it's like the eye of a duck

Finally finished the Issey Miyake skirt, Vogue 1541 (top row center) and learned a lot not only about sizing up Miyakes, but sizing up in general:

1) Measure - and measure again. When I compared the pattern measurements to my own, I failed to take into account 1) seam allowances, and 2) the width of the side bands.

As such, my first run was too big - which for a standard skirt might not be a problem, but for the skirt front with its funky self-facings it wasn't a case of simply taking width out of the sides (and there's no center front seam so I couldn't shrink it that way either).

I tried taking off the facings, slimming down the sides, and adding them back, but it still didn't take it in enough. Thank goodness I bought extra yardage!

2) Make a gorram muslin. Seriously. I was uncharacteristically overconfident in my abilities because the 1541 skirt is fairly simple (for a Miyake, at least) and I foolishly thought adding a couple of inches, how hard can it be... shyeah :P See again: this project would have been dead in the water if I'd not had extra fabric.

3) Let's hear it for chrome-edge tailor's points! Purchased at the recommendation of a reenactor friend, I now wear these on a lanyard around my neck so they're always on hand to cut thread and fabric. My teeth (my usual thread-snipping method) are grateful.

Results: I have a new skirt for work/play that may nearly match the jacket I made years ago that still fits - incredibly the button style were still in manufacture as well.

And I've discovered that at least some of the Miyake patterns can be sized up, but VERY CAREFULLY.

I am really trying to get excited about Nationals this year.

I am going to go. I qualified for Div III, dammit, and I'm not going to avoid the challenge.

I'm just frustrated going in as I don't feel ready.

Part of it is that what I've been working on in lessons with V. are parries and flicks that I've not perfected well enough to take effectively into competition. I'm further hindered by tiring out my shoulder doing assisted pull-ups that even practicing the 2-9 parry is painful, and while I need to practice it I don't want to fsck up my shoulder one week away from the biggest competition of the year.

This, and I think I was looking a little too forward to the possibility of fencing vet (and hence, more than one competition) this year. The rules say no, and while I know veteran fencers are crazy smart/experienced, it would be nice to go up against opponents who don't have a youth/speed/reflex advantage right out of the gate, which is what I'll be seeing in Div III.

So I'm going to try to aim for cool-headed instead of excited.

It got off to a rocky-ish start, but it's a fine little con :)

The rocky: driving in traffic in 90F weather with no A/C. Also, my calf seized from freezing on the brake too long and the "ping" took the rest of the weekend to work itself out up my right side - not pleasant.

But, the good:

Good people! Dress U is small (only 35 people, but, hey, it's only their 2nd year) so it was easy to keep track of names and faces. I got to hang with danabren and co., and conversation flowed easily and hilariously. I was surprised but pleased at the number of people who came from way out of town - New Orleans and SF were represented along with much of the mid Atlantic.

The classes: many were Victorian-oriented, which isn't necessarily my cup of tea, but I find that I can find something unusual and interesting in almost any costume-related presentation, and this was no different. The class on presentation at the Edwardian court was a nice slice of social history, in which I learned to curtsey in a train. And speaking of trains, I attended a class on dust ruffles which illuminated just how one kept one's dress train clean during the 19th century.

Possibly the one most immediately useful were tips and tricks on how to get decent costume photos. Simply changing the angle and lighting can make a huge difference, even with a smart phone. Need to employ this new knowledge SOON.

The events: I enjoyed that there wasn't the pressure of a competition or masquerade, but plenty of events to dress for: formal dinner, mad tea party, tiara and jampagne (which unfortunately I couldn't stick around for). It inspired me to pull out the stops, bring my gear and make an effort! I couldn't hold a candle to most of the people there - these folks are disciplined and far more talented than I, and it was a joy to just look...

I am also starting to see the appeal of tiaras, though I imagine it would take some doing to find one that will stay in short hair.

My wardrobe: not as cumbersome as expected; I got most of it into a single large Tupperware bin, 1 hat box, and a couple of hangers. I restricted myself to two changes a day for convenience, with a fairly even split between women's (mock Fortuny, front lacing kirtle, Regency ball gown) and men's (tux and top hat, doublet and venetians, militaryesque vest and bicorne) throughout the weekend.

danabren was kind enough to help me get into my Regency outfit and I was pleased that it still fit after ~3 years. Even with shift, stays, and petticoat underneath it was still surprisingly cool, and I DID finish the accessories to go with (picture forthcoming).

Give my muscle twinge it was convenient that I spent most of the first day in stays of one sort or another, as they helped support my back (as an aside, they also make doing push-ups easier. But I digress).

Also of note: much as I love historic women's clothing, I am too severe looking to meet the ideals of most historic periods' ideals of female beauty, but damn, can I rock the menswear! (It's also easier to dress myself).

My only regret is that there wasn't more conversation. The first night was an absinthe-fueled gabfest of getting to know you and wild costume adventures, but by Saturday many of us were tired. In a way it was for the best - I needed to spend some time flat on my back.

Will definitely consider doing this one again, for the chat aspects at the very least!

Given that this was a 3 day weekend and next weekend is Dress U, I decided to use the time filling in some gaps in my costume wardrobe, specifically accessories for my as yet unworn white Regency gown.

I was partially successful in my efforts.

I needed headwear - in almost every historical period women covered their head with something, and to hide my anachronistic hair. My initial plan was to create one "casual", one dressy, out of sari fabric I picked up last weekend. This worked out partially.

I am so enamored of the green that I decided my test run would be on the red, using Lynn McMaster's directions for creating a wrapped turban (alas, site is down, this link is Google's cache).

Um, no.

Wrapping a turban turns out to be too much like doing hair - managing a long strip of fabric is difficult when I can't see what I'm doing. I couldn't wrap it even once that tucked in everything as I liked, so creating a sewn together version wasn't possible either. I like the idea, so maybe I'll try it again when I have more time/patience/help, but on to plan B.

The cap turban/beret (scroll down). It's not my favorite look because to my modern eyes it looks excessively fluffy and chef hat-ty, but it was blessedly easy to make. I used the same pattern I used back in '04 for Think Pink (damn, has it been that long?) and lined it with plain muslin.

Ideally I'd be able to get a wonderful ostrich feather plume as trim, but I can't find any from my usual sources and my creativity is maxed out enough that I'm not coming up with any other ideas.

I used another 3 yards to make a matching shawl, which still leaves me with plenty left over to make a Miyake tunic I've been sitting on for awhile.

The punch line: I may not even be able to wear the gown unless I can find someone to help me dress. This is one of my grievances with historical clothing: it's damn near impossible to dress oneself, which offends my modern sense of sartorial autonomy. But, I do have a back up outfit and if not next weekend I've got the accessories now.

From lo these many weeks past:

• The Star Trek: Into Darkness Spoiler FAQ: Explains the plot holes you can drive a semi through in a very amusing way. Warning: sweary language (the FAQ answerer is clearly of strong opinions). Spoilerage abounds, so I'm declaring comments to this post to be a SPOILER FRIENDLY ZONE for ST:ID.



• First clip from "Only Lovers Left Alive" features Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton hot un-kissing/making out [YouTube]. VampireLoki + VampireTildaSwinton = how do I get an invite to this party?? 'Cos I need one. For... research.



• Why do men keep putting me in the girlfriend zone? (Hat tip glitter_femme). I've only been in this situation once and the guy got verbally abusive when I told him I wasn't interested. Full disclosure: when I was a stupid teenager I "boyfriend-zoned" a good bit. Then I grew up and learned that the 'verse doesn't owe me boy/girlfriends.



• Club veteran Princess Julia's piece on the attractions of club life and the role of the DJ. This quote especially resonated with me:
  
  

  Mark Moore dj, music producer and frontman of seminal band S-Express began his career as a dj and continues to involve himself in the spirit of it, 'My experience of djing is similar to when friends come round your house and you play music to them. Every record that brings joy to them and blows their mind also brings joy to you so it's really a way of bonding and sharing - communion! The DJ experience is just a bigger version of this with more people and more energy.

  
  
  I was the kid ever making mixtapes for my friends to evangelize my taste in music, and that urge to share is part of what got me into radio in college. Even when I was trying to learn to mix, I don't think I ever really wanted to be a club dj - I always wanted to be John Peel, introducing people to sounds they've never heard before.
  
  
• And 'cos the quote is from Mark Moore: Enjoy this trip. And it is a trip. Countdown is progressing... [YouTube]. Oldie but goodie.



• Remittance Girl's blog post on feeling like an exile stuck in my head: "There have been times in my life, I’ve masqueraded inclusion. I’ve pretended to join, I’ve faked communion, I’ve partaken of the flesh, without swallowing. There is almost always a thin membrane, a wrap of impenetrable film that keeps me in exile." For good or ill, I kinda get that. Even when I've tried I've always felt a bit "off-center", and with age I'm (slowly, oh so very slowly) starting to accept that. (FYI this entry is worksafe but the rest of Remittance Girl's site emphatically is not; having said this if you're looking for quality erotica of all sorts go here).

Some noteworthy things crossed my screen this morning:

Best dressed of the 2013 Met Costume Institute Gala: which COULD have been interesting as the exhibit is Punk: Chaos to Couture but looking through the images, it seems like only Madonna got the memo. Michael Musto nails it.

For the record, I do plan to go up for the exhibit and I have no illusions about high fashion stealing ideas from the street - it always has and always will. I do find it disappointing that while it appears the exhibit will delve into the roots and philosophy of original punk (anti)fashion, no actual punks were in attendance (lurve you Vivienne Westwood, but you've not been a punk for a long time). Not like punks would actually show up to a fashion gala, but one would think they would have invited some, at least in a cynical attempt to shock.

It's also aesthetically disappointing because it's another parade of pretty people wearing predictably sleek designer gear. Don't get me wrong - I like looking at sleek designer gear and pretty people - but it's not challenging or interesting and one would have hoped the theme would encourage SOMEONE to take some fashion risks, but no.

As an aside, this is also why I don't go out of my way to view the Oscar red carpet - there are no surprises. Gimme another Bjork swan dress (a dress so odd it has it's own Wikipedia page!) and maybe I'll go to the trouble.

The other is this photo essay Rave kids in the '90s vs. rave kids today, and I know I'm going to sound like an old crusty, but here goes: I find it sad that the current styles for women are so sexualized. Nothing wrong with sex or being sexy, but Back In The Day(TM), raving was about dancing - hard, sweatily, all night. You didn't run around in a sports bra to look hot, but because it was so hot it was raining indoors - in short, you dressed so you could dance comfortably.

I love the costumey aspect, but I imagine it's hard to seriously pound the parquet if you're afraid your clothes are going to fall off :P

Also one of the things I loved about raving was that I was coming out of a club scene that emphasized tight minidresses and "dress to impress" and it was a relief to go out and not have to be sexy sexy sexy just to get in the door. I could just dance and let the music take me.

If raving is just another fashion show, I think that's sad. But I'm also heartened that if this is the case there will inevitably be a pendulum swing away from that, if there isn't already.

I've fallen off the wagon in oh-so-many ways of late. Not enough sleep, too many sweets and not enough exercise (even with fencing 3x a week) means I'm a bit softer and slower than I'd like.

In the spirit of "the body I have at 40 is the one I'll have for the rest of my life" I'm:

• Avoiding sweet baked goods. Making the effort to boil eggs for breakfast instead of copping out and getting a muffin at work. And man, I really WANT a blueberry muffin, but I want to get off the sugar high/crash cycle more.
  
• Exercise everyday. I want to do 20 push ups from my toes by the end of the summer. More 15 touch bouts at club to improve endurance.
  
• Be in bed by 11 pm. Being asleep might be pushing it.
  

Also my time management has fallen down the drain; sewing, reading, and other Worthy Activities(TM) aren't getting done due to my silly tendency to wander around online.

I want to

• Finish the gorram sleeves on D.'s robe, make a summer skirt that I can wear THIS summer
  
• Search for Fortuny/fencing gear images instead of wandering towards the latest "ooh shiny!" on Pinterest
  
• Give myself time to read. Seriously, the books are backing up.
  

I was in Reno this past weekend(ish - Saturday through Tuesday) for a national fencing competition.

Not noteworthy: not my first and definitely not my best showing, but the first where D. has gone with me. He spent some of his teenage years in Lake Tahoe so he went to see old haunts when I was on the strip and show them to me once I was off.

On the strip: Sunday was the scarier of the two events I was signed up for and I did better than expected: won 1 pool bout, almost won another, and even won my first DE (this is maybe the second time I've done this at the national level). Monday...not so hot, partly because I ran into my old nemesis Absence of Blade repeatedly, partly because by that time not only the dry air but the altitude was getting to me :( I had been warned that being in the mountains could have an impact on my ability to breathe if I wasn't used to it, and how! It not only slowed my movements but my brain as well; I could see attacks coming from a mile off and couldn't get my lazy carcass to do squat against them.

I only thought I'd been in "the mountains" before; this was my first trip to any part of the Rockies and D. has been right all of these years; the Appalachians are but foothills by comparison! It's hard to describe, but the perspective is just grander and more dramatic - as D. showed me his old neighborhood I felt like I was either on a cliff or in a bowl, with no in-between. When we got out of the car to get good photos of Lake Tahoe my vertigo kicked in as I got near the edge of the road because it seemed to my "flatlander" eyes to drop off so dramatically.

Lake Tahoe itself was...well, I didn't expect it to be that big! Like I said, grander scale. The houses were unusual compared to what I am used to as well: a lot more natural wood, no yards but multi-level homes taking valiant advantage of the steep inclines. Kind of more "in tune" with nature, at least on the Nevada side, where laws prevent the cutting of trees to get a better view of Lake Tahoe. We went briefly onto the California side and development was a lot denser and the tree cover thinner by comparison.

So I'm home now, back to colder but blessedly wetter weather, and my nose is happy (or at least happier). I am keeping in mind for future reference that high altitudes destroy my game. Also pondering the new side I've seen of D. I'd never seen anywhere he'd spent his teenage years before and it helps me put him in a broader mental "place", if that makes sense.

Saturday was my much anticipated "craft day", a kind of trial-run for a proposed monthly "thing" for socializing and Making Stuff(TM).

It went well, I think :) Fencing buddies and costuming buddies got along and had things to talk about, there was enough food (I'm Southern, this is important. If there aren't leftovers there wasn't enough), 10 am to 4 pm seem to be good/manageable "open house" hours.

Some notes: good conversation really IS as stimulating as coffee! I was jittery, but in a good way, mostly I suspect because I've not had company of more than 1-2 people at a time since... I don't know when. Speaking of jitters, for next time, I should probably have some decaf beverages on hand.

On top of this I made noticeable headway on hand-finishing D.'s robe, which is no small thing as it's so huge I had to put tape on the inside to mark my place.

Sunday I woke with some dizziness and headache, which amplified as the day went on, despite a nap. I blame the cold, windy weather for making my sinuses hammer on me. Can't wait until spring, or for the weather to at least pick a season for more than a week.

D. was at Schmoocon over the weekend; we enjoyed our social weekends but both being introverts, needed to shut down for awhile after it was over. I love that we get this about each other; nobody gets put out if someone needs "alone time"! He caught up in Old Republic; I caught up on Downton Abbey and Bomb Girls. Both episodes were depressing as hell but very good; I exorcized the blues with Red Dwarf and Dr. Who (because the silliness of dinosaurs on a spaceship improves everything).

Today's a day off but kind of bleak as I'm too unbearably cold to do anything. Another day of feeling like I'm spinning my wheels, brain too frozen to be inspired. If I were responsible I'd start my taxes but it's just too damn cold in the basement to type.

I thought I had resigned myself to the fact that the camera always has a laugh at my expense.

Seriously. Save my wedding photos I have NEVER liked a picture of myself, but don't resist when friends/family want to take one because they don't seem to mind.

However, having seen some recent ones of myself.....

Dammit.

I may not be a supermodel, but I don't have a weak chin or puffy jowls, which invariably show up in candids. I'm starting to suspect that I need makeup and lighting just to look like myself.

It's been an age since I had any professional photos done. I'm considering spackling up and hiring someone, just so I have something bearable to share.

That, and some of the costumes could stand to be photographed.