Take a deep breath and sigh...

...because I officially dropped out of Pirates of Penzance. I was just not going to have enough time this semester because my SWAG class just happens to have several film screenings at night that run into Pirates rehearsal times. I was also getting some minor pressure from my friends in the student run theater group to be in the Broadway Revue with them. But that is not the full reason I dropped Pirates. 

Anyways, regarding the Revue, the director is working on getting the rights to various songs, but was recently rejected for the use of Summer Nights :(. So it looks like she'll have to change that song (and any others that become vetoed by publishers refusing to grant us rights to perform songs). 

Red and creamy silk all over

I figured it was time for a new post, considering my last one was about my stage makeup class. The semester has started off quite well. I'm taking Statistical Thinking (which my professor keeps telling us is NOT MATH), Intro to American Studies, Intro to Study of Women and Gender, Ballet IV, and New England Material Culture from 1860-1940. So far all the classes have been good, but I particularly love my Material Culture class. My professor brought in some random artifacts today and had us analyze them based on appearance. I was given the task of analyzing a red satin boot. It turned out to be a "bathing" boot from about 1890 that women wore on trips to the seashore. Pretty cool!

I also received a book for my birthday: Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines! Ahh! It is so beautiful and packed with information about all sorts of skirt supports and stays and corsets. Hopefully I will get to draft a pattern for one of the skirt supports over break or this summer (of course, after I finish fitting the cover for my dress form...).

I'm also looking to drop Pirates of Penzance. I would really love to do it, but my work is a lot heavier than last and I'm worried about keeping up. So I'm looking at staying with the Leading Ladies or maybe joining the newly formed Shakespeare troupe. I just need to make up my mind.

I can't stop giggling at how silly I look!

Yep, my stage makeup class was quite a success! I learned an amazing amount of stuff over the course of only 4 days. Monday we started with the basics (such as using and blending highlights and shadows) and then using them to change the shape of our faces. Tuesday we put our skills to the test and tried to recreate a makeup look from a past time. I chose a portrait from the 1830's and then our teacher put us in clothes from the costume stock! It was very exciting to finally get to wear something that wasn't mine :) Unfortunately though, the theater department has never done a production based in the 1830s so I had to settle for a dress from the 1840s (I wish that I could have run back to the house to grab my corset and chemise so it would have been perfect!).

The class in all our period glory

Wednesday we got so much snow that we had no classes (which was good for all of our sanity). On thursday we worked on old age. I found this kinda creepy because I don't know what I will look like when I age, but I got a glimpse of what might happen. I also had a lot of trouble because I don't have that many wrinkles and that made it very hard to figure out where they might be. We also did middle age which was much easier and much less intense than old age.

Apparently I look about 5 years older with my makeup like this

Our last day we worked on anything we wanted. Like usual, I had a hard time deciding, so I did "Showgirl" makeup which I can now describe as very exaggerated glamour makeup or very subtle drag-queen makeup. 

To make my eyebrows this high, I soaped over them, then coated them with lots of foundation and powder

After this week, I'm inspired to purchase a kit so I can do my makeup like this for future shows. It also looks like I will become one of the makeup designers for any future Leading Ladies productions.

EDIT: I forgot to add this photo, which I used as a reference for my "showgirl" makeup. Definitely very colorful and dramatic.

Yet another

post with a video. I have taken a huge liking towards the crazy antics of the Reduced Shakespeare company and found a clip where they were on Jeopardy!!

This is what happens

when I go shopping before the new year. I find this:

as well as two gorgeous vintage-y pieces from anthropologie. More on these later.