Report by Lisa Ashton, President and Founder, Miss Lizzy’s Traveling Historical Fashion Show, a Special Interest Group of the ICG. Photos by Leslie Johnston
With Costume-Con currently off the schedule, there seemed no venue to exhibit or share any of Miss Lizzy’s wonderful acquisitions, when there have been many in years past! So, we were extremely fortunate to be offered an opportunity last fall!
Figure 1: Eduardo and Sarah Questell at the Ball
If you were at the 2026 International Costumers’ Guild Annual Meeting, you will have heard a bit about TeslaCon. Teslacon is an immersive steampunk convention held in late fall in Madison, Wisconsin, with a different theme annually and an associated Victorian year. The 2025 theme was “The Tear of Odin” (Norwegian traditions) and its year was 1895.
Eric Larson, who runs the con, offered a large parlor room to run a Costume-Con program and Archives track, and, even with very little lead time, we were able to design a costume topic schedule. The opening program item on Friday morning of the con was “Miss Lizzy’s presents a Look at Authentic Victorian Garments and Accessories.” I had about a month to promote it, and I did on my own Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/MissLizzysTravelingHistoricalFashionShow) and in the group for people who participate in the con: “TeslaCon Fans” (https://www.facebook.com/groups/teslaconfans).
I brought two large bins and several small boxes of items, although unfortunately I was unable to bring my small mannequin, as there just wasn’t enough room in the van! But we got up to the room an hour early and got everything unpacked and displayed, and then folks started arriving!
I brought dresses from the early 1860’s through about 1910, of all kinds of fabric, from silk dresses of the American Civil War era to a wool plaid 1890’s bodice with some gold soutache trim and an 1890’s plush velvet bodice with vast amounts of beadwork and beaded fringe. There was wool, linen, silk and cottons. I tried to include many saturated bright colors and patterns of fabric, as well as items with different types of fabric manipulation and embellishment. People could examine the insides of bodices and how the stays were fastened in, see how repairs were made.
Figure 2: Bodices from the late 1880s (left), and the mid-1890s (right)
People were very enthusiastic about examining authentic Victorian clothing. We talked about how Victorian ladies modified and recycled their dresses to stay current with changing fashions, and how things were repaired.
I even brought my actual whalebone stays and a crinoline! Accessories included fans, beaded reticules, hats, gloves, hosiery, a man’s plush velvet collar case with collars, and more.
Figure 3: Cage Crinoline, likely 1870s
I brought an 1870’s hand-sewn quilt and talked about how an antique patchwork quilt provides a fabric reference library of a specific time. I brought Victorian autograph albums and photos, and we talked about leisure pursuits. We talked about sewing techniques of the time, how fabric was measured and sold. Everyone took lots of photos of the outside and the inside of garments.
Figure 4: 1870s Crazy Quilt
I also brought one of my antique sample books of trim from the 1870’s, one of my treasures and rare, so everyone got a look at the pages of different types and colors of clothing and home furnishing trims available then.
Figure 5: Sample Book of 1870s Trims
Figure 6: Miss Lizzy, aka Lisa Ashton
All gratitude to Leslie Johnston and Karen Schnaubelt for helping with it all and answering questions. Next year for Teslacon, with longer to plan, I hope to bring many more and different items, and get the mannequin in a bigger van so I can display a dress on it! We’ll be part of the “Costume-Con at Teslacon” programming track.
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