The annotated life

The Mad Hatter experience

The costume party I talked about a few posts back was last Friday, but I only downloaded the pictures today. L-a-z-y, I know, specially if I tell you I only took about ten or twelve shots for a number of reasons that include me not being totally sober and the existence of tons of other people photographing every single detail of the whole affair. Anyway, I really went as female and more modern version of the Mad Hatter. I just loved my costume, but what really pissed me off was that most people did not know who this character is. I mean, please, you do not need to be well-read to know Alice’s Adventures  in Wonderland an even Through the Looking-Glass. And I don’t even mean looking at me and recognizing it right away, no! I mean, if I tell you I’m dressed as the Mad Hatter, you kind of need to know what I’m talking about. So, this was a bit disappointing.

Now, the costume… I realize now I did not take a picture of the vest I made, but I have a couple things to show. Below, the top hat. It has a blueish fabric wrapped all around it, paying homage to Tim Burton’s idea. It does have the 10/6 little plaque, as well as a pepper embellishment. This one was entirely because of the sixth chapter in the first Alice book, Pig and Pepper.

Next, we have two necklaces I used. The first one was made with a teapot illustration that came in dress my father gave me. It was pretty stiff cardboard, so it worked just fine. The other one was a surprise for me. I looked for a vintage looking pocket watch, but could not find any. Luckily, my stepmom found one and bought it for me! It does not look vintage, but it is soooo wonderful! And it is new, so it works. She gave it to me a couple hours before the party so I had to improvise a crochet chain and it really did the trick.

Below, you can see a tiny little bit of the vest and also my eye makeup. I did two of my friends’ makeup, so I had no time to take a picture of the complete outfit, but I intend to dress up again some time this week and take a few shots. But for now, I leave you with this!

Orange, dark pink and black shadows combined to create a fun look!

Costume party bliss: clothing project in the making

A friend of mine is having a costume party to celebrate her birthday this year and when I heard of it, I couldn’t help but thinking what a bummer these kind of parties are. Yes, I am one of those who definitely do not enjoy dressing up as a nurse or Snow White (or whatever floats your boat) and spend the whole night prancing around in weird clothing. Sure, I’ve been to some costume parties before, but I never really liked it. This year, though, I kind of got excited about it and could not stop thinking about the perfect outfit!

My first choice was to go for something a bit burlesque, inspired by Dita Von Teese. I love this picture of her, but, of course, I would go for a more clothed version. With the word ‘burlesque’ in mind, I started to look for references and then rememebered of Britney Spears’  “Circus”! I love how glamourous all her outfits look and I specially love the lion tamer one. Since I was already looking opn a video, I decided to take a look also at Gwen Stefani’s “Rich Girl”. There are many great combos there for pirate lovers like me.

Anyway, after much reasearch, I ended up choosing something a bit different. I resorted to Alice in Wonderland, but am not going as Alice herself or the Queen of Hearts, no. I’m going as him:

Yes, the Mad Hatter! I’m not taking it quite literally, but doing a slightly glam rendition. I am very much excited and anxious, full of ideas and of things to do and buy in order to make this outfit really work. I’ll be sure to post any news concerning this special project of mine. Let’s see what I’ll end up with!