A History of Me, As It Pertains to Costuming & This
Since I have a few new people on my friends list-and I haven't posted in, oh, look, three months-I thought I'd borrow an idea from ferdalump.
I am Princess Rachelle of Quite A Lot, and live in a beatiful (and miraculously sturdy) sand castle on the beach. Or not.
Actually, my name is Rachel and I live in Dallas (and have for the last six years). Not my favorite place to live, but there are some really cool people out here.
Before Dallas, I lived in a small Alabama town, Cullman, nationally known for just one thing: its dry, German Oktoberfest. How can that be? simple. German-founded city + dry county + annual Oktoberfest celebration = dry German Oktoberfest. There's even an official (non-alcoholic) beverage-sparkling apple pie cider. I had the joy of being the youngest (and then the next youngest) person on the Oktoberfest committee for four years, due to being the director's assistant at the local history museum, where committee meetings were held. (And also the joy of being webmaster, due to being the only person who knew what the internet was. I'm almost not kidding.) I survived because of two things: ballroom dancing (love it) and pretending I was in costume (the Ricola girl) for a week straight.
Before my family moved to Alabama, a month before I finished second grade, we lived in Louisiana. New Orleans, to be specific. This plays a large part in my love of costuming. Every year for Mardi Gras, I would design a costume and my grandmother would make it. Little Bo Peep, a Spanish dancer, a snowflake (for my little sister)... I drew it, she could make it. The year we moved to Alabama, I was happily planning my costume for the next year when Mom had to break the news to me: "Rachel, they don't have Mardi Gras where we're moving to." Naturally, I was appalled and demanded to know if they had Halloween, the Easter bunny, Christmas?
Flash forward to senior year of high school, senior English class, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It's a tradition to spend part of a day "going on pilgrimage" in garb, retelling Tales during the walk and having a feast (ours ended up being roast beef, baked beans, bread, and... I don't remember what else. I should, since we did the cooking at my house.). That marked my first costume made on my own, a emerald & sapphire dress inspired by a sketch in The Known World Handbook, which my art history teacher leant me. Mrs. Arnold even let me sew in class, leading to my first sewing injury: I stuck the hand needle through part of my finger tip and didn't realize it until I felt the thread pulling through.
I started this LiveJournal in 2002, to use mostly as a costume diary. When I remember to take progress pictures and post what I'm working on, that is. I try to keep day-to-day life out of it because, hey, I don't really want to read about my 10-hour work days and I don't think most other people would want to, either. The beauty of Twitter, I only have 140 characters in which to rant.
I am Princess Rachelle of Quite A Lot, and live in a beatiful (and miraculously sturdy) sand castle on the beach. Or not.
Actually, my name is Rachel and I live in Dallas (and have for the last six years). Not my favorite place to live, but there are some really cool people out here.
Before Dallas, I lived in a small Alabama town, Cullman, nationally known for just one thing: its dry, German Oktoberfest. How can that be? simple. German-founded city + dry county + annual Oktoberfest celebration = dry German Oktoberfest. There's even an official (non-alcoholic) beverage-sparkling apple pie cider. I had the joy of being the youngest (and then the next youngest) person on the Oktoberfest committee for four years, due to being the director's assistant at the local history museum, where committee meetings were held. (And also the joy of being webmaster, due to being the only person who knew what the internet was. I'm almost not kidding.) I survived because of two things: ballroom dancing (love it) and pretending I was in costume (the Ricola girl) for a week straight.
Before my family moved to Alabama, a month before I finished second grade, we lived in Louisiana. New Orleans, to be specific. This plays a large part in my love of costuming. Every year for Mardi Gras, I would design a costume and my grandmother would make it. Little Bo Peep, a Spanish dancer, a snowflake (for my little sister)... I drew it, she could make it. The year we moved to Alabama, I was happily planning my costume for the next year when Mom had to break the news to me: "Rachel, they don't have Mardi Gras where we're moving to." Naturally, I was appalled and demanded to know if they had Halloween, the Easter bunny, Christmas?
Flash forward to senior year of high school, senior English class, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It's a tradition to spend part of a day "going on pilgrimage" in garb, retelling Tales during the walk and having a feast (ours ended up being roast beef, baked beans, bread, and... I don't remember what else. I should, since we did the cooking at my house.). That marked my first costume made on my own, a emerald & sapphire dress inspired by a sketch in The Known World Handbook, which my art history teacher leant me. Mrs. Arnold even let me sew in class, leading to my first sewing injury: I stuck the hand needle through part of my finger tip and didn't realize it until I felt the thread pulling through.
I started this LiveJournal in 2002, to use mostly as a costume diary. When I remember to take progress pictures and post what I'm working on, that is. I try to keep day-to-day life out of it because, hey, I don't really want to read about my 10-hour work days and I don't think most other people would want to, either. The beauty of Twitter, I only have 140 characters in which to rant.