Cathy Hay

[LadyViorica]

Several people in the Bernadette Banner thread requested it, so here it is. Cathy Hay: peacock dress purveyor, costume consultant, frenemy (?) of the costube community.

[Shiv]

Do you think she'll ever actually make the dress?

[itsnotaphasemom]

I don't think so. And without support from Bernadette it would be even harder for her.

That’s the frustrating thing with CH. She is an immensely talented costumer. Her oak leaf dress was a show stopper in the historical costuming world. I’ve seen it up close and it is really a stunning example of the craft. She has the chops to produce the peacock dress but she just won’t do it because she’s branded the aspiration of wanting the dress more than actually having it.

This a quote from BB thread, and I agree, she would rather "chase the dream" than make any actual progress.

[LadyViorica]

What support specifically was she getting from Bernadette? Financial?

[itsnotaphasemom]

What support specifically was she getting from Bernadette? Financial?

Cathy Hay's YouTube channel blew up when Bernadette uploaded "The Peacock Dress Project" video, which currently has 1.6m views.
BB also helped A LOT with Foundations Revealed promotion.

[HarmanBee]

CH with her Peacock Dress reminds me of some lines from Paolo Coelho, that every single creature in the world must have their Makkah, the place they dream of and the place they crave for but will never visit in their lifes, so it can stay like a fairyland forever. She did however made the list of thungs she need to construct the gown, and she did buy the period appropriate sewing machine, so who knows, I might be wrong. But I do like her sewing related videos more then this crap with person coaching.

[beebe]

Why do you need to buy period appropriate sewing machine? That is so bizarre.

[andipales]

Why do you need to buy period appropriate sewing machine? That is so bizarre.

Because she no longer has BB on side to lend it an authentic air or presumably do the work for her, would be my guess.

I think she'll make it, I think she'll do her best to spin it into some vast redemption arc of proving all the haters wrong and she'll continue to exploit her community for money and probably get away with it, because that's what she's always done. The only possible way she loses here is if BB and the others speak out against her, and that seems increasingly unlikely because I would really like to see her at least prevented from the shadier end of her business practises. Selling cheaper memberships without being able to talk about sewing in the discord unless you pay up for the higher tiers? Really Cathy, come on now.

[dubstepford wife]

Why do you need to buy period appropriate sewing machine? That is so bizarre.

This has become a thing on social media among sewers. The popularity of historical sewing, historybounding, and #cottagecore have all led to people getting antique machines. I think BB started it, with her 1890s hand crank sewing machine.

I won't lie, I kinda want one. I look at ones available on eBay all the time, but thus far have stopped myself. It would be a ridiculous purchase that I do not have the space for, and I've got an absolute beast of a Bernina so I'm more than covered for machines, but...they're pretty.

[SnarkySnax]

The hand crank machine thing predates BB. She, of course, just brought the idea out of the small pool of historical costuming and into the mainstream so now everybody has to find some old gadget and use it and blather about how empowering “original practice” is.

I remember several old school costumers playing around with hand crank and treadle machines back in the early-2000s. One of them sewed a reproduction of an 1860s corset from some museum collection with one and that was a huge sensation back in the day.

[dubstepford wife]

The hand crank machine thing predates BB. She, of course, just brought the idea out of the small pool of historical costuming and into the mainstream so now everybody has to find some old gadget and use it and blather about how empowering “original practice” is.

I remember several old school costumers playing around with hand crank and treadle machines back in the early-2000s. One of them sewed a reproduction of an 1860s corset from some museum collection with one and that was a huge sensation back in the day.

I stand corrected! Historical sewing isn't really my jam anyway, I watch the videos more as a novelty, which is why I've thus far talked myself out of buying a hand treadle machine. I have a feeling it would be fun to use for a day or so, it would fulfill all my Anne with an E roleplay dreams, and then I'd get annoyed with how slow and clunky it is.

I'll hand-fell down a hem or a cuff and that's about as historical as I'll get.

[SnarkySnax]

It’s a pretty safe bet that if any of the Costubers are doing it for views, it’s been done before in the costuming community. None of them have an original thought between them... Morgan Donner popularized a method of fitting 14th century dresses that was well known and taught within medieval costuming circles for the better part of a decade before she put up her video tutorial (and then everyone else had to try it and now it’s known as Morgan’s method and not the original person she ripped it off of, Tasha Kelly, who used Gail Owen Crocker’s research....).

I used to get so mad when people would pass these things off as their own, but now I’m just over it. Plagiarism is for the cool kids. The rest of us losers waste time trying to cite our sources and go nowhere.

[Beaky_the_duck]

CH with her Peacock Dress reminds me of some lines from Paolo Coelho, that every single creature in the world must have their Makkah, the place they dream of and the place they crave for but will never visit in their lifes, so it can stay like a fairyland forever. She did however made the list of thungs she need to construct the gown, and she did buy the period appropriate sewing machine, so who knows, I might be wrong. But I do like her sewing related videos more then this crap with person coaching.

Looking at the view count for those last 2 videos vs all the culty stuff, I wonder whether she'll try pushing out more sewing content this year to try to grow her YT channel.

I can totally imagine her sewing all the things she's listed as needing to make to wear with the gown but then stopping before she has to make the dress. Just to duck out of doing it again

[HarmanBee]

Why do you need to buy period appropriate sewing machine? That is so bizarre.

It's not bizarre if you are buying it not for a pretty photo of your cottagecore stuff but for an actual use. For example, it sews leather and thick fabric far better then modern sewing machines; my Singer from 1897 goes through baleen on corset like a knife through butter, when my new Brother suffers and gives me grief. Buying such machine for original pracrice is fully understanded: it the same question when reenactors go crazy about their viking costume to be as "real" as possible.

[flannelnaps]

Looking at the view count for those last 2 videos vs all the culty stuff, I wonder whether she'll try pushing out more sewing content this year to try to grow her YT channel.

I can totally imagine her sewing all the things she's listed as needing to make to wear with the gown but then stopping before she has to make the dress. Just to duck out of doing it again

Oh for sure! That's a whole monetised series waiting to happen - undergarments and supporting garments, shoes, a wig, makeup... She'll milk it for all it's //Worth\\

[Beaky_the_duck]

Looking at the view count for those last 2 videos vs all the culty stuff, I wonder whether she'll try pushing out more sewing content this year to try to grow her YT channel.

I can totally imagine her sewing all the things she's listed as needing to make to wear with the gown but then stopping before she has to make the dress. Just to duck out of doing it again

Oh for sure! That's a whole monetised series waiting to happen - undergarments and supporting garments, shoes, a wig, makeup... She'll milk it for all it's //Worth\\

That made me cackle! I hadn't even thought about the wig and makeup in addition to all the other "essentials".
She could easily squeeze a 5-part series out of each of those things

[heavymetalcupcake]

Looking at the view count for those last 2 videos vs all the culty stuff, I wonder whether she'll try pushing out more sewing content this year to try to grow her YT channel.

Was it just me, or did her last 2 videos have major BB Copycat vibes? The lighting, the editing style, the scripting, and now a hand-turned antique machine... ... ...

[Beaky_the_duck]

Looking at the view count for those last 2 videos vs all the culty stuff, I wonder whether she'll try pushing out more sewing content this year to try to grow her YT channel.

Was it just me, or did her last 2 videos have major BB Copycat vibes? The lighting, the editing style, the scripting, and now a hand-turned antique machine... ... ...

Totally agree with you, although the Britishisms come across as natural unlike BB's (guess that's to be expected as CH is from Blighty). The only difference was CH quoting her "very good friend, Morgan Donner" and making out that she's bffs with everyone influential on Costube. I feel like BB doesn't name drop.

Also: just sneaked a peek at CH's insta and it looks like she's going to be returning to her "self-improvement" theme for her next video. Any bets how many times she mentions she's "a CEO growing her own business"?

[unrelentingspleen]

Looking at the view count for those last 2 videos vs all the culty stuff, I wonder whether she'll try pushing out more sewing content this year to try to grow her YT channel.

Was it just me, or did her last 2 videos have major BB Copycat vibes? The lighting, the editing style, the scripting, and now a hand-turned antique machine... ... ...

Totally agree with you, although the Britishisms come across as natural unlike BB's (guess that's to be expected as CH is from Blighty). The only difference was CH quoting her "very good friend, Morgan Donner" and making out that she's bffs with everyone influential on Costube. I feel like BB doesn't name drop.

Also: just sneaked a peek at CH's insta and it looks like she's going to be returning to her "self-improvement" theme for her next video. Any bets how many times she mentions she's "a CEO growing her own business"?

I die laughing every time she says that. A "business" that was barely surviving, at least when I first looked at it 4 years ago, until now miraculously she's doing so well, her "business has exploded" in the last year...conveneintly when BB starts advertising for her...but no, CH is an ENTREPRENEUR, she did it ALL BY HERSELF. Meanwhile the people I know who are/have been in Foundations Revealed say it's a complete shitshow, like none of the people who work there know what's going on, they keep promising interesting stuff and not delivering or taking stuff away and increasing the prices to make more money, but that's all par for the course for CH. Shame, because it seems like it could be a nice resource for hte community if only CH wasn't making it come off so culty and running it so poorly, or wasn't behind it at all, which is why I laugh so hard whenever she insists on calling herself a CEO. Does make you wonder why she constantly posted about being in these business cults and taking all these workshops and yet still hasn't learned how to run a business. I can't say I have any entrepreneureal experience but I'm pretty sure it starts with connecting with the people you're selling to first, trying to help them, not making it obvious that you're just trying to take their money while feeding them some bullcrap about being your true self.

I can't wait till the older school costumers get ahold of this thread, I'm sure they have the real tea, and no one has been brave enough to come out about CH's shady behavior in the past. [pops popcorn]

[KittK20]

So many of the shady stories I heard over the early LJ years revolved around people that aren't really a part of the community any more. Lots of the California group has left over the recent years and they usually were where the "drama" centered it seemed. It just amazes me how many people seem to have had questionable experiences with her, but no one has ever really said it publicly. Do they think she's too influential? Too dangerous?