The last two weekends in October were a blast, when I got to play dressup as one of my favorite females Xena, Warrior Princess.
Shouldn’t That Be Warrior "Queen"?
Since I started dressing regularly, I have dreamed of having a Xena costume. Not the cheap fabric Spencer’s Gifts costume, but a real leather costume with bodice, skirt and boots. Last Spring I was talking about it with the seamstress friend who made my Shakespearean gown and she said she thought it would be a very interesting challenge. She had a list of jobs she had promised to other people, but finally in late September she started on Xena. (Her boyfriend is somewhat homophobic, and had some serious problems with me wanting this costume. However, he would complain to her about it, but never bring it up with me. Oh, well.) The original plan was to have it in time for my performance that I mentioned last month, but, believe it or not, her friend’s dogs got to the costume the night before and put some serious holes in it. So she worked all the next week to have it ready for my actual Xena debut. When she finished, I had knee boots, a skirt, a bodice, and highly decorated armbands and gauntlets. I had bought a chakram on the web and a wig from Studio Lites. Finally, a make-up artist friend designed a Xena look for me.
So That’s Why They Call It Fantasy and Science Fiction
Every year near the end of October, Denver hosts a science fiction convention. For those of you who aren’t familiar with such things, a sci-fi convention is a weekend event held at a hotel where science fiction writers and artists meet fans. There are panel discussions, readings, auctions, sing-a-longs, gaming, sometimes a banquet, and almost always a costume contest. At the costume contest you will see incredible craftsmanship, uninhibited performances, and really bad puns. At this particular contest, the overall winner was an exquisite Spider Woman costume (not the superheroine), and other entries included four guys who sang, "Klingons in Tights", and one woman, dressed all in black, who marched around carrying the Stars and Stripes as "American Gothic".
Also in these contests, you are judged not only on your costume but also how you present it. Although I looked quite good in the costume, I knew I would be automatically perceived as a guy, so I decided to title my presentation as "Joxer’s Nightmare". I would act out what would happen if Joxer – Xena’s goofy, male, sometime sidekick – woke up in Xena’s body.
We got to the convention later than I’d planned, and I only had an hour to do my presentation tape, which I barely finished before the run-through. Of course, we were told that it would take 15 minutes for the run-through and it took an hour and a half, which left me about an hour to put on the costume I’d never worn and get my make-up done. At one point my wife was adjusting one gauntlet while the make-up artist was working on fastening the skirt and her friend was tying off one of my boots. We were supposed to report to the green room an hour before the contest at 6:00 p.m. and I walked in at 6:30 just as they were calling for me one last time. When I walked in, the room went bananas. Everyone was amazed that a guy would wear an outfit like that. One of the Klingons (in tights) pointed to his legs and said, "I thought we were ‘wrong’ but you are sooo ‘wrong’!" He then thanked me for wearing such an outfit so that he didn’t feel so silly. It was cute that people kept staring, then smiling and giggling.
One Person’s Nightmare Is Another’s Dream Come True
I was competing in the Novice category against about eight other entries. When my time came to go on stage, I stepped out, and the people in the audience who could see me started to laugh. When I was introduced as "Joxer’s Nightmare" and walked out on stage, the audience completely lost it. For my presentation I acted shocked when I realized that I was Xena, checking inside my bodice to confirm it. I did a miserable Xena war cry, and mimed throwing the chakram into all kinds of things. My exit line was "I wonder if Gabrielle needs a bath!" (Xena viewers will get the joke.) The whole thing was very well received.
After the contest we had about an hour while we waited for the judges. I was glad because it was an opportunity to interact with the audience and get their comments. Several costume makers and others were very interested in the craftsmanship on the costume, and I received several comments about the guts it took to do something like that. My favorite comments were how good and believable I looked. A couple even asked if I was a guy or a girl. At one point a woman commented that the only flaw was my voice, so I shifted into my femme voice and she said, "Now we’re getting scary!"
When the judges finally returned, they announced that I won in my category, and I received several costuming books and magazines, as well as a lovely crystal pendant.
I was on such a high that evening with all the attention, that the next morning was kind of a downer and for an odd reason. Absolutely no one recognized me as the Xena from the night before. One woman who had helped run the contest had to ask me what costume I’d worn, and another said that if she hadn’t seen me before the contest out of costume she wouldn’t have had any idea who I was. I hadn’t realized my "camouflage" was that successful.
Treat or Treat!
My seamstress made a couple of adjustments on my costume and when Halloween came around the following weekend, we had to decide what to do for the holiday. Last year I had gone to a casino town and won a contest as Elvira. We thought about going back, but the weather was bad and I didn’t want my expectant wife around a lot of smokers anyway, so we decided on an oldies concert. They were giving away a nice prize, and if we didn’t win, we’d still have a fun evening.
My wife wore a Renaissance dress with wings and carried a rolling pin. She was the Fairy Godmother-in-law. When we walked in, the music was just getting started. We mingled a little and got sodas, listened a little, then got up to dance. I noticed then that I was getting stares and smiles. During the first intermission they had the costume contest, and it was decided by audience applause. There were some other popular contestants but there were several people shouting "Xena!" and "Xena Rules!" which turned the tide in my favor. I won two round-trip tickets to anywhere in the United States. My wife wasn’t thrilled with all the effort I put into the Xena costume, but she admitted it was certainly worth it to be able to take the baby to visit relatives for free.
I’ll Bet You Say That To All The Girls
Again, for me, the fun part was hearing everyone’s comments. The fellow who was emceeing the contest kept staring at my cleavage, and he finally said it was because he couldn’t figure out how I did it. One man asked how I got my face so smooth (and this was about four hours after I’d shaved), and several just expressed total amazement that I looked so female. One woman said that she hadn’t realized I was a man until she heard people talking to me, and another came up to me on the dance floor and said, "You are a woman, aren’t you?" When I replied that I wasn’t, she asked me at least three more times to make sure.
We had a great time, and now it’s time to focus on the baby who decided to come three weeks early! We have a beautiful baby girl and Mom and baby are healthy and doing fine. I’ll be performing again in January and probably go to a couple of conventions then as well. Until next time,
Fashionably yours,
Brittany Rose
BrittTV@aol.com
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