It’s time once again for Anatomy of a Costume, where I discuss the inspiration and sourcing of what I performed in.

Because I wasn’t portraying a specific character in this piece, my inspiration was simple: I wanted to be PRETTY! And I wanted to wear something that would look nice with my custom-dyed fan veils. With those simple guidelines in mind, I assembled a costume that embodied the Art Nouveau with a touch of Faerie aesthetic that I do so love.

Starting at the bottom, a Super Bootie skirt by Snake Church, in the lovely color called Mermaid Food. There was a delay on this production run of Super Booties, which meant I was not able to actually have it in my greedy little hands until I got to Tribal Fest! Luckily it turned out to be even prettier than the pictures and it went really well with my fan veils. I think I am going to get a lot of use out of this skirt because it is such a beautiful neutral!

Next up, my belt and bra! I ordered a belt base from Medina Maitreya, after she posted a belt I really liked but wasn’t sure if I should splurge on, and then somebody beat me to the punch. Then I decided I wanted a matching bra base, and I’d embellish them myself. But then she showed me the other green sari scraps and choli sleeve pieces she had and I fell in absolute love with that shimmery green trimmed with dark green velvet. I had to have it. Then it turned out it wasn’t quite big enough to cover the cups, so Medina added some pieces from a different scrap and suddenly I had the most beautiful bra ever. Seriously, I can’t even handle how beautiful it is. I didn’t have to add any embellishments! I did put a couple small crystals on the straps and I might add more, but in general, the bra is already amazing! Medina also sold me a bundle of cool green embellishments she collected over the years, so that’s mostly what I used to adorn the belt, including some leftovers from the bra. I also added some Turkoman buttons from my own collection, and some tine Swarovksi lochrosen sequins for extra sparkle.

One reason why I didn’t add more bra embellishment is because I knew I wanted to once again wear the body chain I made before LVBDI last year. I really love that vintage beetle buckle! Plus it was nice to wear something that I made all by myself.

Next up, jewelry! I am wearing three pieces that I picked up at Tribal Fest. One is a crystalized tanfouk/talakhmit pendant made by Tempest. This was my first Tribal Fest purchase because there was only one green one and I was not going to miss out! I’m also wearing a pretty bead, coin and chain necklace by Furious Fancies, and a pair of earrings by Tawapa. Oh, and a set of eye accent bindis that my bestie got for me from Kuhl Jewels.

And then there’s my head. I had purchased a cool headband to wear, but USPS lost it, so that was another thing I had to buy at Tribal Fest. I decided to give Medina more of my monies and treat myself to one of her amazing tikka crown headpieces, which is really easy to wear, stays on securely, and looks fabuuuuulooooous. Because of the neutral mixed metal palette I know I am going to wear this a lot (probably with last year’s big splurge, my mixed metal Snake Church belt). The crown is joined by a set of curly braids from Diva Dreads (which I also wore for the troupe performance) and a few custom-made sparkly flowers from Becka Bomb’s Buds.

Lastly, my fan veils! I custom-ordered these from Silks by Sahariah last year because I wanted a nice, neutral pair of fan veils that would look good with whatever costume I wore. They are absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing, and I find that I perform with them much more than my other set, because they get such an amazing reaction out of the audience, and the pale colors really catch the light well.

Whew! So many pieces involved in putting together the perfect costume!