Why is life so difficult?
Part of the title comment has to do with school; I thought that my folklore class would be easy enough, even if it is a lot of reading. Basically, I'm reading a bunch of fairy tales. But it gets tedious after a while, since I know the stories already, but have to read it anyway to pick out the little differences, so I don't fail.
Anyway, I've found out how ridiculously hard it is to find bits of costumes. I've never had to before because I know how to sew my own. But upon deciding I want to be Regulus Black, I've created a small Hell for myself.
Okay, so first of all, I found a picture of the Marauders (movie-style), because apparently the uniforms were a little different in the seventies. I am going to die in a convention. They have their dress-shirts, house sweaters, a suitcoat and a robe. I will start out wearing the whole thing, and end up shedding it as the day goes on.
I can make a lot of it; I think I already have a white button-up, so no big deal. I can make the robe (which actually doesn't even have the coloured lining.) I can even make the pants and jacket. However, I can not make ties. Or patches. Or sweaters. Because I can not knit. (well, that is; I can make scarves, if I had the patience.) So I went online to try to find the few pieces I don't know how to make. The tie and patch were easy enough, since there are people obsessed enough for that one. The sweater was a different story. Because there is a sad, sad lack of adult Harry Potter costumes (let me rephrase that; there are plenty of Gryffindor costumes, and that's about it.)
So after a few hours of hunting, I can across a website that makes them. There are four sizes that you can have; The small was a 32" chest, the medium was a 38" chest. When I bind myself, I'll probably hit a 32". But I'm a 34", and I want to wear it otherwise! It's such a basic, plain design that I could totally get away with it; there are things people wear that are much more obvious than that. So I settled on buying it big. Then I found out that it's 100% acrylic, which is soft, and I'm usually allergic to. I took into consideration that 1) there's a theory that I'm actually allergic to the chemicals in them and can probably wash them out, 2) I'm not going to find this thing anywhere else. The website company is who makes them. And 3) I could probably not have it touch my bare skin. Maybe.
So I bought it anyway.
I also considered being lazy and not making the rest, instead buying it. So I looked at the robes. First of all, they were $106, which is far above my budget, and I could totally make it cheaper. And they had a satin lining; what people don't realize is that the dyes in satin runs really badly once you've started sweating. And believe me, when you're in a convention, you sweat.
This sparked an idea. I need a job, first of all. I know how to make robes (easy as Hell) without using satin. If they were made of some natural material, like cotton or linen it would breathe much better. They would be adult sized, and rather more affordable than the other website. Sure, they would probably not be custom made for sizes, but with the website that I have offered, which doesn't cost much anyway, I can totally just sell them individually.
I'd have to give this brilliant idea some time to think over. There's always a tiny chance I'm having a manic episode, which tends to leave me thinking I can do things that I can't. If I still agree with myself in a couple weeks (after I've made my own, perhaps) then I'll take it back into consideration.
Anyway, I'm a total believer in costumes that you can wear (mostly) on a regular basis because the people dress relatively normal. For example, Schuldig (who I want to do, too; white pants & shirt, green double-breasted jacket, red sunglasses, yellow headband, (natural) red wig) as opposed to, say...a Final Fantasy character. It's all about practicality, dammit!
Um...and thus, end long tangent having to do with costumes.
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Anyway, I've found out how ridiculously hard it is to find bits of costumes. I've never had to before because I know how to sew my own. But upon deciding I want to be Regulus Black, I've created a small Hell for myself.
Okay, so first of all, I found a picture of the Marauders (movie-style), because apparently the uniforms were a little different in the seventies. I am going to die in a convention. They have their dress-shirts, house sweaters, a suitcoat and a robe. I will start out wearing the whole thing, and end up shedding it as the day goes on.
I can make a lot of it; I think I already have a white button-up, so no big deal. I can make the robe (which actually doesn't even have the coloured lining.) I can even make the pants and jacket. However, I can not make ties. Or patches. Or sweaters. Because I can not knit. (well, that is; I can make scarves, if I had the patience.) So I went online to try to find the few pieces I don't know how to make. The tie and patch were easy enough, since there are people obsessed enough for that one. The sweater was a different story. Because there is a sad, sad lack of adult Harry Potter costumes (let me rephrase that; there are plenty of Gryffindor costumes, and that's about it.)
So after a few hours of hunting, I can across a website that makes them. There are four sizes that you can have; The small was a 32" chest, the medium was a 38" chest. When I bind myself, I'll probably hit a 32". But I'm a 34", and I want to wear it otherwise! It's such a basic, plain design that I could totally get away with it; there are things people wear that are much more obvious than that. So I settled on buying it big. Then I found out that it's 100% acrylic, which is soft, and I'm usually allergic to. I took into consideration that 1) there's a theory that I'm actually allergic to the chemicals in them and can probably wash them out, 2) I'm not going to find this thing anywhere else. The website company is who makes them. And 3) I could probably not have it touch my bare skin. Maybe.
So I bought it anyway.
I also considered being lazy and not making the rest, instead buying it. So I looked at the robes. First of all, they were $106, which is far above my budget, and I could totally make it cheaper. And they had a satin lining; what people don't realize is that the dyes in satin runs really badly once you've started sweating. And believe me, when you're in a convention, you sweat.
This sparked an idea. I need a job, first of all. I know how to make robes (easy as Hell) without using satin. If they were made of some natural material, like cotton or linen it would breathe much better. They would be adult sized, and rather more affordable than the other website. Sure, they would probably not be custom made for sizes, but with the website that I have offered, which doesn't cost much anyway, I can totally just sell them individually.
I'd have to give this brilliant idea some time to think over. There's always a tiny chance I'm having a manic episode, which tends to leave me thinking I can do things that I can't. If I still agree with myself in a couple weeks (after I've made my own, perhaps) then I'll take it back into consideration.
Anyway, I'm a total believer in costumes that you can wear (mostly) on a regular basis because the people dress relatively normal. For example, Schuldig (who I want to do, too; white pants & shirt, green double-breasted jacket, red sunglasses, yellow headband, (natural) red wig) as opposed to, say...a Final Fantasy character. It's all about practicality, dammit!
Um...and thus, end long tangent having to do with costumes.
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