Today Chris and I drove up to Tempe to meet an on-line friend Serge and his wife Sue. Like me, Serge is into steampunk, and he was dressed up to attend FiestaCon/WesterCon. I couldn't attend the convention, so I chose to do what I am told is "ghosting." And to make myself easier to spot, I dressed up in steampunk gear as well. But let's face it, we all know that I love an excuse to dress up!I'm developing a steampunk persona for myself -- a dancing girl who was abducted by airship pirates, and decided that she liked the pirate life better. It's a good excuse to combine glamorous elements like my bronze bustle skirt and gorgeous feather headpiece with the military-influenced styles of my pseudo-corset (with brass buttons) and suede short-sleeved jacket. Next I need a name for my persona. I think she'll be showing up as a character in my steampunk jewelry stories, too!
Anyway, we had a great time hanging out with Serge and Sue. We all had a lot to talk about, and we stayed in Tempe longer than I expected, only leaving because I didn't want to leave the corgis home alone for too long (Mom did come and give her "grandcorgis" their dinner and some love). It was so much fun to get out of town and kick back with some new friends and chat about sci-fi, writing, work, pets, and childfree life.
By the way, back to the costume. I love sharing my resources! The gorgeous bustle skirt is from Damsel in This Dress on Etsy. I really love my bustle skirt (I may have mentioned wearing it to the Swarovski party back in February). Unfortunately, she doesn't have any in her shop right now, but you could probably request a custom order.
The feather, flower, and clock-hand headpiece came from The Gypsy's Kiss. I clipped it onto a lace headband that I bought at Target. A gentleman at the convention even came over and asked to take a picture of it. It really is that beautiful! Amy does fantastic work, I'll definitely be buying more.
The socks are of course from Sock Dreams. I'd forgotten that last time I wore the skirt, I wore either black lace tights or my brown-striped thigh highs. I can't remember which, but knee-highs are not high enough. That doesn't make the socks any less awesome, though!
And that's about it. The shoes are just from Payless, and the pseudo-corset and leather jacket are both lucky finds from Buffalo Exchange, our local resale boutique. Plus my steampunk cameo necklace, and a brass bracelet that Chris gave me for the holidays.
I'm off to edit more photos and upload them to Flickr. I'll post links tomorrow!
That's a really cool outfit! I think Steampunk is really cool, even though I don't dress that way- maybe someday, but my Renfaire and fantasy costumes will hold me over until then. I've never heard of "ghosting"- what does that mean?
ReplyDeleteoh, you look rad. i want a closeup of the headpiece!
ReplyDeleteWow, quite an outfit, and quite a picture!
ReplyDeleteHee, you look great! My Steampunk persona is that of a Lady Adventuress who has foregone her parents' cash to live a life of Bohemian chaos and travel. It's fun, isn't it! :D
ReplyDeleteMeri: Thank you! Steampunk costuming is a lot of fun, but I felt a little sad whenever I saw other belly dancers yesterday and I wasn't jingly like them :)
ReplyDeleteGhosting is going to a con without actually attending. A few of my brother's friends did that at Comic Con last year, they all met up outside.
Julie: ask and ye shall receive. I'm about to make a post with more photos. Hopefully it will be up when you read this.
Marilee: thank you! I just wish I'd tidied up my entryway before handing Chris the camera. LOL.
Arcadian (it's Kiernan, right?): Thanks! I think our personae would get along very well :)
Aww! I don't know if I'd give up any chance to dress Renfairish or Elven to dress Steampunk, though, as awesome as it is. ;)
ReplyDeleteOhhh! I've never been to a con (yet- I'm planning on going maybe in a year or two when I start to feel better), so I know very little about the lingo, lol.
I was thinking about ghosting that one also but no money for gas etc:( It doesn't look like I am going to get to any cons this year. I am majorly pouting. CONvergence in MN was this past weekend too and I have been looking at all the fun my friends were having up there....
ReplyDeleteJolene
Here is the site of the convention that I helped started in Minnesota www.marscon.com
ReplyDeleteIn case you want to check it out LOL
Jolene
Jolene, I went to Minicon for many years, but haven't been able to afford it the last couple. I like the smaller con compared to the old ones.
ReplyDeleteAnd Merily, you should know my name is Marilee. ;)
Marilee, I used to attend MiniCon as well but starting a convention slowed some of that down rather quickly. I bet we know each other! LOL
ReplyDeleteI couldn't get to MarsCon this year because of saving to purchase a home which I did....next year, here I come LOL!
Conventions are expensive espically if you either have to drive or fly back up to Minnesota!
Jolene
Oh sheesh...Your costume is wonderful also...a bit scattered brained today, my only excuse is that it is Monday!
ReplyDeleteJolene
Meri, I only know the term ghosting because Marilee taught it to me. She's much more con-savvy than I am! Also, if I go to cons, I like to go for multiple days so I can wear different costumes! For Comic Con last year, I wore my faerie costume one day and my Gothic Tribal dance costume another.
ReplyDeleteJolene, maybe next year we should carpool to FiestaCon? I think we'll have a hybrid by then, so gas costs will be a little lower for us :) Cons definitely are not cheap to attend, especially when you procrastinate and miss the pre-registering *sigh*
And hey, everyone is scatterbrained on the Monday after a holiday weekend!
Hey AJ,
ReplyDeleteThat idea about carpooling is a great one! Love it!
Jolene