Back to the Drawing Board

Or sewing machine, as the case may be.

So. Less than 25 days to go before JordanCon, and I'm stupidly, inconceivably, stubbornly about to restructure an important element of my costume.

Important as in: instant signifier of character depicted. A good costume tells people who you are before they ask--there's no need for a polite inquiry, it's obvious based on the components therein (props, style of dress, colours used, etc).

And since none of these Wheel of Time characters have been depicted on screen yet (which is great--there is no canon standard to hold, we get to use our imaginations to brainstorm whatever we want and no one whines and contradicts based on what they've seen on TV), it means that as a cosplayer/costumer you need to latch on the classic elements of the character for that instant visual recognition that sparks success.

This photo doesn't represent the part that needs revamping, but it does, however, illustrate how time consuming this bad boy can sometimes be. That pic? That's part of twenty meters of ribbon pleated by hand.

Yes.

The process itself is tedious and lengthy in terms of time, and if you count that the end product is only one third of the original length of ribbon used, well, it's handy if you know exactly how much pleated trim you need before you start ironing all the gold ribbon you have in the house.

Oops.

So yeah, now I have a good two meters of hand-pleated ribbon in my costuming supplies ready for next year. I am not thrilled, as I spent the better part of three days pricking my fingers with those goddamn pins, and in the end didn't require all of it.

Again: oops.

Okay, maybe I was a little distracted by Olympic hockey at the time...

This anecdote highlights my current problem though; I spend X number of hours on something, then decide to redesign.

No, not decide. That sounds conscious...

I can't stop revisualizing my costume. My brain won't shut off at night. It worries at the issue until the figurative seams of my project begin to fray, and I want to tear it all apart and start again.

And then I can't focus on anything but getting it done get it done look at the countdown you fly out in three weeks get it dooooonnnnnne!

It's costuming season, folks. And I'm going into that contest guns blazing.