Follow Ups


Any follow up post will share this category with it’s main one.

Burning Man Costume Swap Success! Story

As many of you now know, our Dusty Couture Burning Man Costume Swap last weekend was a “game changer” for the Reno Burner Style scene.  Don’t believe us?  See for yourself in the video below.

We loved every minute and felt like we received a HUGE payoff for the months of effort and planning that went into this landmark event.  Just making our preparations was an incredible adventure in itself as this project grew to include:

  • Costuming the entire cast of a Shakespearean Steampunk play (to obtain the venue).
  • Teaming up with the troupe hosting the fire & art festival across the street (to obtain initial costumes).
  • Gathering support from boutiques, vendors, and Burners throughout the Reno community.
  • Discovering a dear ally in fellow blogger Jessica Reeder aka The Hun creator of Love And Trash (her idea).

Want to host a successful costume swap for your community?  After this year’s Burn we will be looking to take this Burning Man Costume Swap show on the road.  The only pre-requisite is that your community have two or more volunteers interested in coordinating with us.

For the lucky Reno Burners we are already planning the 2012 Burning Man Costume SwapS.  If they’re anything like this one was, it’ll be the dawning of new era.

Costume Swap Event

Edwardian Ball SF 2011 Part 4: Dusty’s Outfit

We continue our wrapping up of the Edwardian Ball 2011 with this semi-final post bySketch2 DustyCouture.Com founder Dusty Bacon talking about his outfit in detail.  Take it away!

During a brainstorming session with Mairin in which we sketched some rough concepts for her upcoming fashion line (stay tuned for more on this exciting development), I sketched out a character wearing the Edwardian Ball outfit I hoped to create.  (See sketch at right of this paragraph.)  This character was partly inspired by a tremendously engaging, sinister, Victorian era, browser-based role-playing game: Echo Bazaar which I’ve sincerely enjoyed becoming lost in these past couple months.

A month or so later when I was running out of time to actually manifest the outfit, I gave up on trying to design a thigh-high spat out of belts similar to these ones and instead banged out the brocade spats, vest, and cravat over the course of three days/nights.

These spats (see below) are a variation of a vintage East German issued gaiter. I’m growing to like using imitation leather because it’s durable, cheap, and can look amazing as is the case with the woven, grid texture on the black part of these spats.

Spats

The spats were riveted together with my new hand-press which I am finding to be faster than sewing in many ways. Note the recycled leather belts on the bottom.

Vest

Regarding the vest ornament (above), it was definitely inspired by my fashion-designer friend Tammi Wright’s application of chained stones in her Infinity:Now design line.  My outfit may not have been as outlandish as a good number of the other outfits at the ball, but this center-stone ended up inspiring quite a few compliments and adding credence to my character’s jewel thief mystique.

I also wore the outfit a couple weeks later during a vampire pub crawl in Reno.  It was perfect for that affair!

At the bottom of this post is the couture creation I am most proud of and the last component of my outfit I will be discussing: my patchwork leather gauntlet.  It’s the first true custom fit item I have created and was fun to puzzle together a piece at a time from upcycled suede jackets.  Thanks to Jeff Carloni aka Inferno for these photos!

Gauntlet

Edwardian Ball SF 2011 Part 3: Our Outfits

We’ve shown you the video of the ball and the bazaar’s couture, now it’s time for us to promenade in our own finery!  Fill up the champagne flute and grab an oyster or two then feast those peckish peepers on our glory.
Don and Morgan in the Raven photo booth
Four of us attended this year’s ball.  Each of us choose a different look which emphasized various historic or fictional aspects of Edwardian society.  For the most part, we obsessed over what to wear, even if it was just a simple decision between black or grey.  When the time finally arrived though, we each had selected an outfit that paid compliment both to ourselves and the event.

Morgan (pictured at left with her companion Don in Raven Production’s exquisite photo booth) sports a grand ensemble which takes liberties with historic inspirations creating a scandalously elegant visage of courtly juxtaposed with exotic.  Don meanwhile, would probably have fit right in at a club full of tofts and rakes during the brief era that followed the dawn of the 20th century with his more historically accurate portrayal of an Edwardian gentleman.

Before going on to Mairin and Dusty’s outfits, it must be noted that certain considerations need to be given adequate attention when selecting an outfit for such an affair.  One thing we all failed to account for was how bloody hot the ballroom would get once it was jammed full of hot blooded revelers!Dusty and Mairin enjoying the balcony VIP area

Dusty and Mairin (pictured at right) hand made the more eye catching portions of their characters’ wardrobes.  Both hail from the shadowy, less law-abiding, but certainly still noble corners of Edwardian London.

Mairin’s is a celebration of the patchwork past revised to sensational effect.  Though the color scheme was significantly inspired by the Wandlung mini-hat which tops it all (and which Mairin herself chose and supplied the fabrics for), the hand-made from a Victorian pattern corset, associated over-blouse, and bustle-less skirt sprang from a need for the underworld’s ball-worthiest finery.  She was thankful for the sleeveless top and mostly airy bottoms but was still a bit overly warm.  At least the caged bunny hanging at her side didn’t complain.

Dusty was fortunate enough to purchase his brocade pants and a dress shirt with a collar that could be ironed to give the classic “winged” look from Reno thrift stores.  The remainder of his outfit (which will be gone over in detail in the next post) consists of modified thrift scores and his first ever made from scratch leather gauntlet and spats.

While we would love to lay claim to titles of best dressed in attendance, this was fortunately not the case at all.  In fact, we all had to admit at some point or another that we were probably dressed up and rocking as much flare as the average attendee.  There were certainly many dressed more fabulously than we.

In our opinion, it is more about having a costume that suits and enhances your particular personae for that evening.  We found that for us, if what you are wearing helps you to be the character you want to be then it is likely the subtle details only you and those intimate to you will fully appreciate that your mind will subconsciously orbit as the brighter stars of the evening pass.

Heading out from our lodgings into the Edwardian night

Edwardian Ball SF 2011 Part 2: The Bazaar

We may have been a bit short on Echoes, but that didn’t stop us from shopping our hearts out at the Edwardian Ball’s grand bazaar. The ‘neath of the Regency Ballroom was nearly overflowing with dark delights …
Vest and Tie By the 5 & Diamond Collective
We attended the bazaar the afternoon prior to our first ball which allowed it to be a fine preview of the evening ahead.  Over 6000 square feet of hand-manifested brilliance insured that there was something worth coveting in whichever direction you might look.

Equally admirable to the scintillating hats, masks, gloves, spats, shoes, boots, coats, myriad curios, baubles, bustles, corsets, and ingenious ensembles for sale were the engaging merchants peddling their wares in costume and in character.  Many of them seemed exceptionally pleased just to be basking in the radiance of  adoring consumers’ praise of their creations and it was a sincere pleasure to converse with thems what create these wonders.

While there was a small historical (read: steampunk) contingent shopping the bazaar, I would say the majority of it’s merchants and denizens were decidedly burners, and stylish ones at that.  It’s doubtable that another group could run the Edwardian fashion-plate into the punk’d end-zone and score such a radical mutation of the paradigm.Loom woven copper wire gown.

One work in particular that quite fascinated us was this gown (see photo at right) made of woven copper wire that had been patina’d to various corroded shades of green.  In our opinion, fashion art such as this is worthy of the museum and the fact that it along with a number of other pieces incorporating this woven wire in various visually striking ways indicates the near transcendental level of artistry that could be purchased for a competitive price at this bazaar.

There was a fantastic vibe which permeated the bazaar.  Smiles could be seen and laughter heard throughout the large open rooms.  The charming and animated hatter though, was perhaps our favorite interaction at the bazaar.  In addition to having on a delightful outfit, she educated us in the proper use of her many springed head sizing device as well as said device’s phrenological applications!  The device (pictured below on my companion’s head) allows a plot of one’s brow line to be punched into an index card via pins located atop the device.

Want to see more of what the bazaar had to offer?  Visit this gallery at our Facebook page.  In the next article, we’ll be talking about the outfits we made for this year’s ball.

Head Sizing at the Charming Hatters' stall

Burning Man 2010 Virtual Fashion Show Episode 2

Welcome to the second installment of the DustyCouture.Com Virtual Fashion Show!  We hope you enjoyed the Reno “Rough Edit” and are pleased to deliver more playalicious fun now.

This video finishes with some great hooping footage from Spin Cycle’s annual all-star hoop jam.  We love the costumes that hoopers wear and it’s amazing that they still allow for the hoop to maneuver all over their body.

We shot enough footage on playa this year for a total of four of these Vfash videos: the first one mentioned above, this one, a “Friends of Friends” edition, and a personal favorites reel which will feature a commentary track by Dusty Bacon.  There’s also some handcar regatta vids from last weekend coming your way so stay tuned for lots more!

VFash 02

Junkee’s 3rd Annual Burner Fashion Show Part 3.0

Saving the best for last might be considered a bit overly traditional by some but here at DustyCouture.Com we like to honor the creators’ wishes.  As in life so too here on the web …

Jessica of Junkee Clothing Exchange put on this fabulous shindig complete with the wild west stage dressin’ and even wilder wim’n wi’ skirts hitched to high heaven, Giddy UP!

*You GOTTA watch all of it if you wanna hear Junkee’s profound public service announcement.
**You WANNA hear the announcement.

Junkee Final

Image By Dana PhotoZen Nollsch


Junkee’s 3rd Annual Burner Fashion Show Part 2.3

Next up to the dusty fashion plate is Carson City’s Naughty or Nice who put a sexxxy spin on some traditional playa pin-ups.  Peep the show.  Press play then choose hi-def & fullscreen.

Naughty Nice 01

Image By Dana PhotoZen Nollsch


Junkee’s 3rd Annual Burner Fashion Show Part 1.2

As promised my fellow future dust dwellers, we present the rest of last week’s Burner Fashion Show!  Hope you enjoyed the teaser featuring the Melting Pot’s flashiest finery.  Now onto Prism Magic’s burning best!

Lauren Mari Hufft Gifford of Prism Magic Clothing & Imports located in Sparks Nevada on Pyramid Highway (hey … that’s the sweet scenic route to Burning Man!) put together a rainbow of colorful looks that honor your inner funk monkey.

*Take advantage of the full screen and higher resolution options (only accessible once you’ve pressed play)
**Peep the sweet intro as well.  There really was lighting!

3rd Annual Junkee Burner Fashion Show Poster

Check The Designers & The Location

The Prism Magic Kids Boogie Down On The Catwalk

Photo By Dana PhotoZen Nollsch


Trash-O-Lution The Junk To Funk 2009 Follow Up

The much anticipated 2009 Junk To Funk fashion extravaganza proved that Trashion still has a myriad of new realms to explore.  Elysium Events and SCRAP once again set the stage for groundbreaking styles.J2Ffollow A

New categories, challenges to returning designers, a new venue and heightened public awareness produced an evolved event with ensembles that redefined the creative constraints of conscious clothing reconstructionistas.  Those who attended this fourth annual fashion design contest described the atmosphere as “electrifying”.

The most popular upcycled materials at this year’s show were coffee filters (remember, this is Portland) and bike parts (remember, this is Portland).  The winner of the show was “Chastity Blinds” by Jen Lamastra, a spanish armor/alice in wonderland-esque piece made out of mini blinds, sewn with bike tire tubes all topped by a bike tire tube wig all of which is pictured to the left.

A pair of animal hoof shoes constructed from the industrial waste of a meat-packing facility also garnered significant interest.  Another crowd favorite was the elegant and very burnerly Trash-Fence Gown pictured at the bottom of this post.J2Ffollow B

Jaysun Spieth & Jos Smith (The Photographers), Darcie Radke (Truth in Light Photography), and Aisha Harley (Aisha Harley Photography) did an amazing job photographing the abundant magic overflowing every square inch of the Crystal Ballroom that night.  Many thanks to all of them for the spectacular slideshow which beautifully showcases this thrilling night.

While there were significant financial incentives, the real rewards were a sensational show and a mass expansion of consciousness in terms of the creative fun we can have with recycling not the thousands of dollars in prizes.  The new format, twenty nine fashion designer entrants, and near capacity attendance are just a few of the factors indicating that the 5th annual Junk To Funk show will be worth planning your 2010 November around.J2Ffollow C

A Closer Look At The M4 Style

Random pics off the web can be fun, but for appreciating the subtle details of a particular style, nothing tops being with the genuine article in person.  On 11/7/09 March Fourth (M4) owned Reno’s face with flair.Two men towering above the crowd on their stilts.  One flips the bird he wears tan striped blue pants that extend down his stilts he also has a black and white short top hat black fingerless gloves hand stitched double vests and an ascot the other stilter throws the "rock-on" horns wearing a large black and yellow ruffled collar on a black grommeted vest.  He has on a civil war type Union soldier's cap and long black pants that similarly extend down his stilts.

The vibe was electric.  In addition to rocking a sold-out venue through two sets of marching-fueled mayhem, M4 brought it fashion-wise, dazzling us with the finest couture aspects of their signature style.

Hats, collars, sleeveless tail-coats, vests, bustles, and layered vaudville (one of the stilters was wearing five layers of clothing on his torso!), all well accented with miscellaneous militaria.  Anywhere there’s a gap in cohesiveness, throw in some punk-rock accessories or a bit of tribal flair.

Just about every article worn by the band is custom, some of it gifted by fashion designer fans from around the country.  Speaking to the band members is a crash course introduction to the underground burner couture network.

One thing that stands out about all M4s costumes is their individuality.  While you can tell there have been certain trends, all the costumes are highly individualized conceptions and the band welcomes all takes on its core theme.A man facing you and a woman showing off her rear with her head turned in profile are both smiling and posing.  The man wears a black marching band jacket with silver acccents over a red fishnet top and red/black snakeskin print pants, a red and black marching band had with red fashion goggles tops off his ensemble.  The woman's color scheme is white and black for her white fedora, white corset with black accents, white and black bustle, and shoulder holsters, her long black hair cascades down her upper back making her all the more beautiful.  The couple is framed within a black and white striped hula hoop.

Their merchandise table was a veritable smorgasbord of wicked accessories.  Belt buckles, chain-ring M4 necklaces, custom designed hats by Faith, and of course, the infamous logo’d shirts in 31 different flavors.

The vibe wouldn’t quite have been what it was were it not for the fans.  We brought it too, with circus and marching band inspired creations of our own.

As M4 proved that night: it’s one thing to rock, and another thing entirely to look good while doing it.  If you’re near Portland, M4 will be celebrating their homecoming and the release of their newest CD “Rise Up” on November 19th at the Wonder Ballroom. March On!

*Alert* We just received a hot tip about a marching band/outfit project happening in the vicinity of Gigsville!  Subscribe by clicking the links to the right if you want to be notified when this story breaks!Collage of two pics.  One is the back of a man's sleeveless red marching band tail-coat with silver and black scrollwork, snail stripes, and waistband.  The next pic is a pretty young woman with freaky doll eye makeup a heavily customized black marching band hat with large white feather plume and white accents (band of hearts, M4 patch, checkered hat bill), beautiful red pigtails, a vintage couture lace neck ruffle and polyanna jumper dress over white lace long-sleeved top.Collage of three pictures.  From left to right, bottom half of a female performers outfit featuring lacey rag bustle, lace diamond hoisery and black leather boots with white lacey spats.  Center pic is the back of the rock stilters brown coat with several yellow and silver diamond shaped appliques and long tails.  Furthest right pic is the bottom half of the beautiful pigtailed young lady's outfit with gold and black lace bustle, white ruffle bloomer panties, yellow and black striped stockings over white hoisery and custom black and yellow lace fringed spats with the M4 circle logo patch over her shoes.