Antique Circus - Part I

I'm making 3 "Antique Circus" costumes for the same magician's troupe I made the Cigar Girl dresses for. I have two completed, and one left to go. This costume will also feature a black and white striped satin mini-bustle (not yet completed). We decided to add the bustle at the last minute, and I had to send what was already completed so they could add this piece to the show. I made all parts of this costume, except the black skirt (provided by my client). The top is a full leotard (and unfortunately is finished with zig-zag stitching because my coverstitch machine would NOT cooperate, much to my dismay).

The neck piece and wrist cuffs are made from a combination of red silk dupioni, tulle, and organza. The wrist cuffs are elasticized. The top hat is covered with red silk dupioni.

The corset is a "costume quality" corset. While it's still constructed of 4 layers of fabric, and still shown the same amount of meticulous detail shown to a standard corset, it is made a little differently. For starters, there is only steel boning at the front and back. There's plastic boning in the sides, so that the wearer can move and bend in it. It has a (hidden) zipper front closure, and a sewn-in stretchy modesty panel at the back. It has only a very slight waist reduction. It functions as a corset, but is mostly for show. It will stand up to repeated wearings, but would not be suitable for any substantial waist-reduction or waist-training.