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The Lady Nerd

Geek Made Chic

Geek Couture – Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala 2008 – Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy

May 5, 2015 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

The Met Costume Institute Superheroes Fashion
Last night, the 2015 Met Gala was held in New York. But rather than focus on that (as I’m sure many news sites are already knee-deep in coverage), I thought I’d rewind the clock a bit. Every year, The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts a themed exhibition, ranging from designer showcases to cultural studies. I would like to focus on 2008’s theme, which was the epitome of geek couture. (There was also a corresponding fashion editorial released in Vogue of model Coco Rocha in superhero-inspired wear.)
Vogue
To quote from the press release, “As superheroes enjoy a surge in mass popularity, The Costume Institute at The Metropolitan Museum of Art explores the symbolic and metaphorical associations between these fictional characters and fashion in Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy, an exhibition at the Museum from May 7 through September 1, 2008. The exhibition features approximately 60 ensembles including movie costumes, avant-garde haute couture, and high-performance sportswear to reveal how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body.”

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“Today, superhero imagery has suffused almost every aspect of popular culture,” said Andrew Bolton, Curator in the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute. “The superhero’s iconic costume of cape, mask, and bodysuit finds many fashionable permutations. But fashion’s embrace of the superhero extends beyond iconography, to issues of identity, sexuality, and nationalism. Fashion shares with the superhero an inherent metaphorical malleability which fuels its fascination with the idea and the ideal of the superhero.”


“Superman and Spider-Man costumes addressed the subject of The Graphic Body, relating Superman’s ‘S’ chevron to designer logos and branding.”

The Met Costume Institute Superheroes FashionThe Met Costume Institute Superheroes Fashion
“Catwoman represents The Paradoxical Body, which explores the character’s vacillating manifestations of good and bad.”

The Met Costume Institute Superheroes Fashion
“The stars and stripes of Wonder Woman’s uniform, a composite of the American flag, epitomize The Patriotic Body and designs that appropriate patriotic emotions implicit in the character.”

The Met Costume Institute Superheroes Fashion 
“Batman and Iron Man represent The Armored Body, and examine avant-garde fashion that merges flesh and metal, skin and chromium.”

The Met Costume Institute Superheroes Fashion
“The Mutant Body, denoted by the X-Men, highlights clothing that morphs men into beasts.”

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Designers included: Atair, Giorgio Armani, Balenciaga, Pierre Cardin, Dolce & Gabbana, Jean Paul Gaultier, Eiko Ishioka, Alexander McQueen, Julien Macdonald, Moschino, Thierry Mugler, Nike, Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, Speedo, Spyder, As Four, Walter van Beirendonck, Versace, and Bernhard Willhelm.

The exhibition was made possible by Giorgio Armani (one of my personal favourite designers)

Photographs: Tyler Hicks, Lauren David Peden, and Robin S. Rosenberg

Filed Under: Geek Couture

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Rey Cosplay – Construction Notes 1

May 4, 2015 by The Lady Nerd 61 Comments

Star Wars The Force Awakens Rey
To much glee, the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer debuted online a few weeks ago. After I recovered from turning into my 6-year-old-self drooling over X-wings, costume plans immediately started turning the wheels in my head. Rey’s costume has ‘me’ written all over it – from the resemblance to the actress (which, to me, makes it even funnier that I auditioned for her role (true story! I wrote a post about it here)), to the desert chic look of the outfit. Hellooooo weather-appropriate Dragoncon costume! Not to mention I can actually wear it with my injuries! A friend pointed out that I might be able to use her staff as a walking stick in between photo sessions, which will come in quite handy. Not to mention, this outfit looks like something I’d normally wear. In fact, I plan on ordering double the amount of fabric for this cosplay in order to make a second outfit designed for regular wear. What? So I’m predictable…

Since the trailer was released, I’ve been hard at work gathering every photo of Rey I could find and starting a thread on the Replica Prop Forum to document all of my findings (as well as bounce back and forth with other craftsmen and costumers). But I figure not everyone is on the RPF, so I’m going to document my cosplay progress here as well.

To start, since there are no references for the back of Rey’s costume (and until this morning, none of her side. But I drew this last night, so it looks like I was on target), I decided I’d do what I normally do and draw a costume turnaround.  (I love doing these. So challenging, yet therapeutic.)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Rey Costume TurnaroundRey1 Rey2 Rey3
Next up…fabric!

At the Star Wars Celebration convention in April, Rey’s costume was actually on exhibit, complete with a handy placard that listed the materials used. As well as the costume being on a white mannequin, it was easier to see that the fabrics are all natural colours rather than dirty white. So I’m thinking I’ll be getting either natural-coloured fabrics or tea-dyeing white fabrics and then distressing the heck of it all. I cannot WAIT for that part! Distressing is uber fun (and a surprising venue of stress relief).

MATERIALS:

Wrap dress – viscose
Head wrap – cotton
Top – hemp and cotton jersey
Trousers – silk
Backpack – leather
Wrist cuff and belt – leather
Pouch – canvas
Arm wraps – cotton
Gloves – leather
Boots – wool and leather
Staff – 3D print

I ordered a few swatches from Dharma Trading. Some were right on the money, while others were a bit off. So for the sake of this post, I’ll just focus on the swatches that work.

Star Wars The Force Awakens Hemp Cotton Jersey
This fabric is SPOT ON for Rey’s undershirt. The Hemp-Cotton Jersey is  very soft and comfy.

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This appears to be the right fabric for the wrap dress, though I’m still not 100% sure. However, when dyed, the fabric will become mostly opaque, so that’s a good thing. I’ll check around a few others places for viscose swatches and see what other blends might be out there.

Now it’s a matter of finding the rest of the fabric and patterns. I’ll probably order a few more swatches of the ones I already have to do some dye tests. So…tally ho!

Filed Under: Art, Costumes

The Elements Photoshoot

April 30, 2015 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

Just before my accident last year, I partnered with Vania of VLC Productions to do an elemental-themed photoshoot. It was definitely a challenge to come up with and shoot all 4 looks in one day!

AIR
Elements photoshoot air modeling red dress

May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.
                                                                                                                                             – J.R.R. Tolkien

WATER
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I want to be like water. I want to slip through fingers but hold up a ship.
                                                                                                                – Michelle Williams

I am in pure love with how classical Vania made this photo feel; from the pristine shapes flowing into the water currents to the cool blue-grey hues. It harkens to a Pre-Raphaelite painting or perhaps a watery Maxfield Parrish (while oodles of fun, there was lots of runaway fabric that kept getting caught in the current and oh that water was COLD!).
The Element Photoshoot Water

EARTH
The Elements Photoshoot Earth

The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.
                                                                                                                                                           – Unknown

FIRE
Alas, our fire experiment didn’t work out so well. (We were trying to do a sparkler scene at night to mimic fire. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out. But it was a learning experience!). In the meantime, here’s a portrait Vania shot of you as she was testing the lighting. Not a bad portrait for having just spent the previous half hour jumping about on a trampoline!
Portrait of me Briana Lamb

Filed Under: Modeling

Geek Couture – Her Universe Fashion Show 2014

April 29, 2015 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

HU_Sketches_2_1Last year at San Diego Comic Con, Her Universe created the Geek Couture runway show (no, that’s not where I got the name for my blog category. I came up with it independently. But it seems from the title and the Lady Vader design I was working on at the time, Ashley Eckstein and I are on the same wavelength!). It was an attempt to let would-be-designers compete to show off their high fashion concepts on a runway at Comic Con. Her Universe started off the event by showcases some of their own talented sketches of various haute couture characters (I really love The Walking Dead – Lori’s Ghost one the most. I could see that very easily being a case of stealth geek).

HU_Sketches_4_1HU_Sketches_1_1HU_Sketches_3The runway show was a resounding success as 36 designers and models stomped down the runway in their original designs. The large hall at the convention was standing room only as fangirls and boys alike excitedly gathered for the first-of-its-kind event. The designers ranged from professional costumers to hobby cosplayers, but all with equal amounts of passion.

As if the event wasn’t cool enough by itself, there was added incentive as two winners would be chosen from the runway show to then partner with Her Universe and Hot Topic to create their own collection. The two winners were….

Amy Beth Christenson Smith with her Delorean-inspired outfit from Back to the Future.mg_5812mg_5822

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Andrew MacLaine with his show-stopping quick-change Regina from Once Upon a Time.

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You have to see the full reveal of this one. It still blows my mind.

You can see a gallery of all the outfits here: (scroll down towards the bottom of the post): http://settostunning.com/2014/08/07/sdcc-her-universe-geek-couture-fashion-show/
(My apologies as I was trying to upload them all here, but can’t seem to get it formatted. Hmm, more things to learn!)

Filed Under: Geek Couture

My Star Wars: The Force Awakens Auditions

April 20, 2015 by The Lady Nerd 5 Comments

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This weekend the internet has been abuzz with Star Wars talk, be it the new trailer for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens, the trailer for the new Star Wars Battlefront game, or the spin-off anthology film series, Rogue One (all of which I’m super excited about! Star Wars was my first and still my most beloved fandom. Well, except maybe Lord of the Rings. Close call.) I have a small little backstory with the new Star Wars film that I thought I’d share just for giggles.

Round One: In-Person Audition

In late 2013, there were a myriad of cattle call auditions around the world for hopefuls for the main cast. Only two roles were given out – one guy, one girl (aptly named “Rachel”. Considering the character’s final name is “Rey”, it was rather a clever nondescript fake name for auditions, no?) Thankfully, one of the audition places happened to be in my hometown of Nashville, so I made a trip up to have a Thanksgiving holiday with my parents and go to the casting call. I wasn’t expecting anything to come of it as I don’t tend to have that sort of luck, but knowing Lucas (and now JJ Abrams) tendency to pick unknowns for the leads, I thought ‘oh, why not?‘

7am rolled around and I bolted out of bed, grabbed my materials and my incognito Jaina Solo gear (braided headband like she has in Jedi form and calf-high black boots. Because why not? I give any excuse to stealth geek), and headed out the door. As one would imagine, the lines were nuts. People were camping out as early as 11pm the previous night (although they were escorted off the premises by security). The casting call started at noon, but I got there early as I knew there would be a massive line. I arrived a couple minutes before 8am, about 5 minutes before the rush started (well….outside. I didn’t know about the 200 people line inside until an hour or so later).

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Unfortunately, as luck would have it, Nashville had a cold snap and it was well below freezing. By the time the sun hit our line at 9am, it eeked up to a whopping 20 degrees. While I didn’t have the foresight to bring a heavy coat (I wasn’t expecting it to be that cold!), I at least had ear muffs and a scarf. That’s more than could be said for many of the poor hopefuls standing in line. I also had the pleasure of standing next to a friendly, chatty group of theater students from Colorado. We passed the time chatting and doing silly dances to stay warm (one of group moms did a Starbucks run and very sweetly bought me a hot chocolate as I huddled with them).

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Once we made it inside, things went quicker. The process was simple – go up, shake hands with the casting agents, hand off your resume and headshot, smile, and then you’re on your way. I wasn’t expecting anything from such a cattle call, but my hopes were perked up when the casting agent smiled at my “impressive resume” (which I found amusing because it was all extra work or college theater. Granted, there were some big movies on there like Hunger Games, but not a resume I’d call impressive).

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Alas, I did not make the callback later that day, which I wasn’t surprised about. They were calling out girls who had much more modernly stereotypical prettier than I (aka all nice big straight-teeth smiles, long, thin noses, etc). Not as a put-down on myself, I’m just simply a different look. I’m pretty enough but I’m not typical screen beautiful. I have no delusions about that. I’m more of a supporting role type anyways (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!). But I figured I’d try out for the role all the same (as folks have told me I favor Natalie Portman, thus could pass for one of her genetic code. That plus my martial arts and fencing background could lend to my own stunt work, right?….) So that audition was scratched. But not to be deterred….

Round Two: Video Audition

In addition to the in-person cattle call audition, there was also a digital version for a video audition. Scripts were involved with that one. It was a new, nerve-wracking experience as I had never done a video audition before. My actor friends gave me some tips and I went to a local acting company to be videotaped. Alas, I was so embarrassed by my first round of taping, that I returned to re-do it a few days later. (As I discovered that I naturally tend to look around alot. But I didn’t know that until I saw the video playback and saw my wandering eyes darting every which way every couple seconds. Embarassing! And not professional looking.)

The second taping went better, though I still have a lot to learn about on-camera acting.  Between the wandering eyes and my unfortunate tendency to talk out of the side of my mouth, this is why I stick with modeling! But I figured for the giggles and interest of it, I’d….*gulp*…post my audition video here. (Note: the weird posture in the beginning of my audition was a direction by the person filming me. That didn’t come from me.)

While the whole experience was really just a shot in the dark, it was worth the try. 🙂

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Geek Couture – Marvel’s New Men’s Fashion Line

March 27, 2015 by The Lady Nerd Leave a Comment

FiveFourMarvel002

As geekdom and fashion circle ever closer to where lines begin to blur (such as Rodarte’s famed Star Wars runway collection), now comes geek giant, Marvel, crossing over to fashion with their announcement today of new men’s fashion line. In collaboration with Five Four, this line is being launched as an alternative to the (albeit beloved) geek t-shirt and jeans. Here, geek print meets with fashion-forward clothing (on some aptly cast male models)

Looking fashionable isn’t just for the lady nerds. Men, you too can have stealth geek chic.

The line launches on April 1st with outerwear, dress shirts, graphic tees, and accessories. For those of you familiar with LootCrate or Nerdblock (the mystery subscription boxes), this clothing line will be coming from Five Four as a monthly $60 box containing $120 worth of clothes, styled to your own specifications.
FiveFourMarvel001-1-600x727

I cannot even begin to describe how much this excites me. I’ve often felt on the outskirts of these two worlds – too geeky for the fashion world or too styled for the geek world. But after watching trends of geekdom on the rise to mainstream and the eyes of the fashion world turning towards celebrating the things we love, like superheroes and catwomen, I knew they were going to come head-to-head at some point and make a beautiful blend. It’s happening! (Technically one can argue that it’s been happening, but that enters the realm of subjective opinion, which is neither here nor there). Regardless of the personal opinion, I’ll stick with my original exclamation of how exciting this is! Besides, who doesn’t love a well dressed (geek) guy?

MarvelMen3

Filed Under: Geek Couture

Battle & Brew

March 23, 2015 by The Lady Nerd 1 Comment

On Friday, March 13th, 2015, folks of all shapes, genders, backgrounds, etc. waited in great anticipation outside of a deceptively large establishment in Roswell, Georgia. Today was the day many had been looking forward to for months – the grand opening of the new location of local favourite, Battle & Brew! (Oh yes, I was one of the first ones in line.)11067490_10153682717223662_8749178668620912318_nBattle & Brew is Atlanta’s first gaming bar. First opened in 2005, it was housed in a small establishment complete with a modest menu, kitchen, some beer taps, a few gaming computers, and couches for board games and chatting. Cozy, but fun. Humble beginnings indeed.

Fast forward to 2015 and Battle & Brew moved into a MUCH larger space where they now boast a full restaurant, not just one, but TWO full bars, state-of-the-art gaming computer centers, gaming lounges, and swanky decor. But rather than pontificating more, I’ll let pictures do the talking. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? 21172_10153251418282783_4480816353471005738_n10347426_10153251419247783_16592666377626031_n10351170_10153251421997783_1285835485215547229_n11066522_10153251422012783_1378331102675088668_n10437445_10153251419217783_1484278890759443235_n10942527_10153251418467783_3800778601686595679_n11075157_10153251420867783_8127580186231345325_n1054_042610440754_10153251419392783_3231694906036169621_n1054_006311010574_10153251422752783_8535062225322687936_n          10891617_10153016313647783_772192687226101887_n 10931119_10153079074182783_8012283958271698737_n   11062079_10153251421247783_6979310109606769004_n  The place is so full of inspired decorations that not even the bathrooms were spared! 11071588_10153251420927783_339831676823487543_nIMG_20150313_174238IMG_20150313_174246  11075281_10153251418292783_7543361701736067702_n Photographer:

Battle & Brew Official Website: http://www.battleandbrew.com/

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Geek Couture – Superhero Fashion

February 1, 2015 by The Lady Nerd 2 Comments

There are times where it seems the worlds of fashion and geekdom couldn’t be farther apart – one bedecked in expensive fantasies of chiffon, leather, and Swarovski crystals while the other  revels in fabric superhero prints, graphic tees, and leggings galore. But the two are not so far off each other as one might suppose. While the two have skated around each other, seeming like polar opposites, their orbits are coming ever closer (and, in fact, have crossed paths before). From Rodarte’s Star Wars runway line last year to the growth of formal-themed cosplays at conventions worldwide, the blend of geek couture is on the rise.

In this category, Geek Couture, every week I will feature one of these so-called blends, whether it be from the fashion side or the geek side of things. Today’s feature comes from the 2008 issue of Vogue where (my personal favourite model) Coco Rocha and photographer, Craig McDean, did a superhero-inspired editorial (inspired by the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and their big spring exhibition, “Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy” that same year. A quote from the Costume Institute’s website, “… to reveal how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body.“)

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Poison Ivy with a Nina Ricci Swarovski custom-made embellished dress
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Catwoman by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana with Christian Louboutin for Rodarte shoes

vogue-us_2008_05_craig-mcdean_daring-do-5Dawnstar in custom sequined Dior haute couture dress

coco-beautyThe Little Mermaid with Gaultier rubber bodysuit with shell detail and sequined detail
coco-beauty5Another Batman-inspired Armani Prive silk dress

1082042379A Batman inspired custom made Rick Owens zippered leather-and-cashmere suit
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coco-beauty6Aurora with Martin Margiela custom made bodysuit
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(Photos via http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/superhero-style-by-craig)

Filed Under: Geek Couture

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Greetings programs! I'm Briana - artist, model, and avid costumer. Welcome to my little corner of the blogosphere.
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