DragonCon and a Costume Conundrum

Okay, so first thing’s first: that event I mentioned last week? I’m going to DragonCon! I’ve been invited by the lovely C.L. Wilson to share a booth in the exhibit hall with her and some other writers (list of my co-presenters forthcoming, and yes, I’m an utter flake for not having it right on hand). And so far, I’ve booked at least one panel:

Title: Writing for the YA and Children’s Market Description: How to write for an audience that’s half your age–or less. Tapping into the minds of today’s young people–what DO they want to read?
Time: Sun 11:30 am
Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong – Hyatt
(Length: 1 Hour)

So come find me at DragonCon! I will have many copies of the hot-off-the-presses RAMPANT for your signing, holding and reading-under-the-covers-with-a-flashlight pleasure.

Fourteen days, y’all.

This will be my first trip to a fantasy convention of any kind. Nothing like jumping into the deep end, right? However, I have heard from friends who’ve been that the number one absolutely essential item at DragonCon is a costume. And since I am a veritable costume NUT, I could hardly sleep last night trying to figure out what I would wear. I refuse to be outdone by Maureen Johnson, who doesn’t even write fantasy. Oops, I mean, Devilish, which was actually awesome. Devils and pastries are always a good combination.

Anyway, costumes. Right. So… what to wear? I mean, do I go all out with a cosplay kind of thing? (Sailor Boy is very skeptical of this, by the way, as every time I mention it his eyebrows go up and he’s all, “Really?” as if he hasn’t known me for 9 years, didn’t meet me in my guise as a costume designer,  and didn’t sit through my whole, “Let’s have a COSTUME wedding!” scheme before nixing it.) And if I do decide to go as a particular character, who do I pick? If you watch that video I linked to up above, you can see how some of those people are severely hampering their ability to do anything other than cosplay at DragonCon. I don’t want to be that person.

I also do not want to be the person who is sitting at her booth in the exhibit hall, trying to sign copies of her new, very modern set YA fantasy novel and having people ask her why the hell she’s dressed up like Eowyn if her book takes place in Rome in 2009.

And no, I’m not dressing up like one of my own characters. To quote the pre-Ari Gold Jeremy Pivens from PCU: one does not wear the t-shirt of the band you’re going to see at the concert.*

Not that I would be Eowyn, anyway.

Option Two, of course, is just to wear a general costumey thing. This is the option favored by my pal Marianne Mancusi. Her favorite aesthetic is called “Gothic Lolita,” and she talks about it at length here. My favorite aesthetic would, of course, be steampunk.** And of course, at a place like DragonCon, I could take the steampunk aesthetic one step farther than the usual jeans and white blouse with a velvet jacket and lace up boots look.I mean, goggles!***

The problem is, a lot of what the people out there selling clothing/costumes seem to think is “steampunk” is a bit more like Marianne’s “gothic lolita” if you ask me. Or perhaps too much punk (or goth/fetishwear) and not enough steam. Or just weirdly burlesque and uncomfortable. I’m not a steampunk stripper, y’all. I’m a children’s author.

Also, IMO, you can’t take a long skirt, rip big scraggly holes in it, and call it steampunk. It’s just spiderwebby. The definition of steampunk does not begin and end with “something Helena Bonham Carter would wear.” FWIW.

And there is also the whole commitment issue. I have nothing against people who want to go to a con and wear a costume and have that be their thing, but I have a tough time believing that I myself could be comfortable wandering around in something like this:

Kinda The Borg Do Steampunk, yeah? Outside of an actual production of Cirque du Soleil, this isn’t going to work.

So, yeah. Hopefully there is a happy medium to be had, in between my usual fare and the all out wackadoodle stuff. I pretty much want normalish, kicked up a notch. Because, y’know. DragonCon.

However, if I were to dress up as a character, who should I be? Leave your suggestions here.****

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* I believe it’s important to reveal at this moment that I totally just put together that was a very young Jon Favreau in that movie who is the recipient of Pivens’s criticism.

** Dude, I’ve never been so happy as I was when I discovered there was actually a name to describe all the velvet military jackets and bustled skirts and lace up boots in my wardrobe.

*** No, not really goggles. But maybe a pocket watch.

**** Please do not say Kara Thrace. Yes, I know I have short blonde hair. Still not happening.