumbled off one plane on a Thursday and I got onto the next the following Thursday.  Fortunately it was just enough time; I started feeling on top of things again on the Wednesday.

I did not take a lot of photos at CoCo.  In fact, hardly any at all.  I've frequently felt like something of a dove among peacocks there, because, much as I love it, costuming takes up such a small portion of my life and energy and I don't have any big fancy garb.  But I do love learning the crafts, and... well.  Some medical stuff here.  I've finally tipped over from being pre-diabetic to actually diabetic.  I get it from both sides of my family, genetically, though not everyone has it.  But what that meant is that my doctor prescribed me one of the Ozempic clones to help keep things under control and, incidentally, help me bring down my weight a bit.  Said doctor actually tried to prescribe it for me last year for diabetes; insurance rejected it.  He tried again earlier this year, this time prescribing it for weight loss.  This time, my insurance approved it.  Which is exactly the opposite of what should have happened.  But whatever.  I am now taking a bitter pill each morning that reminds me of the flavor of grapefruit pith, and I have lost twenty pounds.  Which is... not terribly visible from the outside?  But it does mean I have a bit more energy and my ice skates have stopped hurting.

This weight loss also meant that though I don't yet fit into my medieval garb, I do now fit again into one of my old 1920s dresses.  The one I made many years ago from Decades of Style's 1925 Zigzag Dress pattern.  In light of that, I went with a theme: 1920s all weekend.  Which has the advantage of being comparatively light and small to pack.  I also wore my blue linen striped '20s dress, and the black and gray one I refashioned from a thrift store dress, which I've apparently never photographed for here either!  Due to weight loss, my corset was just barely fitting this year; hopefully I'll need to make another for wearing these dresses in the future.  I did get several compliments, and took a class on finger waves which gave me some idea of what to do with my hair, that (in addition to makeup) being a field in which I am hopelessly incompetent.

So!  Upon arrival at Costume College, or, more realistically Thursday evening, you check in and get your badge and bag for the weekend.  Then you can stand in the line for the other desk in the lobby, and sign up for any of the limited workshop classes that still have room left.  I didn't; I had already signed up for one each day, and none of the remaining classes that didn't overlap or conflict really appealed to me that much.  Instead, I sat at the coloring table and got to work!  For the last several years, CoCo has has these nice canvas bags, and a table near the registration desk absolutely loaded with markers and Sharpies so that you can make your bag yours.

On the right you can see all the badge ribbons I picked up over the course of the weekend.  The lacy one is the finished project from the Intro to Irish Crochet class I took; I thought it was terribly clever to have the class project to be a badge ribbon!  That said, I'm not sure I'll take it up as a hobby.  Anyhow, that's why I also got the I Finished My Project In Class ribbon.

I also decided to decorate the back of my bag this year.

And after briefly browsing the Trunk Show (small vendors selling their wares) which was combined with the Thursday night social this year, I went back to my room, pulled out the bits of fabric and sewing gear I'd brought with me, and added an interior pocket to hold the pen and notebook that every attendee gets with their bag, because in past years I've been sick of hunting for the pen in the bottom of the bag.  I also pulled out the schedule and used the Sharpie and highlighter I'd brought from home to mark my copy of the schedule for the limited workshop classes I had signed up for, and the lecture classes that I wanted to attend.