Some time ago we published in your fantasy costume a post about  this kind of shoes that are called Ghillies in our previous article "Medieval moccasins and ghillies for Highlanders, irish goblins and fairies".

Some pictures below so you can make an idea, and go and visit the step by step tutorial  in Therese´s blog Earth and living.

So have a look so you can refresh yourself a little bit about them with the definition, wikipedia article and so forth and get a bit of documentation about them. But now we re-catch them in order to try to attempt to make a pair for ourselves.  I happened to find a lovely blog where they had a tutorial explaining how to do it step by step, and it has a lot of pictures so if you feel crafty enough and have a piece of leather go for it... I certainly will try it myself very soon. You can read the tutorial in this other blog. Without pattern using your own foot as template, it teaches you how to achieve a comfortable pair of ghillies for your historical garment. And as you see in the picture above they look great with wool socks! :)

 
Above: this is our starting point, your foot and a piece of leather...!

Above: scheme pattern to make your shoes

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Above: replica of XV garment     Arm Street is a huge store specialized in medieval things armor, helmets, combat gauntlets, medieval and renaissance costumes, dresses and tunics, authentic leather footwear and belts.Please add me to your list of favorite sellers and visit often. They also run a store in ebay, so you can also go there and check their listings at:    ARM STREET IN EBAY

Isolda: Limited edition Wedding Dress. I really love this one... It'd go great with my white wingsssss!! slightly resembling to the accolade it has that lovely preraphaelite romantic look!

In this fantasy garb details of   rec decorated  Asian Manchoo Costume  wool coat used along with elements in Balkanian style and costume silhouette is slim-fitted which is typical for  significantly later period European garb.  

All I can say is that ARM STREET is one of those HUGE places where you can find virtually and almost everything you could imagine, also accessories, leather belts, boots, shoes, footwear, and all the props you need to make your garment full, rich and accurate in detail.

and belts and pouches!

Circlets, crowns and tiaras... with celtic design and also lovely for your elf lotr inspired costumes

Yes, you can spend hours there I tell you they have every prop you could imagine including tents!! I'd love to have one of this for my merchandising!! snif!! I'd say they have lots of uses and not precisely for camping. Use it in your wedding, for your fantasy store, renaissance event... or just because is so damn cool and cozy!

If all of the above wasn't enough just to let you know they also accept commissions and custom work, so if you need it for a theatre, film, wedding or other special event that requires one-of-a-kind, do not hesitate in contacting their designers to see what they can do. Example below:

As we started to introduce you all to the Steampunk culture in the the previous article now we go for the complements and accessories as we go deeper in detail highlighting crafter and artist Daniel Proulx who started to create  his own designs of  intrincate retrofuturistic  rings  and pieces back in 2008 . Yes, be ready because some of the pieces are a bit pricy, but also be ready to find one-of-a-kind outstanding items and even some sculptures  that worth it if you want to add just the final "perfect" and totally cool stuff to your steampunk garment.  Both retro and futuristic  and cool also as prop for productions in the genre. And even you will find also some affordable pieces too in  Catherinette Rings etsy store.

Above: Steampunk Scorpion Clockwork Robot Sculpture. Copper Brass and old Watch movement.

Steampunk Bracelet with Lady Elgin Watch Movement

Above: Steampunk ring in green, amber and copper

Tom Banwell: Leather and resin projects is a blog maintained by this artist and crafter where we can see his projects and commissions. He also does link to items ready to be purchased and shipped. The quality of the steampunks is really outstanding. He and his wife design, cut and paint the maks themselves in their studio located in California.

Note: not knowing really what "Steampunk" means? Please the wikipedia definition of this fantasy/sci-fi genre and trend.

There you´ll see also a link to their etsy store where they list their available creations as well as some lovely  leather masks, circlets and other items out of the steampunk fashion, and lovely for your masquerade and fantasy events too.

Above: white lacy mask and art noveau circlet

Well, you may all know that I like fantasy costumes... in fact I keep a blog about fantasy costumes called YOUR FANTASY COSTUME :) I created a while back to bookmark all the fancy things I like (or would long or crave to buy for my performances hahah). Anyway, as I'm an illustrator I like to draw and design garments... the problem was that despite making some crafts like crowns and some easy customizations I really never had any skill for sewing... yes... not even a button or fixing a sock!!  But last month my friend and designer Alassie (from El Costurero Real that we previously covered in your fantasy costume article "El Costurero Real: King Arthur´s legends") encouraged me and a couple of friends to make a garment for ourselves to attend to her faerie birthday party and for a couple of weeks, all girls gathered on a weekly workshop :) to learn to make our own garment for the party... So it was FUN and we were busy bees and it was so lovely to see that we were creating our own dresses... I felt very accomplished and I know it´s my first and maybe not so perfect (almost hand-made too) but I had never done anything before so I was really proud.

Here´s a pic of my green dress... the skirt will now grow (because a friend got me a sewing machine as a gift and I'm learning to make things easier) and I definitely will make add bits to it, but this is how it looked like :). I used faux branches and leaves and I also used a trim of feathers (you can buy these on Ebay... if you need a reminder you can read back our article "Feathers of all kind and colors"). I just got an inexpensive sewing machine for next project.

Above: Me with my first self-made self designed Dryad Green fairy dress

I played a few songs with my hammered dulcimer (humble acoustic performance for really lovely friends) including some excerpts of tracks from the following album on the making "The Underliving". My friend Jorge Lamata joined with the guitar in a few... It was really cozy and personal.

 Above: some of the people attending with their fantasy costumes to the birthday party... isn´t it a cool idea? why not to spice your wedding or your anniversary or a friends meeting with some color, fantasy and fun! We all had a great time... so give it a try... it´s a good excuse to use your fantasy garments! See how they had no experience and they all make a super job!

Silks and Velvets is a store with a collection of fantasy, bridal, corsets and wedding and pirate gowns. Designed and custom crafted by costume maker Yosa Addiss which handle all the work from the selection of fabrics till the final result. With 12 years online the shop has an extensive gallery of custom works, and you can also surf among the catalogue of romantic, victorian, pirates, renaissance and ever cyber-geisha style. Below you can see a few examples of the quality of the garments you may find there. Enjoy!

Above: Example of Victorian and Romantic Wedding dress. I'd highlight two of the things listed in the website that I'll cover in specific articles very soon, a couple of garments inspired in fantasy movies like "Legend" and "Ever after"

Above: Italian renaissance garment inspired in the movie "Ever after" We´ll cover this movie garments in an article alone in the near future.

Above: Dress inspired in the movie "Legend" this is the black dress Lily wears after dancing with a shadow. I really loved this part of the movie of a child, and it really was an influence in my actual style, wouldn't mind to have a similar one in the future. By the way I just love standing ruffs... sigh, so well done!

Below a link to youtube where you can see the scene of that movie I'm talking about:

We are proud to announce that latest issue of FAE MAGAZINE (british publication devoted to fantasy and the fairy world (including fashion) has published an exclusive photoshoot where I have modeled for the spanish designer and costume maker El Costurero Real.

I'm wearing a lovely and exclusive for the shoot  "moth dress" made by Alassie (El Costurero Real previously covered in yfc in this article) and fellow artist Lady Morte is wearing also another garment from El Costurero´s collection.

Here is a picture of the dress "in the making". The wings were  made in paper and covered in latex for protection, and the front of the garment is made with brown feathers. I really have a passion for moths (thus my song "Nothing" ends like "moths fly to light when they're blind in delight" so wearing a garment like one was really entrancing). The fact that I could keep it was a true gift (thanks for endorsing it) I'm sure i'll wear this one in some of my concerts soon.

And here´s a preview of one of the final pictures of me and Lady Morte wearing the garments. Photography by Sebastiá Pagarolas, for the rest of the series you need to buy the magazine (at least till winter, when they shall go public in your fantasy costume gallery)

Jell Dragon is a store that specializes in high quality replicas of the Viking Era and Nordic cultures. The stores have a supply of authentic Viking jewellery, weapons, costume, living history supplies, banquet supplies (ohh I love the drinking hongs with leather belt straps to hold) and accessories like helmets and gauntlets to Viking enthusiasts the world over. It also features a selection of nordic music and books and even statuettes casted in bronze of viking deities. If you want to make a movie inspired in these ancient times, you'll find also leather sewing kits, accessories and materials so you can make custom items yourself  like belts ends, wood needles...

Above: drinking horn

Above: bracelet with wolves  (the collection of jewellry is amazing  and one of the finest you'll ever see, and most of it replicas of historical items and you can find even viking  coins and keys!!)

Even if you're simply looking for the very famous viking runes carved on wood  Jell Dragon is the place. The amazing highlight of the website itself is how accurate and specific is, and if you're just researching it's a wonderful compilation of information itself. I'm making now an  viking slightly inspired wolf dress and I'm enjoying this website so much... felt in love with that wolf torc! sigh! Enjoy the visit!