This is my most industrious outfit to date. It is neither simple nor particularly cheap, although it's still way cheaper than buying a finished piece. I am offering this to people who are more comfortable with large sewing projects, although beginners might borrow some ideas from it.
Purposes
- Formal appearance; elegant, impractical, and rich looking
- Able to be worn throughout a day
Hairpiece
The hairpiece is mostly hidden here. It's self-made, constructed of feathers and beads from a local craft store, all fastened to a piece of pleather which is, in turn glued to a barette.
Bolero
The black satin jacket was found in the XL section of Goodwill, probably once part of someone's prom dress. I've never worn an XL in my life, but it was an easy fix to size it down in the back. $5
Corset
This is another steel-boned Corset-Story corset, which ran about $80 on sale. Corset-Story has many Corsets of the Day (COTD) that are half-off. I frequently look only at the COTDs of the day.
Belt
I don't buy a lot of stuff at Steampunk conventions. Such things are handmade and, thus, much more expensive than most of my other sources. However, the lovely double-strapped belt shown here has a built in pouch, and I got the whole thing for $40-$50. I added a larger pouch (for my gigantic cell phone) for another $20.
Gloves
The gloves are from Claire's, a modern accessory store that caters to teenagers. They've got quite a steampunk theme going on right now. $5.
Tights and Shoes
The shoes are straight out of my closet and aren't period in the least. They are, however, dress shoes with short heels to cut down on the strain on my feet.
The tights are lace. You can buy them anywhere you can buy pantyhose and tights. They're completely out of period, but so are over-the-knee hemlines.