Statusing Eleanora

I learned a new word this week: statusing.  I’m sure it’s been in use for years in certain environments, but it’s not something I ever thought about.  I tell folks what I did. I’m done. I don’t have to name the process of the telling.  Blogging though, especially blogging backward, seems to require a new presentation method.  You'll recognize this method I'm certain.

Statusing.  A project must have a plan.  Even the creative process can be forced into a Visio chart to make us, the messy creative class, appear more organized and efficient than we ever truly are.  Here then is the bona-fide Plan for the Eleanora Dress (or any other period costuming project)

1.       [Evaluate Project] Study the 2 Bronzino portraits for detail. Take notes. Ask “why?”.  How do you put it on, close it, clean it, move in it? Research other period paintings and sources.  Find out a little about Eleanora. Why is she wearing that dress? Is it a reasonable dress or something Erte-esque?  Make a list of all the materials and the pieces necessary to complete the illusion.  Remember, period costumes require period underpinnings and period materials to look truly period. What sequence do you need to build the parts in? You can’t fit a pattern over a corset you don’t have!

2.       [Determine Scope] Will it be period or peri-oid?  Are there material limits? Time limits? What corners are you going to cut and why. Always ask why.  How authentic does it need to be? Who will see? Who cares?

3.       [Draft Pattern] and [Obtain/Prepare Materials] These two key processes depend on each other.  The materials can and mostly do affect the pattern, but you may need the dimensions or even the pattern itself to decide what to buy and how much.

4.       [Test Pattern] You really think it will fit on the first try? You’ve never done this, have you?

5.       [Cut] The most stressful part from whence there is no return, only success or failure.

6.       [Assemble] Sew. Glue. Rivet. Pray.

7.       [Fit] You did this eleventeen times in the test step, so you should only be making minor tweaks here. 

8.       [Finish] If it’s a period costume this always seems to be the longest part.  Handwork handwork handwork! Did I mention handwork?  I hate handwork. See item 2, scope.  How can I avoid the handwork?

9.       [Show Off] You did it, you earned the glory, take it!