BugsandFishes is a top-notch maker who blogs daily about her crafts and creations.

She’s just published some photos of her new felt masks and disguises. They look great!

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With Maker Faire only hours away, news is pouring in as to what we should expect. This time, they’ve got something planned for the steampunk fans.

Comedian and self-proclaimed geek Heather Gold is broadcasting a live show from Maker with a panel of steampunk senseis that are sure to answer your questions and get you thinking about the forward progress of steampunk DIY.

Steampunk tinkerer and master of The Steampunk Workshop, Jake Von Slatt, will be in attendance. Heather will also be discussing matters with Steampunk Magazine editor and purveyor of authentic steampunk fashion Libby Bulloff as well as Abney Park lead vocalist Captain Robert.

The agenda is to dig deeper into steampunk culture, address the emergence factor, discuss it’s place in modern pop culture, and get down to the nitty gritty of this cultural disguise that is capturing more and more.

The panel will be at 4:00 p.m. at Maker Faire, and Abney Park will be playing the event. If you have golden tickets, bring us back some videos!

As probably one of the longest running and most looked at costumed group of entusiasts, the Seafair Pirates have stepped into the limelight and are poised to be seen by readers of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

 Model Melissa Haro poses with the Seafair Pirate crew 

The Seafair Pirates are an organization started in 1949 that has spent time and energy uniting people in events for charity and otherwise. Despite it’s antiquated look, their homepage boasts over 6.5 million visits, so their clout is not to be ignored. Since the film shoot, the Seattle group has made headlines all over for their participation in a photo shoot that is expected to be seen by over 300 million viewers. How’s that for exposure?

According to a news article, fashion designer Victoria Glenn doesn’t seem to mind all the unrecognized publicity:

“It doesn’t matter,” said Victoria Glenn, who designed the gear for Pirates’ captain, Kevin Craft. “Just to see your work in a publication like that is so thrilling.”

Glenn, a teacher at the New York Fashion Academy in Ballard, has been a designer for more than three decades and has a shop in North Seattle. She’s made gear for some Seafair Pirates off and on for the last 10 years. She also made the wedding dress for Bill Gates’ wife, Melinda, and lists local jazz legend Ernestine Anderson as a client.

We would have to agree. The costumes are great and the traditions run deep. It’s notable that any costumed group of enthusiasts could last this long and have this much to show for. So it begs the question then… are pirates officially better than ninjas?

As a rule, I usually plug myself into any good costume news or whatnot as much as possible. And, while this proverbial needle goes right to my creative jugular, it can still be hard to find a good event that’s worthy of a coveted spot on my Outlook calendar. Then again, I didn’t belong to Kostume Kult. Then again, that’s until now.

Kostume Kult came to my attention as I was searching Google Groups for like-minded costume nuts. When I was accepted to the group (thanks, guys), I noticed their about me page. The creed went a little something like this:

We are a costume artist & event group that has BIG FUN creating costume themed events and street theater spectacles. We invite all creative party people and overgrown kids to join us.

Perfect. You don’t need to tell me twice. I found the group, went to the homepage, and eventually stumbled upon an event they’re hosting up in NYC later this month.

The event is called “Alt. Oscar” and it looks to be some kind of mock awards show for costumes. It sounds like it’s a big deal, so it has to be worth the time. After looking through it, I found another site for the event hosting all kinds of information and even video. It sounds like a bash not worth missing.

If you’re local and into it, you need to stop by the place. We’ll check back to see what’s up and try to get some follow up to the whole thing. In the meantime, click over.

While working hard at scouring the Internet for some good ideas, I run across the strangest websites. It’s actually hard to convince my room mate and friends when they walk in and see me that I’m actually hard at work. Then I get into a long discussion about how I basically spend my time talking about the deep side of costumes, and the people that love them. Since that group is such a specific niche, I end up being a big conversation stopper and there’s not much else to say. It’s still hard to find me speechless on the subject since I’m learning more and more about the people out there who are into costumes. They’re not nearly as few as you may think.

Today I was literally puzzled at this blog I ran across. I began a search to see if there were any similar blogs that I have yet to explore. I crash landed on Fancy Flappers Unique Costumes. Strangely enough, it’s purely a blog about flapper costumes. Clearly it’s a promotional effort for a business called Fancy Flappers, who sells (you guessed it) flapper costumes. Yep, flappers. Those 1920’s carefree young women sort that I have no other concept of other than their film adaptations. Interesting that there’s a market enough for such a business.

Going further, I found out that one of the major patrons of such costuming is a group called The Red Hat Society. Now, I’m pretty sure I haven’t been living under a rock. I’ve seen a lot in my young years. After seeing this, I think I can say I’ve seen it all. I mistakenly thought that this society was affilated with the same company who makes Linux, and proceeded to wonder where a tech business finds so much interest in women’s flapper outfits. Who knows, maybe a yearly office party??

It turns out the Red Hat Society is a social group of “over 50″ women who like to life whimsical lives. Yeah, I guess it’s a great thing that they are joining together. They’re armed with their own .com space, a list of requirements to get in, a vastly growing membership, and a list of “purple perks” attainable upon membership with a card. Man, I should revoke my application to the Skulls! What gets me is the deep interest in this persona they adapt in affiliating with this society. I still want to know if they all use Linux.

The more I blog, the more I see how many people like to get outside their regular selves from time to time and take on a new personality for fun. I think there are more than we know. I guess that’s who we cater to. I’d like to find out more of these types of groups. In the future, I will be highlighting different organizations that are similar to the Red Hat Society and find out more about why they do what they do. In the meantime, I’m going to investigate their potential ties to Linux!