I want to take a picture like this

I really don't like Kristin Stewart, I think she's incredibly bland, both in appearance and as an actress, but I love this picture. I got it off 's Tumblr. If I am interpreting this correctly, both of these models are her.



I would love to take a picture like this. I've been meaning to drag myself out as far as I'm capable and photograph myself. I really like the juxtaposition of the feminine version of Stewart with her masculine version. I've watched some makeup tutorials on the Internet about how to make your face more masculine but I haven't tried them yet. I would also love to try to do my hair like man-Kristin's, all sleek and slicked back. And the suit with the suspenders is pretty cool too.

International Steampunk City 2012

Jared and I just got back from a day spent at the International Steampunk City Fair held in downtown Waltham. I have to say, I love that this thing exists. Steampunk is a slightly obscure subculture, and a very geeky one at that. And yet the town authorities are cool enough to see the connection it can make to Waltham's history of watchmaking and development with the Industrial Revolution. And all the artists and artisans in this style get a venue with a ton of support to display their wares and their work. And geeks like me, who eat this stuff up, get to experience it for ten bucks and a short walk from my house. I think that's incredibly cool. I feel like, slowly but surely, various aspects of geek culture are going more and more mainstream, and over time we'll get more and more people who are open to fantastic stuff like this.

I had a lot of fun there. I loved walking around looking at the art pieces and the items for sale, and we attended some interesting panels too. Steam Fashion was great for definitional things, like a good, solid way to define the subculture and the aesthetic of steampunk as "the long (around one hundred thirty years) 19th Century," and the ideas behind the "ragamuffin," "aristocrat," "adventurer," "soldier," and "professorial" steam fashion styles. Thrifty Costuming had a lot of information I already knew-- at this point I'm a pretty experienced thrift store scourer --but also gave me a lot of great pointers for DIY props and pieces. They emphasized deconstruction very heavily, using pieces of things to build new things. I especially liked the idea of taking soft leather purses and cutting off the embellishments so as to turn them into belt pouches; a couple of the presenters had done that and I never would have guessed that they were repurposed modern items. I even picked up a battered old purse at the thrift store to try it out with and make a present for Jared.

We walked all over the town today, and though my feet are aching now, I'm very happy to have gotten that much exercise. I also loved the people-watching, seeing all the people going by in their costumes. It's really a great idea, and it supports the Charles River Museum of Industry too! So it's socially responsible as well as good geeky fun. :-D

We put a ballerina in a tree, and she turned into a wood nymph

I enjoyed doing the photo shoot with Gigi so much that I felt the need to do another one!

Yesterday niobien* was kind enough to allow me to dress her up and mess up her hair and send her up into trees so I could take pictures of her. katiescarlett29* served as my lovely assistant helping me figure out shots. The genesis of this one was that I had these two unusual dresses that I thrifted a while back, the ballerina-like pixie dress and a hundred percent silk empire-waisted gown in shades of green and brown. They are quite pretty, and I've never had a chance to do anything with them. At the same time, I've always loved the way Carolyn looks. She is petite with a dancer's body, a sweet face, and a gorgeous fall of wavy hair. It occurred to me that as she's close to my size, she would be able to wear the interesting things I've bought myself at thrift stores. The fact that she has a background in ballet-- she even was nice enough to come to class with me once --gave me the idea to put her in the pixie dress. Once I decided that we'd do the shoot outside, taking advantage of Carolyn's tree-climbing skills, I thought the brown and green silk dress would both suit her and fit into the environment.

Carolyn is a wonderful model. I knew she'd be fun to work with because of her expressive physicality-- it was what allowed her to bring such life and humor to the pantomime character Audrey in Merely Players. But she is also just a wellspring of ideas for poses, kind of dreamily flowing from one into the next, always finding some way to work herself into her environment in an interesting way. I gave her some suggestions for shots I wanted to see, but mostly everything we captured was her idea, with Steph moving around helping to spot good angles from which to take the picture.

Here's one of my favorite shots, completely unedited. Would you look at how beautiful this girl is?

We went to the area around the chapels on Brandeis campus because it's so pretty. The idea behind the shoot was not as cohesive as the one for Gigi's. I saw her as a sort of fairy-spirit-creature who incorporated the elegant composition of ballet into a more wild natural setting. Steph suggested we call this character "Daphne," which I think fits. I like the strong contrast between those two elements, and the contrast between the more structured, precise poses of Carolyn in the ballet dress and the more freeform poses of Carolyn in the silk dress. It really took advantage of Carolyn's look and physicality-- she could climb the trees, she could do the ballet positions, and she could do them both at the same time! The look of the silk dress and its accompanying style probably worked a little better, but I am happy with everything. Here's a nice one of her in the ballet dress:

With the brown and green dress we also got to include another neat little detail that I think added a lot. I like to save little bits of material from other things and incorporate them into later projects. It can be fun to tell the story of where those pieces came from when showing off the final product. For this other costume, we braided two green ribbons into Carolyn's hair for kind of a wild, messy look. One of those green ribbons was around a box of fancy nuts that morethings5* once so sweetly brought as a host gift to a dinner party I had (which impressed my parents mightily!) The other was a table favor from the wedding of Kerri and Andrew, whose wedding colors were green and brown.

So I'm really happy with this project. I will clean up the pictures a little and post the best ones here and on Facebook. I will be doing more of these in the future, I think, and I would definitely love to shoot Carolyn again sometime.

Costumes for Sherlock Holmes!

Yesterday I got to try on costumes at Sherlock Holmes rehearsal. I was so excited, guys. I am the leading lady in a Victorian show, one who is supposed to look very lovely, which puts me in the enviable position of getting to wear many fun Victorian-era gowns. I tried on several last night, made of drapery silk in red and gold and navy and green, including a gorgeous ivory wedding gown that was my favorite of the lot. At the moment they don't fit very well, but the costumer is a seamstress of some ability and is confident she'll be able to take them in such that they'll look nice. She also tried some things on my castmates, including a very slick gentleman outfit on our Moriarty. I am a sucker for men in Victorian suits, and I must say he wore it well. :-) The costumer also suggested that they will be curling my hair in ringlets, which I've never had before. I wonder how I'll look with them! I've kind of always wished I had wavier hair, so I hope they take. A week from today we'll be taking publicity photos, and I don't know if they'll be in costume or not, but in any case I hope they turn out. I'm always very insecure about how I look in photos. This show spends a lot of time talking about how beautiful Irene is, and I've been joking quite a bit about how I hope the audience agrees. A decent photo or two might help, right? ;-)

A cavalcade of dresses

So I have learned that this Festival my costuming will consist entirely of eveningwear! I am super-pleased about this, finally, finally some of my secondhand gowns will see the light of day. But I might decide which among them will get to take advantage of this rare opportunity. For Jesriah, I'm currently looking at these three options:

 

This is the first-ever thrift store gown I ever bought, encouraged by nennivian* and katiescarlett29* in a move that inspired an addiction that continues to this day. I love this gown; the shape is flattering and deep blue is one of my best colors. I'm also fond of the ripply, asymmetrical hem and the wrap bustline. The glitziness of it would work well for a retro diva look, though I'm not sure the color suggests the '30s era all that well.

Another option is this glitzy black dress. It has a similar silhouette and hem to the blue one above, but this has a halter back and a rouched bodice. The shape is not quite as flattering, however; it's slightly stretched out, and there isn't any support in the bust. Because the fit isn't as good, it makes me look a little blockier. Maybe I should sew some bra cups in it sometime to make it fit a little better.

 

 

This dress actually was not rescued from a thrift store. It is new, but I didn't buy it. This one I found when I was cleaning out the green room after Titus wrapped. It was in a shopping bag that still had the receipt in it, shoved between the sewing table and that ugly yellow couch. I checked with everyone around and nobody recognized it, so I decided to take it home. I feel bad for the person who lost it, but the date on the receipt was from over a month before, so whoever it was, they must have thought it was long gone. Plus there was a red bra in the bag with it. They clearly intended to wear with them together because it was exactly the same color, but with the dress's racer back the bra's straps would have been exposed, so obviously the original owner had no taste. ;-) It's from Kim Kardashian's line and the material is extremely cheap, but the color's nice and it fits me like a glove with cool retro shaping. The only real problem is that the hem is so narrow that you have to take mincing little steps while wearing it. I have long strides for as short as I am, so that takes some getting used to.

And of course there's a chance the green Atonement dress might come in before this Friday, which makes it a viable option as well. Though it's a little more society lady than diva. Does anyone have an opinions or preferences?

Regency and Renaissance costume patterns

I bought two new costume sewing patterns for just a couple of bucks today. A Regency and a Renaissance dress.

I'm not sure I have a lot of use for a Regency dress, but after seeing Pride and Prejudice they're in my head, and while I was watching the show it occurred to me that they might not be so difficult to make. They have an empire waist and puffed sleeves, which means a lot of the normal fitting challenges wouldn't be necessary. In this pattern I prefer the shaping of the view on the right but the split overskirt of the style on the left. I actually really like that pinky brocade fabric, so I'd probably pick something similar for when I try to sew it up.

The Renaissance gown is really elegant, though probably significantly harder to sew. I'm probably not quite at the point where I could make it to my satisfaction, so I think I'll save it until I improve. But with the sort of plays and larps that occur for me, I'd probably have more use for a dress of this period. I like the fitted waist, which I would not want to mess up, and I'm still not precise enough to not screw up such fitting. I like the bold color contrasting with gold trimming. I would probably pick a deep green or blue, though the red is nice too.

Last Pride & Prejudice, first Holmes, and Jesriah casting!

Really good time this weekend. Friday night I went to see Pride and Prejudice again, this time with nennivian* and polaris_xx*, meeting up with electric_d_monk* and captainecchi* for dinner beforehand. Having learned my lesson, we arrived earlier and went to a lower-key restaurant. Their lovely company made for a very nice time, MUCH less rushed and chaotic than the previous Saturday, and we sat up close in the very front row. I enjoyed the different perspective this time; it made me notice things I hadn't been able to before. I found I liked the acting even better for the nuances I could see, and the costumes a bit less for some sloppy or unfinished details, though by and large I still thought it was good, particularly on the men. I am so proud of everyone involved for putting on such a good, enjoyable show, and managing to pack the Somerville Theater to the gills every single night.

Sunday was my first real Sherlock Holmes rehearsal. I think it went well, though I am still kind of nervous. Everyone in the show is very talented, and also quite a bit older than me. Maybe because it's been so long since I've been cast in anything, but I find myself especially anxious to prove I deserve to be there. Though both last night and the night of the read through I warmed up decently as the night went on, my acting has been having slow, stiff starts at the beginning. I worry that somebody thought, oh, they picked her because she's young and pretty rather than because she's talented. I'm sure somebody thought that at the read through, at least in the first half. So I'm feeling especially anxious to acquit myself well. So far I like all the other actors-- as I said, they are all talented --and think they'll be a great experience to work with.

Finally, last night I got my casting for Jesriah at Festival! I cannot tell you how excited I am for that game. I love playing madness and mental anguish, so I'm delighted to play a game set in a fantasy-Victorian insane asylum. Also lovely, my costuming hint suggests I may actually get to use one of those many thrift store evening gowns whose purchase I justified by telling myself they'd make great costumes someday. I am about as delighted about that as I am about anything else! I am supposed to look like a faded starlet from the '40s, so that means, I think, glitzy and slinky. I definitely have a few options that would suit-- I have two sparkly cocktail dresses, one in black and one in blue. I also have a red wiggle dress that I found abandoned in the green room that just happened to be exactly in my size, though the fabric is matte rather than shiny. I should probably also get a cigarette holder to gesture vaguely with as well.

Readying The Stand for Festival, and Pride and Prejudice opening

I sent out all the character sheets for The Stand. I'm pleased with myself for getting them out a month in advance, because it gives people time to read all the materials (there's a fair bit of them) and to get their costuming together. I hope my players like them.

I wrote a short play last semester about two characters, a PC and an NPC, in The Stand. My teacher liked it and I was happy with how it came out. It occurs to me that there's probably more ten minute plays I could get out of the characters in this game. Something between Tall Bear and Negahse'wey, for example. Hmm. Might be worth thinking about. I do want to write more ten minute plays, and they get easier to perform all in an evening of theater when they're related in some way.

I am excited to get cast in the games I'm playing, Jesriah and Folding the River. They both sounds like they're going to be awesome. I desire very strongly to costume these games out of my own closet. I have made a number of interesting acquisitions from thrift stores over the last few months, fortunately none expensive but they do add up after a while, that I would really like to make use of. Both to justify their purchase and to prevent me from spending any more on costuming in the near future! ;-)

Tonight is the opening of the play that Jared, Tegan, and Jenn are in, Pride and Prejudice. Unfortunately I won't be able to be there tonight, but I know it will be great and I'm really excited to see it. I am going with a large group Saturday night, so anyone who'd care to come with company is welcome to join us. I'll be going again next Friday night, and have yet to make plans to join anyone, so please let me know if you'll be there then. Jared shaved off his beloved beard for this role, so go if only to ensure that its sacrifice will not be in vain!

Photo shoot with Gigi and Jenn

God knows the very thing I need is more projects, but I like keeping busy and making neat things, especially when lovely friends and collaborators are involved in the process. Yesterday I had the chance to do just that with and the invaluable help of , and I'm really pleased with how it went.

Both Jenn and I have had the very honor to be the subject of a photo shoot by the lovely and talented , who sets up gorgeous scenarios with settings and costuming, gives wonderful direction on how to model the idea behind the shoot, and has an eye for just the right shots. It was so much fun, and I really admire the works that Haz makes. Though I don't have a fraction of her knowledge and experience, I found myself wanting to try my hand at something along those lines.

I liked the idea of coming up with a little character and plot and setting up a photo shoot to depict that story visually. My first idea I particularly wanted to be the sort where you look at the picture is ostensibly about one thing, but if you examine it more closely to can figure out what's really going on. I will not tell you what my theory was here, because I'd prefer to see who gleans it from looking at the finished series of photos.

For this first time the person I wanted to work with was , who is a talented, expressive actress, lovely to look upon, and always wonderful to work with. I thought she would be perfect for this character, a fancy society lady named Esmeralda. But of course she needed to be costumed for the part, so naturally I turned to the expert in the matter, everyone's favorite Costume Fairy Jenn. She provided two lovely evening gowns, one a clingy dark blue with sparkles all over it, the other a sleek one-shoulder burgundy with a sweeping skirt. They were absolutely the right look, and Gigi looked fabulous in them! Jenn has such a good eye, and not only for that. As we set up the space, wrangling my house into an appropriate setting for the little drama-in-pictures we wanted to tell, Jenn had a wealth of ideas for shots, for tweaks to optimize the image we were trying to portray, and notes for Gigi's acting. And Gigi was as awesome as ever. She has so much talent and her incredibly expressive face is just perfect for getting things across in a visual medium. Also, she is willing to try anything and just throw herself in to the best of her ability. That might be my favorite thing to work with in a collaborator of any kind, a willingness to throw out ideas and try and experiment and see what works. I'm so grateful to both of them for taking the time to lend their talent and efforts.

It took hours, and we wrecked the place with all our props, costumes, and tools, but I learned a lot about what to expect from running a photography shoot. I think I will be a lot more prepared and streamlined in the future. Here's a teaser for you all, a very roughly edited shot from the shoot that I think captures a particularly get moment from Gigi. The rest I'll post once I've had a chance to go through them all, and put them through a real editing program.

Intercon L con report

Back from Intercon L, and although I am utterly exhausted, it was a heck of a lot of fun getting that way. I didn't prepare for the unusual schedule as well as I should have-- I'd stayed late to see the Titus naked tech on Wednesday, and I'd had two days this week when I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep, so I went in with less reserve than I usually did. But even if I couldn't stay up late, I was determined to enjoy this special once-a-year occasion as much as I possibly could. Ahead is my non-spoilery review!

Friday night jhite1230* and I arrived at the con about an hour and a half in advance of games, allowing us to connect with Seamus, who was one of our gracious roommates, socialize a little, and prepare. Jared ran off to meet in their game space for House of the Rising Sun. I socialized a bit and dressed in the hotel room to play Ariadne in Feast of the Minotaur. I must mention again how much I love this dress and how pretty I felt in it. It's a brand-new couture piece I bought on eBay for a fraction of its retail price, made of this luxurious crinkled velvet and washed silk straps in a gorgeous berry color. It's rare that I get a pretty princess role, and I've been feeling like such a frump lately, so I really wanted to look good for this role, and I think I succeeded. Thanks to for taking this picture:

I bought some sea shell necklaces to wear around my neck and maybe like a circlet in my hair, but I decided I looked better without them. Showing cleavage is not my preferred form of sexy dressing, but given the style of the dress I figured what the hell, just this once. Might as well enjoy the one benefit of gaining weight. However, I discovered a dress that's held on only with tied ribbons is not the most stable, and I found myself adjusting it to preserve good taste quite a bit. I should probably look into some body tape for next time I wear it. I decided to wear my beloved Bast sandals with it, and was pleased that they remained comfortable for the entirety of the game. I must have gotten twenty compliments on the look and felt very good.

The game itself was wonderful, but in a very strange way. As I mentioned, when I read my character sheet there was next to nothing in it. Some personality, very little plot. I heard other players found the same in theirs. But when we got into game, it took a little digging and faking it until we made it, but there was quite a bit of plot that existed in the world-- it's just that very little of it got into the character sheets. It helped that it was very strongly based in Greek mythology that, being geeks, we were all pretty familiar with. But I had a wonderful time, particularly interacting with the other excellent larpers, without whom the game would not have worked at all-- it takes active, creating player to dig up plot out of the ether like that. Highlights included offside7* and a new larper named Kelly Morgan as my sisters who gave me dramatic conflict and support at the same time, morethings5* who had a note-perfect transformation partway through the game that would have been awesome if only for the look he gave me at one point, and Alex Pogue as my Theseus who made the romance plot so interesting and fun. There was also a particular twist that I thought was a very clever way to get a crucial element into the game. I got the feeling there were a handful of characters who didn't have enough to do, but for the most part the nebulous plot was available for everyone to seize on to. Still, if it were up to me I think that plot really needs to get put into sheets. I don't know if it was a stylistic choice or if the writers just ran out of time and had to fill the sheets with something. I highly recommend this in its current state, if only on the condition that you are an active, independent player, but I can honestly say this is the most enjoyable game I've ever played for which I would still recommend a total character sheet rewrite.

The other other game I played was as Irene Adler in An Evening Aboard the HMS Eden. I put together a costume I was very pleased with relatively inexpensively, including a thrift store prom dress with a corsety-looking bodice, a gauzy black blouse beneath it to give it sleeves, and a wide Kentucky Derby bonnet with ostrich feathers on it. But I'm sorry to say I was quite disappointed by this game. It had a very fun theme/set dressing, but the writing was, at least in my part of it, pretty lackluster. As I said to some people after the game, all the direction I had was ticky-box goals-- what boiled down to "Okay, go ring that bell over there!" and once you've run over and rung it, you're unsatisfied because there's no reason to have wanted it nor anything interesting that comes of it. Join that club that doesn't do anything, buy a bigger airship that you can't actually use in game, cure this disease that doesn't have any in-game effects so why waste the time, that sort of thing. The only things in my sheet that were like actual plots, the mystery of what was going on with my sister and what the deal with this item I had was, no one seemed to know anything about so I made no progress on them. Not everyone seemed to have unengaging plots, Jared had a pretty good time and a number of people seemed about to stay busy, but I got the impression that around a third to a half the game was in the same situation I was. It was just very amateurish larp-writing, and though the GMs I asked for help didn't really managed to point me in any useful direction, I will give the gentlemen credit for trying really, really hard. I worry I came across as a difficult player, for which I'm sorry, but I think I failed to convey, no, I don't want another ticky-box to check off, I want a plot thread, but given the writing in the game they may not have been able to understand the difference. I will be hesitant to sign up for any game by these authors again.

Last thing I did this weekend was help natbudin*, emp42ress*, and simplewordsmith* run our game Resonance. By this point I was draggy and tired, but fortunately this run of Resonance mostly ran itself. We had a very good group of players who bought fully into the concept and were happy to ride the rails of the story we'd laid out. This game relies heavily on that willingness in order to work. We also implemented a new device in the third act to see if we could convince players to play it out the way we'd intended. In the first run, the third act didn't happen like it was supposed to at all, so we tried a subtle restructuring. It mostly worked if not entirely in the second run, and didn't really work at all in the third. So this time we basically put in a plot hammer. The hammer made it so the players had no choice but to do what we wanted them to. I think the players were fine with it, but seeing it in action I've decided from a writer's standpoint that I do not like the particular technique we chose. It is a kludge, and it's slightly off-tone in my opinion, but I will say that it works and players are okay with it, so ultimately it's an acceptable mechanism. I prefer the subtler one we implemented for the second and third runs, and I'm not really sure why it didn't work, but the fact of the matter is it didn't.

Also, one of my fellow GMs Danielle pointed out how susceptible this game is to becoming derailed by issues of Maslow's heirarchy of needs. We want the players to be thinking of higher-order issues, that's what the story's about, but the game's setting suggests threats to safety and physical well-being that human nature tends to want to attend to first because you can't do anything if you're dead. We need those threats to exist in a vague sense to maintain the atmosphere, but we really need to manage how pressing they are so as not to distract players from the real, emotional issues we want them to explore. We struck a good balance in this run, but I remember how previous runs have been stalled simply by questions of "But will we be safe if we do X?" that resulted in a reluctance to move forward into the unknown.

I left early on Sunday to catch the last show of Titus, which I'm glad I did, but still, I was sorry I couldn't spend more time socializing. Intercon is one of the most important moments of my year, and I love how it surrounds you with creative, interesting people. I was happy to hear that Jared and EB's game House of the Rising Sun ran great, as did The Prince Comes of Age by Kindness, Matt, and Bernie. Congratulations to everyone who brought their artistic labors, and thanks to everyone who helped make this con so wonderful.

Costuming for Ariadne and Irene!

The costume pieces I ordered for Ariadne and Irene Adler have arrived! I am extremely pleased with them. The Grecian-style gown is absolutely lovely, made of a lush crinkled velveteen in a sumptuous color. The straps are watered silk, smooth and luscious against the skin, and they work by crisscrossing behind the neck over the back and then wrapping around the waist. I like the detailing, and I feel like looks quite appropriate for an ancient Greek costume. It's actually a couture gown, BCBGMaxAzria, in new condition but bought off eBay for a fraction of the price. It's a wee bit big for me, despite being a size XS, but it still drapes nicely, though the bottom of the hem drags a little. I think it looks nice on me.

And the obligatory closeup on the bodice. Despite the fact that the gown does not really allow for the wearing of foundation garments, I find it rather flattering to my bust.

The other thing I ordered was a hat off of Etsy to finish my look for Irene Adler. I could not find any strictly Victorian broad-brimmed hats that gave me the look I wanted that were in my price range, so I widened my search to include Kentucky Derby hats and church bonnets, and found some reasonable facsimiles. I'm not sure the silhouette of this hat is totally accurate, but I like the way it looks a lot, and I think it captures the spirit if not literally the style.

I am well pleased with my selections, and hereby stop myself from spending any further money on costuming for Intercon.

Costuming mania for Feast of the Minotaur

As I mentioned, I got my Feast of the Minotaur casting for Intercon, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn I would be playing Princess Ariadne. I want to look good for this role, so I found myself browsing the Internet looking for a suitably Grecian dress, and before long I was feeling obsessed with finding the right one.

Looking for something as literal as "Ancient Greek" dress or costume mostly turned up cheap, cheesy-looking Halloween-type costumes, which I definitely didn't want to go with. But I found when I changed my parameters to "Grecian" or "Greek style" dress, the real-clothing options they turned up often looked much more believably Greek. It gave me a lot of dresses with crinkles or rouching, empire waists, gold trim, and flowy lines to choose from.

My preferences were a little strict going in. I wanted something pretty and sexy but not too short, as I thought a long skirt would look more period, so that cut a lot of club dresses that had other correct details. I also wanted it in a color, preferably a jewel tone, but not black or white. A folded-over waist would have been technically accurate, but it's not the most flattering style for my figure. But eBay, wonder that it is, provided.

I looked at lots of things, including white ones that it occurred to me I might be able to dye, and discounted a lot of nice pieces because they were more than I wanted to spend. I finally narrowed it down to two options, both of which I really loved.

 

After much agonizing, I finally went with the magenta-red one. Its sizing was likely to fit me better, and it was a little bit less expensive. But I love the other one too, and it probably looks a little more Greek. Oh, well. I'm sure what I chose will work fine. Now all I need is a pair of sandals to go with it, and a way to do my hair in a suitably Grecian style. But I highly recommend that anyone who needs an Ancient Greek dress for Feast of the Minotaur or other classical game try looking on eBay, as there were a ton of great possibilities.

Savonarola costume, part II

I finished my Savonarola costume for Venezia this past Saturday. After finishing the vest, I just had to attach the hood. That turned out to be tougher than I thought it would be. In the end I used a tutorial on the Internet for making a hood on a Jedi robe. I cut a large rectangle, folded it in half to make a square, and sewed up one of the sides adjacent to the fold. It needed to be attached to the vest on the side opposite the fold. I pinned it along the neckline, but that left a lot of loose fabric just hanging. Unfortunately I never did figure out how to make the neck fitted while keeping the volume of the rest of the hood, so I just gathered it and attached it a little ways down the vest front. It came out looking pretty decent, even though the hood had a tendency to slide back down my head. I put it on over a black poet shirt, black leggings, black leather belt, and Renaissance boots. My hematite rosary hanging off the belt completed the look. Here is the final ensemble, from the front and from the back, and I am pretty pleased with it.

Savonarola costume, part I

Did a bit of work on my costume for Venezia this Saturday. It wasn't anything terribly complicated; I just cut the curtain I had in half, then cut a chunk out of the center, and sewed up all the raw edges. It looks pretty neatly vestlike, though it ended up being a bit longer in the back than in the front. Not that I think it matters, I just meant for them to be even. Here's what it looks like so far.

All that remains is to figure out how to make the hood. The hood is the most important part of it, as it will give it the monastic look, and as I'm going for something slightly intense and imposing, I want to have something to stare creepily out from under at people. It will also help me look a little more masculine if my head and hair are concealed. I want the hood to be big and floppy, so I need a big piece of fabric, and I also need to figure out how to make it attach at the small neck opening while still having the volume I want in the part that will go over my head.

For the rest of it, I think I will wear a black poet shirt underneath it and black leggings with my Renaissance boots. Which also makes me think maybe I should use my black leather belt rather than the brown one I've got in the picture. Black and gold will be a nice color combination. I shall look both grand and terrifying, just as an agent of God should.

Off to figure out that hood.

Keep on going

Made it through my company retreat. It was pretty long and intense, but I made it through. I even handled the three-hour drive home through the rain and the fog without careening to my death. With my night vision being what it is, that was a stressful experience. But it's done now, and I think I discharged my duties to the satisfaction of my superiors. So that's one thing down. Only about a million to go.

This week I want to finish my costume for Venezia. I bought a couple of curtains at the thrift store that I want to repurpose into my costume for Dominican friar Girolamo Savanorola. They've both got the same muted diamond-pattern texture on them, but one is gold and one is dark red. I think I will probably use the gold for this project; it's closer to the brown that one would expect from a monk, but still fancy enough for a masquerade ball.

 

As I've mentioned, I want something monastic-looking, but don't really want to swath myself in a great big robe. In order to make myself look more active and imposing, I want something that evokes that look while not being as confining. I'm imagining a long vest sort of shape, belted at the waist, with a hood. I think I can handle making something like that. And if I can't, well, I guess I can always just do this.

I'm concerned for your soul, you see.

It'll be good to do some sewing again, some work with my hands, after spending the last few weeks frying my brain with mental labor.

Costume noodling for HMS Eden

I hit the thrift store in Waltham for the first time in a couple of months-- which for me is kind of a long time --in hopes of finding something for my upcoming larp roles. Well, that store is magic if you don't overuse it, and if so will deliver exactly what you want. Though initially I thought I might go in the more "adventuress" direction, I found this lovely dress that I think I can make work for playing for Irene Adler in HMS Eden.

The dress is brown with a black mesh overlay, and it has a kind of corsety look to the bodice which made think it might be made to look Victorian. Here's a weirdly-lit closeup on it, with the little flower motif in the overlay.

And here's an awkwardly-framed picture of the dress's fabulous back, which is laced. I love, love, love laces.

The question now is how to make it more Victorian-looking. The answer is probably that it needs sleeves. So I got out this floppy, gauzy black blouse with the frilly collar and cuffs that was one of the best costuming purchases I ever made, given how often I use it to make my outfits more period. I put it on under the dress unbuttoned but arranged so that the front ruffle made a kind of jabot down the bodice.

I think that helps. Sadly it will probably cover up the lovely laces, but it's probably not Victorian to have a bare back. I tried wearing that bustle that I got at the Brandeis theater department costume sale underneath it, but it looked like a bulgy mess under the slim silhouette of this dress, so I guess it will have to stray straight-skirted. I kind of wish I had a big elaborate black hat, the kind with the wide brim and the gathered satin decoration on top. Wonder if I could get one of those without spending a ton on it. Any suggestions to dress it up further are of course welcome.

First larp castings of 2012

Recently got my castings for two larps that are coming up in the near and nearish future. Still waiting on character sheets, but I at least know who I am. The first was for the test run of Venezia, which will be on January 28th, and the second for An Evening Aboard the HMS Eden, a steampunk literary pastiche at Intercon.

I confess I was a bit disappointed at first with my Venezia casting. In a game basically designed for high-class intrigue as pretty pretty princesses in Renaissance frockery, I will be playing Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who was a lifelong enemy of Rodrigo Borgia, the detestable Pope Alexander VI. Cross cast as a monk among noble ladies, ah, well. But after the initial reaction I decided this could be a lot of fun. I certainly have the ability to work myself up into a froth of righteous Catholic rage, and I sure as heck don't get much of a chance to really plunge into that sort of mindset. My faith expresses itself usually in a very private, internal way, so it might be cathartic to blow it into the most intense proportions possible. I've got some vague ideas for a costume, too; I don't want to lurch around in a big sacklike robe, so I'm envisioning a long vest sort of thing, belted at the waist, with a hood that I can stare creepily at people from within its shadows. I think I could handle making such a thing, once I have the time.

For HMS Eden, apparently in a game where everyone requested to be Irene Adler, I actually got cast as her. As a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, I like the Irene Adler character a lot-- especially how Doyle actually portrayed her, rather than countless corruptions by other interpreters --so this should be a lot of fun. I have no idea what to wear as her. I would love to do myself up like the classic steampunk adventuress, if I can find the right pieces. Hmm, maybe I should model my look on what Charlotte wore as the Duchess in Othello; that was a pretty slick look, one of my favorites of all the cool costumes in that play. Again, once I finish my more immediate projects, costuming will be the next thing I focus on.

Old-fashioned wedding gown

This is another awesome thrift store find that I wanted to show off. It's an old-fashion wedding gown that I found in the Halloween section of Global Thrift.

The material is heavy and silky with a subtle floral brocade pattern in it. It has princess seams down the bodice and a sort of sweetheart neckline. The sleeves are long, slightly puffed at the shoulder and endind with a long row of covered buttons at the cuff. The skirt is full but heavy enough that it doesn't have a lot of volume, and in the rear there is a three-foot train. It is unlined and has no tag inside of it; it doesn't look handmade but I would not be surprised if someone commissioned it or at the very least had it altered by a wedding dress retailer. It even has a great old-fashioned metal-toothed side zipper. Here is a closer shot of the front:

Note the interesting waistline. Each panel of the bodice has its own separate hem shape to form a large sort of scallop. And here is a shot of the train in back:

Very simple, very elegant. I find the whole thing to be an old-fashioned beauty. The style is dated enough that I would be shocked if this dress was less than forty years old, and probably even older. It reminds me a lot of my grandmother's wedding dress, particularly the puffed shoulders and long rows of buttons, which dates back to the 1940s. It is also petite in dimensions, made for a woman maybe just a little bit bigger than me, which suggests to me that it was from an era when the average woman was on the smaller side. I couldn't even get into Grandma's dress when I tried; she was shorter and slimmer even than me. Seems a real shame that somebody would want to get rid of something that was probably a piece of their family history, especially a piece as beautiful as this. There is some very minor staining on the lap of the skirt, but it is otherwise in good condition. I really love it, and cannot wait until the right larp or stage role comes along that I can use it for something. Even more so than any pretty but impractical thrift store dress, this has even less opportunity for applicable wear. :-)

Second-round Intercon signups tomorrow

Tomorrow at 7PM second-round Intercon signups open. My first round I signed up for Feast of the Minotaur because it looked to be filling fast, and I'm really glad I got in. It sounds like a fantastic game and there's lots of cool people in it, so it should be a fun time. I've decided that if I get cast as a slave girl, which is a possibility, I will wear the crinkly tan prisoner dress Steph wore when the Duchess of Gloucester was arrested in Margaret. Maybe I'll cut it to knee-length, we'll see. At any rate, I am really excited for that game.

That means I am booked for Friday night with that and Saturday night with running Resonance. This is the only game I've ever run at Intercon that has always filled first round! Yay for us. But that means I still have three slots open. I think this may finally be the year that I don't overload myself with games, so I think I will only sign up for one more thing. My first choice for the morning on Saturday was A Garden of Forking Paths, which also already filled-- congratulations, AE! --so I think I will be sleeping in for the first time in years. I never play Sunday games, so that leaves Saturday afternoon. I think it will be An Evening Aboard the HMS Eden for me. Jared and I like to try to have one game a con together, and we both thought this one sounded fun. I have a weaknesses for Victorian literary pastiches, and I have only ever played one other, LXHS. I think that will make for just the right amount of occupied time, and maybe I won't be so utterly blown by the end of the weekend.

Casting probably won't happen for a long time yet, but I would love it if this year I got to use some of the things I picked up just becuase "they're sure to make a good costume someday." My ballerina-like, peachy-pink pixie dress, for one. The real mink fur stole I found at Savers once. My cream and gold halter-style Cordelia dress. The old-fashioned ivory wedding dress I simply had to have when I found it in the course of shopping for Margaret. (Will have to post pictures of that one.) I even have a bustle I picked up for three dollars at the otherwise-disappointing Brandeis costume department sale. Probably out of luck for Feast of the Minotaur, which takes place in ancient Greece, but who knows, I could see any of these pieces being possibly useful for HMS Eden. I could get cast as Miss Havisham and get to swan around mournfully in the wedding gown, or something!

ninja_report* also sent out a call for registration to Festival of the Larps recently. Early registration helps give an idea of attendance, which helps estimate per-timeslot player counts, so it would help her out if you can indicate that you're coming now. I must say, all this thinking of Intercon and Festival makes me itch to get back to larp writing. I have purposefully held off working on my newest idea Imperium, a vaguely I, Claudius-inspired larp set in Ancient Rome, because I wanted to focus on schoolwork and playwrighting. But now that I've finished my last assignment for the semester, and classes don't start up again until January... I find myself tempted to switch gears, at least temporarily while school is not in session. I'd love to have a new game to debut at Festival. I guess I just worry that I won't have enough time to write that and the stuff school will require of me between now and April. But the temptation, she is strong... I guess I'll have to think about it and come to a decision sooner rather than later, so I leave myself enough time to write and bid if I end up doing the crazy thing...

Pixie dress

So hanging in the window of the thrift store all this past month was this dress:

I liked it the minute I laid eyes on it, and put my name down so that when they changed the display they would put it aside for me. I love all the details on it, the gathered tulle bodice, the pearlescent beading, the lace at the waist, the crisp pleats and sharp points of the skirt. When I was first going to try it on I thought it must be too small-- since my weight gain I feel like a house --but I was pleased to find it a very nice fit. It has shirring in the back, which probably helps. So home it came with me. Here is a closer shot of the details.

I'm not sure why I wanted this dress. The peachy-pink color isn't really a flattering one for me, and it's so ornate that I don't know where I'll ever wear it. But I think it looks like a dress for a pixie, or maybe a china doll or a young girl from an earlier century. If I'm lucky I can wear it as a costume sometime, in a larp or a play. Or maybe I'll throw another party just to give an excuse to debut it. The lovely thing about thrift store dresses is that they're a cheap way to get the thrill of pretty fancy things and it doesn't matter if you don't wear them very much.