1st Annual Reno Steampunk Expo - April 21st, 2012

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Reno Unitarian Church

780 Del Monte Lane

Reno, NV 89511

Welcome to Reno’s Biggest Little Steampunk Expo, a first event of the season to whet the appetite for the steamy year to come! Just check out the schedule of events:

11 am: Opening of the Expo: Free admission to a day of Steampunk fun! On your way in, be sure to pick up a complimentary raffle ticket for fabulous prizes, and take the opportunity to improve your chances by purchasing a few more throughout the day. Stroll through the vendors (spaces still available, contact highdesertsteam@gmail.com for details) and see what our fabulous Northern Nevada community has to offer!

11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Steampunk Undress - $5. Willing to drop a fin and to see a lovely lady take off her clothes? Now that we have your attention, join Vivian Dare for a step by step look at steampunk costuming as she removes and talks about each piece of her wardrobe and how to work similar pieces into your future costume. (Rated PG for possible profanity and mild violence while dealing with corset lacings).

12:45 pm: SOLD OUT Steam Tea - $15. A limited number of people will be able to enjoy tea and tasties provided by Edible Alchemy (creator of the fabulous cookies at September’s Steampunk Ball) and friends! Enjoy your tea in the best (and only!) seats for the fashion show.

1:00 pm: Steampunk Fashion Show. We welcome all who’d like to show their fabulous creations! Please contact highdesertsteam@gmail.com if you’d like to participate.

2:30 -3:30 pm: Thrift Your Steam - $5. Spend a little to learn a lot about spending a little to have a lot! Costuming expert, Lauren Elizabeth talks about what to look for at thrift stores to create a fabulous costume for less. She will also include some simple techniques to improve those finds that are too marvelous to say no to even if they may not fit just right.

4:00 pm: Raffle Drawing. While your presence won’t be necessary to win, isn’t it more fun to be there to pick up your prize?

5:00 pm: Close of the event. Be sure you get to the vendors before they have to pack up to go!

Please contact highdesertsteam@gmail.com should you wish to vend, volunteer, or would just like further details!!

Please share and invite everyone you think might be interested!

Victorian Steampunk Ball to be held at Pipers Opera House in Virginia City

BUY TICKETS HERE!

Contact: William Puchert
775-378-0931

Come join The Great Basin Costume Society, High Desert Steam, the Reno Steampunk Club and the Sacramento Steampunk Society at the inaugural "Victorian Steampunk Ball" to be held from 7 to 11 pm, Saturday, September 17 for an evening of dancing and entertainment at the historic Piper's Opera House, located on B and Union Streets in Virginia City. The ball will feature Victorian ballroom music, to include waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, schottisches, and the Congress of Vienna.  All manner of fantastical costume is admired (but not required) - Steampunks, Victorian ladies and gentlemen, soldiers and cavalrymen, Neo-Victorians, explorers, miners, and "doves." This is a family-friendly event, so please dress accordingly. Don't miss the other Steam events throughout the weekend: Ride the fully restored steam train from Carson City to Virginia City (or from Virginia City to Gold Hill and back), tour mines and haunted saloons, go ghost hunting in the Virginia City Graveyard, have a Sarsaparilla at the Bucket of Blood Saloon, even stay overnight in one of the many haunted (or not haunted) historic hotels and B&Bs. A Steampunk-Victorian Parade will tentively be held at noon that same day. Tickets are $20 pre-paid and $25 at the door.  Tickets are limited: BUY THEM HERE and NOW,or purchase them through the Steampunk Ball Facebook Event Page:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207343612627589  All proceeds from this event go to benefit the restoration of Piper's Opera House and to support the Great Basin Costume Society and High Desert Steam Club.

BUY TICKETS HERE!

Carson City Rendezvous - June 11-12, 2011

Mills Park
Carson City, NV
10 am - 5 pm


Free!


RSVP on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=153898711343067


 A fun, educational, and entertaining journey into Nevada’s rich and storied history. Where mountain men, cowboys, soldiers, Native Americans, and folks from all walks of life in the Old West descend onto one location for a 3 day celebration of true Western heritage!

The Rendezvous runs both days, but join members of the GBCS on Saturday, June 11th. Wear your favorite western attire, anything from Victorian ladies of the 1860s, to cowboys and cowgirls of the modern day. 

This is a wonderful event for Civil War enthusiasts. Witness a live battle, shop for wares in the sutler's camp, watch pony express demonstrations and a gun fight.

Suggested costume: Victorian 1860 through 1890, Edwardian, Western cowboy and cowgirl of all decades.

As always, costume is admired but not required.

This is a free event. For more information visit: http://www.nvshows.com/carson-city-rendezvous/

The Victorian Steampunk Ball - September 17th, Piper's Opera House, Virginia City

Come join The Great Basin Costume Society, High Desert Steam, the Reno Steampunk Club, and the Sacramento Steampunk Society at our first annual "Victorian Steampunk Ball," an evening of dancing and entertainments at the historic Piper's Opera House in Virginia City, Nevada.

The ball will feature Victorian ballroom music, to include waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, and the Congress of Vienna. All manner of fantastical costume is admired (but not required) - Steampunks, Victorian ladies and gentlemen, soldiers and cavalrymen, Neo-Victorians, explorers, miners, and "doves."

Don't miss the other Steam events throughout the weekend! Ride the fully restored steam train from Carson City to Virginia City (or from Virginia City to Gold Hill and back), tour mines and haunted saloons, go ghost hunting in the Virginia City Graveyard, have a sarsparilla at the Bucket of Blood Saloon, even stay overnight in one of the many haunted (or not haunted) historic hotels and B&Bs.

The Steam Ball starts at 7:00 pm at Piper's Opera House
Tickets are $20 when you pre-pay (using Paypal), or $25 at the door

All proceeds from this event go to benefit the restoration of Piper's, and to support the Great Basin Costume Society.

Please help us raise money by telling your friends, and attending any of the fundraising tea parties, costume shows, and other events put on by the Great Basin Costume Society between April and September.


RSVP to the event on Facebook

Buy Tickets by clicking this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9DY72M6M5R28E

Donate by clicking this link:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EGAXDECCBN7RS

Sacramento Gold Rush Days - September 4, 2010

When: September 4-5, 2010
Where: Old Downtown Sacramento, CA


From the Gold Rush Days website (http://www.sacramentogoldrushdays.com/about/)

More than 200 tons of dirt will be dumped on the streets of Old Sacramento as the annual festival "turns back the clock," transforming Sacramento's historic district into a scene straight out of the 1850s. Costumed re-enactors, Wild West gun fights, musicians playing period instruments, and many aspects of life during the Gold Rush will be highlighted during the four-day event.

The Great Basin Costume Society would like to invite anybody and everybody interested in this period of history in the West. Come down for the day or the weekend - admission is FREE! - and enjoy a true "back in time" experience, with so much to see and do, many lovely shops to browse through (including Sac City Dry Goods, a boutique for costumers and re-enactors), and a great opportunity to wear your mid-Victorian Civil War and earlier costumes, and meet others from throughout our area interested in costuming and history.

This is a kid-friendly event, so bring the whole family. If you are in costume, prepare to have your photo taken a lot. The roads are dirt and the walkways made of wood, so wear sensible shoes. Tour the train museum while there, and participate in the costume contest!

Suggested costume - 1840s-1870s. California's Gold Rush, as we know, started in 1849, and California became a state in 1850. Civil War and Indian War attire is welcome, along with pioneer and settler costumes, miners, railroadmen, mountain men and women, gunslingers, ladies of the night, cowboys and cowgirls, pony express riders, you name it!

Nevada Territorial Wild West Fair - August 28, 2010

When: August 28th, 12 noon to midnight.  Costume Contest at 2 pm
Where: Reno Livestock Event Center, Reno


From the Wild West Fair website (http://wildwestfair.com/about-us/info-on-the-2010-fair/): 

Every year the Nevada State Fair has attracted thousands of fair goers and tourists alike. And now with this new statewide heritage theme taking shape in our State Fair, we’re expecting bigger crowds and more regional, national, and international attention to our event in the months and years to come. Where else can you enjoy a day with your family involving something exciting for all ages?

This year the Nevada State Fair is evolving into a statewide heritage event with new faces, new events, new entertainment, more hands-on experiences, exhibits for kids, a living history of Nevada’s rich heritage and cultures from its territorial days, and of course, Paul Maurer Shows Carnival will return with many new and exciting rides!

Great Basin Costume Society Members - our club is working with the Wild West Fair to put on a Costume Exhibition and Contest, with outstanding prizes for the winners. Unfortunately, GBCS Members (those who have paid their membership dues) may participate in the exhibition (show off your costume), but may not participate in the contest. More information for the Costume Contest can be found on the flier attached to this event (see photos).

Come enjoy the fair in costume and represent the club! The fair runs August 25-29, and features much to do and see, historical reenactors, performers, rides and games, exhibits and attractions.

Admission (at the gate):
Adults - $10
Kids 10 & under - FREE
Seniors 65+ - FREE

Unlimited Ride Wrist Bands - $28
FREE admission opening night, August 25th

GBCS members helping out with the Fashion Exhibition will have FREE admission Saturday, August 28th.

Steampunk Steam Train Extravaganza - September 11, 2010

When: September 11, 2010 - memorialize 9/11 by celebrating our unique Western American Heritage.
Where: Carson City Train Depot - take the train to Virginia City and back again.
OR meet the group in Virginia City (drive up for the day).


Come join The Great Basin Costume Society AND the Sacramento Steampunk Society as we take the Wild West by storm as Steampunk time travelers!

GBCS members - ride the train from Carson if you like, or drive up to Virginia City to meet the Sac Steampunkers as they come in on the train. The 51st Annual International Camel Races are going on this weekend as well, so there will be lots to see and do, and plenty of people to admire us in our costumes!

Purchase Train Tickets: http://carsoncity.activitytickets.com/relax/trainrides/1084/?event_date=2010-09-11#buynow
(not affiliated with GBCS)

From the Sacramento Steampunk Society: This is a major weekend outing. We will meet in Carson City, Nevada at 9:30 AM Saturday (earlier if you want to tour the train museum first) to take a steam excursion train to Virginia City.

We will have about three and a half hours to tour the old west silver mining town of Virgina City (with an introduction by a local guide) before reboarding the train for the return trip.

Saturday evening we will have a banquet in Carson City (details to be arranged). We will be riding the historic Virginia City and Truckee railroad in recently restored 1914 Pullman cars (inside with padded seats) behind a recently restored real steam locomotive.

How to Dress Steampunk: 
Think of Jules Vern, "The Golden Compass," movies like "Stardust" and "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." Steampunk is a combination of Victorian attire - fine ladies and gentlemen, explorers, goths and vampires, smugglers and pirates - Science, and Victorian aesthetic. Spruce up your Victorian outfits with watch gears, add some driving or flying goggles, combine costume pieces you wouldn't normally. It's not about being historically accurate, but is instead about creativity, "time travel," and having fun!

Event: Piper's Summer Masquerade

Date:	Saturday, 10 July 2010
Time:	19:00 - 22:00
Location:	Piper's Opera House
Street:	12 No. B Street
Town/City:	Virginia City, NV Come enjoy a night of music, dancing, and dressing up at historic Piper's Opera House in Virginia City! Live Music - Mt. Rose Trio Band, and Dance Master Gus Appetizers and Bar Admission: $18 We are encouraging Historical Costumes at this event. Elizabethan , Renaissance , Civil War , Victorian , Edwardian etc. This will be a Mardi Gras style Masquerade Ball. Please let all your friends know, the more the merrier . Be sure to check out the Tahoe House Hotel, a newly restored Victorian Boarding House. (775) 847-5264 This is event is open and listed on Facebook, RSVP!

EVENT: Mark Twain's Wild West Weekend - June 12th & 13th

Ladies and Gentlemen,
   Come join the Great Basin Costume Society on June 12th, to invade the *new* Mark Twain Days event at Zephyr Cove!


Mark Twain Western Days at Zephyr Cove Resort
Zephyr Cove Resort
760 Hwy 50
Zephyr Cove, NV 89449
Phone: (530) 543-6191

From the official website: 
"Come join us as we honor the life and legacy of Mark Twain with a Wild West Weekend. Zephyr Cove Resort and Lake Tahoe Cruises will host the weekend to honor the life and influence of Mark Twain and to kick off the summer season at Lake Tahoe.

Inspired by Mark Twain’s life and work, the western-themed festivities are scheduled June 12-13, 2010 and begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday with a line-up of family-friendly activities at the Zephyr Cove special events site."

Activities include pie and chili eating contests (er, not in a corset!), wild west shoot outs, live skits, cowboy poetry, a "bold faced liars" contest.  Sounds like fun.

Suggested costume:  1850s-1870s.  Ladies are welcome to wear hoops, yay!  Gentlemen, pull out of your long coats, miner's gear, or Civil War uniforms.  Weather may be chilly, so dress accordingly.

For more information, visit the official website: http://www.zephyrcove.com/landing-pages/mark-twain-festival-2010.aspx  

Victorian Era Bustles: A Primer

by Brenda Hineman

Bustles are a staple in vintage costume design and, to be sure, bustles present in different ways for different eras. In this primer, we are going to be discussing Victorian-era bustles, from the 1870s to the 1890s.

In the Victorian era, they naturally didn't refer to themselves as Victorians. As such, there was no such term as "Victorian bustle". Indeed, what we now refer to as the Victorian bustle was first known as the "Grecian bend" and it first came into vogue in the early 1870s. Following the era of crinoline cages that dominated fashion from the 1830s forward, bustles evolved from the realization that crinoline designs couldn't be worn any bigger and that trying to go smaller might provide some distinct new design possibilities.

A smaller crinoline, then, often with an additional steel support off the small of the back was used. This new approach necessitated the drawing of excess garment fabric to be pulled and piled to back of the skirt. These piles and layers were held in place with the strategic placement of buttons and tapes sewn into the skirt itself.

The ways in which bustles were pulled together soon became an art form in itself and in the late 1870s and early 1880s, bustles had replaced crinoline dresses as the fashion of the day. The taping and buttoning arrangements used to draw the fabric back created new design opportunities that were openly embraced by dressmakers of the day. This design movement, naturally, drew attention to the way skirts and dresses came together at the hips. To accentuate the design, a more slender fitting top - such as the cuirasse and princess body - was favored as it pulled the attention of the gown to the unique folds in the back.

With this more slender fashion, particularly in Parisian society, came the brief absence of bustles all together in favor of a trained petticoat that would provide fullness, while still catering to the emerging slender style. The bustle, however, was not done yet.

In 1883, the bustle emerged in British society in a completely new way. Favoring the large span of late-era crinoline dresses combined with the early-era bustles that pulled fabric to the back, the bustles that emerged in 1883 were very large in the back, creating an appearance akin to a horse's hindquarters.

The extended horizontal nature of this appearance presented difficulties in terms of the options available for layering fabric. Very soon, the approach of layering the fabric - a staple of early Victorian bustles - was abandoned in favor of flowing fabric that simple draped over the back of the larger bustles. Fabric that had been piled in the back was being pulled to the sides or, in some cases, to the front of dresses.

By the early 1890s, the bustle had all but disappeared. Early Edwardian fashion favored mere padding in favor of bustles. Still the s-curve from that had been created by tight-fit, tapered bodices and pronounced bustles continued on into the designs that dominated the next several decades.

Brenda Hineman is a costume aficionado and writes regularly about Halloween Costumes at StarCostumes.com.

Event: Preservation Ball

Ladies and Gents, this was forward to me by a couple of our esteemed members, to pass on to you!  It seems we have all been invited to a fancy dress ball!

Get your tickets NOW, as the Tahoe House is a small venue and will sell out quickly.  For tickets, call Carolyne at (775) 847-5264

Look for future articles and workshops on what to wear to the Preservation Ball.  For a taste, here a couple inspirational images!

 

gown from 1855

a Worth gown from 1867

some things to wear from the 1870s

tails, frock coats, vests, and top hats for the men

a gorgeous Worth ball gown from the 1880s

An 1890s ball gown or wedding gown by Worth

A later Edwardian ball gown from 1912