So, Arisia (a Boston regional sci-fi/fantasy/et al convention) was last weekend. The spousal unit and myself go every year, even though it's halfway across the country. I've been a panelist for several years, and was on Registration staff before that. But this was my first year as a track manager. I shared that title for the costuming track with one other person. I absolutely loved it. Planning out the programming offerings really played into my compulsion for planning and details. While I went into it thinking that being a track manager meant I could put myself on whatever panel I wanted, it turned out that my sense of civic responsibility won out. I ended up sitting out on the panels I'm really passionate about (historical costuming, costuming to body type), and instead took one for the team and sat on panels that were short on willing participants, yet I still thought were important to be on the schedule (references & sources, OMG!shoes and documentation). Although a bit boring, documentation is one of those things that I feel that I do really well. So I was probably well matched for that one. And I think I brought a lot of good ideas for the sources and references panel beyond the 'my favorite books' and 'where to buy fabric in Boston' topics.
The other big thing that happened this weekend was that I headed a group entry for the masquerade. Now, the Arisia masquerade doesn't usually get my full attention going into it. Following so closely after the winter holidays where I'm preoccupied making costumes for the Yule ball and gifts for family and friends, I just usually don't have a lot of time left over for a stage-worthy costume. I was determined to change that this year, and was lucky enough to have recruited a whole slew of my locals and convention buddies into giving Arisia a try. I'm a big fan of costume mashups that take a familiar comic book character and re-do it in historical dress. I'm also quite partial to the Batman movies that came out in the late 80s and into the 90s. While the movies themselves left much to be desired, I've always loved the iconic look of the villains. And thus a cracktastical idea was born: 1920s Batman Villains.
We took these villains and reimagined them in otherwise historically accurate clothing from the 1920s. Each of our villains took on a different style of dress, and all of them looked freaking amazing. I got to loose myself in months of research and a frankly ridiculous amount of detail work. As with all big groups, the major accomplishment seems to be getting everyone there and dressed at the same time. Whereas my personal strength lies in documentation and workmanship, my weakness is in stage presentation. Mostly, I just keep it short and simple; kind of a chance to say "Look, I made a shiny!" and then tottle off. Luckily, I had help. Our Two Face and Poison Ivy were remarkably helpful at brainstorming presentation ideas. And Catwoman was stellar at setting us all up. Have a look:
I'm writing up individual posts for each of the costumes that I was responsible for (The Joker, Poison Ivy and Mr Freeze), but until then, I'd like to share a few of my favorite shots of the group:
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| photo courtesy snarkyman |
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| photo courtesy snarkyman |
Oh, and since it is a competition, I suppose it's worth mentioning how we did. I took home a ribbon for excellence in tailoring for the Joker's suit, and our group overall took Best in Show. Not too shabby, that. :)
And some other, more candid shots:
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| photo courtesy snarkyman |
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| photo courtesy snarkyman |
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| photo courtesy snarkyman |
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| photo courtesy snarkyman |
