Regency

Countdown to France! It’s SO CLOSE!

I leave in just TWO DAYS! Two freaking days, and I still can’t believe it. So while getting things prepared, you may or may not have seen that we had two pipes burst in our back room /my husband’s office…AGAIN. The first time was 12/23, and we started the restoration process; in which they came and packed everything up and put it in a storage pod, and did a dry-out. Just to have another pipe crack in the ceiling on 1/10. Since then, we have been in a hotel the second time around, the plumber/HVAC company could not get the furnace to kick back in gear, along with a random pipe that’s not even connected along the floorboard (I seriously have no clue what that is about!). Thankfully, we are just down the road from our house, and I am so thankful that our homeowners’ insurance is covering everything.

This means that I have of course brought my sewing machine and such with me, and have been working on two ensembles, and a couple of accessories. I will be finishing the wearable mock-up for the Amalia Jacket here and cutting the pieces so that I can finish the full silk version while I am in France. Along with a petticoat, a mantle, two fur muffs, a pair of mitts, and a shift. At least, for now. Tomorrow, I swing by my house to gather the rest of the clothing and accessories that I plan to wear while away. Now this is kind of a big deal because I am doing my personal project: 28 Days of Historical Dress during February, which I have been doing for 3 years now (I think? it may be 2). So while it is easy to pick out what to wear each day while I am at home, I now have to deliberately plan my outfits ahead and pack them without going overboard with my packing (which I am prone to do, but since I am limited on bag space, I *need* to plan what I am packing thoroughly). I’m thinking of keeping things relatively simple, and just going with some classic vintage from the 1920’s through the 1950’s. So a couple of different dresses, wide leg trousers, kimono sleeved cardigans, and the like. And of course, my historical stuff. 18th century, a regency gown or two, and an Edwardian ensemble. The Edwardian ensemble is for this years #BGGL (Black Gibson Girl Legacy), created by the amazing Jasmine Le Fleur, the creative genius behind Black Fae Day.

So with two more days left, I am still raising extra funds to help offset the cost of this trip (since I am on disability, and am not doing photography as much as I used to), and have extra for things like admission to two exhibits that I am looking forward to seeing, travel (since I won’t have a rental car), and supplies while there.

Now with all of that said, if you do have extra to help support this art residency, it will be greatly appreciated. After all, if it wasn’t for all of your support from the beginning, the first GoFundMe goal to get me to the residency wouldn’t have ever happened! So a big thank you to all of you! Here are the ways that you can help!

You can donate directly to my cashapp/venmo/paypal:

I also have my Print site, in which you can purchase prints and wall art of my photography. Even while in France, I will be able to place orders within 24 hours of receiving them.
https://www.marisataylorphotography.com/art-prints-for-sale/

And the original GoFundMe campaign, with the goal amount increased: https://www.gofundme.com/f/lets-get-marisa-to-france-for-art

And my Patreon, in which there are different tiers that you can subscribe to monthly, or just one time. I will be sending out the wax-sealed letters & packages for my current Patrons either tomorrow or Tuesday 1/28, which is when I leave: https://patreon.com/TheMarisaZimmerman1

I also have some digital portrait illustrations that I plan to offer while I am gone, and because they are digital-once purchased you will receive a link to download them immediately! So stay stuned for that!

Lastly, I know that there are so many different platforms for social media. I recently created a new public FB page that will basically mirror my TikTok account. So if you could give me a follow there, it would be so very much appreciated! Follow me at: The Marisa Zimmerman

And with that, I think that is a pretty good update if I do say so myself! Now back to sewing and packing!!!

Been busy sewing, dealing with back to back home repair issues, and more! But I am still doing the #GeorgianJanuary2024 challenge on Instagram, and apparently you can turn the story highlights into a video reel! So here’s the prompts and my photos from Day 1 up to today!

Check me out on Instagram! @LoveShutterBug

In other news, next month kicks off my challenge #28DaysOfHistoricalDress, well 29 since it’s a leap year! So with this challenge, I dress in my historical and vintage ensembles for the entire month. I usually break it down to doing one era each week. So for example, one week I will do vintage, 1920s-1959s, another week with be 18th century, another will be Regency or Edwardian, and so on!

So keep a lookout for that!

Georgian January Days 13-17

I can’t believe we are already in the middle of January. Time is so weird! It seems like yesterday my kids went back to school, but then November and December seemed to drag on incredibly slow thanks to back to back home repair issues, and now it’s hump day in the middle of January!
Anywho, I am still sticking with the Georgian January challenge! So here are the last couple of days of prompts to catch up on:

Day 13 of #georgianjanuary2024 is Elaborate. Even though I hopped onto the Bridgerton train fairly late, I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with the wigs that Queen Charlotte wore. I already wear pretty colorful locs that I change every 3-4 months or so, but these wigs are EPIC! I’ve made my own wigs before and installed braids/locs/twists on myself for years. But now that I know how to do a wig cage, I can definitely take my historical hair style game even further!!!

Yesterday was day 14 of #georgianjanuary2024 – I’m honestly surprised im still sticking to posting every day (or at least every other day when I forgot and have to do a catch up post), yay me!!! The prompt for Day 14 was: Simple. Now for as much as I LOOOOVE being extra, and wearing fancy outfits, with fancy jewelry and actually out time and effort into my historical looks (as opposed to my everyday wardrobe which is Eclectic art teacher meets comfy witchy vibes), I feel that a #chemisealaraine is such a simple garment and beautiful enough on its own. One color, an easy piece to work up, and accentuate with a large ribbon around the waist, and bam! You have a simple look that is super cute!

Forgot about day 15 of #georgianjanuary2024 – the theme was Miniature. For our wedding anniversary last year-I got my husband the greatest gift of all! A historical style painting of ME!!! And then I turned it into a pin that he can wear on his fob, or just to carry around (thanks to @ladykatehs for the materials!)

day 16 of #georgianjanuary2024 – the prompt was Large. One of the things I love about historical costuming, but in particular the 18th century were the BIG HATS!!! 🙌🏾 I am already a giant, and I like to have big hair, big accessories, and just everything big because it balances out in my eyes!

georgianjanuary2024 day 17: Atop – bonnets and tiaras! (Guest appearance by @sewloud in the second pic 😂)

Georgian January 2024-Day 12:Shapes

I had coffee this morning after a good nights sleep at the end of a productive day, so I’m on a roll!!! Anyway, I picked a couple of different images for today’s theme. The first two being #underpinnings No matter what time period you decide to costume in, it’s always important to have the correct underpinnings to give you the silhouette (the shape, ah! Get it!) that was fashionable during that time period. So the first up is a custom set of #hippanniers for an 18th century gown (I have yet to start working on the #robealafrancaise that it is to be worn with) that I won from @hannah_alice_costumes . The second are my #regencyera stays made by @paupers.modiste . | the next two shapes are circles. My black #bergérehat, and my diy macaroon pattern weights. | last two are from when I decided to make a #chemiseàlareine to wear to a friends party. At first I was kind of intimidated when looking for a pattern, but then I came along the tutorial by @freshfrippery , and realized that it was basically three large rectangles sewn together into a tube basically, with shoulder straps and sleeves! | #historicalcostuming #historicalcostumer #costumersofcolor #blackwomensew #blackwomenstitch

Georgian January 2024 Catch-up! Days 5-11!

In between working on a commission, the normal chaos that is my home, and trying to get the bedroom back to normal after having a pipe burst in my closet therefore displacing all of my stuff in there, exhaustion finally caught up with me. This time, it was brought on by some craptastic weather that was basically the cherry on the cake for the storm that is having a chronic fatigue flare up. But I’m hoping today to tackle some things, and one of those things was catching up on the days missed for Georgian January 2024. I have them all up on my Instagram, with detailed posts and some having multiple images but here is a quick run through:

Day 5: Town

Day 6: Country

Day 7: Laughter

Day 8: Inside

Day 9: Outside

Day 10: Details

Day 11: Lines

2024 Sewing Projects

So 2023 was…let’s just say, a very interesting but taxing year for me. I had so many projects I wanted to do, but health issues and other things pretty much kept me in survival mode. But I am hoping for 2024 to be better! Especially in regards to my historical sewing and crafting! So here is what I want to do!

Do a better job at documenting and recording my sewing process for my projects.
Take high quality photos of my finished projects (as a professional photographer who can pull magic no matter what space I am in, I am embarrassed that I can’t photograph myself well! 😅)
Complete at least two full 18th century outfits for my husband (one for daytime wear, and a fancier one for balls and dinners.)
Complete at least two regency era outfits for my husband (again, for daytime/nightime).
Make proper underpinnings for my daughter (who literally won’t stop growing! 😂)
Make my daughter her pink regency gown to match mine.
Make an 18th century gown for my daughter.
Make an 18th century outfit and a regency outfit for my son (he keeps getting taller, but he still can fit into a size 4-6 kids at the waist, even thought he is 9)
Make two wigs. 1 is inspired by Queen Charlotte’s In Bridgerton, and and another 18th century updo wig.
Sew the Amalia jacket and a petticoat for a Galentines Day tea with my friends in February.
Sew a zone front robe a la anglaise
Sew a Robe à la française
Make all the hats I want! Edwardian, Victorian, 18th century- I want it all!
At least 1-2 daytime regency gowns
Redo my purple velvet open robe
Sew a Victorian evening/ball gown to wear to a fancy dress dinner that my friend is hosting
Get over my fear of my serger and learn how to use it 😅
Possibly take on some commissions

I find that making an inspiration board for a project helps immensely, I’ve done two so far:

This was the finished open robe. I plan on detaching the skirt and reworking the pleating.

This is my upcoming project for an event in February.

Georgian January-Day 5

So for Day 5 of #georgianjanuary2024 it is: Town. here are two photos in the towns we visited. The first one is at a colonial tavern called @jessopstavern, which is located in the town of #historicnewcastledelaware . The second was from our anniversary trip to the @innboonsboro , in the town of Boonsboro, Maryland. Both places, I love dearly. Jessops has AMAZING food! And the InnBoonsboro has themed rooms based of famous literary couples. We stayed in the Darcy & Elizabeth room.

Making a Regency Era Open Robe

Yall know i love all things Bridgerton, So watch me make a velvet open robe to wesr over my satin gown. The fabric is from the silk baron, and its an absolute dream to sew with. Although it wasnt finished completely, im glad how it turned out, so i will be finishing it once i complete other projects.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hey everyone! I hope that you had an amazing new year! Ours was pretty low-key. We dressed up in some spiffy 1950’s clothing and hung out with our friends and sang musicals and had yummy beverages. So to update you all, January letters for the the monthly letter tier should be mailed out by next week. I need to buy more envelopes (which is cool, because I really love stationery). My first costumed outing of the year is coming up this Saturday. I am doing an Edwardian themed stroll at a gorgeous garden/historic location in Delware-Winterthur Gardens. I still need to finish the fur capelet (which I am converting from a faux fur jacket that was slightly too small), and convert a gorgeous white skirt I found on Amazon into pantaloons. I have A LOT of projects for 2023, and many of them include updating & adding to some of my current gowns. I started to write out a list of the projects I want to do, but I know how my brain works, and new projects will be added all the time. But in the meantime, here are some of the projects that I want to tackle:

-Finish my husbands 18th century waistcoat -Make a SECOND waistcoat out of the really pretty fabric that I purchased from SIlk Baron

-Add ruffled trim to my two 18th century hats -Make ruffled trim and sew on to my purple Angelica gown -Make the 18th century Amalia jacket and a new petticoat

-A new spring Edwardian era ensemble

-18th Century, Regency, and Edwardian pieces for my children (they grow so dang fast!)

After January, we have an event in February, that will double up as our anniversary trip. We are going to the Milford Regency ball, which helps fund activities at the Milford Senior Center. We are making a whole weekend of it by staying at the Mansion Farm Inn, only a few minutes away! I absolutely cannot wait! I already have a gown that I plan on wearing, my pink regency gown that I made to go see Mr. Malcoms List (by the time we were scheduled to meetup in our regency outfits, the movie was already out of theaters). I don’t know if I am going to add on to the current gown, or make an overdress to go with it. But we shall see!

2022 costuming year in review

My costuming year in review! This year I made the most ensembles and went to the most events that I ever did. I love this little #costumingcommunity 💜 Looking forward to #2023 – my projects will be bigger and better, and hopefully there will be more awesome events! (I may take my hand at hosting another one!)