Please oh PLEASE help me make a decision... :)

[Oswyn Fenecote]

I finished my 2 court ensembles for the year, and I am definitely finished sewing for Scarborough this year. So NOW I need to start for Halloween and TRF. As most of my creations take a month or 2, I should start in the next few weeks. Here are the (several) ideas I have swirling around in my skull, which one(s) sound the most appealing?

** Flamingo faerie - This will be a mash up of fantasy/elizbethan court, but in Flamingo colors; Pink puff pants, orange tights, lots of feathers, a neat mask...

** Peacock faerie - for this I'll have a tail similar to this, but in more blues/greens... and more masculine... : Probably have a fantasy style doublet with crazy standing collar.

** Jafar from Aladdin - this is more cosplay/halloween than ren faire, but I want to make a realistic version of the animated film.. as in, I don';t want a solid untextured black/red, I want a "live" version feel, with the same design as the cartoon. (I always hate when people try to stay too close to the original cartoon, and it ends up looking like a bagged costume)

** Manne Boelyn - My first (of hopefully many) bearded lady dresses. I want to be VERY H/A with this, aside from the fact that I'll be a dude in a dress. hehe

** Wizard/Alchemist - Dirty layers of robes, lots of texture and earth tones.

** More Court Wear! I ALWAYS love having a new court ensemble...

** Any other ideas are most welcome!

You guys always rock- Thanks for continuing to be an amazing source of inspiration and drive!

[isabelladangelo]

Jafar or a Harry Potter -esque wizard.   I think, though, you'd have more fun with the Harry Potter-esque Wizard. 

[Oswyn Fenecote]

Oooo good call- an HP wizard could be fun! though I look A LOT like jafar, thats why i was leaning that way. I'm tall and scrawny, and can be QUITE creepy when I try! (and sometimes when I don't try at all!)

[Bonny Pearl]

Really enjoying the peacock fairy and Manne Boleyn ideas!  The peacock could be over the top, since well... peacocks are over the top in their display 

[GryffinSong]

Since it sounds like you already have a lot of court wear, I'd do one of the faeries, or perhaps an elven prince.

[isabelladangelo]

If you are planning on doing these to a Fantasy faire as well or a con or a day of wrong, I would highly suggest AGAINST anything that has a tail.  Particularly, a feathery tail.  Beyond the dirt and grime, people will step on your tail.  It will be a mangled bunch of quills by the end of the day.  I am dead serious and you need to think beyond the "but it's so cool!" to the practical.  This is one of the reasons I suggested Jafar and the HP like wizard. 

[Auryn]

Although I love the peacock idea,
I have to agree with Isabella regarding cons.
At cons there is so little space, you are crammed up against other people, and unless you have a handler or two your tail is going to get destroyed.

I vote for Jafar because well I love Jafar,
a generic wizard will be cool but hard to identify.
With Jafar people will have total geek moments and want to take you picture, plus I have never seen anyone cosplay as Jafar in person.

[Rowan MacD]

Since it sounds like you already have a lot of court wear, I'd do one of the faeries, or perhaps an elven prince.

I vote this, partly because I adore fairies and elves, and we don't have nearly enough of the male version..If you are tall and thin, this look is perfect for you.


  Trivia: When they cast the LOTR movies, they specifically requested 6' models.  Turns out the modeling community has LOTS of fans, and they did not have any problems finding extras to play Elvenkind.

edit: 6 inches became 6 foot

[Rowan MacD]

Really enjoying the peacock fairy and Manne Boleyn ideas!  The peacock could be over the top, since well... peacocks are over the top in their display 

The peacock and flamingo would be an excellent addition to the Vulgarian court, so many possible combinations.  It could be like a masque costume, similar to Snow White's (Lily Collins) swan in Mirror Mirror.

[Oswyn Fenecote]

Ok! I'm officially going with the peacock idea.

Isabella, I am taking your suggestion (somewhat) in that my tail is going to be about calf length, and will not contain any actual feathers. That way contact with the ground will be minimal, hopefully avoiding all of the issues you mentioned.

having said that, I have a cool idea of how to make it happen, but it hinges on what I can do with chiffon to make it not fray....
in the pic i posted at the top of this thread, there are tons of colored strips made from very lightweight material (I'm assuming chiffon and/or silk) and I REALLLLYY dig the effect. however, I'm not sure how to avoid having the edges fray constantly. I was thinking of cutting the strips with a Heat Knife, but I don't want the singed edge to ruin the fluidity of the fabrics movement. I also dont want to double it and turn each one, as that could take years, and fray check would take equally as long... hehe how DO people keep fine synthetic fabrics from fraying? keep in mind please that I want hundreds of these strips... the one from the nutcracker is almost ideal, aside from the colors.

[Bonny Pearl]

YAY for Peacock Fae!

I am in the midst of my fae ensemble.  I am not a seamstress but my best friend is (lucky me!).  For my skirt and chemise we are using dupioni silks and planning on serging the edges to keep from fraying.  Would a serger take too long for what you have in mind?  Like I said I am not a seamstress so forgive my ignorance.  Never herd of a heat knife, I will have to look that up.

Ideas if you want to use feathers:

Have you thought of some type of crown that you could make and be able to incorporate actual feathers into it?  I have a crown I am working on that is 99.9% complete.  Here is a pic of it:  http://www.renaissancefestival.com/forums/index.php/topic,17170.msg371540.html#msg371540

You could also incorporate a few feathers in your wings, if you plan to make a set.

[Oswyn Fenecote]

Bonny, my next idea would be serging. My only issue is that i want 500+ strips/feathers in this tail, as I am very tall, and I want this to be very full.. So serging is an option, although a very time consuming one...

Your crown is killer! I hadn't thought that far up yet- (I'm still brianstorming the doublet and tail) but thats's a pretty neat idea. I was also thinking a bit of a philip tracy idea for headgear,
but in more peacock colors of course. but, i also like the headpiece from the nutcracker, and the pic at the beginning of this thread.... and your crown... dammmmiiiiiitttt. I hate too many options. Also, will be incorporating cool makeup and most likely a mask.

My friend and I are going to TRF this year, and we love being fae creatures. She is gonna be a fox faerie. We wanted to stra a bit from the "normal" fae, and neither of us had seen animal/bird themed fae. and so, voila. Last time we did fae, we had a pouch full of glitter, and when kids were around, we would grab a handful and do a huge high-five that sent glitter EVERYWHERE. it's pretty fun, HORRIBLY messy, and kids absolutely LOVED it.

I'm still hoping against hope that the heat knife idea will work like i want it to... if not, I will need to start surging tonight... hehehe

[Oswyn Fenecote]

this is the nutcracker headpiece... couldn't see it in the other pic

[Sir Stout]

Aw. I really want to see the Jafar. 

[Bonny Pearl]

Thanks for your compliment on my crown.   It was my first attempt and it was fun to see it come together.

What about adding a very tall collar to your doublet and attaching feathers to hit, standing upwards to sort of frame around your head like a cape would?  Sort of David Bowie-esque in Labryinth.  Not sure if that image in my head translated well into text lol.  It could be a good alternative to a crown if you end up changing your mind about that.  My imagination is automatically directing to a 'display' of feathers as a peacock would and how you could incorporate that without it being cumbersome.

You will have to let me know what weekend(s) you plan to attend so we can meet up!  We usually go the whole run and take a one or two weekend break.