Costumes and Participation...

Teo del Fuego · Post by **Teo del Fuego** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 7:36 am

jkisha wrote:Everyone is a tourist of life; how could it be otherwise?

One could be an active participant in life or a member of the community of life, I suppose.

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 8:32 am

Dork wrote:I've been attending for 8 years with minimal costumes. I very rarely hear anyone calling me a tourist. I'm sure it happens, but I'm too far away or too preoccupied to hear it. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of fully decked-out people showing up on Friday night I'd consider tourists.

Walking around with minimal clothing can indeed be considered a costume! Remember, though, you WILL need heavy clothes for night-time. My go-to favorite the last few years was a Thai silk kimono robe with however many layers underneath are required for the conditions. Surprisingly warm, colorful, and dust-resistant. You can get them real cheap on Ebay these days.

You have TONS of time to cruise thrift shops and Ebay looking for cheap, comfortable, colorful, furry items. If you aren't iinto creating an outfit, just cobble things together and go with it. A cheerful attitude goes a long way out there.

Hummmm, silk...

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:49 am

Bluetality wrote:Maybe even you? I'll keep an eye out for the Khaki's.

I'll pretend to be tall enough to reach the tent.

Lord Of Ruin · Post by **Lord Of Ruin** » Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:36 pm

A couple of observations:

My first year I was told by campmates to not worry about either gifting OR costumes. Too hard to explain what to bring/not bring and get it right...and there's far too much other stuff to worry about anyway. It was spot on advice.

But one thing that I think you've gotten slightly off track with. I think you are judging BM as some sort of huge house/nightclub party with all its attendant politics. What SHOULD I bring to fit in? What should I wear? What gifts will please people? etc etc.

This is very nice; it shows that yo momma raised you right and all.

But BM is more about the self in a lot of ways: self reliance, self expression, etc. Through these, we find the ability to offer a lot to others as well.

Ok, enough hippy crap.

What I'm saying is that you should ask for advice for what does and does not work for sure. But as for what you SHOULD bring because of fitting in or pleasing people or whatever is of so little value as to be almost unmeasurable. I mean, you wouldn't want to camp at Bacon Camp if you're a vegan and all, but to a large extent your reality is your reality.

Now, about costumes:

I read/fretted/tried to plan about this a lot. I've stopped calling them costumes for most.

To me, there are:
Wearable art
costumes/outfits
practical wear
doofuses that just attach shit to anything

Wearable art is just that...it's something that someone created/planned out...usually to make a statement or get an impact from those around them. Think Jesus lugging a cross, or a guy in a frog costume... This is sorta a "If it moves you and it's fun, do it!"

Costumes/outfits are the people you sorta mentioned...skimpy or theme things that people store away and haul out for BM. BM has a very Halloween/party feel to it to me. Again, these are pretty much an expresson of the inner feelings of the wearer. So while I know lots of goth people, I know lots who wear pseudo western wear, a lot that wear the skimply shit you mentioned. It's all very "Mad Max" to me personally. So, if you like something you own to wear....bring it...whether it's g-string underwear, footie pajamas, a kimono or whatever. It will say something about you in the process.

Next is the practical wear. I must confess that I fall mostly into this category. Lots of cargo pants and shorts, tshirts, utility belts. But I work a lot (GATE) so I wear a tactical vest with lots of pouches on it too. Basically I end up carrying lots of stuff with me to be prepared (the old Boy Scout inside me, I guess)...pocket knife, flashlight, goggles, mask, lip balm, sun block, etc. Most people that do this avenue generally start to personalize their practical wear with hats, scarves, etc that are distinctive in their own way. Again, very Mad Max like in some ways...

And finally are the people that I think you are concerned about and people are warning you about. The dipshits that just go buy every plastic glowy/Pirate/PimpnHo thing and slap it all together. They tend to gravitate to the dance/sound camps exclusively and overall take from BM the entire time giving little back. THESE are generally the people that BM campers grumble about...

But don't let that dissuade you. We had over 49 THOUSAND visitors this year...and I'd say a very small portion of them are those last types. Most people are interesting, engaging and fun...and really the only thing they expect or rather hope from you is to be interesting in some way.

LoR

Bluetality · Post by **Bluetality** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 2:54 pm

Toolmaker - I was kind of looking into joining the Carrot Liberation Front. I'm all about helping the underdog. Now, I just need to find some orange and green stuff. It's a good thing I called a halt on the tubing, I have a feeling some lawsuits would have ensued otherwise

.

Phil - I'm not sure if that makes me feel relieved or more sad.

Dork - Thanks, doll. I haven't written off costumes all together. I'm just not looking forward to it as much as everything else. =) That kimono sounds nice. I doubt the Chinese half of my family would understand why I'm prancing around in a kimono, haha.

gyre - I KNEW there was a softie in there somewhere ;p!!

Lord of Ruin - I appreciate the prose, but I think you misunderstood a bit. It's not that I care about 'fitting in', and I definitely do not have a notion that it's some sort of night-clubbish atmosphere, and though I think my mother did a grand job of raising me...the point of the post/question was that so many people seem to put a lot of emphasis on 'costumes', I wasn't sure whether or not it was a must for the festival/event. I've covered most of the essentials that I NEED for the adventure. Now, I'm trying to figure out the details...like whether or not I will be shitting on the event by not dressing for it.

Thanks for the clothing tips though. =) I really dig the idea of having a utility vest, it would cut down on the weight of a backpack.

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:51 am

random dream sharing:
Last night I had a dream that I was wearing these wonderfully soft layers of silk, some sort of dress/wings/robe thing. It felt so delightful in the heat of the desert. In the middle of the dream, I then recalled having read the post on eplaya from Dork about wearing a silk kimono. (Although Dork did mention wearing whatever number of layers under the robe, my mind didn't quite remember that...) I started laughing in the dream at the thought of silkcocking - wearing only silk.
Dream was so silly it seems like it needs to be shared.

Intubater69 · Post by **Intubater69** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:12 pm

Artemis wrote:random dream sharing:
Last night I had a dream that I was wearing these wonderfully soft layers of silk, some sort of dress/wings/robe thing. It felt so delightful in the heat of the desert. In the middle of the dream, I then recalled having read the post on eplaya from Dork about wearing a silk kimono. (Although Dork did mention wearing whatever number of layers under the robe, my mind didn't quite remember that...) I started laughing in the dream at the thought of silkcocking - wearing only silk.
Dream was so silly it seems like it needs to be shared.

Oh effing great Artemis, now I'm worried I'm gonna have nightmares of you silk-cocking around

Artemis · Post by **Artemis** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 3:42 pm

don't worry - it would not be a nightmare :-)

Bluetality · Post by **Bluetality** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 4:57 pm

"Silkcocking - The Classy Edition."

Walmart will be selling it before the month is out.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 5:07 pm

Walmart's selling porn? Oh crap, there goes that industry too.

Bluetality · Post by **Bluetality** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:24 pm

and how!

Don't worry. Porn is a timeless classic, it will be around no matter how hard big bad Walmart tries to destroy it.

Barr · Post by **Barr** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 10:14 pm

Lord Of Ruin wrote:Ok, enough hippy crap.

What I'm saying is that you should ask for advice for what does and does not work for sure. But as for what you SHOULD bring because of fitting in or pleasing people or whatever is of so little value as to be almost unmeasurable. I mean, you wouldn't want to camp at Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp Bacon Camp.

LoR

Insightful post, I appreciated it greatly.

Bluetality · Post by **Bluetality** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 3:50 am

Intubater69 · Post by **Intubater69** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:17 am

theCryptofishist wrote:Walmart's selling porn? Oh crap, there goes that industry too.

Which industry Crypto, Walmart or Porn? Porn's be around, like forever. Hmmm, although I think Sam Walton has as well. God help us all if he decides to try out silkcocking

Box Burner · Post by **Box Burner** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:32 am

The new walmart employee uniform is a blue silk polo shirt.

Costumes and Participation...

Re: Costumes and Participation...

silkcocking

Re: silkcocking