"The Devil's in the Details"
I took my notebook along to PirateCon; I was originally going to take the laptop and liveblog it, but I decided that wasn't very piratey. I knew from perusing the website that there were some really intense people involved in PyrateCon, but...oh, I just had no idea.
Notes from "The Devil's in the Details:" (9AM, Friday) -I am the only person not in full on pirate garb. I thought that surely there would be some sort of more modest pirate day wear. Accordingly, I'm wearing black jeans and a lacey blouse that's only semi-pirate-ish, but the most pirate-y thing I own. -Seminar largely about how to sew your own pirate clothes in the most authentic ways possible -Lively discussion about what should go on the inside of jacket sleeves so as to allow free movement of arms for slashing, wenching, etc. -Speaker has convinced a friend of hers to knit her a pair of period stockings: "It's not going well." -"It's all about the bits:" you can get away with having an improper waist coat if you have a lot of fun details. Weaponry of all types, grog tankards, purses all good items. -I am sitting toward the back and am being snubbed, clearly an outsider. When the speaker's "perfectly weighted ax" was passed along, they didn't give it to me. -No metal grommets, dammit! -Also, no silk shirts. Impractical in a wet environment. -She made her own buttons. -Everything also should be hand sewn- a machine is a copout. If it's an inside seam that won't show, okay...if you absolutely have to. She doesn't, of course, but if you have to... -There were no left and rights in shoes?? -There's a very serious guy who's spending what sounds like thousands of dollars to look like "an average pirate." None of this fancy captain stuff. An argument ensues about how/which threads would rot at sea. Wants to use rivets, which are very un-period, even if they look cool. Wax covered linen thread is what would be appropriate.
When the seminar was over, I returned to the office, and started reworking some things for my return with Charlie later in the day. It was abundantly clear that there was nothing I have in stock, costume-wise, was going to cut it. When you make your own freaking buttons, a mass produced polyester dress just isn't going to work.