All Eyes on Me

So I mentioned this fleecy white hooded zip-up I have that I loved and was wearing all the time because it was warm, well-fitting, and went with everything. Unfortunately, because of how often I wore it, it was getting progressively more threadbare and the white wasn't really so white anymore. I hadn't really noticed how ratty it had gotten until my parents saw me in it one day and condemned it in the same manner as a building inspector condemns a delapidated house. Ever since then I have been too embarrassed to wear it in public, but not without much moaning about how much I loved it and its warmth and versatility. This visit, however, my mom told me she'd been checking J. Crew where she'd originally bought it for months now trying to find a replacement for me, and was finally about to present me with two very similar fleecy zip-ups in the colors of cream and olive. I have already worn both of them in the two days since they've left. Don't tell Mom I said this, but these two new ones are not quite as perfect as the original was. They are longer and less form-fitting, giving me a boxier shape, and though still neutral in color they are not quite as versatile to match with things as the white one was. Still, they are warm and almost as nice, so I expect to wear them until they fall apart just as I did their predecessor. Thank you, Mom, for thinking of me.

My parents were looking for an activity for us to do as a family, so, since I had fun there, I suggested I take them to King Richard's Faire. They hadn't been to a Ren Fair in years, and nobody could suggest anything we all liked better, so they agreed. Everyone ended up really enjoying it (perhaps more than they expected to, heh). My dad bought a fox tail that can be worn on a belt, because he and Mom are going to a Halloween party and she will dress up like a foxhunter and he will be a fox. :-) I like that. Also, my mom has set me onto a new project. While we were at the fair, I kept pointing out all these costume pieces I liked but thought were too expensive. Her response was "Why buy them? It wouldn't be hard to teach yourself to make a lot of this stuff." Which intrigued me, because I had never seriously considered it because I didn't think I would do a good job. But she said that she didn't know much about costume making either until she decided to learn, and she got to be a rather capable seamstress. And learning to sew better is something I've always wanted to do. So I have decided to teach myself about costume construction. I am starting small, trying to make a very simple Renaissance chemise and seeing what I learn from that.

I found a patternmaking tutorial on the Internet and bought myself some cheap linen fabric to give things a try. I have already made about six mistakes, the first and most egregious being I did not realize that I was supposed to be making patterns that were folded in half. Thus is my unfamiliarity with patterns. So I ended up cutting out, for example, four quarters of a bodice rather than two halves. This means I had to do twice as many seams as I was supposed to. Ah, well, at least it will help me practice my stitching, and now I have learned. I don't have a sewing machine, though my mom may send me up her old one if I get serious about this, so I am just doing a simple backstitch to put everything together. I was surprised at how easily the thread tangles, so my stitches are very ugly in places, but when I turn the fabric right side out at least the seams are pretty straight. I will work on it more tonight. I don't know if it will come out wearable, but at least I'm learning about how to put this sort of thing together.

Saturday was a lovely trip to King Richard's Faire with Bernie and lightgamer. I haven't been to a Renaissance Fair in years, so I was very excited to do this. I'm really glad we ended up doing it when we did, as the rest of my weekends are booked up until my death. ;-)

First of all, I like the atmosphere. I'm always so impressed to see the fairgrounds for these things. I love that they actually built permanent structures with neat pseudo-medieval appearences to house the works of the vendors and artisans. It makes it so much more immersive, and I'm pretty shocked that somebody was actually willing to front the cost for it! ANd we saw lots of people in garb of varying degrees of awesomeness. Favorites included a terryfingly badass looking pirate, an extremely complex gypsy outfit, and the man covered in green body paint apparently dressed as a troll. Least favorites as always include the sneakers worn with elaborate dresses, and the women who cram themselves into corsets such that their breasts resemble freshly risen pizza dough that is pinched in awkward ways. Is that supposed to be sexy? Meh.

I wanted to find a neat thing to buy while I was there, like a costume item or a neat piece of jewelry, and perhaps something as a present for Jared. But sadly everything that caught my eye was extremely expensive and nothing within my price range appealed to me enough to spend the money. I brought a hundred dollars with me to spend, and after purchasing fifteen dollars worth of food tickets (clever scam they've got going with that there), I ended up putting the rest back into my savings account. I must say, in the long run it's probably more satisfying to see that safely put away than blown on Renaissance memorabilia. Ah, well. Still no corset for me, I suppose.

As a side note, I am developing kind of a sour-grapes dislike of corsets. I want to like them, but I never can find one that looks good on me. My experiences with them tend to consist mostly of my torso being too narrow for the laces, thus in no way benefiting my waist, and my breasts just kind of slipping pathetically behind the bodice part, thus in no way benefiting my bust. I have about a twenty-five-inch waist, and according to the ladies who helped me try one on, I should be shooting for a size twenty-three corset, which they didn't have in stock because "All the tiny sizes sell out really quick." I was a little shocked to hear that, seeing as most people around my size tend to be fairly young, and young people don't tend to have the money to blow on expensive costume pieces like a corset, but maybe they just don't make many to begin with. Ah, well, I suppose it's good I didn't spend the money, as I am both young and not financially free. And to be honest I find  the look rarely works quite the way I like it anyway. Girls with big racks all-too-often end up with the pizza dough problem, and girls with small racks end up looking kind of pitiful and meager all shoved up like that. I even saw some girls built similarly to me in corsets, and frankly the way the corset wasp-waisted them looked weirdly disproportionate, and their boobs were just sort of sad. To make matters worse, the corsets gave even these skinny little slips a hideous overflow of BACK FAT, and I would rather wear a burlap sack than a garment that inflicts that particular atrocity on me. *Sigh* I probably would have to have a custom-made one if ever I am to own one that actually fits and flatters, and that is certainly not in my budget right now.

My favorite part of any Renaissance Fair, though, is always the joust. I love watching the knights thunder around on their horses performing feats of martial skill, and I like the pagentry of the storyline that usually goes around it. This time there was a black knight, masked to conceal his identity, competing who turned out to be Sir Joseph, a knight of the court who was banished for a murder he claimed was actually committed by Sir James, the most psychotic of his jousting opponents. After literally reciting the Old Code from Dragonheart (squee!) they squared off in a duel to the death to restore the victor's honor. The knights were asked if they swore to adhere to the rules of chivalrous conduct. Quoth Sir Joseph: "I do." Quoth Sir James: "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Yes, clearly this man is absolutely incapable of committing murder. Their battle, though, was absolutely badass, with them getting knocked off their horses and going at it hand-to-hand.

Now, I know this stuff is staged, and that somebody has to come up with what goes on in these shows. And apparently somebody was like, "Okay, armed combat is awesome, but you know what your average swordfight is missing? FIRE!" So Sir James attacked Sir Joseph with a flaming sword, and was literally SETTING everything on fire! He set Sir Joseph's clothes on fire! Sir Joseph grabbed a whip, and he set the whip on fire! Every time he cracked the whip, the flame flashed and burst! Let me tell you, nothing takes an awesome thing and makes it even more awesome like throwing some fire into the mix! By the end of this epic fire-soaked battle, Sir James as well as the knights' two seconds lay dead upon the sand. Yes, Sir Joseph, now that I have seen you bring about the deaths of three separate men, I now believe that you are not in fact a murderer. :-)

I wonder if I could get a job as a script writer for the Ren Fair. You don't even have to be historically accurate, just suitably dramatic. That would be awesome. Is there an application I can fill out?

Afterward, Bernie, Matt, and I came back and finished the evening with low-key chatting and playing of video games. It was a lovely day, all and all, and the company was excellent. I'd love to go back, perhaps in an even bigger group, but I think I may not have time before the end of the season. If you're thinking of going, I heartily recommed it. 

It occurs to me that I haven't done any cooking in weeks now. I hope I still remember how, because I've got quite a bit to do for this coming weekend. During the weekend of Labor Wars, natbudin and I made a series of bets about what would happen during the game, with the understanding that the winner would make dinner for the loser. Nat won a fair number more of the bets than I did, so I have the happy task of hosting him this Friday evening. And, because I've been meaning to have them over for ages, I am having captainecchi and electric_d_monk over that night as well. I don't believe I've ever cooked for any of them before, so I am looking forward to taking this as an opportunity to show off. I haven't decided on the menu yet; I will do that today between work and rehearsal.

For the picnic on Sunday there doesn't really seem to be any kind of "main dish" being brought, so I think I'm going to step up and put one together. The guest list is around fifteen people at this point, so I need to figure out a dish I can make in large quantities that isn't excessively expensive. My first thought was chicken marbella, mostly because it is very delicious and requires nothing more complicated than marinating it in a bag the night before, laying it out in a pan, and baking it in the oven. Still, it requires some kind of fancy ingredients, which could push up the cost. Maybe if I can get someone to go in on it with me, it'll be a little bit more workable.