> I should have mentioned that I am a Laurel in costuming, and have been for > some time.
There must be several of us Laurels on this list. But I got my Laurel so long ago that they didn't give them specific names, so mine's generic. > I understand the magic of trying to make something as closely as possible > to the original, and I encourage it as much as is humanly possible. > I consider this a cross between the challenge of doing something outside my usual 'box' and the magic of bringing it into three dimensions from a concept. I learn so much working to the design ethos of a different period, and then I get to see it real, not just in a painting. > When I started, you took a wedding gown pattern and altered it and got all > sorts of big eyes when it did work out. Then we learned about metal > grommets. We learned about plaquets (they didn't have them). Finally > wonderful people like Margo did pattern lines for anything from the body on > up. > My first Twelfthnight costume was in 1973. I don't know what Margo was doing that long ago, but I had the help of a costume historian friend of my mother's who also knew theater costume tricks. I used a corset pattern she'd gotten from her copy of Nora Waugh, and I forget which of her books had the dress pattern or if she'd just made it up. I certainly didn't have any pattern books yet, only my old copy of Davenport. > We are fighting the old battle of the fun mavens versus the period mavens. > Actually we are probably both on the same side in that there is a very > happy medium as well as great joy in getting everything exactly right and > feeling like you stepped out of a painting. > The period-maven side of me does what CostumeCon calls historical recreation, and the fun-mavin side of me does what CC calls historical interpretation, plus everything else (including period and non-period embroidery). I just have to remember which costumes get worn to (and appreciated at) which venues. So I do Ren. Faire, science fiction conventions, historical re-enacting, living history events, Steampunk events, fiber art events, and occasional SCA events, to make sure I can eventually wear anything I want to make. -- Carolyn Kayta Barrows -- “The future is already here, it is just unevenly distributed.” -William Gibson -- _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
