Because I’ve working on this costume since November and Burning Man is a little over a month away, I started assembling the seastars / crabs / other ocean whatnots onto the jacket and the skirt. And because I don’t want to screw this up, I invited my mother over to look at it. She really hadn’t seen the outfit before and I wanted a fresh set of eyes with fresh opinions. In addition, she’s an art-historian and has a very good eye, so I knew her comments would be worthwhile listening to. What I didn’t anticipate was how distressing they would be.
Comment #1: “Lose the lapels on the jacket. They’re unnecessary and distracting.”
Comment #2: “You have too many dangly crystal-type things on that. You should only have one or two. Cut the rest off.”
Comment #3: “You know what? The sleeves on the jacket make you look monolithic, like a football player. I would cut those off too, just have a couple of strips of kelp hanging down.”
Comment #4: “And that beaded necklace you spent a million hours making? Lose that entirely. It takes the focus away from the other, more important, elements.”
Here’s the problem: SHE’S RIGHT. SHE’S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ABOUT ALL THE THINGS. All her comments would improve my costume immensely, streamline it, remove unnecessary excess, etc. So I was forced to swallow that big lump of ego wedged in my throat and really examine my costume through her eyes. And except for the sleeves (which we reached a compromise on), I’m doing all the things she recommended. The lapels are gone. The extra crystals are gone. The necklace is gone. And the sleeves I will be cutting windows out of. Here is a picture of the sleeves as they stand right now.
She wanted me to cut off everything, but I truly love the detail work on there, so I will be cutting windows to remove excess fabric and bulk. I made a pic where the orange part is what’s going.
I’ll sew in some ribbons to support that now free-floating bottom bit (which will most likely droop under the weight of all that beading and decoration). The only thing I’m worried about is all this extra work and will I be able to finish it in time. I bet it’s going to be down to the wire, but I am determined to make this happen.