Cage Crinoline and Cage Sleeves

Okay, several of us have had a good time with these! I wanted to illustrate how cage making materials don't have to be used in cage crinolines alone and that cage crinolines can be seriously awesome. Keep in mind, when you use the right hoop steel you can walk through narrow doorways with ease, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

Where to start...

The corset is one made by Liz Gerds for Farthingales L.A. years ago. Ironically it was purchased by Oliva (modelling) and I never knew. She told me she had it when we were going over the costume pieces and it was the perfect one for this look. It was made from an over bust version of the downloadable Farthingales corset pattern we have here on the website. Unfortunately I don't yet have the over-bust version on the website, nor do I have any plans (at the moment) to make that happen.

The structural shoulder pieces and the jacket were both made by Karen Merriam. She created the patterns for both. The structure of both is created using "woven boning" sometimes known as "rigeline". This product is available here at Farthingales in both black and white and in various widths. Karen used the 12mm wide black version for both of these. There are special rubber tips to apply to the ends! This boning can be easily sewn through, which is how she secured the intersections and ends. Every time I look at the should pieces I think about adding fringe to them, it would be so easy to stitch some one - but somehow it seems like it would detract from them - so, I haven't...yet!

The cage! If only I had somewhere to wear this, there will be future costume conventions...someday. This was made using our Laughing Moon Victorian Hoops and Bustles pattern view B. The black lace is from a local shop, I had nothing in my stash that was quite right. The lace appears fragile but like many nets it's surprisingly strong and has worked perfectly for this cage made by Jennie Wonnacot. Oliva is wearing tall black boots with this, and we both liked the idea - but now that I've seen it I think sheer hosiery and shoes would showcase the cage better. Black bone casing has been used to hold the hoop steel in place. The hoop steel used is our most popular 10mm hoop steel there are connectors available for this steel, that make the hoop making process easy. The waist band is made of "belting" and secured with a slider buckle.

Thanks to Lasting Impressions Photography - Stratford and Oliva Walters for modeling.