The Flapper in Me

In an effort to tell you things I did closer to the actual events, I’m going to tell you about a project I began and finished!

Last week, I received an invitation to Mrs. Z’s birthday party. It was twenties themed, which meant that I needed a costume. I immediately began looking online for costumes and costume shops. The only shop I could find was Party City. The only costume was a cheap plastic sheath. Several internet searches later, I found a silver flapper costume that I liked. Unfortunately, the only way it would have arrived on time was express shipping. At that price, it would have ended up being nearly $90. Too much for a costume I wear once, possibly twice.

Luckily for me, Bloomingdale’s was having a super sale. Along with two coupons, I managed to get a dress originally priced at $388 for $90. It had no fringe and wasn’t particularly flapperish, but I thought it would work. Plus, I could wear this dress again and more than once. Here’s the dress.

For accessories, I went online and found some sequins that was about the same color as the dress and bought that. Most the pre-made flapper headbands came in black, red, or if you’re extremely lucky, silver. I supposed the silver or black one would work, but they cost $3-5 depending on how fancy you wanted it. On eBay, I found a flower patterned sequins for $8. It said that it would come the 20th or 21st, but it didn’t show up until the 22. The day of the party! I had to quickly hobble together the headband. I added a silk flower that I had made ages ago, but didn’t know what to do with. And couldn’t decide whether to put a feather in or not. A quick text with pictures sent to Ryan and Joanne confirmed that the feather was indeed needed.

For the necklace, I didn’t have time to wait for pearls to show up in the mail. Though stringing beads together is a very simple thing to do, it does take some time. Instead, I hopped into Joann’s craft store and found glass pearls. I wasn’t super happy about the glass because I didn’t have the proper thread for it. I hadn’t thought about how heavy the beads would be when strung together. They fell apart twice, once before the party (about a half hour before it started) and once during the party. I admit that I was playing with it both times. I’ll need to find some better thread for it if I want to sting them together again. What will most likely happen is I’ll reuse them for other projects.

And when all was put together, this is what it looked like!

Next entry, I will tell you about the party.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Crossposted to Samantha Ling, Dreamwidth and Livejournal

Flapper birthday/Jewelry Party

I arrived at the birthday party only to discover I was the only one in flapper-like gear besides the birthday girl. One girl did show up with fake twenties tied around her waist. I thought she might have been a mobster moll, but it was a play on words. You get it? Twenties party? She came dressed in twenties? Everyone else came in their regular clothes and one other put on a headband and a boa. It was a sad costume party for sure, but hey I made an effort, which made the hostess happy.

Mrs. Z’s birthday party was also a jewelry party. The company is a direct sales company that sells gold/silver plated jewelry. I’m excluding the name because there’s nothing wrong with them, I just am not a fan.

During dinner, there was a description of how the company worked. It was part sales pitch and part recruiting tool. Most of it, I didn’t listen to. I’m not interested in selling items for extra money especially in a way that required your friends to hold parties or buy from you. I’m never fond of people trying to sell me things I don’t need or want. If you’re a fan of the jewelry, then fine, but I’m a precious metal girl. If I’m going to spend $50 on something, I sort of want it to be real.

But it was a birthday party, and if I spent X amount of money, the hostess/ie birthday girl would get free jewelry. I must say that I was a little disappointed with 90% of the jewelry. Maybe I’m a snob or maybe I’m too arts and crafty. But most of the items were just beads strung together or simple ring work. And when I made them for myself, that is, if I’m making it seriously for keeps, I work in sterling silver, not silver plated. Certainly anything I couldn’t make, Emily most likely could. And I know that her items are nickel free, which is not the case with this company. Some items were even nickel plated. And since I have a nickel allergy, I stayed far away from those.

In the end, after looking through the catalog four times, I found a bracelet, which was swarovski crystal that would match two necklaces and a pair of earrings that Chris had bought me a while back. (Now that I think of it, they could have totally worked for the flapper costume as well. Not all flappers wore only pearls!) There was a crystal and rhinestone pin that I liked the look and I knew no one who could make it and I thought it would make a pretty headband, perhaps on a bit of silk ribbon. So in the end, I spent a lot more money than I should have.

Besides that though, I had a good time hanging out, chatting and laughing. When the jewelry come in, I’ll take some photos and let you know what I do with them.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Crossposted to Samantha Ling, Dreamwidth and Livejournal