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[Amandy-Chan]

Ref (The right one. It's hard to find decent pictures of it): http://images.yodibujo.es/_uploads/m...13/jkg_jqs.JPG
If it's too hard to figure anything from that picture, you could watch the video: Servant of Evil

It's a really fancy dress, but the picture itself doesn't have much detail in it. These are the patterns I was looking at:

For the top: http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m609...hp?page_id=915
For the skirt: http://www.trulyvictorian.net/tvxcar...1&cat=1&page=1

The top pattern gives some suggestions for fabric, but they're all shiny fabrics, and I know shiny fabric usually doesn't photograph well. At the same time, I feel like any other kind of fabric would look cheap, which is bad because the character is royalty. And a lot of the dresses in that time period (about 1860's I think) tend to have shiny fabric. So opinions? Matte fabric that doesn't look cheap? Or do you think the shiny fabric is acceptable? Any idea how expensive and/or difficult to work with any of those fabrics suggested in the first pattern are? They sound like they'll be frustrating and expensive. ^^;

I'm also making the outfit on the left. That one seems like it'll be easier to find fabric for, but if any suggestions for fabric come to mind, I'll be happy to hear them. I haven't decided on a pattern for that, either. I just know I'm probably looking at a frock coat of some kind, so again, if something comes to mind, please share. :3 Sorry if that was long. Thanks in advance for any kind of advice you can give me.

[myalchod]

(Disclaimer: I can't pull up your video because I'm at work, so this is all based off the picture.)

The fabrics suggested on the first pattern aren't necessarily bad; just avoid cheap versions, which will usually be super-shiny. Satin is not evil in and of itself, but cheap satin makes it so. A low-lustre satin will look much better in photographs -- try to find a heavy bridal satin (Lamour and duchess satin are other names it's known by). Polished cotton or cotton sateen will also give you a more subtle sheen than cheap satin will. I think, given the wide expanse of same colour, that a brocade that's either tone-on-tone (damask/jacquard) or has a very subtle range of tones could look nifty, if you find one that suits your tastes and isn't in the excessively shiny department. There are cotton jacquards that aren't really shiny at all that might work for that dress. Try looking around in the home decor fabrics for something different, perhaps -- a lot of the patterned fabrics (that aren't quilter's prints) will be hiding in there.
(The pattern also makes the mistake of suggesting a fibre -- silk -- in among the various weave types. There are a bunch of different kinds of silk; for this, you'd want something heavier, which if you're trying to avoid expensive is not going to be a good bet.)

"Expensive" depends on your definition. I've found nice heavy cotton sateen for $2/yd because it was on closeout, and seen similar stuff retail for $15/yd at a store in town because they jack the prices up. The low-lustre satin I used for a recent cosplay was about $6/yd for 58" wide. It can get a lot more expensive, depending on fibre content and where you shop and that fickle thing called luck, but there are options out there.

If you can, get a small camera or a cell phone camera with flash and take it to the store and snap a picture of the fabric with a flash on. That'll give you a good idea of how shiny it may come across in a photo.

If you get a material with a decent weight to it for the dress, you should be able to use the same stuff lined for the coat. From what little I know of Vocaloid, matching would make sense.

Hope that helps some!

[Amandy-Chan]

Thank you. This helps a lot. I live in LA, so I buy all my fabric downtown. I think I could find it cheap or haggle it down to an affordable price, especially since I need so much of it. I could use that as a leverage point. >:3 When I go downtown, I'll try looking at as many types as possible of those fabrics you mentioned. I'll have to find someone who has a camera with a flash, but photographing it to see how it looks under a camera s a great idea. I don't know why I didn't think of that.

Have you worked with any of these fabrics before? Are they easy to sew with?

You're right about the matching, but did you mean make the coat out of the same material as the dress? I just don't think it would look right, considering the one in the coat is a guy. Stylistically, and considering the period, I just don't think it would work well.

[myalchod]

Depending on what materials you choose, you could use the same material for the coat and for the dress, conceptually -- historically, guys were much more dandyfied and they are nowadays, and something like a satin or brocade coat would hardly be unheard of. Either way, just my two cents -- it'd make colour-matching easier, anyway.

The LA fabric district is a fabulous place -- I live just far enough away to not be able to go there regularly. That's definitely a great starting point, especially if you know how much fabric you need and can leverage that. Hope you find great stuff!

I've worked with different types of silk and with sateen a good bit, and less with satin and brocades. In my experience the baseline is that the more shiny/slipper/prone to fraying a fabric is, the more of a pain in the butt it'll be to handle. A sheen will show any puckering far more readily than a matte fabric will, and slippery ones may slide away in a machine or even when cutting (I'm working with a fairly light silk jacquard right now that's got a satiny finish, and it's the worst fabric I've ever tried to handle >_> ). In general, I've found cotton easiest to handle out of the lot. More body to a fabric can help too, which is why a heavy bridal satin is less of a pain to handle than a thin charmeuse.

[expiredgumiworm]

Thats definitely the best thing to do.
Don't forget to check both sides of a fabric. I know lots of velvety things have nice silky, approprately shiny backs to them I think would look great.

[Amandy-Chan]

@myalchod: I'll check with my costume design professor and ask her opinion on coat material, historical-wise. It would make color matching easier, but I want to make sure I do my research. As difficult as these costumes are, they're done pretty often and I want to make mine stick out with some accuracy--with respect to both the original and to history.

I'm trying to look for one that's not too shiny anyway, and I'll try and look for something that's not too slippery either. There's a fabric I saw at JoAnn's that I liked. I think I'll try and look for something similar downtown. I'll probably look for polished cotton first. I know I can work with cotton. XD I really like the idea of photographing the fabric. I'll try and borrow someone's camera. You helped a lot. Thank you. ^_^

[Amandy-Chan]

I talked to my costume design teacher today, and she said that a shiny fabric for a frock coat might be appropriate in Louis IV time or something but is still unusual, but in the 1860's, it would be really strange. She says historically, it would probably be made of wool. She thinks it would be neat to use the satin for accents to make it pop.

[Ichigogami]

While i realize you're looking for something period specific...I'm trying to use a wool for my Sophie dress from Howl's moving castle. But I am planning to primarily use it for Fall or Winter cons...so you should also think of the convention season you're planning to wear this in...if it's for Summer or fall, it may be really warm

I really like your idea of brushed or sueded cotton for the look of it. and the weight will be more summer/spring friendly! ^_^

[Amandy-Chan]

Yeah, I wasn't planning on using wool. Trust me. I wouldn't do that to my Len. But I planned on keeping wool in mind when looking for a fabric.

I'm worried, though, because these cosplays tend to use very... crisp, clean looking fabric, and historically, it'd be something softer. I'm wondering if people will recognize what I'm trying to do or they'll think I don't know how to pick out fabric for cosplay...