Posts Tagged Costuming

Yes, yes, I know I’ve been a bad blogger lately.

Truth is, I’ve just been crazy busy. My days have been pretty much going like this:

• Get up, get dressed, feed cats.
• Go to work. Do work.
• Come home, feed cats, Exercise!
• KNIT! SEW! KNIT! SEW! COSTUMES MUST BE DONE!
• Collapse into bed.
• Repeat.

Somewhere in the middle of this, I also received my first commission. That is, someone asked me to write a story. In return for this story, I will get money.

This terrifies me. This is the exact opposite of how my story writing usually goes. Usually, I write the story first, and then look for a place to sell it,  receiving the requisite handful of rejection letters (or emails) before I find a place for it, if I ever find a place for it.

This is the first time someone’s offered to pay me before the story is even written. What if the story I write isn’t what they were really looking for? What if they don’t think it’s really good enough to merit their payment? Eeeep! There’s that panic!

So the last few weeks pretty much every ounce of spare time that I’m not spending working on my costumes for DragonCon (OMG ALMOST HERE), I’ve spent working hard on that story.

So in the middle of all that writing and sewing and knitting and writing and sewing and knitting….there hasn’t been a lot of room for blogging. Worry not, though, folks! I think I’ll queue up some excerpts from “The Boy Ran” for the next couple of weeks, and I’ll be liveblogging DragonCon again this year!

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(Click Here for the Photo Gallery of the Con!)

Overall, the Con was just as awesome as it always is, though we saw fewer panels (we really only attended two) and attended fewer events.  There were fewer elaborate costumes this year, likely as a result of the economy, but those that were were some of the most amazing I’ve seen to date.  (Did everyone get  a chance to see that amazing Big Daddy Costume that won the Masquerade?)

BioShock Big Daddy and Little Sisters costume at DragonCon

The only really big disappointment of the Con was the photo-op with Bill Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, which had been the thing we were most looking forward to.  We found out afterwards that the stars themselves were upset about the way the photo op had been run – it was fairly clear that the photographer, Froggy-Photos, had over-booked to make more money and it was rather more like being herded vaguely and forcefully past the actors rather than actually getting to meet them, much less thank them for all that they have done and been to us.  Considering how much we paid for that photo, we most certainly didn’t get our money’s worth, and then to add to the annoyance and disappointment of it all, the photographer lost our photo, and those of several other people.  They re-printed them, but at that point we were disgusted enough that we’d almost have rather had a refund than our photo.  Not only did we have the expense of the photo, we had actually taken off work a day ahead of what we’d intended (losing pay for that day) and taken a hotel room for an extra night just so we could make it to that photo-op which, rather than being a wonderful experience, turned out to just be infuriating and disappointing.

Needless to say, we will not be wasting our money on any Froggy-Photo run photo-ops in the future, and I would suggest the same to others, no matter who the stars are. It’s not an opportunity to actually get to meet the stars, you’ll just get to walk behind them and don’t even have a chance to compose yourself before the flash and you’re herded off.

Dirk Benedict, Bryant, and Me at DragonCon

But before I get too ranty about that, the remainder of the Con, after that inauspicious start, was great.  Thanks to an additional Digital TV channel that got added this year, playing mostly tv shows from the 80′s, we’ve been watching a lot of the A-Team lately.  So we went to the A-Team panel that Friday with Dwight Schultz and Dirk Benedict, which was fun and really unexpectedly touching.  From there, we headed to the Walk of Fame, where we met Dirk Benedict and talked with him for a good long while about his books, one of which we bought and had autographed, and had our picture taken with him. As far as celebrities go, meeting him was the unexpected highlight of the convention.

The unexpected good things continued Friday night as we headed up to Nicholai’s Roof for what was undoubtedly the best meal I have ever put in my mouth.  Neither Bryant nor I had had foie gras before – we may be foodies, but we’re not exactly wealthy foodies – and neither of us like liver, so it was with some trepidation that we headed into the flavors that, for us, were experimental.  There was not one morsel I put in my mouth that was not absolutely heavenly.  If ever there was orgasm inducing food, that was it.

DragonCon Parade Banner

The parade was the next day, and as I said, the costumes were no where near as numerous or as elaborate as they have been in years past, which is understandable as everyone is tightening their belts this year.  Nonetheless, the parade is always fun to attend, and the people we ended up watching it around this year were pretty awesome folks.  We lined up well ahead of the event and had a chance to sit and talk with them for a long time.

We then headed to get in line for the Adam Savage panel.  To be honest, I didn’t expect the line to form as early as it did, but I’m glad I listened to B and we headed on over there.  We managed to be close to the front of the line.  The Sheraton employees proved to be just as rude and obnoxious as last year, but fortunately the DragonCon officials were having none of it.  (Seriously, you guys are my heroes!)  DragonCon continues to be one of those rare places where waiting in a queue for hours can actually be fun and interesting.

Adam was wonderful, as, of course, he would be.  I never did guess what his costume was at the Con (a chewbacca outfit that we must’ve walked past a dozen times and never recognized as him).  He proved to be yet another of those examples where it seems like the stars have just as much fun at the convention as the fans – something that seems to set DragonCon apart from other conventions of its kind.  He talked at length about how Mythbusters became so successful as an educational show rather by accident.  They had set out to entertain, and found out that the scientific method was simply the best way to do what they were setting out to do, and that it gave the show a natural narrative flow.

Saturday night, we went to the DragonCon at the Aquarium event, which was amazing and relaxing.  It was nice to get away from the congestion and the noise, and to sit and watch the whale sharks and mantas seeming to fly across in front of us was absolutely wonderful.

Most of the rest of the weekend was spent people-watching and relaxing and just generally being on vacation.  All in all, we had a wonderful time, and the things that we enjoyed turned out to be the unexpected things.

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I love costuming, and I love events where people go in costume as much for the fact that they give me an excuse to wear my costumes as for the events themselves. It’s like make-believe for grown-ups (or at least, people who look like grown-ups).

There’s always that moment of anxiety before an event, though, where you’re sitting there with the most fundimental question of all.  “What will I wear?”

Well, some events are easy, because they have a distinct setting. A LARP, for example, might be set in a particular type of world, and you may already have an idea of what race or class you might want to play in that LARP.  A Renaissance Faire also lends a certain framework around which to decide your costume, because it has to be contemporary with the time period in which the Faire is set.  An event like a science fiction convention (DragonCon, for instance) can be more difficult, because it’s rather an “anything goes” sort of event.  For deciding for that, I tend to go with my favorite fandom which is most highly represented among the guests each year, or with some style I feel most comfortable with.

You also have to take into consideration whether or not you can sew (or have a handy seamstress-on-demand willing to do your bidding).  If you can sew, and sew well, your costume is really only limited by your fabric budget and how much time you’ve got to actually make your wondrous creation.  If you can’t sew and don’t have someone to sew for you, well, you’re probably going to have to buy your costume, and finding the resources for buying a costume that doesn’t, you know, look costumey (non-flammable nylon, anyone?) can be difficult.

The Aether Emporium Wiki has an excellent list of resource links for the less needle-and-thread-inclined among us, as well as some great places to get patterns.  Though it’s primarily geared toward steampunk related costumes, many of the resources can also be used for a western look, historically accurate Victorian costumes, gothic, or even some Renaissance wear.

For women, some items of costumery are generally best custom made if you can afford them or make them yourself, particularly lingerie type elements and corsetry.  A well made and well fitted corset is extremely comfortable, but get one that doesn’t fit your measurements and you’ll be spending your time in that costume extremely uncomfortably.  A badly fitted corset, drawn up too tight, can also cause internal injuries if you’re not careful, so this is one of those things that is really worth the money, as expensive as they can be.

As usual, costuming can be a lot easier for men than for women.  Pants are pretty much pants, all the way through the ages, and you’d be amazed at what you can do with a nicely tailored pair of black pants and a frilly white shirt – both of which are easily found in department stores.  All you’d really have trouble finding is a coat, if you wanted to wear one, or some props.  And when in doubt, no man can go wrong with a t-shirt, a pair of boots, and a kilt for comfort and to attract the eye of the ladies. (In doubt as to whether kilts on men are manly and/or sexy?  Oh, baby, you have no idea…I am firmly of the belief that every man should own a kilt.)

With only about four months to go, and limited time in general, it’s time  to start seriously thinking about con costumes.

We’ve had some vague, general ideas. B is actually beginning to get into the costuming aspect this year, and seems excited about a steampunk costume.  I already have the elements of one pretty much intact.  I got a wonderful tweed skirt with a bit of a mermaid-tail flair to the bottom of it for Christmas, and of course I have my beautiful corset from last year’s con. The fabric is a canvas map that is absolutely beautiful.

Example Bustle Belt from LoopTangle Blog

I don’t want to alter the skirt itself, since I want to be able to continue to wear it as a non-costume, too, but it does need a little something extra to give it that perfect flair.  A suggestion from my wonderful costumer friend @marillawen over on Twitter/WoW was to use a bustle-belt of some sort. She suggested some brown leather, perhaps some complimentary tweed, and I was thinking of adding some brown lace and chiffon to help further fluff up the bustle.

Now, I wanted to incorporate some sort of leather tool-belt into my steampunk costume (after all, what self-respecting victorian engineering lady would be caught somewhere without her spanner?), so my plan now is to somehow combine the two, sewing the bustle onto the back of a tool-belt.

I’ve been working on making some aviator goggles, too, but I think those will likely end up in the possession of B, because I’ve become somewhat entranced with ladies’ top-hats.  It shouldn’t be too difficult to find a suitable hat and spruce it up a bit.  I’d love it if I could find one of those miniature top-hats to pun on top of a nice big curly hairdo, but will likely make do with the full-sized sort.

Example of the sort of pants I'm thinking of making for B.

As far as B, he’s put forth the idea of being an aviator of some sort, a biologist, an engineer, etc. etc. etc.  He’s a pharmacist, so I rather thought the idea of a scientist would suit him well.  A belt with a suitable selection of sealed vials with little miniature plants in them would work nicely for a botanist of some sort, likewise with some “dubious” chemicals for a chemist.   A suitable pair of pants shouldn’t be too difficult to buy or make.   I already have a nice pattern for a tailcoat that will look phenomenal.

I likely have less actual sewing to do this year than I did for last . . . which may be a good thing, but gettng started much earlier will help to ensure that I’m not sitting there rushing to get things finished at the last minute again this year. I’ve also got a good, fairly clear picture of what it is I want to make. Now all I’ve got to do is aquire the materials and get to work.