Re: Steampunk Dos and Don’ts

I, Clothesmonaut, self-appointed Commissar of Fashion, must bring my riding crop down hard on the well-intentioned, but wayward lads and lasses mangling the Steampunk fashion aesthetic. An eclectic collection of costume pieces put together in a slap-dash manner and accessorized with a couple of brass gew-gaws does not a Steampunk ensemble make, people.

In particular, the following do offend the eye:

Don’ts for Men

• Don’t wear a vest that’s too short. Your vest should completely cover your gut with no gap between the bottom of the vest and the top of your pants. Otherwise, it just looks sloppy. If you don’t have a long enough vest, you have two options: 1) untuck your shirt and wear your vest over the top for a more deconstructed look. (The younger you are, the better this works.) or 2) lose the vest altogether and go for a more informal, working man look.
• If you are going to wear a pocket watch and fob in the classic chain-across-the stomach fashion, make sure that the watch is tucked securely into your vest pocket (hence the term “pocket watch”). A loose chain with the watch hanging down in front of your groin is just unattractive.
• If you are very tall, don’t wear anything that emphasizes your height unless you want to look like some out-sized, dancing skeleton. That means stay away from vertical stripes and one color outfits. Instead break up your silhouette visually with as many horizontal elements as possible–straps, belts, bandoliers, short-waisted jackets, contrasting colors, etc.

Don’ts for Women

• Balance your silhouette. Dresses, particularly ones from the first half of the Victorian period, tend to be very poofy and/or detailed above the waist and need a wide, A-line skirt to keep from looking top-heavy. If you are going with a tubular-style skirt such as a Victorian bustle or Edwardian number, remember that your top will need to be pared down and made more vertical.
• If you aren’t young, leggy, and thin, stay away from mini-skirts. A floor-length skirt or pants will be much more flattering.  If you must show your legs, wear stockings and garters or go with lacy knickers. Remember, chunky, pasty white thighs are not sexy in any genre.
• If you don’t have a defined waist (that is, a waist that is substantially smaller than your hips), you can’t wear a waist cincher. A cincher on a waist-less person is just an unflattering band of fabric around your middle.
• A Victorian-style corset, particularly the underbust kind, is made for people with an hour glass figure who have the same amount of sand on the top as on the bottom. If you are pear-shaped or large-busted, this look is not for you. You will either appear unbalanced or your breasts will seem to float in space like two UFOs. Go for an over-the-bust corset or better yet, a fitted bodice.

Keep the following rules of thumb in mind:

Dos

• All of your accessories should serve a purpose and appear to be functional. Don’t carry rayguns or flight helmets just to carry them. They should go with the rest of your ensemble.
• The period that Steampunk is based on is Victorian/Edwardian (19th/early 20th century), not the Medieval/Renaissance and not the 18th century. If you want to incorporate that doublet or pirate tricorn into your outfit, you will need to “periodize” it–that is, interpret it through a Victorian/Edwardian lens. Look for pictures of Victorians/Edwardians in masquerade dress for help.
• If you’re not sure how to incorporate anachronistic elements into costume, follow this handy rule of thumb: change only ONE thing. That is, there should be only one “out there” part of your costume (hair is a good place to start, for example) and the rest should be period.
• Don’t be afraid to use non-Western clothing from the Victorian/Edwardian era as a basis for your costume. History–and alternate history–wasn’t just happening in Western Europe, you know.
• Be aware of class and era differences. Formal Steampunk costumes are usually based on upper or middle class ensembles. Informal Steampunk outfits are generally variations on a working class look. Remember to keep the details specific to the era that you favor. For example, boots, pants (especially plaid), a loose, river boatman-type shirt, a soft cravat tied in a bow under the collar, and a top hat say “Victorian”. Boots, pants, a tank-style undershirt (or a collarless shirt, especially a striped one), suspenders, and a bowler hat say “Edwardian”.
• If you are short of funds and/or need versatile costume pieces, stick to men’s wear. Male costume has changed very little over the past hundred years so you get can a variety of looks just by varying your neck and head gear.  Women dressing as men is perfectly period (think George Sand) and works even better for Steampunk.
• Your entire costume, no matter how odd or edgy, should work as a whole. If you want to show off, your custom-made rocket pack, for example, the rest of your ensemble should say “aviator”. If you want to look as if you’ve just strolled off of Jules Verne’s “Nautilus”, your clothes should say “ship’s captain” or “seaman”. There’s no substitute for doing your homework.

Re: Halloween 2008 Wrap-Up

Halloween, the costumers’ bestest holiday of all, has come to an end and now it’s time to highlight some of the most original and innovative costumes that appeared during the 2008 season. I’ve mixed in some photos from the July 2008 ComicCon because I thought they would have made great Halloween costumes.

Cruella DeVille by saucy dragonfly (Flickr)

Saucy Dragonfly made this inspired Cruella DeVille costume by banding together a number of Dalmatian beany babies and then fastening them to her Dalmatian-print stole. Definitely the hostess with the mostess.

Lego Guys from the 2008 ComicCon held in San Diego, CA.

Click here to check out some more great costumes from 2008 ComicCon which was held in San Diego, CA. Although there are some very elaborate and detailed costumes, the best ones, in my opinion, consist of a simple concept well-executed. Much like these Lego Guys seen above.

Rock me, Sexy Jesus T-shirt wearers (Hamlet 2). 2008 ComicCon, San Diego, CA. Taken by San Diego Shooter on (Flickr)

Never underestimate the power of a bad wig and a snappy slogan T-shirt to make a great group costume.

Sarah Palin by mjkmjk (Flickr)

When the presidential election is held so close to Halloween, political costumes are certain to be popular. The one above, however, is definitely THE most disturbing Sarah Palin costume I have ever seen.

War hero McCain taken by jmtimages in Austin, TX (Flickr)

Nice combination of political mask and sailor suit, playing on McCain’s service as a Naval aviator.

Zombie Sarah Palin by alicia rae (Flickr)

Rumors of in-fighting between the McCain-Palin camps failed to convey the full horror of the experience. Extra points here for innovative use of plastic McCain mask. Can’t go wrong with zombies, I always say.

Shrek & Fiona, 2008 ComicCon, San Diego, CA

Nicely done re-creation of Shrek and Fiona from the animated movies of the same name. The key to doing a well-done movie costume is to choose a character whose body type most closely resembles your own. Extra points here for comfort. Both of these outfits look like they would by easy to wear during a long day at the convention.

Chainsaw Guy, 2008 ComicCon, San Diego, CA

Wear this costume and you will ALWAYS get to the front of the line.

Tie Fighter Guys, 2008 ComicCon, San Diego, CA

A couple of cardboard panels, hoodies, and blue jeans. Sheer genius!

Some costumes are so impressive that they deserve a web page all to themselves. Click here to see Ninkybink’s mini-skirted Marie Antoinette costume on Craftster.

I was particularly impressed by the shoes.

If you’re a fan of Jim Butcher’s “Dresden Files” urban fantasy series, you’ll want to take a look at Jim’s first Halloween costume contest winners here. A word of warning: you need to have read the books in order to totally appreciate the costumes.

Re: Let Them Eat Cake

The political blogs are all abuzz with the latest news that the Republican National Committee purchased $150,000 worth of clothes for Governor Sarah Palin and her family. According to Gov. Palin, she wore the high-end togs for only three days which works out to $50,000 per day by my reckoning. [Note: The campaign claims that one-third of the clothes were returned, but that still adds up to about $33,000 per day]. The blogosphere tends to be split between those who view “NeimanMarcusgate” as a trivial distraction from the real issues in the campaign and those who see it as further evidence that Republicans are hypocritical, elitist pigs.

Both sides miss the kernel of truth at the heart of the kerfluffle–that what politicians wear sends a message and that politicians–male and female–are acutely aware of this. In “Fashion is Political”, Robin Givhan, fashion editor for the Washington Post, is interviewed by the International Museum of Women and has a number of insightful things to say on the subject. Check out Givhan’s audio slideshow, “Campaigning in Style”,  where she analyzes the fashion choices of the Democratic and Republican primary candidates.

Male attire has remained essentially unchanged since the 19th century so male fashion choices are much more subtle and easier to miss. That sometimes makes it difficult to decide why a look seems to work for one male candidate and not another. For example, John Edwards may have started off as the son of a millworker, but he’s a millionaire lawyer now so it seemed very out of place for him to dress as a blue collar worker during the Democratic primary. Rudy Giuliani’s three-piece-suit, tie, overcoat, and gloves mark him as a political boss of the Tammany Hall variety–a guy who can schmooze easily at the neighborhood block party, but who also knows where all the bodies are buried and has probably helped bury a few himself. Like women, male candidates have to walk a tightrope between appearing accessible to electorate (“one of you”) and appearing professional and authoritative.

So what exactly do Sarah’s new clothes reveal about her? David Letterman has his own take. To me, the choice made by the Republican National Committee to shell out $150,000 for new clothes for their vice-presidential candidate says that the RNC is perfectly willing to fritter away the donors’ money. People who contributed money to the Republican cause gave it because they wanted to defeat pinko socialist Democrats, not to enrich the Red Chinese so that Gov. Palin could have another mandarin-collared jacket. One hundred and fifty thou could have bought dozens of “Zombies for McCain” buttons or several witches on broomsticks to sky-write “Surrender Obama” over Democratic campaign rallies–legitimate political expenditures :-). If the Republicans can’t be trusted to use their donors’ money properly, how can they be trusted with the taxpayers’ money?

The McCain strategy was clearly to present Gov. Palin as Everywoman, but it didn’t follow through on that political message by echoing it in her wardrobe choices. If Sarah is just an average hockey mom running for office, then shouldn’t she be seen wearing T-shirts, sweatshirts, and turtlenecks like she wore when she ran for governor?  If she’s a representative of small town America, then why are her clothes coming from snobby, elitist East Coast institutions like Saks Fifth Avenue? If she’s the populist outsider running against the politics-as-usual, Armani-wearing D.C. insiders, then why isn’t she wearing blue jeans instead of designer suits?  The lack of consistency undermines the political points the campaign is trying to make.

Bottom line: You can’t go around claiming that you’re just one of the peasants if you’re dressing like Marie Antoinette.

Re: Halloween Costumes

Ah, Halloween. Definitely the costumer’s holiday of choice, but now comes the burning question: what shall we dress up as?

First, let me refer you to what is rapidly becoming my first stop for costume images–Flickr. Don’t look at me like that, it’s true. I noticed when I did image searches on Google or Yahoo that most of the pictures that were returned were being drawn from Flickr so I decided to cut out the middle man.

Let’s talk for a moment about what makes a good Halloween costume.

• A good costume has a clear and simple concept that conveys who you are supposed to be. If people have to guess or ask, your costume idea has not been fully realized.
• Halloween costumes are a form of theater so take your audience into account. If you need to be recognizable to the general public, you can’t dress up as an obscure video game character.
• A costume that you are going to be wearing for hours at a party or other function should be comfortable and not trip you up, impair your vision, or impede your access to the bathroom. It should also be appropriate for the weather. Construct your costume with the idea that you might need to shed (or add extra) if it gets too hot or cold.

Here are some of the more outstanding results I got from doing “Halloween costume” search on Flickr.

Green Army soldier by Mike Paquin created for Halloween 1999 (Flickr)

Like many ingenious costumes, Mike created his at the last minute with some old clothes, a length of plastic pipe, a plywood, and lots and lots of green spray paint. He went trick or treating with his kids and made them wait until he was set up on his “base” before they rang the bell. The crowning touches are the el cheapo helmet and the green stocking he used to blur his own features.

Jack and Sally from the “Nightmare Before Christmas”. Costumes created by gashlycrumbs (Flickr)

A nice example of a couples costume. The stripes on Jack’s suit appear to be handpainted.

Suffragette costume created and modeled by Walter Parenteau (Flickr)

Halloween is the only time of the year when men can dress up as women without having their sexual orientation questioned. The sash and picket sign really make this costume.

Bullwinkle costume by BetsyGH (Flickr)

If you’re a big moose on campus, you to have wear your school shirt with pride. The antlers are made from bedding foam. An excellent example of a comfortable, easy-to-wear, easy-to-make costume.

Re: Put It On Your Chest

Was there ever a piece of clothing designed to convey what’s on our minds like the slogan T-shirt? For this post–and because there’s no escape from election coverage–I sampled the zeitgeist of the nation via Zazzle.com, a design-your-own T-shirt shop. For the record, I picked out T-shirts that I thought were especially well-done and/or imaginative. I left out those I deemed to be racist, sexist, or insulting–and it was appalling to see how many of them there were. In my completely unscientific sample,  I detected what appeared to be a larger ratio of Democrat to Republican T-shirts which may reflect the hotly contested Democratic primary.

If you were going just by the T-shirts on display, you could be forgiven for thinking that the presidential race was between Barack Obama and Gov. Sarah Palin. John McCain seldom gets a shirt to himself and is generally only mentioned in a very standardized way along with his running mate.  I thought the moose–again, a reference to Gov. Palin–was a nice touch.

This is one of the few McCain-alone T-shirts I was able to come across. You would think that a guy with his record would inspire more shirts, but I think the lack of designs speaks to the general lack of enthusiasm for him among Republicans in general. McCain likes to style himself, with some justification, as a lone reformer, but the thing about being an army of one is that there is no need for T-shirts for your supporters ’cause you’re on your own.

So, is it really Palin vs. Obama for the presidency? Sure looks that way. What about that other guy …what’s his name …no, not McCain ….

Joe Biden, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, rarely gets mentioned except when paired with his more famous running mate.

If you see pink elephants, you’ve knocked back one too many at the Republican Convention.

There are still more Barack Obama t-shirts than anything. People like to have fun with his name.

Barack is often portrayed as a revolutionary–both positively and negatively. On the positive side, Barack is seen as Dr. Martin Luther King-like figure, an inspiring social reformer. On the negative side, he’s seen as propaganda-mongering socialist–and that’s one of the nicer things that’s said. It’s a reminder that change of any kind has both its supporters and its detractors.

I like the elegance and simplicity of this design. A strong graphic that ties into his name.

It’s easy to forget that there was another candidate in the race not so long ago. Hilary and Barack were running so closely that at times it seemed like a three-way race between her, him, and McCain.

Unfortunately, Hilary came with her own unique political baggage.

And now a tribute to the power of the digital mob. Just two short weeks ago no one knew who Bristol Palin was. Now her name is on a T-shirt. More than one in fact.

My thoughts exactly.

Re: As Seen On Campus

Or the Fashion Faux Pas of incoming freshmen.

The fall semester on the campus where I work is always a time when you are guaranteed to see some brave eighteen-year-old sporting their new look in public. Sometimes their fashion sense is quite striking. At other times, they just need to be struck. Here’s my roundup of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

First, I can report that the ever-popular t-shirt or hoodie, jeans, and sneakers continues to be THE look among students. This year’s must-have accessory is the sturdy backpack bulging with a good fifty pounds of exhorbitantly-priced textbooks. Given what students are being charged for their textbooks today (and they were high enough when I was in college), I won’t be surprised to see students eventually sporting the barrel-and-suspenders getup that spells extreme poverty in all the cartoons.

Now, as self-appointed fashion commissar, I must issue the following citations:

• Guys, if you are large and heavy, do not under any circumstances wear a ring through your nose. Not only does the “bullock” look not get the babes, but you may find yourself branded and put out to pasture.
• Guys, if your shoulder length ‘do makes you look more strikingly beautiful and feminine than your girlfriend, get a haircut. As short as possible. Being a better looking woman than your woman ain’t going to get you anywhere–or, at least, nowhere you want to be.
• Gals, if your low-rise jeans not only reveal your thong, but your plumber’s crack as well, you need better-fitting jeans. That draft across your backside is trying to tell you something.

Re: Rated ARRRR for Rained Out

The local fair had a great theme this year–“Pirates of the Carrots and Beans” (what can I say, it’s an agricultural fair). At any rate, I was excited as any costumer would be at the prospect of dressing up like a pirate. Unfortunately, it rained something awful for two weeks beforehand and pretty much all through the fair which put the kibosh on the whole costuming thing. After almost three weeks of drenching rains and flooding in low-lying areas, I was less concerned with dressing like a pirate and more concerned with building a boat.

But I did come across this great site, Gentlemen of Fortune, which has a very nice section on historical costuming for pirates. You can use this as a guide to creating an accurate piratical outfit or as a jumping off point for your fantasy buccaneer costume.

And remember, maties, September 19th is Talk (and Dress) like a Pirate Day!

Re: You Get What You Pay For

That’s the kind of aphorism costumers like to bandy about. What we don’t talk about very often is its corollary: you can only sell what you put some effort in to.

I was reminded of this when I took a Middle Eastern dance workshop with a very nice young woman from San Francisco about a month ago now. As many instructors do now, especially when they come all the way up to our little corner of the world, she had brought along some items to sell, including some accent skirts made by another dancer of her acquaintance. These were essentially two rectangles of stretchy fabric with enough space left at the top that you could step into them and pull them up over your hips at the hipbone level. That’s it. That’s all they were. No hemming, no elastic at the top edge, no embellishment of any kind–just two rough cut, partially sewn rectangles. In my over twenty years as a Middle Eastern dancer, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more slap-dash, thrown-together costume item.

Yep, that’s all there is. Two rectangles of stretchy fabric tacked together. Posted from Tribe.net.

A close up of the accent skirt showing the raw, unhemmed edges. Posted from Tribe.net.

When the class saw these accents skirts (which retail for $25-30), the common thought, voiced by many, was “I can make that”. These whispers must have reached the instructor because at the end of class she gave us a little speech about how hard it was to make a living as a professional dancer, how most dancers have to sell a little merchandise on the side to make ends meet, how she could totally understand if we wanted to make our own accent skirt because we had no money to buy one, but please, oh, please, if we do that to at least give credit to the designer [my phrase, not hers] and point people to the designer’s web site and PLEEEEASE don’t make our own copies and sell them and compete with the designer.

To be fair, the accent skirt didn’t look bad once you had it on. Model is dancer Horizon. Posted from Tribe.net.

That little speech really burned me up and I’m not sure what made me the most angry: the whining about a dancer’s lot, the suggestion that we were somehow bad people for not wanting to shell out for poorly made accent skirts, or the unmitigated gall in essentially claiming copyright for a costume item that lacked both originality and workmanship. Let’s set the record straight.

For starters, the life of a performing artist has always been hard. That’s as true now as it was thirty years ago or three hundred years ago. You’re on the road a lot. You’re performing and bunking in a lot of so-so accomodations. You always have to be a business woman as well as an artist. That means doing a lot of other things besides dancing e.g. teaching, hosting your own TV program, writing articles, giving speeches, making videos (and now DVDs), maintaining a website, selling things (your own items or other people’s), and so on. You spend a HUGE amount of time working on your craft and very little time by comparison actually performing. And the bottom line is that no matter how much money you take in, you’re lucky to break even, let alone get back what you’ve laid out over the years becoming and maintaining yourself as a professional dancer. Being an artist always comes with a price and that’s ours.

To lay any sort of exclusive claim to a costume design, legally or otherwise, the key word is “originality”. You have to demonstrate that your design is actually something that you have significantly altered or reworked to make your own, not just a riff on the square accent skirt that has been kicking around among dancers since at least the late ’70s. From a business standpoint, the more work it takes to make the costume item in question and the more complex it is, the more likely people are to want to buy it rather than attempting to make it themselves and the less likely you are to be plagued by imitators.

There are always what I call “convenience shoppers”–people who will buy simple costume items because either they don’t want to take the time to make the items themselves or because the items are right in front of them. But if you as a costumer go the cheap, sloppy, and simple route, you can’t act surprised when people make copies for themselves or jump on the convenience store bandwagon with you. Buy a clue.

Re: 1001 Nights

Morgiana marks the doors of the other houses on her street to confuse the robbers. From Gustav “Tenggren’s Golden Tales from the Arabian Nights” (1957).

I was invited to perform in a local Middle Eastern dance showcase. The theme was “Dark Fairytales” and, after considerable pondering, I finally lit upon a suitable fairytale–“Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves”. Specifically, I opted to do a re-enactment of Morgiana’s dagger dance from the story.

My first act, after picking out the music, was to see how Morgiana had been interpreted through the years. One of the nice things about the Internet is that occasionally you come across someone who has already done your work for you. In my case, Sherrazah Bint al-Waha had already looked for, found, and scanned different pictures of Morgiana’s climatic dance. All of the photos cited here are taken from her web page.

Although the story of “Ali Baba” is set in Persia, as you can see, Morgiana is variously portrayed in Egyptian, Indian, Art Deco, and Orientalist garb.

An illustration from an 1890s (?) edition of the “Arabian Nights”, artist’s name not given. I would call Morgiana’s garb here Egyptian or Turkish.

A completely Art Deco Morgiana. Artist is Lacy Hussar. The picture is from the 1921 Houghton Mifflin edition of the book.

This is the illustration from the version of the “Arabian Nights” I remember as a kid, probably a reprint of the 1946 Grosset Dunlap edition. Artist is Earle Goodenow. Morgiana’s attire is much more Persian here although don’t ask me where the peaked cap and face veil came from.

Another picture of Morgiana from Gustav Tenggren’s 1957 “Arabian Nights”. His illustrations show a strong Indian influence.

For my solo, I opted to dress in as Persian-like a fashion as I could. I wore a magenta and gold kaftan over a long narrow black dress and belted it with a turquoise and white hip scarf. Over my shoulder, I wore a lavender baldrick attached to a short, realistic looking prop dagger, a sort of mini-scimitar I had just gotten from the local comic shop. The dagger was heavy and I needed both the baldrick and the hip scarf to keep it in place. My hair I simply tied back in a pony tail. I had toyed with the idea of doing a half-turban, but decided against it because it kept slipping off. As it turned out, the theater where we performed was sweltering–80 degrees and 110% humidity–so I’m glad I decided to go turban-less.

I also decided to give a Persian cast to my dance as well. From what I’ve seen, Persian dance tends to be halfway between Middle Eastern and Indian dance–small amount of hipwork, large amount of upper body work, with a strong element of mime thrown in. There is a part of Persian dance where the dancer, playing a “tough girl”, pretends to be a man, showing off her biceps. I took that as my jumping off point, figuring that imitating a man as part of her dance would give Morgiana a legitimate reason to be packing a dagger.

I opened my solo being very flirtatious and feminine, then segued into the “manly” part of the dance–showing off my muscles, shooting my bow, drawing my dagger, using it as a mirror (pretending to look into a hand mirror is another Persian element), sharpening it, splitting a hair, and, as the music sped up, engaging in mock combat. At the end, I suddenly strike, stabbing the robber captain through, wiping the blood off my sleeve, and then walking out in an unsmiling fashion.

I’m not sure how much of the “chirpy entertainment turns deadly” mood I wanted to convene got across to the audience, but they seemed to enjoy it any way.

Re: Akasha, Queen of the Darned

Barbie, Queen of the Damned.

One of my Middle Easter dance students, Jessica, decided that she wanted to portray Akasha, the lead vampire, from the movie “Queen of the Damned” for her next performance. This isn’t as far off base as it sounds. Aaliyah, the singer/actor who portrayed Akasha, wears a bellydance-inspired costume for much of the film and since Akasha is supposed to have been an Egyptian vampire, there is a Near Eastern element to the music as well. In fact, there is a scene in the movie when Akasha enters a disco and proceeds to do some very bellydancer-type isolations.

Aaliyah as Akasha wearing the iconic costume from the movie poster.

Our first problem was finding some screenshots from the movie that allowed us a good look at Akasha’s costume. You wouldn’t think that would be a problem, but it was. There were plenty of closeups, headshots, and three-quarter shots, but no full length views of Akasha. What’s up with these movie photographers anyways?

A closeup of Aaliyah as Akasha showing the vampire queen’s crown headdress made from what appears to be North African heart-shaped pendants.

The best reference pictures we could find on-line were of fan made versions of Akasha’s costumes, most of them using the movie poster version with the coiled breastplates.

Here’s a nice one. I believe its from a Brazilian carnival celebration.

Another excellent effort. This photo was taken at DragonCon 2006.

Perhaps the best fan effort I’ve seen so far (photo taken at DragonCon 2007). Love the fangs! I tried to persuade Jessica that she needed to wear some Dracula fangs for the full effect, but she refused. Spoilsport.

This fan made costume is a fusion of the movie poster version and Akasha’s copper costume (see below).

Stuart Townsend as Lestat and Aaliyah as Akasha wearing her copper costume from the latter part of the movie.

We finally had to go to the movie itself to attempt to get a good look at the costumes. If you’re planning on doing this yourself, I recommend a remote control with a fast forward button. The dialogue and acting are as wooden as the proverbial stake.

After some consideration, Jessica opted to go with a re-creation of Akasha’s copper costume from the last third of the movie–a sort of the Nefertiti meets Xena, Warrior Princess look. The major part of the costume is a copper collar/breastplate with a matching hip belt. The rest is simplicity itself–a white circle skirt made from what appears to be lightweight white cotton and with matching sleeves attached to copper armbands.

When she gets it built, I’ll take some pictures and post them. Vampire bellydancers–a concept whose time has come.