Costume-y Goodness

I wanted to make a steampunk outfit, so Baggy T suggested we have a party since so many of my attempts for other people to have the party failed.

Then I wondered how in the heck I was going to design a costume. Where do I start? How historically accurate do I need to be?

I read an article online by a lass who had the very good idea about picking a character first, then build your outfit accordingly. So, Captain Octavia Pye of His Emperial Majesty's airship Tesla was born. She is an actual character from Katie McAllister's novel 'Steamed', and her outfit was described with enough detail that I haven't had to stretch my imagination too far to achieve the look.

My costume will be based on the below dress uniform from the late Victorian period. Of course, I will be wearing a knee-length skirt with a moderate bustle, instead of the dress pants. I'm going with knee-length as it would be more practical on an airship. I'll be an airship captain, not parading on a promenade!

All of the fabric is coming out of my stash, so I haven't had to buy anything on that front. I already have most of the underthings, including a quick and dirty Victorian corset I made a while back, it just needs some attention where the bones have poked through the bottom. I've also made a petticoat and corset cover in the past and I bought brown woollen stockings ages ago. Other than the shirt, coat and skirt, the only other thing I have to make is the 'bustle'. I'm thinking just a bum pad, the likes of which are in Hunnisett, will suffice.

I'm not entirely sure what to do about the white bib thing. I might just ignore it and work on some kind of hip holster for my gun, which I bought off Etsy as well as goggles (every airship captain needs goggles). I already had the shoes and I bought the compass and telescope from The Gentlemen's Emporium. 

Below is a pic of all the accessories I've accumulated thus far:

This weekend will see the start of the dress and bum pad. I'll try to take pictures as I go along.

I usually suck at hats. It's always the last thing I think of and therefore the last thing I make and I don't normally do a bang up job of it. At least this time, I have an idea!

I was going to buy it, but the hat itself is under $7, the site that sells it requires a minimum purchase of $10 and they want $11 for delivery. The words 'Highway' and 'Robbery' come to mind, so I'm doing the rounds of disposal stores, to see if I can find one. If not, I'm sure I can whip one up with some cotton drill.