BURLESQUE- a performer's perspective: STEAMSTOCK 2013

Costuming for STEAMSTOCK

This was by far the most fun and certainly the most satisfying costume to date. I knew very little about the Steampunk Culture, and I still have so very much to learn, but there are many avenues within that fascinate.

I was hired to do a family-friendly dance number for Steamstock, and feather fan seemed the perfect fit. I made this costume keeping in mind that I would ABSOLUTELY be using it for a Striptease after this event.
The idea was to represent one side of my body as Victorian- lace and pearls, and the other side of my body as what that Victorian side would look like had it not fared so well in Time Travel.

I started with a premade white corset, no busk, steel boned, then removed the steel boning so I could have movement onstage, and replaced it with flexible, sturdy bones to hold the shape. I put in a side zipper for easier dressing/undressing since this corset was going to be heavy. I covered half the corset with black burnout velvet floral fabric so I had 2 even parts to look at, and laid out a preliminary design with some supplies. I began on the white Victorian side, using different sized half pearls in Ivory I placed them in a pattern using E6000 flexible glue.

Silver door hinges were drilled, sewn and hot glued onto the Black Velvet side, after being threaded with black plastic chains from Michael's. I had to limit the amount of metal being used, or I wouldn't be able to perform due to extreme weight. Thanks to Brett Stillo's incredibly detailed and vast research and numerous wonderful ideas for this project, and Austin Sirkin's amazing blogging, I learned about a wax paint called Rub-N-Buff. I recommend doing some reading and trial and error with this stuff, but it makes almost anything look metal. I used it to transform almost everything on my costume- the silver door hinges became brass, the plastic chains became gold. I used several shades of Antique Gold, Grecian Gold, Gold Leaf, Autumn Gold, and Ebony and Pewter for accents and shading. A few things needed Primer first- I choose matte black spray paint and by doing so, was able to create a reverse-shading effect. Application was done with my fingertips and fine-line brushes. Here's a better look at the once silver door hinges and the completed pearl pattern:

I found beautiful French lace and added that to the camisole and bloomers I would be wearing under the corset, and using the Rub-n-Buff, I made baby silk roses look like varying shades of metal. Leather 'lace' looped trim separates the two sides in the middle, and is continued along the top and bottom of the Velvet. I strapped my gun flask (haha) into a standard belt. The gun was shiny silver, but thanks to the wax paint, it is copper, brass, and black. Still a nicely functioning flask!

My hair would be piled high, one side in 'fresh' red roses, the other in roses I added Gold Leaf and Autumn Gold Rub-n-Buff to to make them look a bit like metal pieces. I attached hair clips to a strip of felt (to protect my hair from catching) and affixed the roses to the clips with hot glue.

The Feather Fans are enormous, fluffy Ivory Ostrich. In order to keep this particular piece from being outrageously expensive, I chose 3 layers of shorter feathers and doubled each layer. This made each stave look very full and gave the fans the illusion of being one layer. The inside and outside of each stave and stem is embellished with the half back pearls I used on the corset, and 20ss Crystal AB Swarovski crystals.

NOW.....the really fun part. Making my left arm and leg look mechanical, while still being able to kick and move around during my dance. I decided on an arm and leg 'corset' idea. Using nice, buttery soft leather, I made gauntlets that attached to top part of the arm (bicep) to the bottom part of the forearm, by small snap-together pieces on the outsides of the pieces. Similar to how a sock garter works, but stronger. I used all the shades of gold Rub-n-Buff to make the soft black leather look like rigid copper metal. A very simple black extra long lace was used through grommets to lace up the back of the arm and leg pieces.

Laying out a pattern: I really had no idea how to do this, so one day I just went out shopping- To JoAnn's and to the Hardware store and bought anything that had the SHAPE of what I wanted for the mechanical features of the arm/leg. At JoAnn's, I found plastic black tubing near the Pinatas, and it became copper hosing. I also used PomPom makers, which weigh almost nothing and when taken apart, have several interesting circular-gear-shapes to them. They also can be fused part way open, and you can see them in the top pic as the base for which everything else is sitting.

Remember that with Rub-n-Buff, you don't need to find just the already metal items. I used a TV-cable Splitter, an actual steam pressure gage, and a whole bunch of things that I have no idea what they are used for. I drilled holes in some of the items that were heavier, and secured them with heavy duty fishing line. I also used a combination of E6000 and Hot Glue for the smaller things. First, I layed out the pieces with the design I though I wanted:

Once I was satisfied with my design, and it afforded me movement, I attached everything. The leg was going to be tricky to keep up, so I needed to find a way to keep it from sliding. I wore a Rago underpinning with garters, and it's substantial, firm fabric ensured that the leg would not get away from me. To keep a bit of femininity, I trimmed the arm/leg pieces in a black leather cord and attached lace trim in deeper ivory. I attached a key to the arm-piece so it would dangle as I spun my feather fans.