Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Steamcon 3- Saturday


 
Saturday is the dressiest day, the day of the High Tea. I dressed in a long brown skirt with a bit of a train, which was to prove problematical for clumsy me all day. My top was a dark brown velvet sleeveless number that looked enough like an old bodice to pass when kept mostly covered by the purple on purple Medici belt and jacket. R put a couple of curly wiglets on my head, which covered all my flimsy hair, giving me, for the first time, a decent head of hair. I put my undersea-ish hat on over this. While not awesome like other people’s hats, it was at least not as bad as I thought it was. My necklace was a fairly large clamshell that was hinged; I hung it from an antique brass chain and put a flickering LED tealight in it so it pulsated.


Tea wasn’t until afternoon, so we went to the fencing exhibition (and left because of heat) that I said previously that we went to on Friday- duh. We went to line up for the tea at a time we thought would be early enough- and found a line that went the length of the hall in front of the ballroom. We were lucky, though- by the time the doors opened, the line was that long again behind us! Apparently there were at least 200 people attending the tea.

The line proved to be a great opportunity for people and costume viewing, even though it was hard on the booted feet. So many fabulous costumes and great looking people! Took a lot of pictures, but I seem to have terrible luck taking pics. My camera reacts slowly, so people have moved on, and I get lots of blurry ones that end up deleted.

Despite being way back in the line, we got seats at a table near the front. This year, rather than a fashion show, they had a bathing beauty contest. Given the size of the room, it was a good thing that they had the entrants circulate among the tables, giving everyone a good look at their costumes, before they went up on the stage. There was every possible take on a steampunk bathing beauty, from mermaids to Victorian bathing suits to diving helmets to a person with a giant fish for a head to my favorite, a group effort: a smack of jellyfish who spun, bobbed and wove their way around. While the judges decided who the winners were, Unwoman played her cello and sang to entertain us.

After the awards were given, everyone rushed out of the room for a group photo on the beautiful double staircase in the Winter Garden. R and I went around, hoping for good pictures rather than being in the picture; most of mine did not turn out, sadly. It was a great opportunity for viewing costumes!

We ended up going back to the room to relax for a while as neither of us felt very well. Later, we wandered out in search of music, but what was playing at the time didn’t strike our fancies so back to the room we went, for sewing on Sunday’s costumes. Yes, that *was* a recurrent theme! Thankfully, this time I only had some ornamenting to do, not any hemming and pressing. 


 I saw a number of people with wings over the weekend, but this was the most ornate pair, with clockworks and gears!

1 comment:

  1. I read all of your posts, what a great adventure you went on, your costume is to die for!! I am sure you were the belle of the ball! Can't believe what happened at the airport! The drivers license and getting stopped!

    Carol

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