For the Costume College Gala in 2013, I had a hard time coming up with something to wear. Originally, I wanted to make the 18th-c. masquerade gown I’ve been lusting after for years. I have the main fabrics, I know how to design & create it, I have scads of research about it. Heck, I want to write an article about it for Your Wardrobe Unlock’d or at least my blog! I also had a great backup costume if I couldn’t finish that costume in time — I could wear the black francaise. That’s my new favourite costume. I adore how it looked in France & would be thrilled to wear it again.
However, cancer happened. Not only did this take up all my pre-CoCo time, but, more importantly, I had surgery two weeks before CoCo that meant I could not wear a corset. The wounds are just too tender still, because the placement is right smack where a corset would poke at them. So out goes about 95% of my historical costume wardrobe. Yeah, that was a bummer. So I cast about for what un-corseted outfit I could wear. Ideally something fast to make between all the damn doctor’s appointments & surgery recovery. Thus, a more glamorous bitchy roman loungewear outfit was born.
Sarah gave me the main fabric (a flashy big scarf from her stash), & I bought a pile of cheap Egyptian-inspired jewelry plus a silver laurel wreath off eBay. Also found some silver sandals on eBay, tho’ they turned out more gunmetal & I used a paint pen to get them bright silver. Bought a silver belt & dangly silver hair decoration from a Thai dance warehouse online. I cut up the wreath & wired/glued some of the jewelry pieces to it for a more Cleopatra look. Then I pinned a bunch of Liz Taylor images on Pinterest for makeup inspiration, which I’d do in silver instead of her movie’s gold & blue shadow.
The crowning glory was a drag queen wig I bought on eBay from Vegas Girl Empress Bianca Wigs. OMG this was the most comfortable wig I have EVER worn! It’s huge, but light, & it fits perfectly snug but not too tight. Didn’t really need the wig clips I added, nor any bobby pins. Stayed put all night, through dancing. I got a tiny bit hot, but my head & neck never felt strained & the wig wasn’t even itchy. And, of course, it looked rockin’!
