This is a picture of
me, at LoneStarCon, just two hours before the masquerade competition is scheduled
to begin. Standing next to me is Mike Resnick, the author of the book Eros
Ascending from which the costume was designed. Mike and Carol were unable
to attend the masquerade due to a scheduling conflict so my husband, Roseann (a
friend) and I carried the costume over to the convention center then I changed
and surprised Mike just before a panel began by shopping up in costume.
Mike and Carol were aware that I was planning to do the costume and Mike had sent me a color photo of the limited edition bookjacket cover so I could use it as a reference. Still, I like to think he was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. The butterfly-like attachments to the headpiece are not identical to the bookjacket cover but I'm an author, not an artist and expect a little fudging to be allowed.
Every detail of the costume was hand-crafted. The following are complete details from beginning to end:
The headpiece is made from plastic needlepoint canvas, cut to the proper design. I then used bright metallic colored material to needlepoint a pattern as close to the cover illustration as possible. The back of the headpiece is held together with metallic gold elastic so there is a little flexibility. A white, sheer strip of material drapes down from the crown. The crown section was finished with several applications of fiberglass Bondo they painted gold. The orange feathers were purchased from a craft shop, plucked to show the desired thickness as per the illustration, then dyed orange to match the illustration. The crown's design was achieved by using a glue gun and gold glitter to trace a pattern as close to the illustration as possible. The ears were painted by using fabric paint on interfacing and then they were glued over wire and gluted to the crown. Imagine getting THIS piece past airport security.
The actual bead outfit probably has over 2,500 beads. Each one was individually hand-strung on fishing line and held in place by putting first one bead on a string, folding over, then double-stringing through the remaining beads. When completed, they were attached to a plastic canvas which was completed with the same process used for the crown. This took about a year to complete.
The shoes probably don't look unusual in this picture but there are also modified. I bought a pair of shoes then used silver glitter, two containers of glitter, and a glue gun to make the flashiest shoes possible.
Since the flash reflected off something under the costume, you can probably figure out that I am not nude under the beads. I'm wearing a flesh-colored bikini brief, a flesh-color fabric painted glue-on bra, and a body stocking. Under normal lighting, everything blended so well that it was very difficult to see if there was anything under the costume or not.
The costume will be shown again at InConJunction and possibly Philcon.
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