John Burridge: costumes

Showing posts with label costumes. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 06, 2020

Ides of Autumn Plans

The Ides of Autumn are approaching.

I really wanted to have a large, outdoor party for October 31. There would be jack-o-lanterns in the shrubbery, and small mini-pumpkins hanging by strings from the cherry. There would be a large punch-bowl filled with hot cider. There would be friends over, in various costumes (or not). I'd figure out some sort of directional altars, and maybe even a fog machine, and some music.

Obviously, that's not going to happen in this season of Covid-19. At least the friends part.

I thought we weren't even going to participate in Trick-Or-Treating, but Mark was talking to The Child about some sort of candy shoot -- so maybe we'll make some kind of giant snake.

On the costume front, I've been fiddling with cardboard models of wings, with the idea that I could make some very large, white wings to fit over my arms and then I could go RollerBlading at night and Certain Husbands Wouldn't Worry So Much that I would get run over because I was wearing a black cloak.

Since I'll have white wings, I'm going to try to make the feathers look like a barn owl's feathers by using the examples here: https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/browse-common2.php . The cardboard I'm using is fairly thick, so I'm unsure how I will make the feather's shafts show up. Depending on how artsy I'm feeling, I might be able to texture the feathers by painting them with the edge of card to simulate the barbs. My thought is to make all of the covert feathers one (or two) piece so they can more easily hold the primary and secondary feathers in place.

I'm still debating whether to make the wings one long piece. The plus is that the wings would be easier to build and more durable. The minus is that I'd have to RollerBlade with my arms held straight out and could be a good way to rip my arms out of my shoulder socket if I were to have some sort of crash. I'm not too keen on repeating shoulder problems, so I guess I'll need to figure out some kind of hinge.

Saturday, November 07, 2015

Writing Ritual

One of the habits I've gotten into is wrapping and unwrapping my wireless keyboard in a lavender, maroon, and navy tea towel embroidered with geometric letter forms. If I don't protect the keyboard while it's in my shoulder bag, dust and hair and fluff are more likely to get into the keys, and I can imagine the keys getting damaged by a stray pencil or book or something stuffed into the bag. I want to make writing a kind of ritual, and unfolding the fabric from the keyboard when I write on my mobile device is supposed to put me into a kind of writing space. When I'm done, I try to pause and think about how I'm putting the keyboard away as I carefully fold up the fabric around it.

In my mind, I'm remembering times at the Episcopal Church, where the priests would gather at the altar after the communion to veil the chalice and paten. I think I must have been six or eight, it's a strong image of three oldish men--probably Father Neville, Father Chadwick, and someone else--in white cassocks. Someone's wearing a green chasuble, and another one a white one with red highlights. And they carefully put the paten on top of the chalice, and fold a green cloth over the front, creasing the fabric into a trapezoid shape.

However, when I was putting away the sacred keyboard, carefully and methodically folding the fabric around it, it occurred to me that it looked like some sort of compulsive-obsessive disorder. It isn't. It's me wishing I could dress up in robes and have everything be a ritual.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Costuming Post

This is a costuming post. When we were visiting the Dwyers, we went to a restaurant called The 76 House, which was a tavern and inn used by the American revolutionaries. The house had some (presumably) replicas of the uniforms of the time. I figured my costuming friends might like the colonial outfits. I'm assuming the blue coat is from the American Army and that the red coat is English. I'm not sure what nationality the dress in the second photo is.

While we were at the MET, I saw a Renaissance era silk "peascod" fencing doublet. I think this one is English (I didn't photograph the placard with it, so it might be Italian). This would have been worn by a gentleman as he practiced fencing with a rapier; the idea is that the padding would have prevented (some) injuries.

I figured that I could use this as a research reference for when I write fantasy stories.