Snapper Rewedding: Save the Date

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Topless Vlog #32

Here it is, at long last!  I've been so occupied with my rewedding and preoccupied with my dad's stroke that I haven't been able to vlog for a couple weeks.

I about the rewedding (corset, tulle, garter, show), says a hearty hello to Mike Schmidt, and plugs the final Tarantino burlesque tribute show at Monday Night Tease.

LINKS:
Rewedding 
Mike Schmidt & the 40-Year-Old-Boy podcast 

Snapper Rewedding: Joy and Pain

Joy: Batman wedding garter

I'm deep into costuming mode for the rewedding.  There are things I have to make for myself (corset, skirt, unders & pasties), things I have to make for participants (bras & panties with panel skirts), and things I have to make for the audience (like the toss bouquet I made a couple weeks ago).  After some challenges with elastic lace and following a tutorial that didn't turn out as I wished, I finally found a winning formula for the garters.

Yes.  That's the Batman symbol because Andrew is Batman in another show, and he's a huge fan of Batman.  Why not really personalize the garter?  The lace is some leftover vintage lace I was given by a dear friend that I used floral spray paint to color for the trim beneath the ostrich boas on my robe.  I bought a roll of 100 yards of aqua ribbon for $8 and have used that for almost everything I've done.  The rosette is from an unsuccessful purchase of flowers for snapper finger puppets; the flowers are just too big for the finger puppets.  The coral ribbon is from the feather fans I made for Bukowski.  I had some elastic in my supply boxes.  Once I found the right set of instructions I was able to crank out two in less than an hour.

That's right.  Two garters.  One is for keeping, and one is for tossing into the audience.  I really want the audience to have a great time and to be able to take home memories from this show.  I couldn't scrimp on the toss garter.

Pain: water damage & gluey shoes

I hunted eBay for a great pair of shoes with a low enough heel that I could move well in them.  I found these dyed shoes for under $12 with shipping included.  The description said they were floor samples, so there would be light wear and tear.  I don't recall seeing any photos of the glue stains I discovered when I opened the envelope of shoes yesterday.  I tried to scrub the spots away with a toothbrush, assuming they were dirt.  That didn't work.  I then hit them with the tiniest bit of water.  That washed away some of the dye.  Shit.

You would think that I would know about the care of dyed shoes.  Nope.  I wore black pleather shoes to all of the proms I attended.  I wore white pleather shoes at the first wedding.  I tend to wear leather, pleather, or embellished shoes.  This is my first pair of dyed "satin" shoes.

So with a little bit of water I fucked up my shoes.  Good thing I bought more rhinestones Saturday so I can hide that shit with sparkle.  Since the shoes are "satin," I can use GemTac instead of E6000.  I wasn't expecting to have this as a chore, so I'm going to try to make the most of it.  My plan is to cover the toes and the heels because that's where the damage is.  Fingers crossed it works.

My Final Reveal: Mr. Snapper Edition part 4

(Guest post by Mr. Snapper.)
   
On Thursday, I made my shopping list for the things I need to buy to round out my ‘66 Batman costume. By the time I finished, the sheer number of things left to do in a little over a week left me dispirited. Add to that co-hosting another show Friday night was Garth to Mr. Buddy’s Wayne:
 

 
Also, Red and I are renewing our vows at the Monday Night Tease in August, a show that she’s been diligently working on for the past six months, and which I really need to concentrate on:
 

 
So I decided to put Batman ‘66 on hold. I don’t have the time or resources to make it look as good as I want it to. I have a choice: toil like mad, hijacking Red from the rewedding work to help me, and wind up with a costume I’m unhappy with, or just stick with the costume I already have that I’m unhappy with. An easy choice, really.
 
The main problem with the “Halloween” costume was the cowl. I added in a gusset today, so it fits my massive melon, opened up the eye holes so I don’t look cross-eyed, and tried the whole shebang on with those Funtastic hero boots I purchased last week. It will get me through Comic-con.
 
This is not the end of Gotham Girls, and I will finish this costume.  I figure I have about four weeks of work to do on the costume. Completely doable, just not in the week I have left. After the rewedding is over and before we start shifting into Nearly Naked Nutcracker work, I can spend more time on the ‘66 costume.
 
Sometimes, you have to step back, reassess, and switch gears. Or, as they say, “Retreat, Regroup, Reapproach.” This was one of those times. I’m not happy about this, but I feel good about it. If that makes any sense.
 
And now, for no particular reason, the Tumbler if it were styled after George Barris’ ‘66 Batmobile:
 

My Final Reveal: Mr. Snapper Edition part 3

(Guest post by Mr. Snapper.)

Since last posting, I managed to pick up my Bat boots:

Funtasma brand “hero boots,” $50 from Halloween Town in Burbank. Vinyl, not the strongest sole in the world, but it has the right silhouette and length. They need to be navy blue as well, something I hope to take care of next weekend (if not before).

I hoped that my tights patterns would arrive in time to allow me to make them this weekend. No dice. So instead, I spent a little time on the utility belt. Here’s what it’s supposed to look like when it’s done:

From Osh I scored brass for the buckle. A little Dremel magic later, and here’s where I am:

A little rough, needs to be cleaned up and polished. The belt itself is supposed to be leather. I could buy leather. I found a yellow pelt (do you call it a pelt?) for $90 at Levine’s. A little too pale, but it would work. The only thing is, I don’t have $90 to spend. So I’m doing this on the cheap:

$9 worth of vinyl from Levine’s will work for now. When I have leisure time, I can go back and rebuild this item. Odds are, after making a ton of mistakes building it the first time, building it a second time should be a breeze.

Is it a cheat? Maybe. I’m making this to host a show, not to scale buildings while exchanging pleasantries with Sammy Davis, Jr.

It has to look good onstage, and I’m building on a budget. Ergo, corners will be cut, and vinyl will be used instead of leather. It’s not ideal, but it’s not an ideal world.

Total spent to date: $292 (including that $109 that On Stage Dancewear should be refunding any day now.) and approx. 4:30

Snapper Rewedding: Nosegays Galore

Bottom bouquet for me, top one gets tossed.

A few weeks ago I did a web search for silk flower bouquets for sale.  I didn't find anything I really loved.  I also found that the prices, while appropriate for materials and labor, were not what I wanted to pay.  I'm far too crafty to spend $125 for a bouquet that's not as custom as I deserve.  I decided to make my own bouquet.  While I was at it, I made corsages and boutonnieres as well.

I used this site as a guide for my bouquet.  The basic technique is the same for everything I made.  You clip all the stems to one length and use floral tape to build around a center grouping.  Once the bouquet is big enough, you wrap the stems of the bundle with floral tape then wrap the floral tape with ribbon.  I used craft glue on the bouquet then realized it would take forever for the glue to dry so I started using hot glue.

Wrapped in single-sided satin ribbon.

I'm keeping the big, fancy bouquet.  I made a small toss bouquet to throw into the audience.  I used the same technique and a smaller bundle of flowers.  My bridesmaids will all make their own bouquets in the same method.  (I don't want them to feel completely left out of the pre-production fun.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buster rolled around on the shooting surface before the shot.

The boutonnieres are like tiny bouquets that need room for a pin.  I considered making them larger when Andrew said, "It is a burlesque wedding."  Then I held the XL version against his shirt and we agreed it was too much.  Half of the boutonnieres can accommodate pins, and half have pin curl clips attached to the back.  Some of the groomsmen will be wearing outfits that won't work with pins.

 

 

 

 

 

Spy Kitten's corsage

I used this site as a guide for the corsages.  Again, these are like tiny bouquets.  I used the wires in the silk flowers to shape the bundles so they could ride on wrists instead of in fists.  Some instructions recommend cutting a hole in ribbon to feed the stems through, then tying the ribbon on the wrist. I don't want to risk them falling off, but they have to fit wrists for which I don't have measurements.  I hot glued them to lingerie elastic.  I was going to stitch them to the elastic, but I didn't want to worry about them shifting around inside the stitches.  Hot glue formed a nice bond so I didn't follow up with reinforcement stitches.

Lili vonSchtupp's corsage

I spent about $140 on flowers, floral tape, butterflies and ribbon.  I had the pin curl clips and lingerie elastic in stock at home.  I made one large bouquet, one toss bouquet, two corsages, six boutonnieres, and had enough leftover flowers for three bridesmaids' bouquets.  It helped that some of my blooms were on sale as seasonal (spring) flowers.

Topless Vlog #31

Latest Topless Vlog is here!  I talk about rewedding projects (which I'll blog about soon).