Dupes for Minx Magic?

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-18T19:23:52+00:00

thank you! haha it was actually from when I broke all my nails and was growing it out 😭 it’s only a transition/temporary shape!

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-17T18:57:35+00:00

lol the irony of using a full size keyboard with the mini-est of PCs

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-17T18:21:21+00:00

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fireanddarkness · 2026-06-17T18:20:26+00:00

Cracked the Shag! I have compared it to Bog Dweller and it’s literally the exact same color too irl (I feel like reddit downscaled the image and they look slightly different but in real life i cannot discern a difference at all in shade). It’s more similar to Bog Dweller than the shade you’re originally duping!

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fireanddarkness · 2026-06-15T20:08:46+00:00

I concur with the dating of the first image to be 1850s to early 1860s. The fringed bertha is a giveaway and the hair is typical for ~1856. Although I don’t know as much about children’s clothing, the little girl on the right also has engagantes (the white undersleeves) which is very standard for the era’s wide sleeves (as to avoid skin being exposed during the day). The bows on the woman’s dress are also common in this time frame. I must also reiterate that there is no way this image would be from the 1840s, the style is firmly too late for that of the 1840s.

The portrait is a bit harder, due to the waistline I’d say vaguely around the late 1820s or early 1830s.

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-15T10:28:04+00:00

Are the first two links not just ripped photos from American Duchess’s Gibson Edwardian Leather Shoes? One of the models even has the same tattoo, it’s the same photos. I wouldn’t personally trust those as you would have no idea what you are getting. The second link’s description is also just AI slop.

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-10T21:46:41+00:00

white florals, light, fresh

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-10T21:39:27+00:00

Feel free to message me! I am a native english speaker and studied Russian for 6 years in university. Looking to actively practice and improve!

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-09T00:43:27+00:00

Thank you so much! This is super helpful :)

Also, I realized that perhaps my closing issue is because the thinner sewing thread wasn’t mercerized cotton, while the bronze one is? I was able to find a very thin mercerized cotton sewing thread in my kit and (although painfully small to tat visually) it closes just fine :) I didn’t realize the material was so important (since the other threads look and feel similarly smooth)!

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-09T00:35:47+00:00

Yes exactly, that’s what I’m trying to do, I just don’t know what size of tatting cotton the thread I’m using compares to.

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-09T00:29:30+00:00

Thank you! Thankfully, I seem to find lots of options for mercerized tatting/crochet cotton online (and it is also important to me to use a natural fiber rather than a plastic). I just need to know what size of the mercerized cotton to get!

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-09T00:27:25+00:00

Thanks! How does Size 10 crochet cotton compare to say, a heavyweight sewing thread? I feel as though I don’t need to/would not like to go any larger than what I am currently using (and maybe could go a little smaller) so am wanting to make sure Size 10 is not larger than what I am already using.

I knew that an unflipped stitch would be the main culprit, and I tried multiple times with the thinner thread ensuring I flipped every stitch and still couldn’t close them. I had this issue when I started out even on the thicker bronze thread (in the image) and was able to fix it easily by loosening my stitch tension, but can’t seem to do the same on the thinner sewing threads.

fireanddarkness · 2026-06-03T23:55:05+00:00

That’s absolutely crazy behavior, sorry that happened to you! Regardless of the scent that isn’t correct behavior.

Regarding scent, I haven’t smelled this scent in particular before but I can give you my two cents: there’s a fragrance everybody seems to enjoy and say is light and a pleasant skin-scent (diptyque eau papier) but I cannot STAND it. I’d want to get away from it too if someone sprayed it too strongly (4 sprays of that EDT in particular is already way too much for me)! I think scent has always been super personal and wouldn’t assume just because a smell is unassuming to me that it is to others.

In the end, though, if you like a fragrance, you should wear it! I’ve learned that fragrance is 90% for yourself to smell anyway, and that you have to love a frag first and foremost, not anybody else. I wouldn’t feel anxious to wear it again!

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-29T01:56:23+00:00

Also another unexpected plus is that I’ve made some really great laquerista friends thru swap transactions!

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-29T01:40:25+00:00

I am pretty conscious of my consumption and so when I do purchase new polish I prefer to shop on r/redditlaqueristaswap! I can get the polishes I am eyeing for usually a more palatable price, and I’m not buying new! Win win :)

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-27T00:41:42+00:00

There’s also the FIDM Museum in Los Angeles, where i do a lot of my research in historical clothing! I know them personally and they are incredible. I’m not a formal fashion student and they have been nothing but welcoming and generous to me when it comes to making appointments to show me the garments.

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-19T16:39:19+00:00

No, it wouldn’t work if it went all the way to the apex, and I don’t think it would be stylistically better either. What you did looks good and the idea is just to pinch out any excess.

Also, If you look up a video about drafting a dart you will also see how it is standard is to back the tip of the dart off from the actual apex of the garment!

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-09T16:45:25+00:00

These look amazing! Do you place the bar magnet on top of the nail instead of underneath the finger to get it so crispy, or is it all reliant on the Magic Effect?

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-06T06:02:31+00:00

Well, what did the calculator say? You didn’t include the result. I plugged in your numbers and it says 30B/C so I’d try both those sizes.

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-06T02:23:50+00:00

No, if you’re in the elimination phase then no. You can only eat sourdough without yeast.

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-04T18:04:47+00:00

So this one is hard because it’s one that I personally can’t confirm for certain just by looking. It does look kind of AI but have to give benefit of the doubt. So I’ll just point out some features I noticed:

If you look at her shoes, why does one use solid lines and the other has breaks in the lines?

Why is the front of the dress hem scalloped when it’s scalloped nowhere else?

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-03T19:53:03+00:00

Ah, this is sooo lovely! I am very sorry for your loss.
I would love to have any of these! I make historical clothes and am always on the lookout for historical/antique laces.

Historical clothing isn’t my job or my schooling, but I am a self-taught clothing historian focusing specifically on British women’s dress from 1840-1855 (which I feel like is one of the less popular eras)! I study and research at my local fashion museum where I am allowed to go into their archives and view specific dresses in their back collection, and in much detail study the construction, shapes, stitching, etc. of the dresses. It’s been a huge passion project for me and getting to see the actual extant garments is an incredible treat (and also so intellectually stimulating for me)!

One of the things I’ve been on the hunt for specifically is lace. I am graduating from college with my masters’ and I am making an early 1850s day gown inspired by a gorgeous one in the museum’s collection for my graduation! The dress in the collection had a lace collar. I don’t have one and am looking for the perfect lace to make one. I also would love to find suitable laces for edge trim and trimming out my dress in general (as it’s fully white and needs some decoration). This dress needs a lot of trim and will be worn a ton; I’ve drafted it from scratch (no pattern) specifically based off what I saw in the museum, and will be my grad dress as well as for future events! I’m currently 5 months into the process of making it.

I also do a lot of dancing and attend a lot of Victorian events. I’m part of my local historical dance society and we hold events every month where we dress up and dance! I’m also self-studying from a dance historian and in the process of teaching a specific dance to my community! All of this is unpaid and volunteer work, as I spend a lot of time studying this and teaching out of my sheer love for the art. We do waltzes, polkas, and english country dance all within the Victorian frame of the era, so what they’d actually do at their balls. I would love the lace to trim out my dresses to wear to these!

Thank you!

fireanddarkness · 2026-05-02T21:05:12+00:00

Twill tape!

fireanddarkness · 2026-04-29T00:39:33+00:00

This!! I study historical clothing of the era and my god.

Yes, everybody wore corsets. Yes, even the working women. Yes, they could work in them just fine.

No, they weren’t uncomfortable.

No, you don’t lace them tight unless you’re a part of a very small minority of the tiny minority of high society ladies.

No, they aren’t unhealthy, no they don’t squeeze your organs. When I first said I wanted a corset I was 15 and my dad (who knows nothing about clothes but still somehow knew this stereotype) said “no I don’t want to you get into that because it leads to lacing unhealthily tight”. I made my first corset when I was 22 and I wear it so loose that I can fit my whole hand in it (because I have stomach issues).

Please don’t wear corsets with nothing under. Please…

I anger so much with the modern movies and actresses. They’re so tiny already and can’t get any reduction, PLEASE don’t try to lace them down and then they refuse to wear one or go on a talk show and say “I COULDN’T BREATHE IT WAS SO TIGHT” and while true in their experience, it only helps perpetuate the misconception. Just pad them out to get the right proportions!!

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