New dress form has arrived - a corseted shape

Let me preface this with the fact that this is not an actual dressform that you can drape on (yet... I may rectify that in the future, but for now, it is just a display form). It is simply one for taking pictures on.

That little addendum aside, I just popped open the box of a new dressform I was lucky enough to get my hands on from Roxy Display. I have been searching for a dressform that was a corseted shape (high bust, tiny waist, large hips), but had only been able to find either lingerie forms from Wolf, which are rather expensive, or the one's that they use at the Victoria and Albert Museum made by Proportion London, and, finally, one by Seigel & Stockman that I could not figure out if it was a draping form or just a display form (I really despise their site for finding information...)

I have also trolled eBay, Etsy, and Craigslist hoping to find a vintage dress form, but the only one's I could find were in nominal quality, and very, very expensive ($250+ before shipping).

I stumbled on this company through their eBay store, and I figured I would give it a shot - the dressform was around $60-ish, with another $15 in shipping, which was alright by me - definitely the most affordable option I'd run across yet, especially, again, since I was just looking for this form for photography purposes.

The shipping was lightning fast (I ordered on a Sunday, it was here by Thursday via UPS, which is always very slow to me for some reason) and very reasonable. I even made a mistake and ordered the wrong base/topper (I ordered natural wood, and would rather have the black) and they changed my order without a problem (note, however, that there was no price difference from one to the other - I don't think they'd be accommodating if there was an additional cost involved unless you (obviously) pay the difference)

Packaging was nice, no damage to the form or the stand in transit.

Exactly what I had ordered!

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You can see already the odd proportions of the dressform, and that is exactly what I was looking for for corset displays!

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There was a surprise when I pulled down the plastics - there is a hook on the back for hanging the form instead of displaying it on the base. Interesting, but I'm going to try to take it off (and store it, in case I do ever need to do something like that!)

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As you can see from this image, the dressform is hard plastic, not suitable for draping onto, covered in a jersey cover. This made me a happy panda, though, because I intend on adding some "padding" or "cush" to the dressform to make the corsets be a bit more realistic, as well as to bring the sizing of this one up a bit - I don't think even my good friend and usual model Becky has a waist this tiny when tightlacing!

This way, I can just remove the covering and add about an inch of padding, and then slip the jersey cover back over (hopefully - I have my fingers crossed for that, at least!)

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The base took a whole five minutes to put together (no instructions, but really, simple logic makes it a piece of cake to put together). It is way sturdier than the other display form I have, which had a horrible wobbly base - I may see if this base fits on that form, and order another, I hate the metal slab one I got with that dressform - it leans to the side because it doesn't fit right!

This one, however, is sturdy, and very pretty to boot, which is always a grand plus (it is "BS-02" on their site/store)

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As you can see in these final pictures, the dressform is really grand. Another plus that I did not expect was that it is adjustable in height, so it is going to look especially good with some of my corset-dresses that I'm working on.

Apologies as always on the state of the kitchen - I just wanted to see how it looked right away, couldn't wait long enough to clean ;P

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Final summary: I think this is a good dressform. To many, $75 is a lot of money to pay for something just to take pictures on, but I think it was a real deal for the quality. It fills something I've needed for a while now (padding out my adjustable POS dressform just wasn't cutting it - the corsets always look flat and bulky, not shapely like they actually are)

Again, this isn't for someone who just wants a dressform to work on - most people are not this size, either, so it is not always going to be appropriate. I definitely plan on having to pad out the waist when photographing corsets, but the shape is undeniably corseted.

The base and top are incredibly well made, and look great (they make the dressform look like something you'd see in a high-end boutique). It is adjustable in height, meaning you could set a few of these together to show off a collection if you're really ambitious.

I can say that if I get a boutique space, or even a workshop/gallery space like I'm looking into right now, I will be ordering many more of these from this company, because they look to be fantastic and very affordable.

As I use it more, I may revise my opinions here, but as it is, I'm pleasantly surprised!

More laser ideas

I just can't seem to get beyond this stupid gallbladder problem, so to keep myself busy (else I would go stir-crazy) I've been wracking my brains to come up with stuffs that I can cut on the laser cutter. Mostly, ideas for things that people would both like to have, and would potentially sell, as even with a business discount, the acrylic sheets for the "big projects" would eat up my bank account ^^

So, here is the next round of ideas from this morning: The Wayfinders that Aqua makes in "Birth by Sleep"

I plan on refining the design a bit more, to make the parts around the holes a bit pointier, but otherwise, I think they're pretty good. I would cut these out of fluorescent acrylic, which is friggin' amazing looking, and would glow under a black light (and just be really awesome to look at otherwise!) Plus, they would be transparent, making for a good stained-glass effect or suncatcher :3 I'm still not sure what the gray would be out of, however. The idea of mirror, while cool, seems to be way too over the top for it to work, so I'm thinking I would just spray white acrylic (or clear) with silver and leave it at that... what do you think?

On another cosplay related note (this time personal) I have begun work on a Nehelenia outfit for myself, hopefully in time for NoBrandCon (which we will finally be going to again after an absence of a few years!) Expect pictures of that as it is being built! The corset is almost completed, and then onto the actual outfit :3

Laser Designs

Recently, I have been doing a lot of volunteer work, and as part of my contract with them, I have access to use their industrial laser cutters and vacuum formers if I would like. So, I have been designing small pieces for jewelry (that I will post up shortly- need to get pictures!) but have wanted to try my hand at larger pieces.

This eve, I had a bit of time (my brain hurts from emails!) on my hands, and I've started vectoring a few ideas for quick props that I would like to try as soon as my acrylic sheets come in.

Currently, I am debating between creating Yuna's Summoner Staff from Final Fantasy X, and Rikku's thief blades from Final Fantasy X-2. Depending on how those go, I would also like to try my hand at laser cut keyblades!

I thought I would post up my WIP mockups in from Illustrator (which have to be converted over to an obscure vector file, tweaked, and cut out, but still!) for reference, especially if anyone else is planning on making these in the future. I'll probably do a tutorial as well, providing my template for those who want to make them out of wood/plastic/foam/whatever, since I know access to laser cutters is not readily available ^^;

But, for now, here are my working designs:

Rikku's Thief Knives from FFX2 - these are going to undergo some major revisions in the near future to work with the materials to get the blade shape more accurate, but the base is there, especially for the handles! (yay geometry - see, it is useful!)


Yuna's default summoner staff topper. I know there are plenty of them out there, but none in vector formats that are clean enough to work off of (and symmetrical!)

And one special one that is giving me nightmares, but I really, really want to do this one: Yuna's Nirvana Staff

The Nirvana staff is just a very rough WIP, but I thought it would help to show my process. The darker areas will be actually deep engraved out of the plastic, while the white/lighter in the feathers will be left alone. There is a lot more detail to add, and so far, it is looking to be three layers thick, not including the green gems (which will need to be cast gems, not plain round pieces of plexiglass).

That staff is dependent on how difficult the other few are to create, but I'll be sure to post WIP pictures of any of these being made for those who are curious! So, here is step 1: design!

Happy New Year

Happy 2011 everybody!

We had a wonderful holiday here - we spent the bit before Xmas finishing up our remodel of part of our sewing space, which is fantastic now. I will snap some photos and add them in shortly (because in the near future, I'm sure it will become a disaster area ;)

After Xmas, however, it got a little bad here. I (Sam/Taeliac) wound up in the ER with a bad case of gallstones, which I am finally starting to get over just now. The new year wasn't bad, just slightly drugged out on painkillers to the point where I don't remember much ;) I still do not know when my surgery will be, but I'll be sure to post and take everything down on the site and Etsy store so that people are not angry with how long it takes to get a reply from me ^^;

So, for now, I am playing crazy amounts of catch-up, but still happy.

I hope your 2011 is going swimmingly, and continues to be grand!