You're reading this blog, thinking to yourself: Wow, this is really boring, what a dull life the Magpie leads.

Well... you would be right, most of the time. :P

BUT to squeeze whatever excitement there is out of my blog, you might consider the "friending" option. The shiniest stuff is locked away. Introduce yourself first, I like manners.

... it seems to be my turn to be left out of the loop. If there's something you're waiting for me to respond to and I haven't, I bet I just haven't gotten the notification. Feel free to point me in the right direction/remind me of anything pending.

Oddly, I think magpies_trek is getting its notifications.

I've decided to start a splinter LJ for my Star Trek costuming adventures. I'm going to start sharing the link on costuming forums and stuff, so I decided I didn't really want this, my primary sweet lil' blog, getting traffic from them. And, for those who want to just read about Trek costumes, it'll be easier to access that way.

But anyone who reads this blog is more than welcome to follow along with me too! :-)

http://magpies-trek.livejournal.com

... if not to provide me with more pictures of Karl Urban's McCoy? Come on interwebs, you are failing me. Bootleg screencappage, leaked/scanned promos, plz.

He's not the main reason I loved the movie, he's just a major bonus.

Star Trek may not be a perfect movie, but I haven't left a movie premiere feeling that exhilarated in a long, long time. It rejuvenates my interest in contemporary film, not just the franchise.

One minor costuming quibble: they needed to put some seam stabilizer under the shoulder/raglan seams, it wibbled and buckled way too much. And I wish they'd gone a bit further with the '60s retro-futurism. Ok, that's two. To balance: I like how the tops of the uniform are two-piece, and I like that they kept the short skirts with at least some nod to the original esthetic.

Oh, and Roger Ebert? You wrote:

"Uhura (Zoe Saldana) seems to have traveled through time to the pre-feminist 1960s, where she found her miniskirt and go-go boots. She seems wise and gentle and unsuited to her costume."

So: let's get this straight. A woman's character can be judged from the length of her skirt and choice of footwear, can it? Or, at least, you imply we should be able to judge her from those things? Nice trick, Mr Ebert, you managed to be "pre-feminist" even without time travel, and (I presume) without the miniskirt.

( Three pictures behind the cut - 2 McCoy, 1 Spock. )

Your comments were all really helpful on the last post! It helped clarify that none of them were really stellar choices. I liked the white best of those but they were too big.

For a complete change of pace, now I'm thinking the blue ones on the card (they are carved floral or fruitish things) since blue, red and white are some of my favorite colours together (although then I can't wear the dress with black so easily) or the round bumpy silver ones (which are plainer but versatile):


Click once and then again, this a big high res for detail!

I sort of like the red and silver ones too, but Dr Smith feels they vanish on the dress.

The dress pattern is from 1941, if that makes a difference. I have 3 choices for buttons - they'll be placed 4 on the bodice, then a sexy key-hole gap, then one on the collar - either the white and silver glass (which have a buckle that might go), black with rhinestone in a cage, or oval black with small rhinestone:


Click for bigger!


Ditto!

Nerts, my topstitching looks terrible up close! I don't think it's that awful in real life :/

Anyway - you have until I finish sewing my snaps this evening to weigh in on the button choice!

I've found an awesome site that lets you download Golden Age comics that are, hopefully, public domain. They have a huge collection of Planet Comics that I'm working my way through:
http://goldenagecomics.co.uk

I looked for actual Planet Comics and quickly discovered I was not in the market for originals! Over $100 an issue - no thanks.

I'm discovering that cover images of the comics also tend to have little/nothing to do with what's inside. I'm working with the idea that I want to do "Mysta" but whether she will end up being based on the interior art is not certain. She might be a conglomerate. So I'll see what comes of actually reading the comics.

Thank you all for your encouragement on the original post!

And because it is STILL SNOWING (nerts) I present an eBay round-up that rhapsodizes on the colour Green.

( Observe behind the cut. Green! How I long for thee! )

I think I'm going to make another Pulp/Comic/Pin-Up 20th Century Future costume, ala the Astronettes. A girl should have more than one.

I also predict that the Steampunk movement is inching steadily forward in time into Dustpunk, Dieselpunk and Atomicpunk, or at least, while some remain in the adventurous Victorian/Edwardian era, the energy of the movement is starting to snowball through other eras. I like to be cutting edge.

I have vague notions of entering it in the local ComicExpo at the end of April, but I am hesitant to commit to the idea since they have Ed the Sock involved in some fashion with the contest. I don't know that I want to sign up to be publicly abused.

ETA: I emailed the contest organizer, who seems lovely, and she assured me that Ed himself won't be involved with the contest. It's his lady co-host, Lianne K, who loves costuming and last year wore a couple of her own, along with local improv/anime nice fella who will be MC'ing. She assures me it will be friendly, and I believe her.

At any rate, I have 3 candidates for the costume and I'd love your vote on which one would be best to go with: Gale Allen (and her Girl Squadron), Mysta of the Moon or Miss Planet Stories July 1952.

Not familiar with them? :-) I certainly wasn't until I started looking for pictures on the web, though Miss July 1952 has been in my LJ icons since my first days here. It's amazing what you learn from costuming. I'll post a teaser of her first, and you'll have to see Gale Allen and Mysta behind the cut.


Miss Planet Stories July 1952
Planet Stories is an SF pulp title, not a comic, so the only artwork is the cover. I haven't read nor seen this pulp in person but I gather the cover image doesn't directly relate to any of the interior stories. She really is just Miss July.

( All Girl Squadron! Click! )

Brought to you by the colour blue... blue skies, blue water... anything but this crummy white snow that fell last night.... Ah nerts, now I'm thinking of my blue toes, blue ice... *sigh* Hopefully, I've picked spring and even summer-y enough items to keep us thinking warm thoughts.

Remember to ignore all claims of size, read the measurements given and compare to something you own to see if it'll fit. I try to give a range of sizes and decades in this one.

( Click to see! Blue skies ahead! )

Time for some ebay temptation!

In honour of the Watchmen premier (which I have not yet seen!) - this one strikes me as Sally Jupiter incognito daywear:
TWO TONE rayon TIMELESS DESIGN WWII DRESS
(Measurements of the garment (not the person who wears it!) bust 37" -waist 27" - hips full)


( Continued behind the cut with a sort of a late 1950s-1960s wiggle cocktail Mad Men sexy secretary theme this time... )

... and your overcoat, and your 3-piece suit, and your tie, and your tommy-gun....

G-Man (Bale) vs Dillinger (Depp) on July 1!

Website with trailer and gallery, launched today:
http://publicenemies.net/

Rumour is that the trailer with play with "Watchmen" this week.

Tough Guys 4EVAR!!!!!

I'm back! I was away for a week in Hawaii!

And I'm now about 3 weeks behind in planned posts... But just wanted to wave and let you all know why I've been so quiet. I'm looking forward to catching up after a good night's rest.

I was one of Holly Black's six winners in the Geektastic Icon contest! Yay! I win an advance copy of the anthology!

This was my winner:



I've decided I like my "Weird - Proud" one best though, and I've added it to my personal collection.

ETA: *headdesk* I just read the email I sent to Holly Black with my address and realised I used an "it's" where I should have put an "its". Nerts! I imagine sending an edited version would not make this better... !

Even if you guys don't know the answer to this - if you can think of who/where I might ask, that would be excellent! I skimmed SCA and LARP sites that I found on google, but nothing has struck me as really helpful.

If I bought some cheap medieval replica armour - say 16 gauge steel gauntlets, pauldrons or vambraces, something like that - do you think I could emboss (pound over a wire), etch (I am not afraid of chemicals) or otherwise modify it myself?

... was another fandom that had just a baker's dozen episodes. I have not yet recovered from Firefly.



Cadfael, you are breaking my heart!

( I've put the video embed behind the cut since I suspect it was slowing the page down. But please go ahead and click! )
(A small snippet of the first episode, uploaded by some kind soul, enjoyable despite the Dutch subtitles. The first 1 minute and 10 seconds or so is a nice exchange between Brother Cadfael and lawman Hugh Beringar that sets the tone. Derek Jacobi is phenomenal - as always - as Cadfael, the 12th century Benedictine monk whose sharp mind and kind heart often show him the way to Truth, and not only the Spiritual kind. When in repose, this youtube video depicts a not-so-inspiring still image of King Stephen, so you must go ahead and click it in order to see the real stars.)

And Hugh Beringar! Bring forth the swooning couch! Hugh, aka Sean Pertwee, is the son of a Time Lord and - ooh! fresh torment! - he wanted to be one too, but wasn't chosen for this new iteration of Doctor Who.



I saw a single episode of Cadfael in the late 1990s. I knew with the swiftness and sureness of a loosed arrow that I loved it, but with my medical resident's schedule, and his irregular appearance on PBS, I never got to see another episode. I did manage to read several of the very fine books by Ellis Peters/Edith Pargeter*.

The VHS, and then DVDs, remained on my Christmas list for about a decade until my Mom provided me with the first 4 episodes this year. YAY! MORE!

*This reminds me of that Other Genre that I have only dabbled in before: Mystery. It never really grabbed me the way Science Fiction and Fantasy did, other than the Cadfael books, I'd only a read a handful. This past while I've been reading some Pulps (Tarzan, Doc Savage), which led me to Hard Boiled (Hammett, Chandler), which led me to Dorothy Sayers. She = AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOME! I've just finished my first novel by her, and I know with the swiftness and sureness of a loosed arrow that I love her stuff... :-)

Holy cats! My ebay losing streak broke with a vengeance over the past couple days! It scares me a little, so I have to spread the wealth around a bit. I shouldn't go winning any of these, so instead, you should:

1. Vintage 30s DECO Cream SILK Ruffled Party Gown DRESS

I cannot bid on it - I bought a gorgeous silk 1930s gown with similar features in the fall (I almost wore it for New Year's. It's still looking for an event for it's unveiling):


( Continued behind the cut! )

Interrupting the update on my winter activities with an icon contest question for you...

Holly Black, a very fine YA author whose LJ I follow, has some advance copies of an anthology that she's co-edited. The anthology sounds spiffy - it's called Geektastic. She's planning to give away a couple of those advance copies to readers of her blog who enter an icon that fits the theme of Geekiness, or for one of the authors involved.

Her entry on the contest is here:
http://blackholly.livejournal.com/116915.html

I cannot resist. So here's some potential entries I made last night. Please vote for most winningest, and I'll use your opinions to decide on which to enter:

For these two I went with a sort of "original geek" theme, Geek version 1.0 if you will. The first is from the silent SF film, Metropolis. The second is a fun picture of the silent great Harold Lloyd:

Icon #1


Icon #2


These next two come from covers of "Weird Tales", a SF/horror pulp. These particular two both come from the early-mid 1930s:

Icon #3


Icon #4


Bonus icon I made from another pulp cover, it's not my favorite, but maybe some of you might like to see/steal it (all of my icons here are ok for you to take if you like - but credit me on your profile userpics page please.)

A new banner I made and put up this season.

Wishing everyone a 2009 filled with joy, peace and reasons for Hope.

( Close up picture of the banner behind the cut. )

sistersola came up with a charming meme for Christmas:

1. Take a picture of an ornament on your tree, it doesn't have to be your favourite, but it can be if you like, and post it in your journal.
2. Say why you picked that one and what you like about it.

So, here's one of mine:



I picked this little angel to represent some of the handmade ornaments done by my sister (the next oldest after me, for those keeping score :-) ). She almost always makes something by hand for the family at Christmas, and for awhile there she was on an ornament streak. I now have these super-cute angels, wisemen and little versions of myself all made from small flower pots (like this one), bells and light bulbs.

I love hand-made ornaments and this one has a particularly exuberant spirit.

Time for another round-up of auction action.

OMGosh! Get a load of these chorus girl costumes! They are teeny tiny, but full of inspiration:

Tux:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270318747545

Clown:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270318739294

Gingham Girl:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270318751047

Christmas Rockette:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270318744908

( Continued behind the cut! )