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and the sea beckons…

Last year Jessie and I pulled an all-nighter right before the Coney Island Mermaid Parade, getting our costumes together. Typically the Mermaid Parade is an excuse for folks to done themselves with body paint and little else. However, that’s not really my style so Jess and I usually like to create full garments and pass on the pasties.

This year, we’re being a little more proactive (key word in this sentence is “little”). We came up with our theme months ago and are just now in the actual costume planning stages. After several gChat discussions and countless text messages, I think we’ve come up with a design… maybe.

This process has involved a ridiculous amount of time on the internet, which has proven to both be productive and… not so much. During my quest for the perfect wigs and makeup, I just so happened to come across these:

Now, catching me in high heels is quite the rare occurrence, so there’s no way you’ll ever see me in these High Tide Heels by Belgian artist Paul Schietekat (I’ll probably end up with silver spray-painted chucks.) I keep having flashes of walking like a bird to try and not trip over the flipper end while still staying balanced on the stiletto heel.

Hopefully after tomorrow’s fabric shopping trip we’ll have it all more solidified. However, I still expect another pizza-filled all-nighter in June, followed by a sleepy walk down the Coney Island boardwalk while waving at photographers.

Gabby, Jess, and me in Mermaid Parade ’08

Gabby crashed on my couch during our all-night Mermaid crafting extravaganza
Nik
Nicole Smith is an author, editor, designer, and instructor who lives in Brooklyn, New York. Check out her latest book, Skirt-A-Day Sewing, out now at your local bookstore, or online.
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