| #princesscostumefail |
I had originally envisaged running as Cinderella. I'm not sure I can latch on to why, but then I changed my mind. I can latch on to why I changed my mind: I re-watched Cinderella and frankly, I feel like she has Stockholm Syndrome. It's funny the things you don't notice when you're five. I still like the girl, I just wish she would see a shrink.
So, I had just seen Brave and decided to go as Merida because well, she's a badass and not suffering from mental illness. Also, she's voiced by Kelly MacDonald who was in a film called The Decoy Bride with David Tennant a.k.a. the Tenth Doctor so in my mind clearly Merida will eventually end up with a character voiced by David Tennant. Not that she needs him, you know, she'll just let him hang around. I use this David Tennant logic often. I once stood two feet from Anton Yelchin at the Austin Film Festival (he was in Fright Night with David Tennant) and had to resist the urge to ask what David Tennant was like and did he have his cell number? That wouldn't have been weird at all...
Cinderella was out. Merida was in, so this also created a choice. Standard Merida or Games Merida. Green or aqua? After much consideration, I decided I could pull of Games Merida by adding some gold ribbon to an Adidas tank and my Fuel Belt.
Let me just add, I am not crafty. I've made some decent Spurs ornaments with old tickets, confetti and beads, but that's about it. I made a Batgirl costume for the Herothon, but screwed up the tutu which still sits on a hook on my wall mocking me. I managed to make a Minnie Mouse tutu for the 5K with red tulle and white felt for the dots. I never did manage to do any of the fancy stuff with wrapping around the ribbon. So, because I am a procrastinator- which is a disastrous combination with not crafty- I bought some no sew glue before I left San Antonio, threw it in the bag with the ribbon and figured I could do it at the hotel.
Saturday night. Time to get serious. So I get out the ribbon I've selected, the scissors and the glue. This is when I discover that the Adidas tank seems to be wicking away the glue so all I'm doing is making a mess. I also meant to have an orange Bondi band with aqua ink to represent her hair and tiara but somehow it never got to the expo even though they said they would have it for me. So, I was forced to give up on the costume idea as I saw no adult sized Merida gowns in tech fabric available in the Everything Pop Shopping and Dining area. Also, remember to take a swim cover up when you go to Pop because people will stare at you if you walk in wearing a swimsuit. One, it's Florida. Two, the sign said to have shoes and a shirt, I had those. Three, it's right by the pool! How else was I supposed to get my forty Powerade refills?!
So, my first piece of advice is choose your princess, know your princess.
Princess choice is of course, deeply personal. It all relates back to what you felt when you first saw the movie in question as a small child and your connection to the princess. I'm not saying you have to be a princess per se, just any character. You then have to take this through a rubric of personal comfort and preference. For example, I identify with Belle as she is an avid reader and I can still sing all the songs from Beauty and the Beast, but her gown is yellow. I look awful in yellow, not just a little bad, like I have liver disease. I really didn't want to run the half with everyone telling me how brave I was. That might be an exaggeration but it happened in my head enough times. I could have been village Belle, but I didn't know how to work the basket and I saw a girl on the course with a basket complete with baguette! I can't believe she didn't eat the baguette, I know I would have. Then Ariel was suggested to me, I agree the Ariel costume is cute and recognizable, but I didn't want to put clam shells on my giant breasts. I know nothing would have really been showing, but, I feel like it would have been too in your face.
So, start thinking about what princess and why. I know the big ones: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and I know you probably want to run as those and you have your own reasons. I can also promise you that there will be 4,000 other women in the same outfit so try to be unique. I'll have more on that later. Or you could dress as another underrepresented princess:
Pocahontas: I'm telling you, I've only ever seen two pictures of someone dressed as Pocahontas.
Mulan: Again, only ever two of these, when there are so many possibilities! Do you go as Warrior Mulan or Pretty Mulan? What accessories?!
Tiana: Why aren't there more Tianas?! I guess it's a more recent movie, but look at the great potential in the costume! That costume is just great, you need green and a flower! Maybe a frog, but we can get into details later.
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