a fairy for faire

This past weekend, I took a trip with my family to the Texas Renaissance Faire.  I ended up wearing a new-to-me fairy costume made up of lots of old bits and pieces, and I was really happy with the way it all turned out.  

The under-dress was a formal gown from the 1970’s that I wore for Halloween way back when I was in college.  I dyed the hem a little darker for that first wearing, and this time I also added ragged cuts along the hem.  The over-layer was a length of cloth with an interesting openwork pattern.  The fabric was going to become the skirt of another fairy costume that I started before my son was born, but then I never finished it.  I dyed that fabric green and washed it several times to fray the edges, then I left it wadded up in a heap on my back porch for several years, which gave it a cool sun-bleached effect.  I didn’t shape the fabric at all other than to drape it over one shoulder and gather the fabric up with some big sloppy stitches.  The other shoulder has the selvage of the front and back stitched together.  This just holds it on my body with a nice draped neckline, and the corset does the rest of the shaping. 

You might recognize my corset from my Steampunk costume from last year.  I’m so excited that this corset is getting some good use!

I made the wings 2 years ago out of several layers of paper glued onto a wire frame.  They are supposed to look like hawk moth wings, and I was very inspired by the gorgeous wings made by Renae Taylor, although my wings are a poor substitute for hers.  

For my hair, I wore a dread fall that I bought on ebay many years ago.  This time I flattened it and pinned it to the top of my head, then let the dreads fall over my natural hair, which I clumped up a bit with pomade.  The wreath was just a pre-made cluster of flowers from Hobby Lobby that I bent into a circle.  Big wreaths hide so many hair sins!  

And that’s pretty much it!  I had a lot of fun recycling old pieces into a new costume, and I was reminded yet again how fun it is to be a fairy at faire!