Attack of the Crinoline!

This fluffy apparition is neither a narcoleptic polar bear that has decided to take a nap on my bed nor a flock of roosting swans: it is actually an enormously full crinoline a friend of mine purchased at the Goodwill for a steampunk costume. I tried it on today and had fun walking around the house sweeping small objects off my bookshelves and getting stuck in door frames. Then I layered over it an underskirt with a ruffle and an overskirt with a thin underskirt layer, then a satin topping that bustled in the back. Since the crinoline was much wider than the underskirt, I had to tuck and tug into place and ended up wads of compressed fabric hindering my legs and making a pronounced swishing sound with every movement. When it comes time to purchase a crinoline of my own, I will search for something much less copious!

I spent last week running around downtown in steampunk gear with a friend of mine who is a documentary producer: she is helping me produce a promo film for the steampunk-themed project I will soon be posting on Kickstarter.com to raise funding for my steampunk novel. It was exceedingly fun doing the shoot, but my friend did not quite appreciate the lack of range produced by wearing a tight corset. Low obstacles that I would normally traverse with ease became insurmountable, and small tasks like leaning against a post holding a book without moving for a few minutes were exercises in muscular endurance. Some of the best shots required poses that grew exceedingly unbearable after a few seconds passed, and I kept quietly muttering between motionless lips, "I can't hold this much longer," to which my friend cheerfully ignored.

History tidbit of the day: the crux of the third book in my steampunk trilogy is set to revolve around the Indian Rebellion of 1857 when the sepoys (Indian soldiers) decided that they had had quite enough of the British empire and revolted. Britain responded with swift and crushing wrath and the end result was a high body count. My main character, Gavin Roberts, will find himself in the thick of this rebellion trying to help innocent native Indians to escape the conflict and at the same time putting himself at grave risk of being labeled a traitor to the crown.

Which means, I have a lot more history to catch up on. Wikipedia is not going to cut it, so back to the library for me!