Funny looks at 12th night

[mmcnealy]

Something I have been thinking alot about the last few days is the occasionaly funny look I got from some women.
I got lots of compliments from ladies on how wonderful my costume was, I saw them again in the Laurel lineup when they were making the new laurels, that felt really nice to have the compliments.

But there were several folks, who gave me envious? jealous? just plain weird looks. Some of them were from women who haven't worked on their costume in YEARS, others were from women that had fantastic costumes.

I didn't know if I should smile or look away... Any advice?

Comments

[gailsedotes.livejournal.com]

*sigh*!
snarks!
the advice i gave my daughter recently when some girl wanted to beat her up cause she thought J was after her boyfriend - at 11!

every time they look nasty - go over and be wonderful! compliment their clothes - even if they are crap. Don't mention your out fit to them even if they say something nice - respond modestly and then change the subject to something mundane or move off to friends. Give them no grounds to be horrid and loads of reasons to become future friends.

worked for J. they are off her case and are even being nice behind her back (amazing!)

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the really good advice, I will work on this next time, this time I was so tired and not feeling up to dealing with all those strange people, so I just sort of tuned them out.

[gailsedotes.livejournal.com]

my first instinct was to tell my brown belt in karate daughter to take them down and beat the crap out of the little maddams!

but being super nice has left them toally confused and with no leg to stand on - wish i had figured that out when i was her age!

envy

[serenalyons.livejournal.com]

plain, unbridled envy and fighting off the intense desire to fondle the fabric. I speaketh from truth. Truly and honestly yours was probably the best executed and fabulously "period" clothing there. You escaped the 5 billion marginally period Italian Ren trap, that I got sucked into. All in all it was fabulous, and it was unique.

Re: envy

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

~smile~ Its all washable so you could have fondled the fabric all you wanted. I hope this starts a more balanced approach to German costume, there was more to clothing during the time than 15th thousand Saxon princess ala Cranach, or Landskanech, most folks were just ordinary town dwellers, who wore ordinary clothes not with big hats and feathers and tons of slashes.

-Stepping off the soapbox now-

[damned-colonial.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it was envy.

If the attention bothers you, just work on obliviousness and pretend you don't notice.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Obliviousness isn't usually something I have a problem with, paying attention to people around me is, so I've been working on being aware of my surroundings. Guess I'll just have to go back to being oblivious.

[pandorasbox.livejournal.com]

I was there & It was looks of "I hate you because you are more talented & more beautiful Than me". Also alot of people were squinting cuz they weren't wearing their glasses (to look more period-YC

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

The squinting didn't bother me. ;)

[wengeue.livejournal.com]

Ha! At last year's 12th Night I left my contacts home (I wear daily disposables and so this meant that after I threw out the first day's... oops, no vision correction!) so I spent the whole weekend blind as a bat! I tend to walk around with one eye closed then, because one of my eyes is farsighted and the other is near. So I'm sure I looked really odd.

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

*giggle* I wear contacts or glasses at camping events. My point of focus is 4" from my eyes, so I am really blind without corrective lenses, unless its 4" from my face in which case I see fine.

[pandorasbox.livejournal.com]

I have the same problem. Legally blind in my left eye (near & slightly farsighted in my right. haha

[gailsedotes.livejournal.com]

nag me to get the pages up on how to construct own periond specs with pictures! i'm terrible unless nagged!

[pandorasbox.livejournal.com]

period specs are hideous. I would rather get a blinding headache than wear those monstrosities heheheheh

[jenthompson.livejournal.com]

If I had to guess, I'd say they probably haven't done enough research to recognize the style you were wearing... it is pretty unusual after all. I've never seen another costume make one of those short capes/coats/whatever you call 'em.

But so beautiful!!!! I love it when people try new things. :-)

[mmcnealy.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I like trying new things, its such an adventure to try something new that nobody else has. ;)

Its called a mantlelein, little coat in German, its more common in engravings than in portraits since its more of an everyday garment instead of the absolute best that the rich would wear in a portrait. Eva was saying that they were quite popular in Sweden at the time.