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....

Upcoming...

Well, now that we are into 2012, I have to look at what's on my plate next. I have already added a lot of the events that I will be going to this year to my calendar (Supanova, Oz Comic Con, ACG Ball, History Alive). But a lot of those aren't for a while yet. In the meantime, I have been trying to put together a couple of pieces for work (vintage dresses, pants and the like) which has kept me entertained, but now I really need to get a head start on the upcoming months. 'Cause at this stage, April looks almost full to bursting.

March 9th - 11th - Ancients Camping
Hasn't really been confirmed yet, but I am looking at attending an Ancients camping event for a weekend in March. I just need to convince some of my fellow re-enactors to go along with me (hint hint, nudge nudge) I'm not too worried about my costumes as I already have the one that I made in 2010, and the outfits are stupid simple to put together. I would like to have another styled wig though -  red this time instead of blonde, so I have put that order in today. Then comes the fun styling part.

March 29th - Vintage Fashion Fair
Thinking that I might just rewear something to the upcoming Vintage Fashion Fair. It's not like I don't have stuff in my wardrobe. I wear it on such a regular basis though, that it is nice to have something different for the fashion fairs. Will have to see how I go time-wise. Who knows, I might become incredibly inspired to put something together.

April 14th - Titanic
The ACG are doing both day and evening Titanic events to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the sinking. Which means two costumes. I will be starting from the inside and working my way out, so be prepared for updates. I am going to start work on drafting up the undergarments patterns this weekend. Hopefully I can at least get my mock ups done and ready to make the final versions.

As for my gowns, I have made the final decisions, bought the fabrics and ordered the patterns that I am going to base my gowns on.

For my day gown - the lilac fabric is for the base dress, the white voile for the blouse. I am intending to add a bit of insertion lace into it as well. I know I have some in one of my boxes of lace. All I need to complete this is the fabric for the binding and the sash, which I am thinking will be a dupion silk that I can make the hat to match out of. 

For my evening gown - green satin (the colour is a little off in the photo) with black lace over the top. And if you look cloesly at the hem of the dress I want to make - tassels! It had me at tassels. I am thinking metalic thread and glass beads for my tassels. But still, tassels!

April 20th - 22nd - Supanova
And that brings me to Supanova. I am going to be re-wearing a lot this year, but as there are so many characters that I desperately want to make, I thought that I would tame myself with just one new one. And my choice this time is Squid Girl. I adore the anime and have been looking for an excuse to make the costume. I have started collecting the fabric (cotton for the dress, interfacing, and lycra to make the shoe covers and arm cuffs). I have also worked out how I am going to do the hair and have purchased my wig, so stay tuned.

I won't go on any further, but after April, the year is getting busier and busier. But I am looking forward to it all. The only thing I have to watch this year is that I don't burn myself out by doing too much. I got horrendously sick in November last year because I was so stressed out about a couple of projects and then adding work on top of that; I was a wreck. This year, I am trying to cut back. It may mean that I have to say no to a couple of events, and just try to rewear a lot of my costumes instead of making something new.