Antique Circus - Part III

The third (and so far, final) piece of the circus order. I made all parts of this costume except the top (which was provided by my client). I did alter the top - it was very thick and heavy, so I cut it off right below the bustline and added a jersey knit bottom. Since it will be covered by the corset and skirt, it won't be seen.

The skirt is made from a heavy weight stretch satin in dark peach. It's actually a bubble skirt sewn over a high-waisted panty. It was originally going to be shorty-type bottoms with billowy legs, but because the material was so hard to work with (and also because it simply didn't look right with the rest of the costume), I changed it up a bit to look more like a skirt.

The arm pieces are made from the same stretch satin. They are intended to be worn over the bicep, and will stop before the elbow. They billow out and have a similar bubble shape as the skirt. They are held in place with elastic, but look kind of limp just pinned to the dressform, lol.

The roses on the neckpiece are up-cycled from a satin halter top. I added the beading, antique gold tulle, and ribbon ties to the back. It's hard to tell, but the gold of the tulle almost matches the top perfectly. The top hat is covered with antique gold silk,  and has ivory netting/feathers. It's hard to tell in the photos, but the silk of the corset is a golden peachy color, and shimmers in the light. It's actually quite a different shade from the skirt/arm pieces, even though they look kind of similar.

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.