Sunday, November 28, 2010

NYC Gratitude / SantaCon 2010 NYC Pregame

Are you a party monster who can't get enough of NYC nightlife? Are you a Burner yearning for the camaraderie that can only be felt when a buncha Burners create a temporary space and commune together? Do you want to party for 2 straight days at themed events?
Then on Friday, Dec 10, 2010 @ 6:00p.m. come to the Electric Warehouse in Brooklyn for:



NYC Gratitude/A Village of Light
Celebrate the Gratitude and deep appreciation we have one another and this great city of ours.

COSTUME IDEAS: Winter theme: think snowflakes, angels, yetis, white and silver, illuminated, etc. or anything that expresses your own unique Light!

TICKETS

FEATURING:
Huge Main Room with World-Class DJs (Sound by light-o-matic)
Upstairs chill area by Disorient and Image Node
Kostume Kult Tent with Live Music, Hookah, and late night DJs
Outdoor Dance Tent with live drumming by TOCA & Ale' Ale' Drummers
Fire Performances (curated by Jewels & Zen)
Fashion Show by Wheylan
Dozens of 2D, 3D, and Video Art installations throughout
“Whiskey & Whores Presents:” A Burlesque/Cabaret Revue

CONFIRMED DJ LINE UP:
AN-TEN-NAE (Acid Krunk/SF)
ARROW CHROME (Disorient)
FRIAR TUCK (Disorient)
KARIM SO (Luvstep/LA)

The Bass (Disorient)
Bit Tuner (Trepok/Switzerland)
Blanco (BOOM Trike)
D_Juice (House of Yes)
Jon Margulies (Hobotech)
Joro Boro (Etno-Tek)
Mike Vinyl (injectionmusic/Austria)
Miss Sabado (Disorient)
Morphous w/ ShiZaru (Tsunami Bass Experience)
The Munch Machine (petermunch.com)
Orion Keyser (Disorient)
Reda Briki (Disorient)
Space Invader (MK2)
Tarquin (Relaxomatic)
Tektite (Vitamin B)
DJ Tinseltown (Flux Factory)

CONFIRMED LIVE BANDS:
Raquy and the Cavemen
Comandante Zero
Neon Dynamite
Lenkadu
Gina Ferrera
Siren
Joshua Tennent & Friends

and special guests...JustinJustin TOCA & Ale' Ale' Drummers

VENUE: Welcome to the ELECTRIC WAREHOUSE, a beautiful 10,000 sq ft converted trolley repair station in the heart of Brooklyn. In the early 1900s, trolleys ran all across the 5 boroughs delivering a fast easy rapid transport across the city. This space has been beautifully preserved to capture the excitement and detail of those early days in Transit and New York History.

DIRECTIONS:
A, C TRAIN to NOSTRAND AV. - EXIT at FULTON and NOSTRAND; WALK 2 BLOCKS EAST
C TRAIN to KINGSTON AV. - WALK 1 BLOCK WEST
LIRR NOSTRAND AV. STATION - 5 SHORT BLOCKS AWAY

This event is a 21+ celebration.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

You go, Nerd!

You know when you see a nerd on the subway? I mean a really dweeb, dork, outcast type character? It may make you cringe. They have a D&D handbook under one arm. Yes, they are debating the powers of a druid vs elven archer with their equally unattractive mate. But now I realize they are just being themselves. Unapologetically living their dweeby life without bowing out to social norms. And bless them, through the power of the internet they have found someone to share those awkward interets with. So today, I salute you Mega Geek. You truely are living the dream.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Get yo'self ready for SantaCon NYC December 11, 2010


While shopping around this weekend for favors for my Pirate themed birthday party, I came across a whole aisle of Santa and Elf outfits at Party City on 14th Street btw 6th and 5th Ave. They have a basic Santa costume for $25 and a deluxe model for $80. Also tons of Holiday accessories, headbands, hats, etc. So get yourself ready for SantaCon NYC. It's on Saturday December 11, 2010 and you might find yourself without a costume if you don't shop early.
I believe there will be a Santa after party this year. More information on that as soon as I receive it!

My costume is already in the works as my Mom and I went shopping at JoAnn's again for fabric. The plan is to do a remake of a bigger better Queen Frostine! The headpiece and wig will be the centerpiece of this costume. Stay tuned cause you aren't going to believe what you see..
Here's a sneak preview..




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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Kostume Props

There are a precious few weeks from now until Santa Con NYC on Saturday, December 11th 2010. Costume preparation will begin soon for me since I will have to make a new Queen Frostine/Winter Queen/Ice Princess dress. As you might remember the old blue and silver dress served me very well but was recently transformed into a ZombieCon outfit. During this downtime of costume activity I present to you..

Costume Super Stars of the internet!


Found on Etsy while making a treasury, a shop called SparkleyJem from the UK. Bustles, fully boned Corsets, Hand made jewelry, top hats and other Steampunk delights! Jema Hewitt is the lead designer behind these tremendous creations which price tags might be eye popping but when you read the description of the hand crafting and historical accuracy of the costumes is justified. Dresses and corsets can be commissioned with fittings done at her studio or by mailing you a mockup. All her gowns are couture and made with high quality fabric and trims.

I aspire to create masterpieces like this!



Sunday, November 7, 2010

VooDoo Boogaloo Kostume Kult Photos

Kostume Kult popped up in EVERYONES Halloween photos this year. Why? Because we are simply the best.


I particularly liked the photos Loren Darklyng took at the Voo Doo Booglaoo after party.
Please take a look on his Flikr.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

My Greatest Costume Accomplishment to Date!


Halloween Recap.
**Caution this is a long one**

Whew! I'm just now coming around to a full recovery from the insanity that was Halloween weekend. If I had tried to pack one more thing into my weekend, it could've ended in full blown Halloween madness (similar to Space Madness) or even a Halloween induced coma!! Thank goodness that was not the case. At any rate, I had a blast and I got to show off my Greatest Costume Accomplishment to Date!
When I found out we were going to an Edward Gorey brunch Halloween morning I wanted to make something victorian, goth, Tim Burton like. So I found a Simplicity pattern waaaaaay back in August at Wal-Mart and modified the design with different fabrics to create the vision I had in my head. I didn't sketch this one at all. Then in September my Mom and I went shopping my favorite JoAnn's in Albany @ the Northway Mall. Great store, lots of deals. I spent about 6 days on the dress, working probably 2 hours a night on it. I finished almost 4 days before Halloween which is the earliest I have EVER completed a costume. I spent approximately $75 on the whole thing. I saved money by going to JoAnn's early and shopping sales and going to Michael's and using their 40% off coupons. Also I went to a Halloween sample sale in NYC and found the wig for 2 dollars!! Still thrilled over that find!

The wig and makeup were their own project all together. I wired most of the eyeballs, spiders, beads, skulls into the wig but had to secure the top hat+crow with a multitude of bobby pins simply because it was getting rather heavy. The red lights around the hat were a random thing I found in the "AS IS" section of Ikea a year or so ago. They are a short string and run on 2 AA batteries which I hid inside the hat. I didn't get a good picture of it but there is a skull on back of the wig that I just love. It was a styrofoam painted skull I got at Michael's for $1.50 that I cut the back off of and wired into the mesh of the wig.
My makeup looked great but was mostly obscured by all that was going on with my wig. Using a great piece of trim Erin bought I sponged black face paint around it and got a flower design using negative space. I added a few stick on gems from the scrapbooking section of Michael's and Matisse Elite lipstick in bright red (specifically the color is called Blow). Black face paint faded down my neck made me look extra creepy. I added black glitter and some red glitter on my lips as a finishing touch! Voila!


Ok so on to the event - Dances of Vice Presents PhantasmaGorey. We arrived at the Highline Ballroom, running late cause it takes time to look that good. In attendance were Erin, Aaron and Erica and we really didn't quite know what to expect. The very first thing we noticed though was that we were NOT the best dressed there. Which frankly Erin and I are not used to! Dances of Vice is a club in NYC that throws fanciful parties and they do not eff around! Most of the costumes were completely hand made and elaborate as all hell. Please check out their photo gallery on the Dances of Vice website and be completely blown away.
Also let me describe the entertainment. First was a very cool band that played jazz music from the 1920's specifically from Chicago and Harlem. They were called Brian Carpenter's Ghost Train Orchestra. They consisted of brass instruments, a banjo, some fiddlers, and even a saw player. They played 6 or 7 songs, then there was a short break and we ordered brunch. The food was "Meh". They served sliders with some sort of sweet and spice ketchup which Erin did not care for and my wings were completely tasteless.
ANYWAY there were also performances by burlesque dancers, tap dancers, an illusionist and ariel artists. My favorite was Bride of Frankenstein burlesque performed by The Flying Fox.


The entertainment was capped off with a fashion show by PUREVILE Fashion. Erin and I were very excited because we recognized the designer from our neighborhood! We always see him on the 7 train and wonder what he does. Now we know, he hand makes one of a kind fashion items with antiques... Heirlooms... Bones... Doll parts... Keys... Lace... Oddities and Curiosities of all shapes and sizes. Next time we share a train car home together I will have to say hello.


My raven who I named "Pecky" was getting a little restless by this point and took to attacking Kevin for no good reason. Could also be that he was drunk... the raven and Kevin.
Next on the agenda was a little relaxing before the big evening events. At 8pm Dresden Doll at Irving Plaza! So I met up with my friend Kevin and we headed over to the venue. The Dresden Dolls have not played together for about 3 years so this was very exciting. At this event, unlike the morning soiree, I was definitely the best dressed. YES! Lots of pictures were taken with me and strangers. Dresden Dolls played all of their songs and a couple covers including their own Double Rainbow song. Complete with rainbow balloons falling from the sky! Great show.

Double Rainbow Song Ending at Dresden Dolls - Irving Plaza

We walked out of the show and Kevin headed home to watch "Walking Dead" that new zombie show on AMC. I debated going home for a few seconds, but this was the one day for this costume to shine so I hopped right on the subway and headed down to VooDoo Boogaloo. When I first got there, I didn't see any of my Kostume Kult crew and thought ah well I'll have a drink, mingle a little then head home. However after hanging out for a little bit and talking to an annoying guy without a costume that bought me a beer I spotted Boris and Lori and headed over to the side dance floor to say Hi. There were lots of Kostume Kult people to catch up with and I met some new people too. I wanted to hear all about the parade and our float. VooDoo was the perfect theme for our float and party. We should always have themes that people can go so crazy with. Jungle's pictures from Facebook already looked amazing. The float was extremely professional and a complete party-on-wheels. Sad that I missed the parade. Next year!


Halloween was a tremendous day. New York City is THE best city for this holiday. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.