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kukla_tkoWent to the Ice Queen's Ball last night. They're apparently doing one big dance per season, and the Nightmare Ball was so amazing that I felt that I ought to try to get to the "Winter" edition.
The Nightmare Ball was packed to the gills, and I was at about the mid-range of "dressed up." I was astonished at the costuming. I'm hard to astonish with costuming. So, this time around, I decided to pull out the stops and get noticed.
I pulled out the Big Gun.
Its a 17th century French courtesan. It was created as part of a group of costumes intended to be from the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King.
It all started with my Once And Future Boss asking me to make a costume to go with his so we could both compete in the CWE's big $1000 costume contest on Halloween. He wanted to be the French King (on rollerblades.) Here's what he asked me:
"Will you be my WHORE?"
Now, if nearly anyone else had asked me that, they'd have gotten the big o'l red finger, and possibly a PONY HEAD. (See Allura's post about that)
But my Once And Future Boss is a friend of mine, and twice my age, and gayer than a tree full of monkeys... and a limited social life. He wanted to go out all dressed up, and his partner didn't want to bother with it.
"Ok, I'll be your whore!" I said, despite the fact that I was working full-time at the Halloween Express (and also at the condo for my OAFB.)
To create that costume, I borrowed a set of Panniers from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cos_x (Those basket-like things that make one's hips look three feet wide) and put on my "ultimate Corset" from Freddie's. I added a black negligee robe with 3/4 length poofed sleeves, and a burgundy "ren faire" bodice to tie the thing together.
Corset, Panniers, Robe to form "split skirt" and drape the panniers, bodice to make the robe look like a dress, black satin men's style breeches, black lace stockings and red ribbons tied at the knee to form garters. Little granny boots, little black lace mitts, and a black lace half-mask on a stick.
Also, I gave myself the Whore treatment for the face: Ghastly white face, heavy black eyeliner with no shadow, reddish spots on the apples of my cheeks, bright red slash of a mouth, and best of all: Nasty open sores painted on and around my mouth. Heh heh heh.
I piled the hair on top of my head in a huge nest of tangles(I think it was still black at the time), and hurried over to the CWE celebration after work.
When I arrived, I asked the people at the first booth I saw "Hey, have you seen the King Of France poncing around on rollerblades?"
The guy behind the counter stared at me and burst out laughing. "Yeah. He's around here somewhere. He's LOOKING for YOU."
I was puzzled. By the time I got there, the contest was over, but my OAFB had spent the evening sailing from person to person in his Sun King outfit asking "Have you seen my Whore?" all night in a nasal voice. "Have you seen my whore? I am looking for my Whore, I seem to have lost her. Would you be my Whore?" He had worked it into his stage patter and had "placed" in the contest but not really won anything. Now I understood why everyone "knew who I was." And boy, I looked the part.
As I was walking down the street in my gigantic panniers, I heard a man exclaim "DAMN!" when he caught sight of me. I thought to myself "Huh. Yeah, I guess the big ol' panniers are a real sight to see..." Until he followed his exclamation with "Lookit the titties!"
Oh. Yeah. That ultimate corset is probably not even street legal in my town. My nipples were covered (I can't speak for the areolas) but other than that it was a pretty inspirational sight, I suppose. Snicker.
So I was horrible and boobilicious at the same time, which is my usual goal for Halloween night. I went to the party at the Celestial house that night later on, andbradhicks grossed out the entire room by touching one of my painted-on sores. He couldn't believe that they weren't 3D special effects, glued on to my face. Nope, just painted. I paint remarkably well, though. After he touched it, he said, "Huh. That's a great job of shading." The rest of the room said, "EEEEW!"
Great costume? Hell yes.
But not what my OAFB was looking for. He took one look at my creation and was a little appalled. "Um. You sure do look like a whore."
"Thanks!"
"Um, I didn't really mean a... street walker, though."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I meant like, a *King's* whore, a King's mistress, someone like that..."
(Understanding dawns.)"OOOOhhhh. You wanted me to dress up like a Courtesan!"
"Yeah, that thing."
So we began work on the courtesan outfit. I made him a deal: I would go to all the trouble that this would entail, if he came with me and competed it onstage at Archon. He'd never been to Archon. (This astonished me, since he was an older guy who read sci-fi and fantasy, loved to costume, was gay, etc. Oh, this guy needed to find fandom in a hurry!) We won a workmanship award for it, and a Judges' Choice. Sweeeeet.
But I told you THAT story to tell you this one:
The costume became this multi-layered wink of a thing. Black bodice with stomacher. Four or five layers of lace at the sleeve. Light teal underskirt (same fabric as his vest) with dark teal ruffles and little rosettes. Underskirt goes to the ground in back, but in the front comes above the knee, to form a sort of a curtained frame for my legs. Black overskirt split down the front and swept back in the style that slightly predates the Panniers. I also was wearing a delicate white jacquard pair of ladies' pantaloons. White stockings, and shoes decorated to match the dress. The whole thing is covered with hand-done beadwork, embroidered fleur de lis, and rhinestone jewelry. He also gave me his original hat, because it was too small and butch for his purposes. (And it's a grand thing on its own; beadwork along the edges, big poofy feathers, richly done gold trim and a big "bling" on the side where it's swept up. I use it for pirate costuming, too.)
In it, I can stop traffic all by myself. When he and I both wear out matching outfits, we usually get local news TV coverage. (We made some Mardi Gras appearances over the years.)
It's a Big Gun. And I walked into the Ice Queen's ball in my court finery, and realized that this time around it was a "Stop That!" Cannon. I was the biggest gun there. I was immediately the center of attention. Whee! Don't get me wrong, nearly everyone was dressed up, and there were some mighty fine outfits being worn. If it had been my first ball, I would still have been impressed.
But it wasn't up to the level of costuming that the Nightmare Ball featured.
It was up to the level of entertainment, though. It was a good time, although I think I am officially old: The music was a little loud. I'll wear earplugs next time. Its like sitting next to the speaker at a concert.
But the DJ played songs that deserve to be turned up! What a great dance mix! Yet it still kept to the theme, and managed to be what I liked best about going to the "Goth nights" or "Fetish nights" at the various clubs around town.
Well worth my $5, I am telling you.
It was great to see so many people there, too. (It was not as crowded as the nightmare ball. Still pretty full, though.)
professor looked incredible in her "reinvent my wardrobe" outfit, and great silver crown. My dear friends at "Curious Cat Clothing" were there and dressed up pretty spiffy themselves. Mr. Curious Cat was in his real finery (a soft grey turn-of-the-century walking suit) and Mrs. Curious Cat was in one of her amazing corsets, with great makeup and crystals in her hair.
It is to sigh.
Their accomplice was also sporting a corset, and was the "anti-ice" queen. All flames and horns and leather, with some great club kid accessories.
There were tasty nibbles, good conversation, fun dance music, and a very nice host. He's a great fellow, and I hope to learn from his example.
The Nightmare Ball was packed to the gills, and I was at about the mid-range of "dressed up." I was astonished at the costuming. I'm hard to astonish with costuming. So, this time around, I decided to pull out the stops and get noticed.
I pulled out the Big Gun.
Its a 17th century French courtesan. It was created as part of a group of costumes intended to be from the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King.
It all started with my Once And Future Boss asking me to make a costume to go with his so we could both compete in the CWE's big $1000 costume contest on Halloween. He wanted to be the French King (on rollerblades.) Here's what he asked me:
"Will you be my WHORE?"
Now, if nearly anyone else had asked me that, they'd have gotten the big o'l red finger, and possibly a PONY HEAD. (See Allura's post about that)
But my Once And Future Boss is a friend of mine, and twice my age, and gayer than a tree full of monkeys... and a limited social life. He wanted to go out all dressed up, and his partner didn't want to bother with it.
"Ok, I'll be your whore!" I said, despite the fact that I was working full-time at the Halloween Express (and also at the condo for my OAFB.)
To create that costume, I borrowed a set of Panniers from
cos_x (Those basket-like things that make one's hips look three feet wide) and put on my "ultimate Corset" from Freddie's. I added a black negligee robe with 3/4 length poofed sleeves, and a burgundy "ren faire" bodice to tie the thing together. Corset, Panniers, Robe to form "split skirt" and drape the panniers, bodice to make the robe look like a dress, black satin men's style breeches, black lace stockings and red ribbons tied at the knee to form garters. Little granny boots, little black lace mitts, and a black lace half-mask on a stick.
Also, I gave myself the Whore treatment for the face: Ghastly white face, heavy black eyeliner with no shadow, reddish spots on the apples of my cheeks, bright red slash of a mouth, and best of all: Nasty open sores painted on and around my mouth. Heh heh heh.
I piled the hair on top of my head in a huge nest of tangles(I think it was still black at the time), and hurried over to the CWE celebration after work.
When I arrived, I asked the people at the first booth I saw "Hey, have you seen the King Of France poncing around on rollerblades?"
The guy behind the counter stared at me and burst out laughing. "Yeah. He's around here somewhere. He's LOOKING for YOU."
I was puzzled. By the time I got there, the contest was over, but my OAFB had spent the evening sailing from person to person in his Sun King outfit asking "Have you seen my Whore?" all night in a nasal voice. "Have you seen my whore? I am looking for my Whore, I seem to have lost her. Would you be my Whore?" He had worked it into his stage patter and had "placed" in the contest but not really won anything. Now I understood why everyone "knew who I was." And boy, I looked the part.
As I was walking down the street in my gigantic panniers, I heard a man exclaim "DAMN!" when he caught sight of me. I thought to myself "Huh. Yeah, I guess the big ol' panniers are a real sight to see..." Until he followed his exclamation with "Lookit the titties!"
Oh. Yeah. That ultimate corset is probably not even street legal in my town. My nipples were covered (I can't speak for the areolas) but other than that it was a pretty inspirational sight, I suppose. Snicker.
So I was horrible and boobilicious at the same time, which is my usual goal for Halloween night. I went to the party at the Celestial house that night later on, and
bradhicks grossed out the entire room by touching one of my painted-on sores. He couldn't believe that they weren't 3D special effects, glued on to my face. Nope, just painted. I paint remarkably well, though. After he touched it, he said, "Huh. That's a great job of shading." The rest of the room said, "EEEEW!"Great costume? Hell yes.
But not what my OAFB was looking for. He took one look at my creation and was a little appalled. "Um. You sure do look like a whore."
"Thanks!"
"Um, I didn't really mean a... street walker, though."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, I meant like, a *King's* whore, a King's mistress, someone like that..."
(Understanding dawns.)"OOOOhhhh. You wanted me to dress up like a Courtesan!"
"Yeah, that thing."
So we began work on the courtesan outfit. I made him a deal: I would go to all the trouble that this would entail, if he came with me and competed it onstage at Archon. He'd never been to Archon. (This astonished me, since he was an older guy who read sci-fi and fantasy, loved to costume, was gay, etc. Oh, this guy needed to find fandom in a hurry!) We won a workmanship award for it, and a Judges' Choice. Sweeeeet.
But I told you THAT story to tell you this one:
The costume became this multi-layered wink of a thing. Black bodice with stomacher. Four or five layers of lace at the sleeve. Light teal underskirt (same fabric as his vest) with dark teal ruffles and little rosettes. Underskirt goes to the ground in back, but in the front comes above the knee, to form a sort of a curtained frame for my legs. Black overskirt split down the front and swept back in the style that slightly predates the Panniers. I also was wearing a delicate white jacquard pair of ladies' pantaloons. White stockings, and shoes decorated to match the dress. The whole thing is covered with hand-done beadwork, embroidered fleur de lis, and rhinestone jewelry. He also gave me his original hat, because it was too small and butch for his purposes. (And it's a grand thing on its own; beadwork along the edges, big poofy feathers, richly done gold trim and a big "bling" on the side where it's swept up. I use it for pirate costuming, too.)
In it, I can stop traffic all by myself. When he and I both wear out matching outfits, we usually get local news TV coverage. (We made some Mardi Gras appearances over the years.)
It's a Big Gun. And I walked into the Ice Queen's ball in my court finery, and realized that this time around it was a "Stop That!" Cannon. I was the biggest gun there. I was immediately the center of attention. Whee! Don't get me wrong, nearly everyone was dressed up, and there were some mighty fine outfits being worn. If it had been my first ball, I would still have been impressed.
But it wasn't up to the level of costuming that the Nightmare Ball featured.
It was up to the level of entertainment, though. It was a good time, although I think I am officially old: The music was a little loud. I'll wear earplugs next time. Its like sitting next to the speaker at a concert.
But the DJ played songs that deserve to be turned up! What a great dance mix! Yet it still kept to the theme, and managed to be what I liked best about going to the "Goth nights" or "Fetish nights" at the various clubs around town.
Well worth my $5, I am telling you.
It was great to see so many people there, too. (It was not as crowded as the nightmare ball. Still pretty full, though.)
professor looked incredible in her "reinvent my wardrobe" outfit, and great silver crown. My dear friends at "Curious Cat Clothing" were there and dressed up pretty spiffy themselves. Mr. Curious Cat was in his real finery (a soft grey turn-of-the-century walking suit) and Mrs. Curious Cat was in one of her amazing corsets, with great makeup and crystals in her hair.It is to sigh.
Their accomplice was also sporting a corset, and was the "anti-ice" queen. All flames and horns and leather, with some great club kid accessories.
There were tasty nibbles, good conversation, fun dance music, and a very nice host. He's a great fellow, and I hope to learn from his example.
no subject
Date: 2005-01-06 04:01 am (UTC)Damn. I was just getting your opinion because I really respect your sense of style, and I wanted to make sure I didn't look like a total idiot. Coming from you, O Queen of Costuming, that is high praise indeed. :)