Buggirl's Increasingly Strange Tokyo Tales...

I think I have finished reworking my 2nd bedlah.
This was my second homemade costume. My first one was not structurally flattering enough to ever be in rotation after it served its purpose as my first costume, the only one I could afford, for my first solo. My second costume was well enough built that I've kept coming back to it and revising the mistakes I made...for years and years. It is the one set I'd had the longest. I've since sold the Red Menace, the troupe costume, and my silver Pharonics (all from 2005).( The longest running costume project, lots of pictures. )

Am I kidding about the costume storm? No, not one bit. Do I kid about costumes? Well, yeah, I do, but not about those I make.

Let's see what's on the work table!



From bottom to top.

First off, that yellow thing? I gots me a label maker, bitches! I am waaaaay too happy with my new cheap label maker. It wasn't an easy find. Now I just need a few more storage drawers from Muji for my costume workspace.

Gold: The Romanian's belt is getting some metal rivet action to start with. She's just not the sequin type.

Burgundy: Re-enforcing the cups and doing a little more fringing on one of my first homemade bedlahs. I wore it to the restaurant last
Friday. I swear, there is a love of my homemade bedlah and my Turkish Rom heavy music there that makes me think the owner is stuck a bit in the past and that that's the right place for an owner hiring me to be.

Cowrie: Eshe's long-awaited costume. I'm starting with the few little baggies she gave me at her last performance before moving to Korea and Mekyria's sending more! There's a lovely bit of white coral from my trip to Okinawa that will go between the cups.

Champagne and Coins: At her last performance before moving Eshe thrust a big-ass bag at me and said something about cowries. The thing weighed a TON. It was only when I got home that I realized I was lugging around another coin-cover set. Eshe bought it used before moving and shipping/storage/moving just didn't work out for her. It's going to stay in the Afet Collective family. I'm charging Henna for my supplies and labor to make the base belt and bra and attach everything. When I am done we'll have no reason not to get off our asses and do a duet because we'll have matching-enough costumes now. Above those coins are my coins. Henna and I are roughly the same size so I'm using what I've already done to figure out the base pattern.

Not shown are two stripped-down bras, one for Henna's base and one for my gold bra.

It's not dead, it's alllliiiiiiive!

My talk about building a dance bra and belt from scratch (not built on a pre-existing bra, but build fron individual bra-cup forms) may have been silent recently, but I hadn't given up. This is what I've got so far. I worked on it tonight while watching a Mr. Show DVD and staying off my leg.

I sort of like it plain (no bling-bling embellishments aside from fringe and beads...if inspiratation strikes I'll add more, but I don't wish to tamper for tamper-sake) although I will get a different skirt to go with it, black is just what I had on hand for the photograph. As homemade goes, I like it. It needs a a fringe line here and there and I need to stitch a lining for the bra....but I feel good about it overall.

( Photo )