House of Lola Costumes

Such a pretty little lady
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POV: you’re in Grade 8. The only sewing experience you have is an American Girl doll dress made mostly by your Nana and two weeks of church sewing camp. You decide to make a jersey knit peplum top. You have no idea what interfacing is, nor do you care to research about it. You can’t lift your arms above your head because you don’t know that you have swimmer shoulders. The zipper in so janky because you pulled the fabric while sewing it in. But damn, it sure looks good.
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I took my glasses off for the pictures because I knew I’d look cooler.
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Still thinking about this amazing textile exhibit I had the privilege of seeing while I was in Yellowknife in November. Cathie Harper, a Yellowknife resident for over 25 years started weaving with wild willow and the rest is history.
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Cold weather means I finally get to wear my navy wool cloche I made witth at the milinery intensive at !! Super warm and keeps the -30° winds off my ears in Calgary 🙈
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I had to use my red pleather 18th century stays from the intensive with for a Halloween costume this year. I love these stays so much! They are even comfy enough to do 3 hours of karaoke in! I also decided to throw together some gauntlets, a crown, and armour out of EVA foam painted gold to go with it.
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Happy Halloween everyone! 🎃💃🏼✨💪🏻
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In first year, second semester of my Costuming for Stage and Screen program, we were given an assignment on contemporary clothing in History. For this study, we had to interview a living family member on a photo of them and ask them about the time and style of clothing they wore in the photo.

I decided to interview my Great Grandma who is now no longer with us. I could’ve chosen a great many photos but decided on her wedding picture as my Nana had her wedding dress. I was able to not only interview her but try on her wedding dress that she wore when she married in 1947. She bought it at Eaton’s in north Toronto for $40-$50 that she saved from working a month as a Bell Telephone operator.
I am so lucky to have known her; she was such a diligent, compassionate, and plucky woman. I am also just as lucky to have been able to make this special connection through my schooling with her as well.
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I love the fabrics we use to make costumes . Here’s three little girl’s dresses I made this week.
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Diploma in Costuming for Stage and Screen with Academic Distinction at Capilano University is complete!

Graduation has come and gone, but I thought I’d share some photos. What a lovely, sunny day to be out celebrating with my class who I have learned, grown, and worked with over the past two years. Such an honour to be surrounded by such creative people, I am excited to see the paths that everyone takes their career on from here! Thank you to the Costuming department teachers for being such kind and supportive mentors. I will miss you all!
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Always eating
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Some great shots from the held at Capilano University on May 7th. What a wonderful opportunity to meet amazing skilled artists in the Canadian industry! And I’ll never pass up a chance to dress up 😉
Thank you everyone for a memorable night.
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Some beautiful costume shots and show photos from my process of making Hope’s Act I Office look for Urinetown the Musical. Such a lovely design by and what fun it was to create! Thank you to .dallas, , and .costumes for helping me make this!
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When it lines up just right
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🥵🥵
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March 13th marked the last student led film set I was able to work on as a Capilano University student. Being costume set supervisor for “Moss” in the forest behind Cap U’s campus was such a fun opportunity. Thank you to and for asking me to help out!
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This afternoon was spent admiring a beautiful display of historical garments from Ivan Sayers’ private collection. Ivan has an extensive knowledge on the history of fashion and is such a skilled speaker. What a privilege to listen to him today.
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’s production of Urinetown opens this Thursday! Here’s a little sneak peak of what I’ve been working on this semester for one of the characters. I am very excited to see my little lady on stage.
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A few more photos from of my amazing costuming team and the fabulous crew. Thank you so much for such a memorable shoot for this semester’s film project!
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Finally posting some shots from filming at the end of February!
This shoot was so fun to be apart of and offered so many new learning opportunities like shooting on location and costuming extras. Long hours were put into prep and filming but you can get through anything with a little help from a Timmies coffee runs from yours truly 😉
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Being an assistant costume designer on a student film means you automatically become a costume buyer and your camera roll gets filled with pictures of shoes.
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Peek a boo !

Costume fittings have started for our student film !!
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Today’s classroom: Downtown Vancouver!

Student film prep has started, so the costume designer () and the assistant costume designer (yours truly) for are costume buyers for the day.

How many times can you spot Gabe and I?
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Pictures of my completed Half Scale:

This intensive pulled a lot of skills that I’ve been building on since the first semester of this program. Pattern drafting, working with new types of fabrics, and using new machines were some of the many things that I learned from this intensive.

I decided to pull my inspiration from the dress that Christine Daae wear in “Think of Me” in the 2003 movie musical, “Phantom of the Opera”. This dress was actually inspired by the House of Worth dress worn by Empress Sissi of Austria in a portrait made by Franz Winterhalter.

I love the 1860s silhouette. Its so romantic with its many layers of beautifully draped fabrics and makes the woman wearing it so regal and distinguished. I wanted to accentuate the natural fabrics I used by keeping the gown clean and sophisticated.

“Its like the wedding dress at the end of a fashion show” -Karen Matthews
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Pleating time!!
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Plus another sneak peak
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A baby bodice needs a baby iron
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Peep the half scale dress inspiration sneak peak
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bodice

Baby bodice fittings
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Sometimes cutting squares isn’t as fun as one may think
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Every snake seductress needs a snake stole...
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🐍
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M E D U S A
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With the mask intensive over, here is my inspiration photo and some process photos from start to finish. I found this photo of an example of an Ancient Greek mask of the gorgon and male temptress, Medusa from Greek mythology. This intensive was a huge learning experience for me as I had never worked with any of the materials I used to create this mask. Thank you to the very talented Heidi Wilkinson for mentoring and teaching me through each step!
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The mask intensive is nearly over so I thought I would share what I’ve been working on. The biggest highlight of this project has been the ability to use new materials like warbla, modeling foam and even pollyfill. The last photo is a little sneak peak on what my inspiration is...I’m wondering if you can guess it.
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