Zentai


Yuri’s Night – Space Themed Costumes Episode III

“… Three!  Two!  One!  BLAST OFF!!!”, over one thousand space-faring citizens chanted to summon Rotwang and his sexy robotic vixens to the stage of the Metropolis IN SCHPAAAAAAAACE!  Behold!  Our creation …

Side view of a woman straddling a man.  Both are half standing and clad in identical shiny silver body-suits that cover everything except for the eyes and smiling mouths.  Their suits have tails and long pointy ears and tinted goggles are strapped over their brows.

Upon emerging from the airlock entrance into the club, we are treated to a sight we thought would only exist in our wildest imaginings of what Reno’s burner party scene could be like.  The silver leotarded zero-g performers of Dragonfly Aerials maneuver across the rafters in cargo nets while rocking three other aerial rigs simultaneously above a packed house of space-themed costume wearing burners bouncing to the electro beats of an alien DJ in a king’s robe and giant eyeball mask spinning amongst the decaying gray skyscraper facade of a dystopian future.

The crowd was dressed better than any we’ve yet experienced here in Reno (or anywhere really, except maybe BRC).  More than half wore full on space costumes complete with makeup and hair done to match the theme.  Everyone had on at least one spacey item and the vibe was positively cosmic.  Zentai outfits were significantly en vogue as were hoops of every kind especially the LED variety.  Metallic fabrics, ray-guns, mildly erotic 70s Star Wars-esque ensembles, helmets, and, of course, antennae were all around as were neon wigs, bug-eyed glasses, foil tape, glitter, and EL wire.   It all hints at the powerful notion that Reno has significantly more burners dressing up per capita than just about anywhere else.

Front view of a half naked brunette young woman with a crown of transluscent beads woven into her hair, lots of sparkly aqua blue eyeshadow around her eyes, swarovski crystals adorn her breasts and one side of her face all atop a nebulaic smear of silver body paint applied assymetrically.  Slightly ruffled silver booty shorts are the only things keeping her look legal.

Extravaganz kosmich is not nearly superlative enough (or Duetsch enough) to describe the space-cadet conflagration the verkers of Ein Hammer Krew put on for us.  With raffles, set design, multiple areas to rage or chill in, interactive art occupying every spare parsec, a cosmic coat check (it was pretty cold out that night), and a midnight stage show that was absolutely mind-blowing, every species represented was  able to get their genetic programming fulfilled with enough spacey goodness to last them a light-year!

The midnight stage show deserves a special mention.  The theme of this year’s Yuri’s Night Pre-Compression party was “Metropolis In Space”.  Drawing heavily from Fritz Lang’s 1920s German-expressionist Metropolis film with a subtitled silent Rotwang and three metallic hooping robots, the midnight show crescendo-ed in a reverse meteor shower of heavenly glory as all the stars in the audience boosted up onto the stage and blasted off with the beat of Infected Mushroom’s “Cities of the Future” driving their engines.

For many of us, this Metropolis party was our first chance to play with this year’s Burning Man theme.  Our first opportunity to really feel at home in a bustling city of futuristic freaks.  Triumphantly, we were able to transcend our archaic roles of thinker or worker to join together as fellow citizens and bring all we could home from the heart of our city of the future.

3/4 view of a giant 1950s robot with long pincer-like arms exteneded straight ahead towers above all and maneuvers through a dance-floor packed with space-theme costumed partiers away from a glowing purple city skyline stage-set.

Burners Do “Steampunk Lincoln” For Nevada Day

We just love a parade.  Pomp and circumstance, marching bands, floats, being the unabashed center of attention in a linear representation of community for all to see, and, of course, dressing to the nines.NV Day 2009 A

For the sixth year in a row, Burning Man (under the guidance of Danger Ranger and Kernul Killbuck) chose to enter the Nevada Day Parade in Carson City to celebrate the day Nevada attained Statehood: October 31, 1864. Each year there is a new global theme participants are encouraged to incorporate (sound familiar?) into their parade entries.  This year the theme was a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, “The Great Emancipator”.  In true burner fashion, our community put its own unique spin on this banal guideline with “Steampunk Lincoln”.

There are some important considerations to bear in mind when fashioning an outfit for a parade.  Among these are: Comfortable Footwear, the parade route is X miles long but how many times will you also go back and forth from one side of the street to another?; Interactivity, you want to be able to memorably engage the parade spectators in some way(s), visually is fun but can you also go beyond that?; Movement, in addition to being able to march comfortably you may also want to bust a dance move or get in and out of a NV Day 2009 Btight spot, consider the experience you want to create as well as the tricky situations you could end up in the middle of.; Fun, you want to have fun too so don’t go and put something on that’s going to make a glorious celebration seem like a grueling or dangerous task!

Burning Man did very well this year handily defending their position as the top Novelty Division entry.  Further, the outfits were extraordinary!  From finely accoutremented tail-coat lapels to 50-lb backpacks of brass home-furnishings, we strutted our stuff along a three-mile route through the heart of town to the delight of thousands.

We were all surprised to discover how easily a good stovepipe hat can be fashioned out of sturdy poster paper.  I was also impressed by the fact that such paper can be hand sewn onto fabric (note, throw in at least a stitch per inch).

The fact that the October 31st date of Nevada Day coincides with another popular costume holiday can definitely set the stage for an alter-ego identity crisis.  However, as you can see in the picture below, at least one participant had this tricky dichotomy well in hand.
NV Day 2009 C