New Headdresses!

While the rest of New Orleans was busy deglittering their apartments as part of the annual Lenten purge, I was determined to make one last costume run. Mardi Gras might be over, but festival season is just around the corner, which means it won't be long before people start shopping for their next bedazzled get up. Hopefully I'll be sending these off to Fifi Mahony's in the next week or so. 

Bare Bones

Started my Mardi Gras costume. The basic frame is cardboard, reinforced with wire, and zip ties. My goal this year it to have a costume that shakes and sways in amazing ways when I dance, hence the zip ties and their uniquely buoyant qualities. I'll be eventually covering them with glitter and rhinestones and stars, so that as they bounce up a down, everything sparkles, and the world becomes a better place for a brief moment. 

It's Carnival Time...

I'm heading over to Fifi Mahony's on Monday with a fresh batch of feather headdresses to sell. I'm really proud of these! I feel like I tried a bunch of different techniques - even made my own silk flowers, as seen in the very last piece.

I'm spending the weekend blasting out the studio, and then on to my Mardi Gras day costume. Pictures to follow soon...

Fire!

Unleashing my inner showgirl...

The ostrich feathers up top are my first attempt at dying my own. I'm not totally satisfied with the results - the feathers lost a lot of their fluff, even though I did what the internet suggested, gently blow drying them, then steaming. Luckily, they were high end feathers to begin with, so they still look nice and full despite everything. Not that I'm giving up. I really want more control over my color palate, and I love the idea of creating subtle color gradations. Maybe I'll do a feather dying tutorial if I manage to break the code.