coinciding costume themes

[olivia]

my first year at burning man, knowing not what to expect, my only full-on costume was a furry cavegirl outfit that i made with some cheap and disgusting brown fur, only to find that there were cavepeople all over the playa.... coincidence?

the next year, i decided i was so hot the year before that i'd stick to hotpants and bras. funnily enough, i saw large numbers of similarly attired ladies.

this year i figured out how cheap tulle is and made shitloads of pretty tutus and rocked the "i am a pretty pretty princess, who loves camo" look. and wouldn't you know it, there were tiaras coupled with fatigues everywhere i looked.

now i am asking myself, do costume ideas infect everyone at the same time (much like common themes in fashion from season to season) or was i just ignoring all the people who didn't fit my theory?

[s5]

maybe it's like when you have a cold, how all the cold medicine ads seem to litter the television.

[Tiara]

I think the phenomenon can be explained if you think about the situation realistically: If 30,000+ creative people try to imagine things that will be fun to see, relatively hassle-free to wear, and relatively inexpensive to make or obtain, there's bound to be some duplication of efforts. Even two outfits that are similar will probably have unique details though. One of my favorite parts of being on the playa is being able to ask people how they made their art project/costume/whatever. I always end up with new ideas to apply to my own projects.

[epiphany*]

Synchronicity: that's what it's all about!

[precipitate]

It could also be that your attention was drawn to those similarly attired. When dressed in tulle, were you really paying attention to cave people?

I dunno, I rarely pay much attention to fashion trends. A friend had a furry coat made for me, it was awesome. I don't really give a fuck that 5000 other people had a similar coat. Mine was warm. And orange. What more could I ask for?

[tbone]

I think things go in cycles. A few years ago friends did a super-hero theme camp. So did several other camps, and there were super heros all over the playa.

Then it was pirate ships.

This year it seemed to be chopper bikes. One of our guys said "hey, let's build choppers". He doesn't have internet access and he doesn't hang out with burners, except the ones we know. It seemed like there were hundreds of choppers this year. We ran into them all the time, and I never remember seeing a chopper out there before.

Who knows.

[olivia]

what more could i ask for?

a purple furry coat?

[Tiara]

what more could i ask for?

a purple furry coat?

I've got one of those. I've nicknamed it my Grimace coat. (y'know, after that McCharacter)

[Ivy]

Purple and lime green is where it's at.

[Gadget]

Perhaps you should plan coinciding costumes. Since things never seem to go as planned on the playa, you're sure to be unique.

I think that "Precipitate" had it right. People should create the costumes that they enjoy most and they shouldn't be too concerned that others that come up with the same great idea. It's nice to be unique, but in an event made up of of creative freaks, it not surprising that many people are on the same wavelength.

I wonder how much of the coinciding costume themes has to do with the fabric and other clothing that is commercially available in the months leading up to the event.

[Angry Butterfly]

Yeah, I brought wings, and I ended up not wearing them because I decided that my camelback was more important, AND everybody had wings, I ended up wearing my "Regular" clothes and got the most compliments on an outfit I wear all the time, Of course, I suppose most people dont wear glow in the dark raver pants and a turtle sweatshirt all the time, and that also would expain why people stare at me a lot.

[Lydia Love]

Purple and lime green is where it's at.

Word.

Turns out my playa coat may not only be the best piece of playa fashion I ever took - but it's a kick-ass lounging robe as the weather gets more chill at home.

[Angry Butterfly]

Oh yeah, I forgot Dollar tree was selling these great blinky anttenae for only a dollar. I had a pair and saw hundreds of them out there, not too suprising. I went up to a lady with a pair and said "We come from the planet Dollar Store" A kid who was high broke mine and he felt really bad, and I was like "If you want to replace them, they were a WHOLE DOLLAR"
I also saw a lot of people with art cars and costumes made of a fabric that retails for at least $40/y in San Francisco, turns out it is only $10 in LA! EVERYBODY in it was from LA. I bonded with a kid who had the same shiny sarong that i did, It turned out he needed my help, since his art car had broken down and he needed acess to a big generator, and I was in one of the camps out at 10:00 with a huge sound system. So thanks to me he didnt have to push it all the way back to center camp, and I wouldnt have noticed him if we were not wearing the same outfit.

[Ivy]

Word.

Turns out my playa coat may not only be the best piece of playa fashion I ever took - but it's a kick-ass lounging robe as the weather gets more chill at home.

Amen, sister. I may get some strange looks in my ghetto neighborhood in my coat, but most of the people on my block have seen me around and know me well enough that's it's fairly normal. And fuck it, it's comfy!

fabric that retails for at least $40/y in San Francisco, turns out it is only $10 in LA!

This is one of the major MAJOR points in the "con" side of my list of reasons to move up north...
Next time you're in this neck of the woods, you HAVE to go to the garment district. I don't know how I lived here so long without ever going...it's fucking inspirational. If you ever need any specialty stuff, drop me a line and we can probably work something out.

[olivia]

is that $40/yard fabric fluffy and dotted densely in circles on a black meshy type backing, available in a variety of hues including purple, red and green? if so, i noticed it everywhere too, and i have a few yards at home that i have found to be a huge bitch to sew. broke a needle on that fabric, even. i got it a few years ago at fabric outlet on mission at their yearly 40% off sale - the only time to buy burning man fabrics :)

ps: this thread was not started as a whine, it was more observation of trends and a comparison to the fashion world. i definitely think some trends seize the minds of people at the same time completely independently of each other - an interesting phenomenon.

[Ivy]

s that $40/yard fabric fluffy and dotted densely in circles on a black meshy type backing, available in a variety of hues including purple, red and green?

Amongst many other $40/yard fabrics, that was one of the first ones that came to mind. I've never sewn with it, so I can't vouch for it's ease of use...but it can't be worse than confetti dot!

[Lydia Love]

One of the funny bits of costume synchronicity this year was that Ivy and I chose the exact same fabric to make our fabulous playa coats out of this year.

Though Ivy's was (from the picture I saw) way more coat like while mine really was just based off a bath-robe pattern.

One of the blessings of that thing was that it never got so cold out there this year that I couldn't go stark-naked under it and stay perfectly warm. In fact I was asked more than once if I wasn't cold... when really I'd have been too warm If I'd worn more. That goofy polar fleece rocks.

[Angry Butterfly]

That is the $40 a yard fabric, it feels like real fur, I wanted some so bad. If I had known it was so cheap in LA I would have sent a friend out for it.
the $40 a yard figure is seriously as cheap as I could find it, it was on sale 40% off at a store that sells fabric dirt cheap, 60 inch rolls of really nice stuff for 4.99, some chick at our camp was buying this dirty nasty stuff by the pound at a place called scrap, and I was like, dont buy that crap! I can get really nice stuff in the mission for 2 bucks a yard.

[Ivy]

One of the blessings of that thing was that it never got so cold out there this year that I couldn't go stark-naked under it and stay perfectly warm. In fact I was asked more than once if I wasn't cold... when really I'd have been too warm If I'd worn more. That goofy polar fleece rocks.

Hell-muther-fucking-yeah. There is very little better than wearing a fur coat with nothing underneath. I can't remember, Lydia--did you line yours with fur? I meant to bring mine to the M&G, but I totally forget.
My mom had started referring to it as "the pimp coat." She told her co-workers about it and they didn't believe her, so we took some pictures to show them. Now she wants to borrow it. Sheesh... Actually, there's some great fleece on the clearance racks right now (last year's prints) so i think i might make her one (a bit toned down and not quite so pimp, but outrageous nonetheless) for Xmas.

That is the $40 a yard fabric, it feels like real fur,

I'm constatly amazed at the breakthroughs in fake fur in the last, say 10 or so years. it used to be that you couldn't hardly get "realistic" fur that felt halfway decent, much less in crazy colors. Now the selection is incredible. And alot of it is really soft. I remember there was a time that it wasn't even worth buying say, lime green fur becuase the dyes they used just left it all stiff and scratchy.
You like the $40 fur-on-mesh stuff? I was down there a few weeks ago and saw the stuff that's new this season...it's even better. the "new" thing right now is like this short fur with long tufts in contrasting colors kind of randomly sticking out. I'm already trying to figure out what I can make with it...

[Lydia Love]

did you line yours with fur?

Nope - it's all just the polar fleece. But I mooped some *contrasting* fuzzy pink and purple leopard print fabric on the playa this year - so next year my coat may have some exciting new accents.

[Ivy]

That sounds way cool.

I've got some of the green fur left over, not enough to line but not small ebeough to be considered "scraps"--email me if you want it.

[Tiara]

Yeah, I brought wings, and I ended up not wearing them because I decided that my camelback was more important, .

There's a solution. . . This is what I did in 2002: Sew snaps onto your camelback and onto your wings. Then you can attach your wings to your camelpack whenever you want.

[antron]

My mom had started referring to it as "the pimp coat."... Now she wants to borrow it.

You know that you're really on to something when your mom wants to borrow your comfortable pimp coat.

Maybe you should bring her to the playa.

[Ivy]

I wore it last night as I was walking to a local coffeehouse and had about 5 random people on the street compliment me on it, including one shopowner who was interested in selling some in her shop on consignment. May talk to her on Tuesday.

I would love to bring my mom (and my dad, for that matter) to the playa, but it ain't gonna happen. My dad absolutely CANNOT handle the heat (he sweats at 65 degrees); my mom loves the heat, and although I think she would enjoy certain aspects of the event, would not do well tolerating the "raver" (yes, i am totally generalzing, no offense intended) aspects of it, and I don't think she would do well alone and honestly, I'm not realy to "baby-sit" her all week. I've often thought about suggesting come just for the weekend, but again, it's unlikely she would drive out alone, and if my dad went along, they'd both be miserable. Maybe someday, though, who knows?

But I'm positive the pimp coat appreciation runs in the family.

[Atomic Gardener]

Out here in Louis, Mo., the fun fur ranges from 5 (short pile) to 24 a 5'wide yard (the latter for the stuff discussed that I call "pebble"style). I've had a variety of stuff made by friends that sew (platform boot covers/long spat style, pants and vest combos) and have done a few wacky thins like funfur covered SanPan (sp?)/rice patty style hats....BUT my fave is a hot pink long pile fun fur coat with a heavy liner...but damn to those things start to stink after a while! Now sewing runs in my family (from a g grand ma who got a job altering dresses at a fancy store after the plantation went bust, gma who did fabric art dolls for a living in the depression, and a mom who can sew but mainly likes doing a franken-patch style fix on any hole she comes across...you know the kind kids!) so fortunately mom suggested dress shields for some of my costumes, but they just are not enough for the Playa or heavy useage...so in that fun fur is BROKE DOWN after cleaning (unless you have some tips for me, that is) I suggest seperating the liner (or a liner) from the garment/coat and having this washed instead! And of course this makes a good day use/night use combo as the latter is certainly warmer and all.....and another tip that a seamstress friend gave me...when sewing fun fur, wet it down a bit and this makes the pile easier to manage. Look for me in the purple "pebble" style Kimono coat next year....when not in golden fake crepe silk that is....(which is a whole nother post, dears, as this shit has made it through two burns already with just one rip and dialy use...TADA!)

But beyond that, seeing how much more fur their was this year than last, I can assume that 90% will be in some form of it next year (and the other 10% naked). I wonder what the "new material" to use will be after this craze? Any ideas? AG

[Chai Guy]

One year my girlfriend came decked out in these amazing white angel wings that had been borrowed from a studio prop dept. On the night of the burn a woman ran up to her and complimented her on her wings. The woman then said "I'm going to get a pair of these for next year!" to which my girlfriend replied "Yeah, but next year it's going to be all about CHAPS" and you know you what? She was RIGHT!