Cosplay on the Cheap
By
Carol Holaday
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| 1871- origin unknown |
In
the latter part of the 1800s, the hoop skirt that was so popular during the
Civil War period was replaced by the bustle. A bustle is a device or framework
used mostly in the middle to late nineteenth century that was designed to hold
up and enhance the fullness of the drapery attached to the back of a woman’s
skirt. Many women liked having a bustle, because it helped balance the push-up
effect in the upper bodice front, created by a tight-fitting corset that did nothing to enhance the
backside.
Most bustles were worn on top of the skirt and were a bit
less voluminous than crinolines had been, which women loved because the new
bustles allowed them to enjoy the bell shape of crinolines without the annoyance
of cumbersome hoops.
Over its lifetime as a fashion accessory, the bustle took on many forms, sometimes as a cage or roll covered with fabric, and sometimes as a complete piece that required no underpinnings. The period of bustles was fairly short, approximately 1870s-1890s,
but the bustle has been given new life in the late 20th and 21st
century in bridal fashions, and as a Lolita or Steampunk accessory.
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| Here are two examples of 1870s bustles from Harper’s Bazaar, 9/21/1872. |
If you have basic sewing skills, you can repurpose an old gathered skirt to create your own Steampunk bustle. It can be fun to prowl
through thrift stores in search of gathered skirts in dressy fabrics. In fact,
the thrift store can be a great place to find many items that can be repurposed
for Steampunk or Victorian cosplay.
This is a purple satin skirt I found at a Goodwill store in
Scottsdale, AZ. The skirt cost $4. The first thing I did with the skirt was use
a seam ripper to carefully open one side seam and remove the elastic form the waistband.
I folded the opened side seams under twice, and I stitched
them to create finished edges.
Next, I ran two rows of basting stitch along the folded-over
top edge of the skirt, where the gathers had been. You can see my first row of
basting. When I was done the rows were about 1/8-inch apart. When I ran these
basting stitches I knotted the thread at one end and left it dangling at the
other so I would be able to pull the threads to make the gathers.
Once the basting was done I pulled the threads of the two strands of
basting stitches and gathered the skirt until the waist was about half as wide
as my full waist measurement. For example, if your full waist measurement is 33
you might want to make your bustle between 16 and 17 inches wide so it fits
neatly across your backside with just a hint showing on the sides.
After I tied off my gathering threads, I cut a piece of 2” wide
satin ribbon three times my waist measurement. So if your waist is 30 inches
you want 90 inches. You can always cut off the excess if you feel it’s too long but it’s not as easy to add it back on. I pinned the edges of the ribbon so that they met on either side, and then I stitched them together so that my gathering stitches were hidden and the ribbon formed a waistband. The ribbon cost $3.99 and JoAnn Fabrics.
Once the ribbon edges were stitched together I ran another
stitch down the center of the waistband to add support. I also stitched the
waistband ends shut for the same reason.
In order to give the bustle fluff and body I decided to use
ribbon ties, like they do on bridal bustles. So I measured the width of my bustle and then created
alternating rows where I could attach ribbon ties. They need to be offset so
that, when tied together, they will make little puffs in the fabric.
At each marked point I attached a 12-inch piece of ¼ inch
wide ribbon, at the center, so there were six inches on either side of the
attachment point. I tacked them to the skirt with needle and thread. Then I
just tied ribbon halves to other nearby ribbon halves until I had the fabric
bunched up just the way I wanted it.
After I tied the ribbons together this was the result. By
the way, I stitched this entire project by hand just to show that you can do
these things even if you don’t have a sewing machine. It took longer, but I
think it turned out great!
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| This is me at a Burlesque show wearing my new bustle. |
I can
wear this bustle with all kinds of costumes—Burlesque, Steampunk, Victorian,
Lolita and more! Total cost, $8.
This is me at a Burlesque show wearing my new bustle. I can
wear this bustle with all kinds of costumes—Burlesque, Steampunk, Victorian,
Lolita and more! Total cost, $8.
