Miss Tess

Busy working on stuff for my show, check out what I’ve been up to!

Click on the photo to see it up close! Here’s the descriptions of the garments left to right:

Circus Ballerina Dress: This is from my personal collection. Old prom dress reconstructed to be awesome. I added panties w/snaps on the crotch after a disastrous evening at a club…I had tights, a bathing suit, and underpants on and it was very difficult to go to the bathroom! John washed this so it’s a little wrinkled, since it’s dry clean only

Hello Nurse Crinoline: I love crinolines, and love to wear them on their own! This can be worn as a skirt, the appliqué makes is saucy and the pocket makes it practical, or wear it underneath something!

Bunny Mutant Dress: Andy is a mutant alien bunny. His parents landed on earth and set up their burrow near a nuclear waste treatment facility. He had only 1 eye and 2 noses, but he’s happy and doesn’t mind.

Big Bow Dress: This is from my personal collection. I received this dress from a costume donation thing at burning man last year. I couldn’t exactly go selling it, that wouldn’t be cool! It was super stained and super unflattering. I gave it a big sparkley bow, a big pink bow on the waist, and pink rick rack on the bottom!

I heart Alice Crinoline: This reconstructed cutie reminds me of Alice in Wonderland! Wear it was a crinoline or a skirt, the hearts are pockets!!

Leopard Star: A reconstructed slip with black, green and white stars and leopard print ruffly trim!

I am a little bit nervous, it’s getting closer and closer to the show! I need to do so much and I’m beginning to feel a bit lightheaded thinking about it! And it doesn’t help that editing photos sucks up a ridiculous amount of time! Then I feel as if I have to TELL EVERYONE and show them since I put so much time into it…and here we are, at 1 am with a totally dirty house in need to cleaning since someone is coming over tomorrow, and 100 items to sew in 9 days. AHHHHHHH

Anyway, before I have a nervous breakdown thinking about it…here’s more pics!!

And the grande finale, my favorite! My circus ballerina dress! Made for D6 in boston, and promptly broken in by pouring my disgusting drink on it. Watermelon vodko+tang+a handful of limes. Yes, a handful. I don’t know what was going through my head. Oh yeah, i know what it was. “OMG there are so many lime! I want a handful!”

I’m working on stuff for my first craft fair with Miss Tess Costume, Crafty Bastards in DC!. Check it out, glitzy appliqued party dresses, some klown stuff, and an alien mutant monster bunny dress!!

When life gives you butterflies, make lemonade. I mean, wear them on your head.

My long time friend Becca sent these to me unaware with my obsession. I’ve been dying for butterflies since seeing a ridiculous hat by Philip Treacy on the Alexander McQueen runway, more or less a helmet full of fake butterflies. Of course my town does not have such frivolous items as butterflies so I was left pining. But now, no more!

I’ll be back to posting on monday. I go heat exhaustion in Atlanta, then my internet was broken for 4 days. I nearly lost it.

I manged to get a little bit of work done. Voila, le blue and pink tutu for my friend Jennoit.

I’m amazed I didn’t sew through my finger! During the photo shoot I almost passed out, oi!

Pre-pink brow tips: Leave all self respect, self consciousness, and taste at the door. Let us begin.

1. Apply bleach. If you have dark brows use a toner to remove the red. That’s why the bleach is that yucky grey color.
2. After desired lift is reached, grimace at yourself in the mirror. Feel confident in that fact that you were correct when you said you’d look horrible bald, even though this is just your brows.
3. Apply dye. If you are cautious consider using some sort of barrier on your skin such as vaseline. If you are me, just do it. I mixed my two hair colors together to get a medium/vivid pink.
4. After dye is dry (or you are bored, or you just feel like washing it off) Wash it off. If you did not use vaseline, scrub brow vigorously. Pluck eyebrows into a decent shape. Now that you’ve dyed your brow all those blond hairs are now pink and you look like you have wooky brows.

I’m not sure about how I feel with them yet, they are kinda bright! I felt that way about the hair, though, so I’m guessing once I’m used to it I’ll be fine.  I’m certainly the only person in town with pink brows, that’s for sure.

Because I joined the roller derby. I didn’t get kicked or punched or pushed, yet. They went easy on me since it was my first day. I am so exhausted, I think I’ll go to bed before midnight. Holy phooking cow.

I like rainbows, btw. I am going to be purchasing the tulle very soon to make zillions, and zillions of tutu’s for the world. Rainbows tutus.

This is my real hair. I get the world’s best bedhead.

Plus, and added benefit is that I scare small children. bwa hahaha

I’m busily working on products/design ideas for my new costuming site (hopefully up by mid June for Crafty Bastards). I love tutu’s quite a bit, and would love to offer various custom tutu options. My friend Alisa wanted to do a photoshoot, so of course I thought “what a great opportunity to make another tutu”. So I did. I’m very pleased with how it came out, and I have more materials to make a primary colored rainbow one

Even my dog likes it.

By the way, I got word today that my grant proposal for Firefly was approved. My submission was “DIY Costumefest 2008, holla” AKA “Sparkle Rainbow Pony Princess Fun Time Tutu Party”. The representative called me today and said, “We loved the idea of a bunch of adults running around in the forest in Tutus.” I like the idea, too, so I’m happy to throw countless hours into this to facilitate as many people in tutu’s as possible! If you are in the New England area, consider coming up! Firefly is awesome, full or fun people, small (500 peeps, so smallish) and it’s BEAUTIFUL in the woods! And you can make a tutu. Which is rad I have to say I’m amazed I got the grant. I wrote it after staying up for nearly 4 days strait, running around ROFLcon like a lunatic, sewing some more, dancing all night, then trying to rest before flying home. Let’s just say I was a basket case. I re-read the proposal today and it’s something else grammatically. No wonder they asked me to clarify a few things. . . xo!

In exhibit a Maxine demonstrates how not to ride a bicycle:

a.

PS Velo-cat-oure should not be confused with Velo-cou-ture

hi! My name is Miss Tess and this is my new blog. I have lots of other blogs, but this one is for my new costuming site www.misstess.com My goal is to share the things that I’ve made, crazy situations that I find myself in and things that amuse me from the ‘net. Hopefully you’ll see something you like, and if you find something that I might like please let me know and I’ll watch it 10,000 times then post it here for others to see.

I’ll sign off with a picture of the coolest man in all of Richmond, VA and maybe even all the world. I saw him getting his groove on to the folk band that was playing at the Earth Day celebration. I don’t want you to think I’m making fun of him, on the contrary I like his outfit is pretty damn rad. I think our world would be a lot funner if people would put a little funk into their dress.