A Couple of "Aha" Moments

It's been interesting, the past few months, coming to the end of some chapters and starting new ones.  Here are some rather profound thoughts that flashed across my brain that I wanted to share with you all...

I borrowed the most recent The Three Musketeers (2011) from the library and was not so much watching it, as frequently and compulsively pausing it and running it frame by frame so that I could study the costumes and their various trims, materials and contours.  Soooo pretty.  (And that's just Athos...)  I realized that should I ever come into a large sum of money, I would spend absolutely ALL of my time constructing period film replicas out of silks and brocades and then I realized, that's probably why I'm not wealthy (yet), is because the Lord in His wisdom knew once I went into a fully equipped costume studio, you lot would likely never see me again! ;)

I finally know what I want to be when I grow up (I can hear you all in a collective and very sarcastic "NO, really?!") but it wasn't always so clear, and anyway, even if you know what you want the end result to be, that's still a far cry from knowing the steps you have to take to actually get to that point, right?  Right.  So I finally have begun to wrap my brain around some of that and I figured out that achieving my dreams will mean giving up living debt free for a little while.  I paid a high price (not just monetarily, but emotionally and etc as well) to get myself out of credit card debt some years ago.  Recent events have forced me back in just a little (not to credit cards, thank heaven, but to family), but the education required to acquire the skills I will need to get the career that I so desperately desire will throw me back into the deep end of owing people money, and I am balking at that like a toddler getting their school immunization shots.  It's got to be done for the greater good, but I DON'T WANNA!  Factoring in tuition, gas money, materials, books and other general expenses, my degree is going to come with a doozy of a price tag.  I realized what else could be done with an equal sum.  There are the obvious things.  Buy a small house outright.  A couple of brand new luxury cars.  But I could travel to England on that.  And stay for an entire summer.  I could get myself and 99 of my closest friends into Dragon*Con with $900 spending cash each.  Or one could also buy 25,000 frappuccinos from Starbucks (close to 69 years worth, if you bought one a day).  If you're a Sci-fi fan, you can even own the Stargate from the SG1 series for that.  Of course, the cost for school isn't going to come all at once.  It will be spread out over 4 or 5 years-ish.  Still.  It's daunting.  There are grants and scholarships, of course.  I plan to find every single one of those that I can.  This is doable, and I will see it done.

As much as I want to go to the premier of first Hobbit movie in costume, it's 3 weeks out and I am nowhere near happy with my current design/materials.  I have decided that this will be much more worth the wait to postpone until next fall (Dragon*Con/Halloween) or even until the big finale third film is released.  This "Aha" moment was bittersweet, because it means not working like mad to get the outfit done by year's end, but all told, I feel really good about shuffling it to a later date so that it will get the time and attention (and therefore quality) that it deserves.  I've moved up a couple of Regency ideas in its place, the sales of which would afford better materials for the Hobbit dress.  Yes, that's a much wiser way to go.  I did come up with something BRILLIANT for the hobbit feet, though.  Short of how they made them for the film(s), of course.  (I don't have access to those quantities of prosthetic latex and molds, yak hair and spirit gum.)

That's about all for now.  I'm back in the studio doing some Christmas orders for the Etsy shop and figuring out some next steps all the way round.  Stay warm and cozy as the weather gets colder, my dears.  I'll see you again soon.
Love,
Lucy Jane

Belts and Buttons

Welcome!  If you're stopping by from the A-Z, a special welcome to you!
Today's post is the letter B, which made me think of Belts and Buttons in costuming.

Many eras and genres of costume make bold use of belts.  Sometimes they are utilized as a means to secure weaponry and supplies.  Legolas's held his daggers (presumably to make his hands more free to use his famed bow. ;)).

(yes, please, and thank you!)
(c) Newline Cinema

Lucy Pevensie's held both her dagger and her healing cordial.  And let's not forget these three lovely ... er... people, who use their belt(s) to become rather armed to the teeth in order to fight their way out of the messes Captain Jack manages to get them all into. :)

(c) Disney Pictures

I found 3 such belts that I plan on using for battle/preparedness gear on some upcoming costumes.  (Think Laura Croft/Witchblade/Steampunk/Kick@** female fantasy epic type character, etc, etc.)  I got a great deal on them- only a few dollars each at the local thrift store. :)

Conversely, belts can be used strictly for decorative means.  Just wander down to the textiles/fashion room of ANY major art museum.  They can be fabric (scarf-like), beaded, or embroidered.

Check out this embroidered belt (circa 1912 costume design) in "The Music Man":

I cannot flipping wait to make my own
reproduction of her costume!!!

I found one (same thrift store as above) to go with a 19teens era dress in the near future.

Here's a closeup of the embroidery:

B is also for buttons.  While myself keeping things viewed through the lens of a British influence/era, I do currently reside in the Southeastern US.  And nothing says "Southern Sewing Gentility" like a mason jar full of Grandmother's (and in this case, Great-Grandmother's!) buttons in the sewing room:

Last but not least, don't forget about these buttons for the Hobbit Dress! (Which, regrettably, has been put on hold until the Regency pieces get done!)

More Hobbiting

I found this the other day and loved it:

And as promised, here are the concept boards.  I'm still working on finding the right contrast fabric for the center of the bodice, but I'll update when I find it.  I may be searching some specialty stores in Marietta this week before I make a final decision.  Anyway, here is what we have so far:

Concerning Hobbits

Special Note: While Lucy Jane is predominately a lady of Regency England influence, the costuming and artistic creativity under her name spans all manner of time, history, imagination, design concepts and inspirations.  I'll try to make it easy to keep up, but understand, I'm a tad bit all over the place!! :)

It's hard to believe that it has been 12 years since Peter Jackson dazzled us with his vision of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  If you have somehow been living under a rock and have not seen these films, I'd like the mailing address to your cave dwelling so that I can issue you an engraved invitation to get your hands on the DVDs and enjoy the goodness that is Middle Earth.  Afterwards, I'll send you another invitation: to see the upcoming 'prequel' to what happened before Frodo and Sam took the Ring into Mordor.  That's right!  The Hobbit, also being made by Peter Jackson and the magical people at WETA, is being released this Christmas!!!

LOTR geeks, Rejoice!!! :D

Here is a trailer to further drive home how excited I am about this! More costuming news after the break...

Isn't the excitement contagious?! :)
So a decade-ish ago when each of the LOTR films came out, I did what any normal (read: over-the-top) fantasy/fiction fan does when a wildly popular book is made into a blockbuster smash:  I went to the theater IN COSTUME.  Oh, my skills have vastly improved over time, and I'm not saying that my Elf get-up was anything much to crow about. (I will try, try, try to find a long lost photo!)   But it was such fun!  I kept my prosthetic ear tips on for work the next day, just to mess with people, and that was fun, too! ;)

Now, I am aware that technically, I'm not tall enough to be an Elf.  Numerous sources, not the least of which is this End-All-Be-All LOTR Wiki Site, state the average height of a Middle Earth elf to be between 5'5" and 6'.  Conversely, the average height of a Hobbit of the Shire is 3'6" or so.  Hmm.  To my knowledge, there are no female human characters in The Hobbit.  One of the only LOTR human females is Eowyn, a Shieldmaiden of Rohan.

And so, for the December release of The Hobbit, my choice has been either a very short elf, or an unusually tall hobbit!  Drawn up to my full height, I am all of 5'2".  Having been teased for much of my adult life as being "the short one", I decided to embrace my small stature and dress as the latter option.  (The release of the film still being eight and a half months away, I don't consider it beyond the realm of possibility that I will, in fact, create an elf costume in addition to the hobbit one, and see the film 2 nights in a row... we shall see...!)

In the following months, I'll take you through the process as I create a hobbit outfit.  (All the while praying for one of our 60 degree Georgia December days for the premier, as I will be barefoot!)  I'm just putting some finishing touches on the concept board now, so look for that in the next fortnight or so.

Who is your favorite LOTR character?  Whom could you most convincingly dress as?  What do you think of over-zealous fans who are as comfortable in a robe/corset/suit of armor/wings/whatnot as everyone around them is in jeans and t-shirts?