Chronicles of the dragon

Devious machination #342: Getting a dragon costume for Scarborough faire.

For those few friends who haven't heard of this, we have a totally awesome Renfest out in Waxahachie. As I assume it is with most renfests, it's home to a bunch of people in linen and burlap, women who desperately need bras (as many of the women who come in costume are overweight), and a few hired performers ( the ragpicker, Sholo the Nubian, etc.). It's basically several acres of total awesome.

Last year, thinking it would be my last chance to go, I set out to get something totally on a lark, that I would never find anywhere else. Actually, I had something fairly specific in mind: a shoulder dragon. I was hopeful when I saw a couple people with some awesome gryphon puppets - maybe the same place that had those would also have a dragon. They did. They were expensive, but fortunately, this was right after graduation, where I'd gotten a bunch of gift money. I poured about $70 into my constant companion, Eochaid. I thought that was pretty awesome (and indeed it is), but I thought I should do more.

On the drive home (no longer fixated on the one goal), I thought to myself how much fun it would have been to go in costume - as a dragon. Lo and behold, April rolls around again, and we're still here. (See "Jim's Wild Ride" for more details) Now's my chance.

First obstacle, posing the idea to Mom and Dad. They take my dragon fascination with a bit of a chuckle, and they probably would think I'm crazy for doing something like this. I think they did, at least somewhat, but they gave me the go-ahead anyway. Don't get me wrong, they're very supportive people, but Mom told me I'd be on my own for this project. That was about what I had expected, so all was cool. (Mom has been very busy packing lately, once again see Jim's Wild Ride.)

Second, I would obviously need a mask. There are some decent static masks out there, but they're static. Not having the mask move kind of kills it for me, since that sucks away the realism. That's when I found these guys: Northfur FX & Mascots. They carried the perfect thing: a two-piece dragon muzzle prosthetic. You adhere it to your face, and it gives very good realism. They even said you can eat in it, though you have to take small bites. It was expensive: about $45 USD, plus shipping.

Here, Mom came in with a counterpoint - what if I just got a bigger puppet and went as a dragon wrangler? Or what if I just get a smaller mask? She had found a decent puppet online, for about $80, and a half-mask for about $30. After going back and forth for a bit, I discarded both ideas. I had my heart set on this particular idea, and nothing was going to stop me :).

I went ahead and bought the muzzle and started looking online for a wig. Why a wig? My 70's hairstyle wouldn't work with the costume, so I thought I would go with a straight wig. This would a) hide my facial hair and b) give me a place to hide the horns I would have coming from the back of my head. You would be surprised how hard it is to find two of those cheap. Why two? To make the wig make sense, I was going to have a fur tuft on the end of my tail, made from the second wig. At this point, Mom suggested I change tack. I should abandon the wigs and get a cowl, like Patsy from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It took some persuasion on this, but we went with it. We decided the cowl should be made from rabbit fur, so it looked like I had taken a small animal and simply stuck it on my head. I will post some separately about this part with pictures.



Next installment: Claws of the dragon.