ATHENA PARTHENOS
Entered in the CostumeCon Historical Masquerade at CC32 Toronto, 2014
Awards:
Master Class: Best Documentation
Best Workmanship
Overall: Best in Show
(Photo by Leonard J. Provenzano)

The first thing that happens is you have a pre-judging session. This enables the judges to see
your costume up close and personal. They ask questions and can examine the construction in
detail. This is the part where you really sweat and hope that you didn't make any major goofs.
Usually you just lay the costume out for them to look out, but mine was... complicated.

The costume is then presented onstage in whatever manner you feel best shows it off.
Click here to see my stage presentation.
(Video by Jack Hathaway)

In addition to this, you have to turn in documentation. For the Historical Masquerade competitions, entrants have to document their costume sources so that the judges can see their research and creation process. It's necessary to explain the historical basis for your garment, show how you made it, and note any deviations from historical methods for making the same garment. In my case, this was fairly extensive because I also had to document all the parts of my pedestal. My costume was entered in a category that allowed for modern construction methods--which was fortunate, since I was recreating a statue and not an actual piece of clothing. A lot of friends have asked to see my research and more detail photos, so I'm posting my documentation--even though all it does is prove that I'm pretty much out of my mind...

Click here to read about all the fiddly little details.