I enjoy dressing up. I enjoy it a lot. So when the Mysterious Workplace learned that we had been given an award, based partially on my work, I was pleased to be part of the two-person crew tasked with attending the black tie dinner and awards ceremony. "I am forgoing both bustle and corset," I announced as my co-worker made arrangements to rent a ( Read more... )

The High Holy Days of dressing up aren't really over until the Dia de los Muertos parade in the Mission on November 2nd. Don't get me wrong. I am not one of those people who cannot tell the difference between Dia de los Muertos and Halloween, but the parade through the Mission is one of those events in which the distinctions can get a little fuzzy ( Read more... )

Traditionally, I refer to Halloween as amateur night. Oh, you like dressing up? You think it's fun to wear costumes? Here is my zombie costume and my Edwardian bathing costume and every go-go outfit I have ever worn for the Hubba Hubba Revue and my ball gown and my baroque Spanish gown from the San Francisco Opera and endless corsets and wigs and ( Read more... )

There are those to point out that the Edwardian Ball is neither particularly Edwardian, nor a ball. These are usually people whose primary interest is in period recreations of clothing, ideally worn while performing period dances. They are displeased by steampunks and circus and clowns, mechanical curiosities, and bicycle-powered carousels putting ( Read more... )