I look forward to Halloween all year, but never ever do a costume in time. This year, the pressure is on: I am attending the Antichrist Halloween party, and there are some fabulously dressed people there, so I really have to compete!
Costume has more than a small element of shamanism to it - the idea that, by wearing the pelt of a bear you become a bear. You don't get hundreds of chaps old enough to know better dressing up as Colin Baker to show off their tailoring skillz. So I've some ideas - since learning pincurls, I considered doing Undead/Robotic Jane Austen. I've a wedding dress; or a 60s dress. But really, I'd like to take advantage of the liberal atmosphere to dress how I feel. I presume that's why the clothing gets so wacky at fetish clubs - the idea is you dress how you imagine yourself, and then become them. Queen of the vampires? Fine. Pin up? Definitely. Post-apocalyptic warrior? Why not.
Previously, I dressed up as Leda - which felt like safety in a way - and Deadeye Monaghan, Dandy of the High Seas - my Skypirate alter-ego. I put the Deadeye costume together in about ten minutes, complete with a broken spoon for an eyepatch, and it was excellent - and I felt excellent. The only way to top that feeling? TBCINM. As there were some elements of Blake-the-spaceship-captain in my Deadeye-the-skycaptain costume anyway. I have wanted to do this costume so very very much. I could do Jenna or Soolin. But - meh. And I've a sneaking suspicion it will look terrible, so what better place to testrun it than an environment where people will be wearing duct-tape?
I originally planned to make the huge iconic sleeves, but as that was made of green leather, I decided to tone it down the brown version - as it was still huge and swooshy, but in a more manageable fabric. Plus, this costume was featured in some of my very favourite scenes, so it made sense. About this time, got paranoid about sizes and shapes, so did some sketches. Which confirmed and crystalised what I had already, on some level, worked out. These costumes had been designed to flatter a rectangular person, and a rather stocky one at that. They would just look like sacks on me: back to the drawing board.
Shook the urge to wear something in poor taste. My third or fourth favourite costume is known as "the Robin Hood", and it could charitably be called a tunic, and less so, a mini-dress-over-leggins. Definitely achieveable, quite easy, and girl shaped.
So at 11 today, I dashed off in hunt of a simple green tunic to build the costume on top of. Bumped into the shooting for X-Men First Class, but they wouldn't let me have a look at filming. Still, I can inform you there is a scene on a balcony with a greenscreen background, featuring a lot of world war 2 soldiers. Walked up to the nearest Oxfam, on Drury Lane, which I had discovered when the washing machine broke and I was badly out of clothes. Consider buying a coat of the appropriate colour for conversion, but decided my sewing wasn't that good. I hate modern brand charity shops. Fair enough, they want to make money for their causes - but if I'm shopping at a charity, I don't want to spend more than a fiver on anything. Hence today, I wanted a cheap dress for a costume but kept encountering things in the £8-£20 range. Across the road to a vintage store - goddamn those places are even more depressing - all overpriced, but all uniform in what they sell. Did have some nice Fifth Doctor pullovers, though. I gave up on getting one of those about a year ago, as it's so totally unflattering. It didn't do Peter Davison any favours either: it coalesces with my blonde hair and sweet expression to make me look like a total wimp. Discover a third charity shop, which was properly cheap - but nothing suitable.
But I got my second recommendation of the day for Goodge Street, so off I toddled and took the Tube. Got lost in Tottenham Court a bit. But en route, I discovered Jackson's Toy Shop and Museum - which was an excellent emporium of stuff you'd never know how to find if you needed, like bouncy balls and Victorian scraps. And a massive Paperchase, which I shall definitely return to. Goodge Street had three rather upmarket charity shops and a vintage store. In Oxfam no. 2, I found a lime green silk dress which had the perfect shape to it - but was so obviously the incorrect colour that I couldn't justify it. Still, found some rather cool slides (overpriced!) of the planets and moon landings.
Was getting pretty peckish at this point, so I bussed down Oxford Street - resorting to mainstream stores. After all, charity shops had proved equally expensive. The problem with mainstream? If something isn't in, it isn't in - and I couldn't find any shop which would even attest to the existence of the colour I had in mind! Popped gloomily into John Lewis, as the only haberdashery I know of in London. Looked at patterns for a bit, but that was obviously beyond my talents - or at least, under the present circumstances. Considered Primark. Had a pizza slice.
The only other charity nub I knew of in London was West Hampsted, with it's road of ten in a row, so I took a train up to my old grounds and had a mosey around there. I shot through all ten in as many minutes - it was 4 by this point, and I was aware that closing was going to happen soon. No luck. I bewailed my sad situation to the final checkout assistant, who recommended I go to Kilburn. Bus! Kilburn! Nasty area, and it took me some time to find the charity shops she had meant. Traid - charity shop number 17 - was unhelpful. By this point, I abandoned the idea of adding black panels to a green dress - I would add green panels to the ubiquitous (?) black dress, and to this end went into the cheap-and-nasty shop next door. Perfect! Found it in minutes - my size, the fit I wanted, everything. I think it's a bit short, but who's counting. And next door, a cheap Cancer Research provided a lovely, lovely skirt in the perfect shade of green.
Then I staggered home and slept. Five hours, five hours of shopping - but at least I didn't need to resort to my last case ideas: dressmaking from scratch, or visiting fetish shops (from which Blake's 7 notoriously bought their original costumes). Still, there is quite a to-do list, which I type for my own benefit in order of priority:
Tuesday: vital stuff
Costume has more than a small element of shamanism to it - the idea that, by wearing the pelt of a bear you become a bear. You don't get hundreds of chaps old enough to know better dressing up as Colin Baker to show off their tailoring skillz. So I've some ideas - since learning pincurls, I considered doing Undead/Robotic Jane Austen. I've a wedding dress; or a 60s dress. But really, I'd like to take advantage of the liberal atmosphere to dress how I feel. I presume that's why the clothing gets so wacky at fetish clubs - the idea is you dress how you imagine yourself, and then become them. Queen of the vampires? Fine. Pin up? Definitely. Post-apocalyptic warrior? Why not.
Previously, I dressed up as Leda - which felt like safety in a way - and Deadeye Monaghan, Dandy of the High Seas - my Skypirate alter-ego. I put the Deadeye costume together in about ten minutes, complete with a broken spoon for an eyepatch, and it was excellent - and I felt excellent. The only way to top that feeling? TBCINM. As there were some elements of Blake-the-spaceship-captain in my Deadeye-the-skycaptain costume anyway. I have wanted to do this costume so very very much. I could do Jenna or Soolin. But - meh. And I've a sneaking suspicion it will look terrible, so what better place to testrun it than an environment where people will be wearing duct-tape?
I originally planned to make the huge iconic sleeves, but as that was made of green leather, I decided to tone it down the brown version - as it was still huge and swooshy, but in a more manageable fabric. Plus, this costume was featured in some of my very favourite scenes, so it made sense. About this time, got paranoid about sizes and shapes, so did some sketches. Which confirmed and crystalised what I had already, on some level, worked out. These costumes had been designed to flatter a rectangular person, and a rather stocky one at that. They would just look like sacks on me: back to the drawing board.
Shook the urge to wear something in poor taste. My third or fourth favourite costume is known as "the Robin Hood", and it could charitably be called a tunic, and less so, a mini-dress-over-leggins. Definitely achieveable, quite easy, and girl shaped.
So at 11 today, I dashed off in hunt of a simple green tunic to build the costume on top of. Bumped into the shooting for X-Men First Class, but they wouldn't let me have a look at filming. Still, I can inform you there is a scene on a balcony with a greenscreen background, featuring a lot of world war 2 soldiers. Walked up to the nearest Oxfam, on Drury Lane, which I had discovered when the washing machine broke and I was badly out of clothes. Consider buying a coat of the appropriate colour for conversion, but decided my sewing wasn't that good. I hate modern brand charity shops. Fair enough, they want to make money for their causes - but if I'm shopping at a charity, I don't want to spend more than a fiver on anything. Hence today, I wanted a cheap dress for a costume but kept encountering things in the £8-£20 range. Across the road to a vintage store - goddamn those places are even more depressing - all overpriced, but all uniform in what they sell. Did have some nice Fifth Doctor pullovers, though. I gave up on getting one of those about a year ago, as it's so totally unflattering. It didn't do Peter Davison any favours either: it coalesces with my blonde hair and sweet expression to make me look like a total wimp. Discover a third charity shop, which was properly cheap - but nothing suitable.
But I got my second recommendation of the day for Goodge Street, so off I toddled and took the Tube. Got lost in Tottenham Court a bit. But en route, I discovered Jackson's Toy Shop and Museum - which was an excellent emporium of stuff you'd never know how to find if you needed, like bouncy balls and Victorian scraps. And a massive Paperchase, which I shall definitely return to. Goodge Street had three rather upmarket charity shops and a vintage store. In Oxfam no. 2, I found a lime green silk dress which had the perfect shape to it - but was so obviously the incorrect colour that I couldn't justify it. Still, found some rather cool slides (overpriced!) of the planets and moon landings.
Was getting pretty peckish at this point, so I bussed down Oxford Street - resorting to mainstream stores. After all, charity shops had proved equally expensive. The problem with mainstream? If something isn't in, it isn't in - and I couldn't find any shop which would even attest to the existence of the colour I had in mind! Popped gloomily into John Lewis, as the only haberdashery I know of in London. Looked at patterns for a bit, but that was obviously beyond my talents - or at least, under the present circumstances. Considered Primark. Had a pizza slice.
The only other charity nub I knew of in London was West Hampsted, with it's road of ten in a row, so I took a train up to my old grounds and had a mosey around there. I shot through all ten in as many minutes - it was 4 by this point, and I was aware that closing was going to happen soon. No luck. I bewailed my sad situation to the final checkout assistant, who recommended I go to Kilburn. Bus! Kilburn! Nasty area, and it took me some time to find the charity shops she had meant. Traid - charity shop number 17 - was unhelpful. By this point, I abandoned the idea of adding black panels to a green dress - I would add green panels to the ubiquitous (?) black dress, and to this end went into the cheap-and-nasty shop next door. Perfect! Found it in minutes - my size, the fit I wanted, everything. I think it's a bit short, but who's counting. And next door, a cheap Cancer Research provided a lovely, lovely skirt in the perfect shade of green.
Then I staggered home and slept. Five hours, five hours of shopping - but at least I didn't need to resort to my last case ideas: dressmaking from scratch, or visiting fetish shops (from which Blake's 7 notoriously bought their original costumes). Still, there is quite a to-do list, which I type for my own benefit in order of priority:
Tuesday: vital stuff
- Record mp3 of Greek verbs, so they can be played ad nauseam.
- Go to Tescos - buy a tin of water chestnuts and a cereal multi-pack. Eat cereal, fold out boxes and work out size. Plus milk.
- Make pattern of the front and back panels on dress
- Decide how closely to adhere to the triangular design of the original
- Make pattern for shoulder pads. Work out how much felt and ribbon you need, not forgetting the trim.
- Go to Greenford Hobbycraft for:
Black felt + ribbons + stiffening something or other (shoulder pads)
black ribbons (costume trim)
brown and gold paint/tape/something (teleport bracelet)
embellishments (teleport bracelet)
serious duty glue (ray gun)
white felt x 2 (power packs)
felt for other projects
polystyrine ball? for the base of the ray gun.
- Get home without getting into trouble. Get over supersticious dislike of Greenford based on previous visit. Coo while passing Perivale.
- Cut skirt into desired shape, carefully because it's an inconvenient material.
- Attach skirt to dress. Somehow.
- Prance around happily in front of a mirror.
- Make and add shoulder pads (probably felt squares + ribbon, or maybe some of Bevenita's black tape?)
- Remember ribbon around the neckline Have stir fry for tea.
- Start work on whatever you can from tomorrow, today.
- start thinking NOW about Halloween next year...
- Cereal for breakfast - if necessary, cereal with water chestnuts. Style 1920s hair.
- Early morning Greek. Lose the will to live.
- Go to Soho for sleeve material if there was nothing suitable in Greenford, but don't waste too much time - it's too vital a part of the costume to screw up.
- Return to campus and style hair of companions for Bloomsbury High Tea
- Go to Bloomsbury Tea (3-5). Relax.
- Assemble ray gun
- build teleport bracelet
- Look lovingly at the original undershirt, and reflect that it is probably too warm to wear to a club even if you did have time to make it. Which you don't.
- Badger friends about lending you something with a huge collar anyway, to compensate...
- Consider, ruefully, that there is no way to incorporate fake blood into the costume. Consider doing it anyway.
- Email mum about making said undershirt for the future...
- Meet Friend 2. Go to Manics concert. Do some work.
- SWAPBOT.
- Library books. Make decision about Poggius script.
- Have shower and curl hair overnight
- pincurl hair
- use any skirt scraps as ribbons in hair
- combine with eyepatch and add a Federation logo with facepaint, just because I look good in an eyepatch and facepaint.
- Die
- Enjoy party.
12:51 |
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1 comments
Comments (1)
Thought you'd given up Greek? What@s Greek for ad nauseam anyway? We want to see the photos of fem-Blake