Today I want to talk about something that happened to me at MidSouthCon, and how to HOPEFULLY avoid it.
I’m talking about the Walk of Shame. No, not the “morning after” kind, though I guess that happens at cons pretty regularly, too. I’m talking about when a part of your costume either fails, or becomes so uncomfortable that you have to remove it and walk back to your room/car carrying it in full view of other people.
I call it the Walk of Shame. Hobbling back to your car barefoot with your shoes in your hand, or carrying your irritating wig in your hand instead of on your head. I had it happen at MidSouthcon this weekend. Not once but twice!
Ok, so the first time I was just lazy – I didn’t feel like walking back to the car in my heels, so I took them off, put them in my bag and went without. The second time, my Belle shoes were giving me a blister and I just couldn’t deal with it. Shoes were off.
It’s unavoidable sometimes, I mean, you never know what’s going to happen and you can plan and prepare for EVERYTHING and something may still happen. But, here’s some of my tips for doing your best to avoid it.
1. SHOES
(These shoes defeated me.)
Don’t mess around with your feet. If at all possible, invest in a good pair of shoes that fit well.
Of course, that’s not always possible, either for budget restrictions or just because you need some crazy costume style. So in that case, make sure you get some good inserts if need be, and wear thick socks if possible.
Give yourself some time to break them in. Wear them around the house, I always see people suggesting wear them while you vacuum! I always tend to end up sewing while wearing my costume shoes, since often I need to put them on when trying on pieces and end up not taking them off!
Even then, sometimes shoes just go wacky and become uncomfortable. My Belle shoes used to be perfectly fine until one day at Momocon they decided to be come Satan. Ever since then they rub a blister on the back of my foot. So always carry bandaids and moleskin – if you have a pair of shoes that you know may cause problems, go ahead and apply bandaids and/or moleskin to problem areas.
Honestly one of the big things is that you really don’t want to walk barefoot if at all possible, so if you think you may find yourself in a situation where you just CANNOT walk in the shoes anymore, at least have some socks or some “fast flats” tucked away somewhere if you can.
(Says the girl who walked barefoot across a parking lot twice this weekend.)
2. Test-Wearing
(Boushh test run/fitting pre-DragonCon! Everything worked!)
Don’t even wait until the convention to put your entire costume on all at once. Always try to do at least a couple of test runs at home, so you can make sure everything is working as it should. Make sure there aren’t any connections (ie velcro, snaps, etc) that aren’t working right. The less time you have to spend in the hotel room at the con trying to make something work, the better – and obviously you don’t want a slap-dash fix coming undone once you’re in front of other con-goers.
When you’re doing a test-fit/test-run, don’t just stand there and look at yourself in the mirror. Walk around. Walk on different kinds of floor if possible. Tile, wood, grass, concrete, etc. Your shoes may do fine on carpet, but may turn into roller skates on tile. (they make various kinds of adhesive grips for shoes – they’re really great if you’re made fabric boot covers that cover the sole. Not only for providing some much needed traction, but for protecting the bottom of the boot covers.)
How does your costume do on stairs? Escalators? Are there any dangling bits that could get stepped on or caught in something?
These are all things that can easily be caught and fixed/modified at home before heading to the convention that can save you some headaches later on.
3. Potential Allergies
(Testing out the blood effects for my Padme costume – not just for allergy testing but also because it’s fun.)
If you’re using any kind of new make-up, make-up remover or adhesive, do a skin swatch first to make sure you’re not going to have any kind of adverse reaction or irritation! The same goes for prosthetics, or any item they may be against your skin. Sometimes even fabrics can have additives you can have a reaction to (which is why it’s good to prewash all your fabric).
While I don’t have a latex ALLERGY, I do have a latex sensitivity that is generally not bad – I can get away with using latex-based adhesives and small things like eye masks (Ms Marvel, etc). But every once in a while it turns into something I can’t deal with – when I did my “Beastly” Belle with a whole face of latex appliances, I was only able to wear it for about an hour before the irritation became too much.
So always do a little test and make sure everything is cool!
4. Keeping Your Head Comfy
(Wigless in Ripley because I couldn’t deal with the wig anymore.)
I’m lucky that I have a tiny head, so rarely is a wig or wigcap too tight. That doesn’t necessarily mean I’m comfortable though. I have SUPER sensitive ears, so anything pressing against them will drive me to insanity after a while. Which generally means wigs. If you ever see me messing with the side of my wig, it’s probably because I’m getting my ears out from underneath it because it’s hurting. And then a while later, putting them back under when they start hurting from THAT!
Add on top of that any heaviness or pulling from a heavy wig, bobbie pins or clips digging into your scalp, and wigs can be an incredible frustration.
So my thoughts on this are first, make sure your wig cap fits. A lot of times I go to put one on, it feels like it fits great, and 30 minutes later I’ve got a migraine developing because it’s like an iron band around the top of my head. I try to weed these out and throw them away as I find them. You can always cut the band to give them a bit more space, but I find this usually makes them TOO loose and not worth dealing with.
Secondly, try to keep bobbie pins at a minimum. I always do two in the front, above my ear, and two in the back, behind my ear. It’s enough to keep it on and in place, but without too many things jabbing you in the head. If you have a large or heavy wig that requires more to keep it on your head, sew a wig clip into the cap. The small, curved plastic combs you can get at just about any drugstore will also do in a pinch.
5. Rest when possible
(No, I’m not dead, I’m restin’)
Keep off your feet, rest your neck and back and stay hydrated. It’s not always possible to find a place to crash, but when you can, take advantage of it. It’ll help you keep going a bit longer!
My goal, when I’m uncomfortable in a costume and I’ve got to get part of it off, is to at least make it out of the public’s sight! I cannot tell you how many times I’ve removed my wig in the stairwell at Dragoncon, or kicked my shoes off as soon as we get on our floor, haha.