12.10.2008

A Missed Opportunity?

I'm starting to wonder if instead of taking my job at a hospital system next year perhaps I should have turned it down to outfit grad students in need of party clothes? A bit of background: it's finals time around here, which also means people are eagerly counting down the days until the KSM ski trip. This trip consists of approximately 600 students skiing by day, socializing by night. Like everything at our school, students organized this shindig and two of the leaders happened to be in need of some attire for theme parties. Corporate board members have to show up in suits to be taken seriously so shouldn't the ski trip committee show up in perfectly rad 80's and/or rocker gear? But of course.

Behold the modified (previously large and baggy) t-shirt for a Guitar Hero Battle of the Bands:

(pardon the bad picture quality - cell phones are still not cameras!)

And now the winner of "it's so bad it's good" shirt for the storied 80s party. If there's one theme we love around here it's "80s" and people honestly have costume collections just for these occasions.



Yet one can never have enough tacky 80s gear. So the next challenge was to replicate this pink and black shirt from the 80s band Flock of Seagulls. It started with a regular black button-down shirt from the Gap. I then broke out the trace paper to draft the totally gnarly pink bib, as I call it.


Once I figured out the right size I stitched up a piece like a pillow sham then added some trim to give it typical 80s geometric flair. Next I stitched the bib on one side of the shirt; I left the other sides loose and used velcro to afix all the other corners and edges.


The other defining feature of this couture piece is the popped collar with pink underneath. (M would love this and many can attest that he is a devout collar-popper to this day. Bonus points if the shirt is pink. He's from the South, no further explanation needed.) I grabbed a pattern piece from another shirt and it was a close enough match, this being a costume and all. The fact that the pink extends just beyond the black actually works, I think. Gives it more edginess. That got stitched on and then some buttons were added at the top corners for the finishing touch.


Right now it's pretty fug, let's be honest. But once the proud owner of the shirt gets his hair done and tucks the shirt into some nice acid-washed jeans I think it'll complete the look. I expect pictures of these shirts and the stole in action...


1 comment:

  1. The costumes were very well received - thanks! :) You should sell your services before Purple Rain!

    ReplyDelete

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