Enchanted Menagerie with Dances of Vice

As a rather last-minute plan (mother's car accident had me thinking we wouldn't be able to go, but she got a rental car - she is also fine), I went traipsing off to New York on Friday with mother and a friend. We had a delicious dinner with my aunt, and went to a Dances of Vice event.

The event was called "The Enchanted Menagerie," and we decided to go all out on the costuming. We both wore fantastic wigs made by Sweet Hayseed. We also went all out with the makeup, as you will see in a moment. She wore a dress (one of those "in progress" forever projects), which was delightfully spiffy with the addition of pretty butterfly fabric and rhinestones! The rhinestones don't show up well in photographs, but they looked really great, especially considering how much rhinstone-ing she did in the car. Very impressive.

I made new stuff! I threw together an 18th century underwear outfit with things I had, and then I made gold cage panniers. Bird cages! You know, "enchanted menagerie"... I am pretty proud of this last minute bit of construction. I was hitting them with spray paint up to the last minute... waiting for things to dry is such a pain. Now, to fully document the outfit!(Me, getting birds in their cages)(The back)(The front)(Friend from the front)(Us being cute)(Me, panicking! Oh no!)

The actual event was delightful. I had never gotten to see Shien Lee (the organizer of Dances of Vice) sing before, and she was really lovely. Wish her a happy birthday! Also, the band she was singing with was great. Check out Grandpa Mussleman and his Syncopators, and when they play with Shien they go by Shanghai Foxtrot. There were some other performances too, like a really impressive fashion show of animal-inspired fashions by Kristen Costa Designs, and a very strange performance piece by Sequinette involving glitter (my friend approves very much) and the most incredible violin costume. Wow. All the performers were really talented.I met a lot of nice people at the event, and drooled over some really incredible costumes (as usual), but one of the more fun moments was walking back to the car. We were photographed, we were questioned, we were repeatedly bowed and curtsied to. Keep in mind this is all at 3 in the morning on the Bowery. My friend was drukenly molested in a harmless kind of way (We frequently get questions about our clothes, so "Can I touch you," didn't seem so ridiculous at the time...). Some foreigners said something nice about Lady Gaga having a hard time out-doing us. I even met a girl who knew that I was wearing panniers, and knew how to pronounce that, and even had made some herself! Note to self: you meet the most suprisingly lovely people when you run around in crazy clothes at 3 in the morning.(Us in the street, walking to the car, hilariously juxtaposed with prolific graffiti)

All in all, an excellent adventure!