Preview of Dances of Vice costumes

Though I will be posting much better photos later on, here are a few shots of the costumes I made in order to attend Dances of Vice.  It was two nights of amazing music, dancing, fashion shows, and people watching. There were a great many photographers there, and I was very flattered that a few of them wanted to take my picture. If I find any of said photos amidst my internet wanderings, I will post a link to them. On the second night, I went with my unsuspecting friend Grant, and we were photographed by people from Fangoria Magazine, and were interviewed by MTV, who was there in order to create a show about steampunk.  

My costume for the first night of the festival, which took place at the Montauk, a lovely clubhouse in Brooklyn.

Three hours prior to leaving on the second night. Punching grommets in my corset, with my dear furry friend Shana standing guard.

Fully assembled, with my friend Voon, at Rebel NYC in Manhattan.

Grant, me, and a tube-headed fellow named Jessie that we met.  Grant had been disconcerted about having nothing to wear to this event, and I told him not to make excuses, and thus he is wearing one of the explorer costumes from the performance that Andy and I are writing.  You will be seeing this costume again very soon...

And lastly, on a side note, Andy and I found this strange scabby life form growing in one of the dye pots at work. We expressed to our boss that it might get so big it will take over the studio, and he responded by saying that was how he intended to get rid of us all...

To conclude, Dances of Vice was spectacular, and I am going to attempt to have a fashion show at one of their future events, as well as finally showing the performance Andy and I are working on.

Fancy Excursion this weekend!

This weekend brings about the splendiforous event that is the Dances of Vice Festival, a costumed and festive reason for me to get myself out of the house/studio.  This festival's theme is Rococo/Baron Munchausen inspired. The last ones I attended have been 1920's themed, as the photos above indicate.

Consequently this week finds me trying to make three costumes worthy of such a fancy shindig. Tonight I shall be starting a new corset, and planning the rest of my costumes.  

And hopefully I can obtain a new camera in order to successfully document this festival!

My Latest Doings and Whereabouts...

To some, It may have seemed like I fell off the face of the earth for a while.  The last few months have been a whirlwind! I remind myself that if I wasn't so tired and busy with all these artsy costume-y things, I wouldn't be wandering around the Speigle tents in the back alleys of South Street Seaport trying to find adequate sparkles to give that Chamelion hat just that little something....  So all this madness has it's payoff in the strange and excellent experiences I have had.

So an update on what I have been doing:

-MY partner in crime (Andy) and I finished up our 12 prototype costumes in order to have a small fashion show in Columbus, Ohio, and now we are slowly collecting dancers and choreographers, and writing the rest of the performance, slowly but surely.  When she show is ready to be put on, believe me,  everyone will know. Perhaps in the form of me begging all of my acquaintances to help me put beads on a costume made of lightbulbs, but hopefully it will come out pretty well.

  Some pictures of our prototype costumes can be found here:

- For the last month Andy and I have been working on party hats for burlesque dancers down at South Street Seaport for a show called "Desir".  We were given lots of questionably flashy and neon materials and were told to make magic. In the end, it wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be when we held up one of the flourescant feather boas for the first time.

   Some pictures of these hats can be found here:

-I was accepted as a finalist in the ComOn Competition, a branch off the Mittelmoda competitions, and will be traveling to Como, Italy in October with two outfits I will make for a fashion show competition. The point of the contest is to take silk that is given to me by the Taroni fabric mill in Como, and use it in a way that revolutionizes the way it can be used.

   Suffice it to say that I am extremely exited, and can't wait to start working on my garments, as I have just received the most gorgeous fabric in the mail that I am "forced" to use.

-My next project to embark on with Andy is creating marching band costumes for the Main Squeeze Orchestra, in time for the Art Parade. The Main Squeeze is an orchestra made up of female accordion players that our good friend Rebecca is in.  These costumes shouldn't be as stressful  as the other projects, because Rebecca will be helping us, and she is an expert pattern maker and is designing all the uniforms herself.

-And aside from that, I'll be feverishly attempting to create some paintings for a juried show in Indiana I want to apply to, and trying to make costumes for the Dances of Vice festival at the end of August.  Soon there will be more pictures to share!

So perhaps no sleep for me just yet...