Everybody Dance Now

Last night was my dance school’s annual recital. It went great, we had a lot of fun and I got to wear three costumes overall.

My School Dress:

Gwenyver in her School dress at the 2010 ECRO, November 2010

My Solo Dress:

Gwenyver in her "Water" Solo dress (being pursued by a tired baby) at the 2010 Ville-Marie Feis, May 2010

And for our finale, we had a surprise planned for the audience: and 80’s/90's number to the song Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) by C & C Music Factory. Which of course meant an 80’s/90's inspired dance costume! (I mixed influences from both "eras" to make this outfit.)I decided to go for an aerobics look, without going for anything too skin tight. Here are the pieces I have found to make my outfit.

"Pure" by Alfred Sung Pink Square Shirt

This is the main piece: the loose t-shirt. It is a lovely shade of bright pink, and the neckline, shoulders and sleeves are trimmed with braided self fabric. I seem to remember my mom had something with similar braiding back then. This is an Alfred Sung “Pure” T-shirt from Zellers, on sale.

Athletic Works lime green sports tank top

I would have liked to have a leotard to go under my t-shirt, but since getting one in my size would have been ridiculously expensive (Discount Dance Supply’s shipping charges to Canada generally doubles the cost of the order), I instead found a lime green sports tank top that looks perfect when peaking from under the pink t-shirt. This is an Athletic Works sports tank top from Wal-Mart, also on sale.

Black Leggings

I wore black leggings which I already own as a bottom.

Neon Green Leg Warmers

Nothing says 80’s Aerobics Fashion like leg warmers. I found these at Ardène in the 3 for 10$ section They are a different shade of green than the tank top, but this is a St. Patrick’s show after all!

Neon Yellow Fingerless gloves

When you look at photos of Madonna in the 80’s, she was often wearing fingerless gloves. The fashion was also picked up by many at the time. I got these neon yellow gloves at Ardène, also in the 3 for 10$ section.

Rainbow Bright inspired Earrings

These rainbow coloured earrings are also from Ardène, but they were bought three years ago. I saw them in magazine and loved instantly.

Neon Yellow and Black Scrunchie

I wore my hair in a high side ponytail and got a neon yellow scrunchie at the Dollar store to cover my elastic (and match the gloves). Nothing says 90's like a good old scrunchie!

Sansha Unisex "Hi-Step" Dance Sneaker

For shoes, I wore my dance sneakers. These are incredibly comfortable and worth every penny. I even wear them to work sometimes!

Want to see the result? (I am the second from the left).

YAID Senior Class, Finale, 2011 Annual Recital

Yep, we looked cool! I think I’ll wear that outfit to dance practice from now on. So comfortable!

Theatre Ghosts : Heraclia / Fantômes de Théâtre : Héraclia

I have finished another costume for the Ghost’s play. This second costume in as many hours is for the character of Heraclia, an Ancient Greek woman. When considering what to make her, I did think of a peplos, but because of the t-shirt all actors will be wearing under their costumes, I went for a chiton instead.

J’ai terminé un autre costume pour la pièce des Fantômes. Ce second costume en autant d'heures est pour le personnage d’Héraclia, une femme de la Grèce Antique. Lorsque j’hésitais encore sur le modèle à lui confectionner, j’ai considéré le Peplos, mais en prenant en compte la réalité du gaminet porté par tous les acteurs sous leur costume, j’ai plutôt opté pour le chiton.

Peplos VS Chiton

Besides, when Nancy-Raven assigned me this costume, she was thinking of my Circe costume, worn to her Halloween party in 2009.

De toute façon, lorsque Nancy-Raven m’a assigné la réalisation de ce costume, elle pensait à mon costume de Circé, porté pour sa fête d’Halloween en 2009.

Gwenyver as Circé, Halloween 2009 / Gwenyver en tant que Circé, Halloween 2009

I made this chiton the same way I hade made mine: I cut two rectangles the width of the fabric by the desired length for the actress, closed the sides up to 20 cm below the top, to leave an opening for the hands to come out, and tacked the top in eight places, four above each arm from wrist to neckline, to imitate the effect achieved in period with fibula (brooches). The fabric is the same poly/cotton poplin used for Ladanaz’ tunic.

J’ai fais ce Chiton de la même manière employée pour le mien : j’ai coupé deux rectangles de la pleine largeur du tissu par la longueur de l’épaule au sol de la comédienne, puis j’ai refermé les cotés jusqu’à 20 cm du haut afin de laisser une ouverture pour passer les mains et avant d’assembler le haut en huit points, quatre au dessus de chaque bras, du poignet à l’encolure, afin d’imiter l’allure d’un chiton historique fermée par des fibules (broches). Le tissu est le même que celui utilisé pour la tunique de Ladanaz, soit de la popeline de poly/coton.

Heraclia's Chiton / Le Chiton d'Héraclia

For the Palla or shawl, Nancy-Raven gave a piece of dark flesh coloured veiling. I simply finished the raw ends with my overlock and I pulled them through a small metal buckle. The length can be adjusted to the actress’ desire and she can easily pull it over her head for a quick change.

Pour le Palla ou châle, Nancy-Raven m’a remis un morceau de voilage couleur chair foncée. J’ai simplement passé les extrémités non-finies à la surjeteuse, puis j’ai inséré chacune des extrémités dans une boucle de métal. Ainsi, la longueur peut facilement être ajustée selon les désirs de la comédienne et elle peut facilement enfiler son Palla pour un changement rapide.

Heraclia's Chiton and Palla / Le Chiton et le Palla d'Héraclia

I actually like it! Sure it’s beige, but still, I really think it has the right feel to it. Now let’s see what Heraclia thinks about her new outfit.

Je crois que j’aime bien ce costume. Bien sûr, il est beige, mais malgré tout, je trouve qu’il représente bien la culture et l’époque du personnage. Maintenant attendons de voir ce qu’Héraclia pense de son nouvel ensemble.