So over the weekend I went to The SC ComiconĀ which was more my husbandās thing than mine since I donāt really read comic books, but still mostly fun. Ā Iād like to note that I have nothing against comic books. I wish more of the female characters were a little less Barbie modeled and more average girl size, but the artwork is often stunning and I like that theyāre one of the few things that get my sons excited about reading. Ā The main reason I donāt read comic books is the length of time it would take me to read one. Ā Iām not the type to really study the art, Iāve always been a regular reader so I guess itās sort of ingrained in me to focus on the words and glance quickly at the art before moving on. Iāve been reading books since before I started Kindergarten (way too long ago) so I read rather quickly, Ā I can read one of those old mass market Louis LāAmour paperback in well under an hour so reading only the text in a comic Iāll have read the things in about 5 minutes or less because I donāt take the time to appreciate the art in the way a true comic book connoisseur would. Ā It doesnāt make sense for me monetarily to invest money in something thatās only going to entertain me for about 5 minutes before Iām like okay, next. Ā But anyone who has met me knows Iāll go an awful long way to get my kids interested in reading so if the boys are excited about it, Iām there. Ā
The best things about ComiCons for me, besides the boys being excited about it and my husband being in geek heaven, are the costumes and the shopping. Ā You can find almost any of your fandom merchandise at a ComiCon. Ā Itās like a massive flea market geared toward geeking out and here, more than anywhere else, geeking out is considered cool. Ā Ā I came home with a Buffy t-shirt signed by the comic book artist, a pair of Tardis earrings, because Doctor Who rocks, and a dancing Groot bobble head because well have you seen Groot merchandise? Ā Itās adorable. Ā But even those awesome purchases donāt compare to the costuming of the attendee and vendors.
My favorites are the Steampunk costumes. Ā Iāve been drawn to all things Steampunk since photos of the art and costumes started appearing on the internet. Ā The colors, the fabrics, the gadgets are all just gorgeous to me and so cool. Ā At the con, there was this vendor selling corsets for about $15 a piece and I thought wow thatās really inexpensive, and if you look up corsets online they often tend not to be, and Iāve always wanted to do this (even if Iām not sure I have the confidence to go out in public in a costume) so why not check it out. Ā My husband thought it was a cool idea, had even been talking about maybe dressing up himself since after having attended his first Con, he wanted to go to more. Ā So we approached the vendor and I was looking at a Corset, because almost every Steampunk costume for women begins with some sort of corset, normally worn outside of the rest of the costume. Ā
Anyway the vendor was this young, thin, blonde who was exceptionally pretty and dressed in her own Victorian type costume complete with corset, though hers looked a lot more goth than it did steampunk. Ā I mention her appearance because in this story I feel itās important to how she behaves. Ā I went to the con in my normalĀ āuniformā of a massively baggy hooded sweatshirt and jeans. Ā I intentionally buy all my sweatshirt at least two sizes too big because to me theyāre more comfortable that way. Ā I donāt think Iāve ever found a sweatshirt that actually fits me to be comfortable. Ā My jeans however are my size because the last thing I want to do is spend all day pulling my pants up when I walk around. Ā It should be clear from looking at me that while Iām by no means skinny Iām not nearly the size of my XL sweatshirt. Ā
Anyway I pick up this corset to look at it and this girl, whoās supposed to be trying to sell stuff to attendees. turns to me and says Iām sorry these run small and I didnāt bring larger sizes with me. Ā We didnāt figure weād be the only corset vendors in attendance so we didnāt bring as much as we should have. Ā So at first Iām thinking okay, not a big deal, until she continues speaking. Ā She then says we make up to 6x in corsets, but the sizing runs small. Ā Iāve never worn anything but an extra small in my life until I got a corset, in these I wear a medium. Ā I size people for these all the time so youāll need to order online, youāre about a 3x, maybe a four. Ā SAY WHAT?! Ā And it wasnāt just what she said, it was how she said it. Ā This girl spoke to me like it was some kind of crime for a person my size to want to wear a Steampunk Costume. Ā She made me feel huge and unsightly. Ā Iāve had the conversation playing around in my head for days afterward because Iāve never really faced anything like that before. Ā Iām about a size 11 jeans give or take depending on brand, thatās not skinny, but thatās also no where near a 3x even if the sizes do run small. Ā And if sheās saying that to me, what is she saying to women who actually wear around that size? Ā Yes, Iām offended. Ā Who wouldnāt be? Ā No one wants to be basically told theyāre fat when trying to shop for clothing, especially costuming style clothing. I personally have always considered my size, maybe a little above average, but not really huge either. Ā I have days where I feel fat like every other woman on earth, but Iāve got other features Iām way more sensitive about than my weight. Ā Except now I feel like I should be sensitive about how much I weigh, like Iāve become the goodyear blimp and it somehow before that moment escaped my notice. Ā
Yes, I have totally been obsessing over this conversation and I hate that Iām doing it. Ā I hate that I let that little girlās comments get to me because Iām not like that. Ā Iād certainly live my life very differently if I let the opinion of others affect how I lived it. Ā I didnāt exactly grow up in an area where itās cool to be a book nerd that prefers indoors to out. Ā I grew up in a tiny town, near a farming community where common interests include hunting, fishing and watching races. Ā Iāve never seen the appeal in any of the above interests. Ā Iāve spent much of my life as the square peg in the round hole. Ā Itās been a lot of the reason that Iāve been so much happier since I moved to a city where thereās no such thing as common interests because there are large groups of every type of interest. Ā Here, Iāve found the bookish people who fan girl/boy over fictional characters just as much as I do. Ā The adults who unapologetically read ya and middle grade fiction and the in public romance readers. Iāve found people who look at the world in similar ways to the way I do and I love it. Ā But my point was that if I lived my life to fit the opinions of others, Iād have tried to become a little more round in the hole I was born in instead of looking for a place with square holes where I fit. Ā I donāt in general let other peopleās opinions affect me. Ā But yet here I am days later, reliving that conversation in my head just bubbling with anger. Ā
At first I was thinking screw it, I donāt need a Steampunk costume. Itās not going to negatively effect my life if I donāt ever dress up in a Steampunk costume. Ā Itās not an experience I need to have in order to live a well rounded life. Ā I donāt ever want to have to deal with a person who considers treating someone like theyāre unsightly to be customer service again. Ā But my husband still liked the idea of dressing up. Ā Weāve already bought tickets to another Con in DC that I wanted to go to because of the authors who will be attending. Ā Am I really going to let myself stand there on the outside while the rest of my family dresses up with the melee all because of the opinions of one rude little girl? Ā
So I started searching online because Iām really not going to go up to another ComiCon corset vendor to be told Iām a tripple X again when I know even if the sizes do run small Iām NOT a tripple X. Ā Ā Unfortunately buying a nice Steampunk costume isnāt really in my price range. Ā Iām not really all that crafty either, but the choice is to get crafty so I can do this on my own or to deal with the girls like that blonde. Ā So the plan is to attempt to get crafty. Ā I figured I might try to blog about it because I like to write even though I suck at finishing anything. Ā (I may never even finish the costume. Ā Follow through is not my strong suit) I canāt guarantee Iāll do a good job of recording my progress, but I plan to try.Ā
Iām trying to build two costumes with two versions of each costume. Ā I want to have formal versions because Capital Con has a ball which who doesnāt want to go to the ball? And a casual version because who wants to wear the same clothes two days in a row or wear a bustle all day long?
I started with finding a corset because Iām not that ambitious as to try to sew one when sewing buttons is something I consider to be a difficult and bloody process. Ā I found a relatively inexpensive corset on Alixpress via an internet search. Ā
I took into consideration what the girl said about corsets running exceptionally small, so I bought a double xl and Iām hoping it wonāt turn out to be too big, or worse too small. Ā I know itās not top of the line, but I think top of the line is more for people that intend to wear the costume more than a few times a year and are really into the lifestyle. Ā I love the design and the colors but I want to see the corset in person before I continue building so I can make the pieces that go with it to compliment the exact shade of the corset. Ā
While I was there I also picked up a couple of cute pieces for my husbandās costume that I think will work.
My next plan is actually to make the top hat. Ā I know a lot of women wear the mini-top hats, but you know what? Ā Iām not a lot of women so I want to make a real size top hat. But I figure I want mine shorter than my husbands we plan to make. Ā
So I found a 6inch and an 8inch bell topper on Amazon each for less than $10 to begin the project with and I intend to pick those up on Thursday. Ā Iām also planning to invest in a sewing machine because a plain black top hat just isnāt nearly as fun as a fancy one.
I figure if I can teach myself to use the sewing machine it will worth the invest me even though I donāt actually like to sew. Ā I found colored goggle replacement lenses for the goggles on etsy to add some flair to those.
I ordered the dark green and my husband thinks it should be fairly simple to pop out the dark black lenses in those goggles and replaces with the flashier dark green. Ā We intend to use the goggles as a sort of hat band on his 8 inch bell topper. Ā He want to leave it black to go with his gray & black coat pictured above and to build from that beginning with the goggle hat band. Ā Heās considering adding the magnifying attachments as well to the goggles
But looking at the photo of a premade set that doesnāt look like it will be too difficult or expensive for him to do. Ā The gears and mini clocks we intend to share between the hats because neither of us have a solid idea of exactly what we want this to look like. Ā He knows he wants a goggle hat band on it and to add some gears. Ā Iām hoping it will become clearer as the materials come in and Iāve been making a pinterest boardĀ with cool Steampunk hat photos to give him some inspiration.
With mine I have no intention of it staying a black top hat. Ā But I found this cool tutorial online to cover the fabricĀ that I want to try. Ā There are two hats I like as a starting point that Iām going to attempt to somewhat duplicate.
And I read this neat article that I found on my phone that I canāt find the link to on my computer that suggest hitting up thrift stores to use curtains for fabric and save funds that way. Ā So the hope is that I can find a cool set of curtains at one of the local thrift stores to work with. Ā To start my plan is to first get like a satiny material and completely re-purpose the hat in that with no sort of adornments, then I want to do it again with black lace like in the first hat except Iād like to add corset lacing like the red had has but in the back. Ā So the lacing would be through the lace instead of the fabric and there would be no lace under the corset lacing. Ā I want it to look nice with the corset so Iām waiting for that to come in before I consider looking for curtains or fabrics to do that with. Ā From there my ideas get a little vague. Ā I want to add some of the clock like pieces, Ā I saw a few compass charms I think would be cool and the key and lock charms are something Iād like to incorporate plus feathers since feathers are cool. Ā I also feel it needs gears as well. Ā Iām not quite sure how Iām going to put that all together without it looking like a hot mess. Ā But Iāve got to make it through step one before I really need to focus on that. Ā I figure itās probably going to take a few tries just to get to that point. Ā I intend to update as I work on it so you can see how it goes if youāre reading. Ā
As far as the rest of the outfits go I found this
Iām thinking Iād like to make two blouses. Ā One from a colored fabric for the dressier version and the tea stained version for every day if I can manage it. Ā I plan to make one of the menās shirts for the everyday version of my husbands outfit but I want to find a vest for his dressier version. Ā I also like how she does the skirt for the dressier version but Iām thinking I donāt want as many colors in the one skirt as she has. Ā I also figure Iāll be able to make more hard choices on what Iām doing when I get to that point. Ā Step one is to get a sewing machine and figure out how to use it. Ā Also my husband intends to help with the project as he has time. Ā So weāll see how it goes and if I manage follow through with the blogging so will you. Ā Anyway thatās my plan because you know what I am NOT too fat to wear Steampunk and I shouldnāt have to go broke to have a costume. Ā
Well thanks for reading, would love to hear your thoughts and advice on the project.
germansingergirl
prguitarman
pixelskylines
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