Up in the Aether 2013

Just got back from my annual steampunk Memorial Day weekend! World Steam Expo was replaced with Up in the Aether, and they managed to pull off a pretty decent convention. My friend L and I really appreciated the vacation aspect of it this year and had great fun (as usual) wearing pretty costumes, visiting with some old and new friends, and learning many new things.

I decided to enter the first annual Miss Steampunk contest; while I did not win, it definitely challenged my costume making ability, and I had a blast doing it.

Fair warning: picture heavy post ahead.

Day 1 outfit: Adventuring! I went for a sort of field biologist approach - if you look carefully you  can see a tiny (fake) butterfly and bird in the cages on the left. I also have a snake on my hat. 

Here's a full length look at the adventuring outfit. Who would have guessed the skirt used to be bedsheets?

The Ace of Spades brought a super cool light up gun that also made noises when you shot it. Didn't you know, steampunks love noisy light up things?!

Day 2: Egypt Punk. This is my 3rd Egyptian outfit that I've created, and I am finally happy with it. 

My bustle is a little crumpled in this shot (from sitting through a couple of panels already), but I was really quite pleased with how it turned out. 

Swimsuit competition! It's a little hard to see in this photo, but my bustle is made out of pool noodles. I then covered it in chiffon and netting, and attached little tiny sea creatures. 

Total fangirl moment: meeting one of my favorite musicians, Voltaire!

Day 3: Serene in Green. This is the outfit I'm probably the most proud of. I used an old 2 piece suit as the base, and then added all of the fun trim and sleeves and poofy underskirt. I'm also wearing my brand new hat from Blonde Swan!

Close up of the corseting on the skirt. I will probably do a How-To post on this later; it's great for being able to change the size of thrift store finds. 

The Mr. and Miss Steampunk Contestants. It's ridiculous how good looking we all are. 

Serene within the chaos :)

One of my favorite photos of the weekend, taken by the talented David M. Rozian. This was part of the Dastardly Alliance's Miss Bad Ass Competition's War Face Round. 

Overall, we had a fabulous time (in case you couldn't tell by the photos. UitA, see you next year!