Supanova Gold Coast 2012

Last weekend I attended Supanova, the main popculture convention that runs in Australia. For the first time, it was held on the Gold Coast (normally April is in Brisbane). And of course, I attended. I headed on down on Friday to check into our hotel for the weekend. We were lucky enough to be staying 1 block away from the convention centre where it was to be held. It made for a really easy walk over. It started on Friday night for the opening ceremony and the costumes came out. I will start with what I wore for the weekend.

1. Friday Night - Ariel - The Little Mermaid

I decided that I would re-wear one of my costumes on Friday night, and since I really do love my Ariel costume, thought it would be a great choice. It was all the same as the last time that I had worn it, except that I had to restyle the fringe after being stored away. I think it turned out a lot better this time than in the past, with the fringe sitting out in the pouf really well. And I had my lovely little Flounder with me. By the time we were ready to head back to our hotel, it was pouring rain and we hadn't thought to take an umbrella. We let it ease off a bit, I wrapped Flounder in newspaper to protect him and we made our way home for the evening.

2. Saturday Morning - Stargate Offworld Uniform

My brother and I pulled out our Stargate uniforms for another wear on Saturday morning. The weather was muggy and hot, and we sweat up a storm in our full costume. But we looked good and were happy to have our P90s this time. My brother even had his new Zat and holster. I painted the Zat up for him as a birthday gift.

3. Saturday Afternoon - Pan Am Stewardess

We headed back to our hotel for lunch, where I stripped off my incredibly sweaty stargate uniform and changed into my stylish 1960s Pan Am uniform. Pan Am is one of those little-known shows that has only had one season, but I liked it, and I liked the costume, so I took the opportunity to whip it up. I butchered several of my vintage patterns to get the right design, but I made sure that I had all the elements, from stockings, girdle, bullet bra and slip through to blouse, jacket, skirt and hat. My favourite part is the hat. It is made out of buckram, padding and then the matching blue fabric of my uniform. I even have the stewardess pin and the flight bag.

4. Sunday - Squid Girl

From one of my favourite Animes "Squid Girl". I was very pleased with how this costume came together. Best of all, it is really cool to wear because it is entirely made out of cotton. I do wear one of my white chemises underneath as a slip so that it isn't quite so see-through, and I wore a sports bra to minimise my bust - the character is about 13 year old after all. The dress itself is decorated with blue cotton appliqued on. The arm and left cuffs are made out of stuffed lycra. The wig is a short blue wig that I have trimmed and styled the fringe of and attached tentacles made out of cotton blanketing. I originally wanted felt, but the blanketing was the only fabric in the correct colour. Oh, and I added some bright blue contact lenses which are a little odd to wear, but look incredible against the wig.

So that sums up my costumes for the weekend. I got home on Sunday evening and slept the night away for about 10 hours. It was a really good thing that I had planned the next day off as well, and in future I will definitely do so again. But I will leave you with some photos of some of the other awesome costumes that I got photos of. Believe me, there were many more....

Miegunyah House

And then came Sunday. I should have said no, but at the time, I didn't think how exhausted I would be after a full day of costuming. At any rate, I attended a tea at Miegunyah house (a historic house in Brisbane). The ACG were invited to add colour during the opening of their current display - a history of spoons. We had been asked to dress in costumes from the 1890s - 1920s. There were only six of us in attendance, one in 1900s, three in 1910s and two in 1920s.

I was one of the 1920s girls. The thought of re-wearing my Titanic gown had not really appealed to me from the beginning, mainly the thought of trying to wash and dry everything overnight. So instead, I decided to whip up a 1920s ensemble. I started with the undergarments. I made a pair of pink cotton chemise and drawers (pretty much the same as my Edwardian ones), then an underbust corset to suck in my tummy. Next was the slip. Because my outer dress is sheer, I need a slip underneath, it is simply a longer version of my chemise but with gathered tape sections over the hip (I saw this done on an extent example). The final layer was my gown. It is a pink / purple tone sheer chiffon. I drafted the pattern up by butchering a couple of modern patterns, but I was following sewing instructions that I stumbled across online of an actual 1921 gown. I think it turned out well, but unfortunately didn't want to sit in the correct place on my hips and it kept sliding up. But I was happy with it anyway. I would like to make the dress again at some point, but out of a plain cotton voile with the addition of some embroidery for a bit of detail. All in all though, it was nice to be in a different period - especially with the wet weather set in.

Titanic Dinner

The second Titanic event that I attended was a full fledged 10 course dinner. Hosted by one of my wonderful friends - she put in so much work! The menu came from the original menu of the last dinner served on the Titanic, the music was the music played at that last meal, and everyone was dressed up in their Titanic finery. There were 16 in of use to sit down to dinner. We had another good friend of mine volunteer to act as our kitchen maid who was plating up all the food, and then the sons of two of our ACG members to act as our servers.

We started off the evening by gathering around for photos and socialising as well as a toast to the Titanic in honour of those who lost their lives on that fateful night 100 years ago. Our gentlemen were dressed up in full evening attire, and all the women looked wonderful in their 1912 evening gowns. Before moving into sit down for dinner, we were given a crash course in etiquette of the time. The hardest part had to be not saying thank you to our servers every time they gave us something. I guess that is one of those things that is just ingrained now, whereas in 1912, you didn't thank them, they were just doing their job.

And then we sat down to dinner. The tables were decorated with roses, a bevy of cutlery, and individual menus and place settings. Everything was incredible. By the end of the evening, we were all stuffed full to bursting and were well and truly ready to head home to bed. It was 11.30 by the time we were finished eating and informed that a slight disturbance had occurred, to not be alarmed but head toward our lift vessels.

As for my ensemble. I had whipped up a second pair of chemise and drawers out of a lovely stripe satin (sadly no photo), so that I could put on fresh undergarments under my corset. Next came the gown. It is made of black lace and green satin. It is not exactly made to the original design that I had in mind, but this is mostly a result of the lace. It was just too fine and delicate to stand up to what I had intended to do, so I chose to go down an different path. I the end I am very pleased with it at any rate. I mashed together about three different titanic patterns to get the bodice how I wanted it. It is fully boned, and lined in a stiff black cotton so that it holds it's shape. It fastens up the back with six vintage glass buttons and two hooks and eyes. I then finished the dress off by adding a waist sash of the green (it really need it to break it up nicely). Unfortunately the green of my dress has shown up a little too warm because of the flash. It is less of an olive green and more chartreuse.

My hair proved a different challenge. After returning from luncheon, I really couldn't decide what to do with my hair. After the earlier wig failure, I was a bit dubious to go down the path of wearing a wig, but my own hair just doesn't work for it. In the end, I pulled out a red brown wig that I was intending to use for another project later this year. I plonked it on my head and started fiddling. It is actually a really simple creation. I sectioned off the front pieces to begin. Then I plaited what was left and wound it up to create a bun. I then grabbed a piece of the green satin from my dress leftovers and pinned it in to create a band of colour, the ends are tucked in under the bun. Then the front sections are swept back over the ears, pinned in place and the ends are pinned into barrel curls. After I had dressed, I then pinned in a couple of feathers the butterfly decoration (it used to be a ring). I wasn't going to keep the wig in the style, but I was so pleased with it, that when I took it off I decided that I would - so stuffed it with tissue paper, popped it in a bag to keep in all together and stored it away with my other wigs. At least next time I wear the dress I won't have a panic hair moment.