Well, I am so excited to say that I am also the chapter lead for the Delaware branch of the organization!
Our mission is to expand access, representation, and belonging for people of color in historical costuming and public history through scholarships, educational programs, immersive events, and cultural heritage travel that welcome participants of all racial and cultural backgrounds.
Chapter activities include meetups, sewing circles, group outings, costumed gatherings, attendance at historical costuming or public history events, or other activities that bring people together in alignment with our mission.
Our purpose is to ensure that the beauty and complexity of history belong to everyone. We believe that by studying the past with truth and fairness, we can build a more unified and inclusive future. Costumers of Color, Inc. is dedicated to dismantling the ‘exclusionary lens’ of history through education, artistry, and community. We are always available to discuss a stewardship plan for your gift or form a mutually beneficial partnership. If you want to chat about history, costuming, or anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out to Gigi, our founder and executive director, at gigi@costumersofcolor.org
I am so excited to work with this amazing non-profit and continue my journey in historical costuming, fashion history, and teaching others about it all!
A new Patreon tier offering small fine art prints monthly!
Help support my art AND historical costuming!
I am posting this at close to 4am? Of course I am. I’ve been MIA for over a week due to SEVERELY rolling my ankle, and it took me out more than I expected it to. Even with resting in bed and forcing myself not to mentally drain myself out, I was beat. My body definitely needed the time to recover, and in one of the rare instances of me being a good patient, I actually listed to my doctor and my body.
So that explains why I have been all over the place! But I wanted to pop in and let you know about my new membership tier!
This tier is for those who love to collect art. And It’s a way to say thank you to my supporters, and to get my art out there. It is $13 a month, and you will receive a 4×6″ print from my fine art site, along with a wax-sealed note! There are other tiers as well that you can join to support my photography, art, historical costuming/fashion history & education, and photography journey 💜
Here’s a quick video on making an Ancient Greek Doric Chiton. Initially a Chiton was made of wool, but as time went on, it was made of linen or silk. For this, I used double gauze fabric. It is basically two rectangles, that are measured from elbow to elbow, or wrist to wrist. And the extra inches are added for the overflap + length, which would be from your shoulder to desired hemline. Then you simple sew up the side seams from the hem up to where the arm openings would be. Add trim to the overlap, and to the hemline if you wish. Pin it together at the shoulders, and you are done!!! | #historicalcostumer #sewing #sca #mysca #scadian
I will admit, I have been MIA from most of my social media pages. Between travelling (I went to Wisconsin for an AMAZING regency-themed LARP called Lies & Liability), Mother’s Day, stuff at home, health things, and my two kidds with their school stuff, life has been beyond hectic. But also, when is it not? Haha!
So now we are in June, and I am stoked! June is my birthday month (I will be 40 on the 24th!). I will be hosting a Palm Royale-themed party! I have SCA events coming up too! As the Minister of Arts & Sciences for my shire, I am judging the A&S competition at our event: Tournament of the Springing Doe in Dover, DE, on 6/27, and of course PENNSIC IS NEXT MONTH! This means I have a TON of sewing to do for two kids who have outgrown everything. In between that, my son is graduating and going to middle school (excuse me while I sob!), I have events with friends and family, like Summerisle Burn, which is in two weeks, and just sewing for different events in general.
Oh! I forgot: I AM GOING TO COSTUME COLLEGE IN LA THIS YEAR!!!! I am considering making something to exhibit in the costume hall, but I still need to brainstorm. The theme for that is: “Matter in Flux: The Art of Unlikely Materials.” The site says:
This exhibition will present garments constructed from or using unconventional materials, where plastic, paper, metal, and other found objects become the building blocks of wearable art. Freed from the expectations of traditional materials, designers experiment with structure, texture, and form to challenge the conventional and experiment with artistic innovation.
Now…I have an idea that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time, just as a fun project. So with the power of ADHD and just a tad bit of mental illness, I might be able to get it done! So I will update with that later.
Spring is almost here! I don’t know how February went by so slow and so fast at the same time, but it did. And now we are pretty much halfway through this month!
Last weekend, I gave a presentation for a girls’ youth group mentored by my local chapter of Zeta Phi Beta. I taught them about Elizabeth Keckley, Ida B. Wells, and Ann Lowe. The girls loved it, and the adults agreed. I will post the full video on my YouTube in a bit (I still have two seconds to go in and caption because I forgot my microphone at home). In the meantime, here are Parts 1 & 2. I’ve also attached the PDF of the presentation at the bottom.
This month is jam-packed with creative things (as always!). The March letters for the pen-pal Patreon tier will be going out sometime this week. I also finally realized my (mostly done) website for my historical costuming and art, which is outside of my main photography website: www.TheMarisaZimmerman.com
The BIG project that I am working on is my “American Beauty” gown to wear to Dandy Wellington’s Easter Strut Party on 4/5. I became OBSSESSED with 1960’s fashion since watching Palm Royale on Apple TV, so I decided to scrap my original idea of a 1950’s gown (since you all know that I love vintage), and wanted to go with something from the 60’s. Then a friend posted Ann Lowe’s American Beauty gown (which I had the pleasure of seeing in person when it was on display at Winterthur Museum), found the pattern for it by Charm Patterns, and now I am knee-deep in fabric. One of the best things is that I already had all of the fabric for the gown and the flowers on hand!!! That was also a sign to start cataloguing my fabric better.
The gown is going to be made of ivory silk taffeta, and the roses and vines will be made from blush pink and hunter green duchess satin. I may pull out another shade of pink satin that I had to give the roses some more dimension.
My 4th annual tea party is in two weeks on Saturday, 3/28! And while I don’t necessarily need something new to wear, I’ve been DYING to make an Edwardian tea gown from the Ikea curtains that I snagged on sale forever ago. I figure it wouldn’t take too long to make a simple top and skirt, along with a new dip-waist belt and a hat. I keep saying that the shapes of Edwardian gowns look so similar to ancient Roman gowns, just cinched at the waist. So, time to experiment!
But for now, I am going to hop off and actually get to cutting pattern pieces and fabric!
This year’s 28 Days of Historical Dress was a bit different than those that I have done in previous years. I totally didn’t intend on it, but I stuck with mostly vintage for almost all of February, and I actually enjoyed it! I think it’s one thing to have my historical ensembles already set to go, but putting together vintage looks daily from the vintage pieces that I already had (from my early years of obsessing with 1950’s fashion), and taking my more modern pieces to look vintage was a fun challenge to take on. I found that this year, I also really enjoyed the whole process of getting ready each morning. Typically, it takes me a LONG time to get in motion for the day, and unless I have somewhere to be other than running errands or picking up my kids, I am dressed in whatever loose and comfy clothing that I have in reach. Outside of my historical costuming, I tend to describe my style as that of an eclectic art teacher who is also a witch. So getting up when my alarm went off, styling my hair, doing my makeup, and all that became a morning ritual that I quite enjoyed. And to be honest, it definitely helped with my ADHD by kicking me into gear to do things in a pattern. I got A LOT done!
So here is the video of all of my looks for my challenge, and I am so excited for spring because I will DEFINITELY start making and wearing more 1960’s outfits (all thanks to my new obsession with the show Palm Royale on Apple TV)
So for now, I am going to keep this update relatively short, because A LOT is going on. But I know that with the way I am, if I kept waiting to write a proper post, then it would have taken me forever to get that done. So here are the cliff notes as to what has been going on:
1-I am booked for a speaking engagement next month in Harlem to discuss historical costuming, the roles and contributions of Black dressmakers (particularly Elizabeth Keckley) in historical fashion, and showcasing some of my ensembles! When I say that my flabbers were gasted when I received the call about it! I am so excited for this!!! And of course, VERY very nervous. I hope I don’t curse or babble on stage! When I have the official promotional material and such, I will share.
2-THIS upcoming weekend, I will be heading to Albany, NY to attend the Crown Tournament of Ryouko’jin and Indrakshi (who are AWESOME people, and this will be their second reign in the SCA), but I will also be officially taken on as an apprentice to my longtime friend, Duchess Isabella, who has reigned as Queen of the East Kingdom twice thus far. I have admired and respected her since I first joined the SCA, which was something like 13 years ago. She has always encouraged me and pushed me to step outside of my comfort zone and expand my skills when it comes to costuming and service to the Kingdom. I will readily admit that I was speechless when she presented this opportunity to me. She has not taken on an apprentice in upwards of 20-something years, so this is a BIG DEAL for me, and I hope that I do her and my apprentice-siblings proud.
Over the next couple of days, I will be working on finishing my ensemble (16th c. Persian-which my persona is based on), and I cannot wait to share the process and the final look with you.
3-Since coming back from France and with the new opportunities and events that are unfolding in my lap, I had quite a few friends convince me to start another GoFundMe to help contribute and offset the costs that go along with my historical costuming journey. Things such as travel/accommodations for events, fabrics & materials, and the tools/equipment to document and share my projects and research will benefit from this new GoFundMe.
As some of you know, although I am a professional photographer who has had my business for 16 years – Marisa Taylor Photography, I am also disabled due to multiple chronic illnesses. So I have had to scale back how much physical work I do when it comes to photography (weddings being the main aspect), because I just can’t physically hold up to doing them longer than 2-4 hours. And then the recovery time after has gotten days longer compared to how it was before. For me, being down for the count for so long doesn’t do anyone any good, especially my family. It is a really hard thing to grow your business and watch it blossom, while knowing that you’ve already reached your peak and have to withdraw from it little by little. But that does not mean I am giving up photography forever, NOR does it mean I am giving it up at all. I am focusing my business on smaller, intimate weddings & elopements, along with my normal portrait photography, as well as my fine art print site!
I do think that that is all for now, or until I remember that I need to come back and update this with something else!
OH WAIT! (see, my brain loves to do the “OH SQUIRREL!” thing). Although I have had my youtube channel for YEARS now, I only recently started uploading more content to it, and try to do so on a consistent basis. If you are a Youtube user, I would greatly appreciate it if you could give my page a follow! Youtube – TheMarisaZimmerman
I have said for the longest that the late 1820s-1840s era of fashion didn’t really appeal to me. But knowing how the universe likes to make me put my foot in my mouth, it really said HA! HOLD MY BEER!
My friend Robin of SewLoud is hosting her annual dinner, and it is themed after Young Victoria. It’s at the Joseph Ambler Inn in North Wales, PA. I’ve been to the last two, and have had such an amazing time. And the room accommodations and continental breakfast? chefs kiss
So with me not having ANYTHING other than a corset for that time period (that I actually found last night and surprised myself!) that a friend gave to me, I of course needed to make a new gown! Since I received so many compliments on the 18th century Aidah gown that my friend Spencer (ThimbleRaven) made and gave to me, I decided to stick with jewel towns and go with emerald green. I mean admittedly, I look DAMN GOOD! PLUS! I’ve been dying to get me a pair of the Flora boots from American Duchess since they first came out, but could not settle on a color. So I believe I made the right choice. Plus, it matches my hair color!!!
These are from in front of the Louvre while I was in France for my art residency!
And oh my god, I don’t even have the words other than “freaking amazing!” I’ve been back a week now, and today is the first day where I feel that I have enough energy to dive back into my normal routine, in addition to cleaning and organizing the chaos that was caused during the reconstruction process, when a second pipe not only bursts when the heat was turned back on, 8 other cracks were found in the piping. PLUS, having to purchase a completely new furnace. It was A LOT. And thankfully my husband, who knows me so well, decided it was best not to tell me while I was away because I would have freaked out, my anxiety would be through the roof, so yeah…he was right!
There is so much to share about the trip, and about the project that I worked on while at the residency. Which means of course there are tons of pictures and videos that I need to edit and share. I’ve already started sharing some photo posts & reels over on my Instagram, if you want to take a look.
I am also getting back to doing the wax-sealed letters. I know that some of you have been expecting your packages, and believe me when I saw that between being overwhelmed and trying to prepare for the trip while living out of a suitcase in a hotel, coupled with executive dysfunction: it all kicked my ass, and I dropped the ball. So I deeply apologize for that. So some of you will be receiving letters and others, depending on your tier, a package or two with gifts along with the letters.
But check out this photo of me in front of the glass pyramids at The Louvre! A street photographer came up to me asking to take a couple of photos, and I was honored!!!
