OMG

I got pictures of everyone in costume but me. Dear Lord what was I thinking. Eh. Barely made i t out of the house. I'll put it on some time but it wont be the same. Dumbass.

This is That Day

So, despite being sick with the mega-barfs Thursday and Friday, or maybe because of it, I might be able to wear the costume this time around. If I started finishing right now....
I had a lot of adjusting to do on the skirt. Had to finish hat (I did dye the feathers....so-so. I might have let them soak longer but I was afraid of damaging the feather. They blow-dried ok. I don't know that I would do it again) and wig. Had to CHARGE MY CAMERA BATTERIES!!!!!
Whew, got the charger plugged in.
I am happier with the wig than I was the first time I wore it. I bought a strip of white doll hair and mixed it in with the existing thing- which, alas, was getting a trifle yellow with age. Sad!
It's funny, I keep thinking of that part of Marie Antoinette when Kirsten Dunst poses in front of Leonard and asks, "It's not too much?" and the hairdresser and his assistant immediately shake their heads, murmuring, oh, no! Not too much! Because it is too much. Too much by far. And yet, how can we resist?
I often ponder Coco's advice to pause before you walk out the door and remove one accessory. I nod to this wisdom, knowing it's in good taste, but this makes me think about fashion and if I walked in to a 1700's tea party wearing a nice pair of slacks, jacket, blouse, cute shoes and bracelet (the necklace went during a pause at the door..) it would look as ridiculous as the woman showing up for work in a robe a la francaise and two foot wig. Wig-woman would pause at the door and run for just one more ring, or an anklet, or some more lip pomade.

Feathers!

I am in a quandary! I have some lovely ostrich feathers I used for the original Marie in 06. They are white, and this costume is black and gold. Dyeing them is what I plan to do but I have combed the internet and developed a lot of fears. I read that Rit dye (the kind I have on hand) isn't recommended, then I read that it is as long as you prepare with hot water and then dye the feathers in room temperature water and blow dry them on 'cool' to prevent clumping when you're done. I have looked at the Rit website and though it details the possibility of doing feathers the place where instructions should be does not exist. So, I am going to try it, after thinking about it half the night, because the hat for this outfit must have feathers and while white might work, I would prefer the black. I am quite pleased with some of my work, which would horrify anyone who really knew what they were doing. But my husband always says, It doesn't know how it got there, whenever I try something really bizarre and unusual to get a result. Just like my knitting- I purl with my thumb a lot and people who see me are puzzled, but I am a quicker knitter because of it!

Costumes Cost Money

I like to sew. I particularly enjoy sewing ruffles and ruching, flounces and bows and lines of beads and pearls....the kind of sewing that goes on things you can't wear around town on a normal day. So I make Halloween costumes of historical figures..I've done Marie Antoinette costumes 3 times in my life and this is the last one. I promise, honey! No more knocking things off end tables test driving my 'pocket hoops'. No more rigging things up on my bar stool dress form in the livingroom because, I NEED MORE ROOM! I'm going to make less huge things from now on. I promise.
That said, I need to finish the one I'm working on now. A black and gold mess, hopefully looking like 1770's but done with foam and tulle and $2 a yard costume satin from WalMart. Why spend a lot of money? You wear it one day. Then you have to store it, then you lend it to a friend to wear it on Halloween next year, then you give it away to someone who's into Renaissance Faire stuff. What else can you do?