Steamy Goodness

Wow I need to take more pictures.  I've been neglecting this blog in favor of jobs and working on costume bits and art.  new projects on the horizon, new friends and awesome road trips have and will ensue.  For starters Steampunk Worlds Fair was incredible.  Marina aka The Crazy Kimono Lady, had an incredible panel featuring 3 lovely models, one of which was me. 

Crazy Kimono Lady (in white) and her Wenches.
(I'm in green) 

That panel room was too small and there was no ventilation at all. Marina nearly passed out from the heat and all of us were sweating in the multiple layers involved in wearing kimono.  Marina is incredibly knowledgeable in kimono and has practiced dressing others and herself in various styles and period pieces.  I was demonstrating the full traditional way to wear a kimono which means that before the panel started Marina had to get me dressed in the undergarments.  That was awkward to walk around in and the sandals were too big for my feet.  Then the outer layer was put on, various cords ties and even a pillow were strapped onto me and I stood there and took it all like a mannequin.  Vered (in the blue corset) was demonstrating the correct way to wear a Victorian influenced under bust corset with a kimono and not split the seams.  The last Wench (I don't know her name) was demonstrating a more western way of combining a kimono with a steampunk outfit.  There was a more advanced panel the day after for the hard core kimono enthusiasts and I encourage anyone curious to seek out the Crazy Kimono Lady for all your kimono and Japanese culture needs. 
I really wish my camera hadn't died that day, because there were so many incredible costumes.  There were two guys on stilts walking around, several people had mechanical arms and the vendors were all selling out of their hotel rooms as is the norm for these events.
At night there was a jam session outside in the parking lot with lots of awesome people, cookie cake and booze!  This is where I met Mike.  Mike is the Captain of the Red Horizon Steampunk Airship and is a costume prop maker like me.  He works with metal and shop materials.  I have yet to see any of his works just yet but we're trying to collaborate on a few props. 
Then there was Clover Con out in the middle of nowhere Bridgewater, NJ.  Literally I've never been to a convention quite so small, hot and in a 4-H center.  I'm not kidding.  I was helping Dory run her table in the "Artist Alley" which was really a table next to the bathroom in a gymnasium.  The ages of these kids was also incredibly young.  I think Dory and I were some of the oldest people there who weren't parents accompanying minors.  But the highlight of that day was getting my hands on The Doctor. 

>:3

There was a 10th Doctor cosplayer from Doctor Who there and he looks eerily like David Tennant.  Which was good.  Very Good.  His pocket ripped and I was able to stitch it back into place temporarily.  So yummy.  Anyway............  What was I saying?  Oh right, seeing him totally made my day.

So I've been wanting to make an anthropomorphic Steampunk costume for over a year now, but could never really figure out how to make some of the organic parts without buying them from some shady dealers or getting them at ridiculously high prices.  Now, I have a method to make some of these things, and I'll  be writing a post about it when I've gotten further along in the project.  I know I'm being vague but I want the new projects to be a surprise!  Now I'm debating about shelling out a ton of money to get custom made fangs to go with one of the ideas.  I'm a big believer on spending money on shoes and teeth.  Seriously, if you wear crappy shoes, (even if they're $200 designer shoes) you can mess up your feet.  And if you mess up your feet you can screw up your spine for life.  I wear Clarks almost everywhere cause they have amazing support and style.  In regards to teeth, I'm constantly having anxiety dreams about my teeth falling out of my mouth.  The weirdest one was a nightmare where my teeth turned dark purple and proceeded to crumble to dust in my mouth.  I woke up and ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth and swish some Listerine around.  Dental work is important.  So if I'm gonna get any caps or fake teeth, I'm gonna make sure they don't screw up my teeth anymore then they already are.  Even if that means shelling out close to one hundred dollars for custom fangs.  It'll be cheaper than five hundred dollars worth of dental repair work that would be needed after fucking up my teeth. 
I think that's all for the time being.  I'm really tired and I need to wrestle the images from Dorian's Parlor off of my camera.... all 3 of them. 
See Ya'll Later! 
~Amy