Roland Writes

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to participate in the contests so it was good to get back on stage tonight. The bad news was that didn’t really have time to prepare much because of all the Grand Re-Opening festivities. The good news was that I had something for “Country Singer” already.

Yes, I used this costume a few weeks ago and lost, but under the circumstances, I had to pull it out and try again. I did look at my advice to myself from last time and made some changes.

I tossed the musical gestures. As fun as they were, it’s not really “modeling” so I left them off.

Without them, I followed Coco Chanel’s advice on accessorizing and “took off the last thing I put on.” In this case it was the guitar stuck to my back. I was thinking that looked funny just stuck on there. It needed a strap, but getting a strap to hold it was beyond my timeframe and skill level. Off it went.

I changed the skin from Redgrave to LaLutka. The Emil Pale skin looked ok, but the LaLutka Absolute gave me a closer approximation to the skin tone I wanted to represent him in later life.

The Result

Third Place!

I was grateful not to have to judge the group. There were some terrific looks and I was honored to be selected.

What Would I Do Differently?

For this particular look, I think this is about as good as it gets. The representation of the Man in Black is as near as I can make it. If I could find a guitar with a strap, that might make a difference, but I really like the clean look without a lot of gimcrackery.

I could change the look and pick somebody else with a strong image.

Stuff

Hair: Laqroki – Rebel Black
Skin: LaLutka – Absolute Pale Base
Eyes: E’s for Eyes – Gleeming Deep Brown
Suit: AlphaMale – Casual Tux Black
Boots: Evocative – Cuban ankle boots
Shape: Custom sculpt by me

Some nights, I’m just not able to get up to the level I need to. Tonight was one of those nights. Major league RL interference kept me from really preparing for this so I was grabbing bits and bytes right up until show time. The theme was Styling Medieval and I had just the outfit.

I wrote about this the other day, so I’ll just point out I added a sword, dagger, and a necklace to make it “Medieval” and called it good.

Results

I got my two votes. This was a night where I agreed with the judging. The three winners all had great looks. They deserved it.

What Would I Do Differently?

Tights, definitely tights. I think what I really needed to do was pick somebody – like Robin Hood – and go for that look.

Better accessories. The Celtic Sword from the library was stylistically correct but it didn’t even have a scabbard. I just stuck it to my back. That coulda been much better.

Stuff
Outfit: Caliber – Onyx Gryphon
Boots: Evocative – Cuban ankle boots
Necklace: HoC -Pentagram Necklace-Celtic Silver
Hair: Uw.St – Reed (Mesh Black)
Skin: Belleza – Thomas Tan 1

The theme for the evening was Kings/Queens. While the opportunity was there to play with the terms — Gypsy King, Drama Queen, or even dressing like a playing card like the King of Hearts — I chose to stay pretty un-imaginative. I picked a real king.

King is an interesting theme. The cliche and the archetype are actually rather different. While Henry VIII or Charles I might make interesting theatre for the Doublet and Hose brigade, modern kings seem more interesting to me. For tonight, I’m Edward the Eighth, the last king of England.

The suit is standard business fair for a working monarch – morning coat and honors. The morning coat in cranberry is from SF Designs. I made the medals.

Edward VIII has been a special fascination for me ever since I learned that he had given up power for a woman. I wondered at how a king might do that when I was a lad, but I think I finally came to realize that even kings are, first, men. Edward VIII is not free of controversy politcally either but I liked the idea of doing a relatively modern king.

Results
Very predictable results. So predictable, I had two of the three selected 10 minutes before the judge decided. They deserved the win and I was too far out of the box to be a serious contender. I got my two votes.

What Would I Do Different?

The possibilities here are almost endless.

• Gone with “King of Hearts” as a theme
• Picked a Charles I costume off the rack.
• Build myself into Henry VIII
• Made a pun on either King or Queen – This is one instance where “Drag Queen” or “Drama Queen” might actually have worked.

Maybe the next time.

Stuff

Morning Coat (Cranberry) – SF Designs
Cuban ankle boots – Evocative
Medals – Roland Zepp