Dragonfly Designs by Alisa

It's time to list my upcoming projects.  I have plans to attend the following cons:

Steamcon (this is my home con, so unless I have a conflict of interest, I will go to this every year.)

Gallifrey One, 2013

Norwescon, 2014

Costume Con, 2015

Besides these, I may squeeze in a few extra, but probably not any that involve plane travel.  I'm going to Egypt, Jordan, and England in the fall of 2015, and I need to not spend all my money on other things! 

So for the above cons, here are some of the costumes I want to make, will make, or might make...unless I'm distracted by something more shiny.  Vote for your favorites in the comments, I could be influenced! 

#1: A Riding Habit.  Oh, how I lust after these.  Pretty much any era, from the 1700s on.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O117401/riding-habit-jacket/

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/80005416?img=1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mohistory/3491717809/

http://yeoldefashion.tumblr.com/post/591919889/since-everybody-seemed-to-love-the-red-victorian

Riding Habit from about 1780, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art

I can't decide which one of these I like best.  But I'm really leaning toward the bottom one at this moment.  I was thisclose to buying a pattern for it at Costume Con!

#2 The Grey Lady

I did buy a pattern for this at Costume Con. Now that the dress is on display, and wonderful people everywhere are uploading their pics, this dress is almost certainly going to be mine.

http://costumersguide.com/harrypotter2.shtml

Look at the colors in the skirt!  I could do that with fabric paint...probably....

#3 Another Edwardian Gown. 

Right now, this particular one is the front runner.

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=204017#ixzz1uFnaY1nA

Click the above link and go look at the huge zoomable pics!  It's so pretty!

#4 River Song's Victorian dress (Doctor Who)

This one is absolutely happening, for Gally next year.  I have the perfect fabric, purchased for me in New York by one of my wonderful shopping fairies, Laura U.

#5 River Song's Cleopatra outfit (Doctor Who)

May or may not happen.  The difficulty is finding good enough pics to recreate it.

#6 Rose Tyler as Steampunk (Doctor Who)

I have part of the fabrics I'll need, so I'm pretty sure this will be happening for Gally.

Here's the original dress:

Here's an Edwardian outfit that is inspiration for the Steampunk version:

http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/80093911

#7 Shipwreck 18th Century

I have pre-ordered a pair of black American Duchess Pompadour shoes, and this one outfit I could wear them with.

The shoes, stockings, and lower ruffles of the skirt will be all black and stormy.  Gradually, the skirt and bodice will change between shades of ocean blues. The hair will be spray-painted in the colors of an angry ocean, tentacles of hair wrapping themselves around a ship. 

Original inspiration here:

#8 Captain America USO girl

I have another shopping fairy looking for the blue sequin fabric in LA.  If she finds some, this outfit is probably a go.  I'm not entirely sure I'm going to make it 'straight' however....I may tweak it into something like a steampunk USO girl...or a 18th century USO girl...

#9 Steampunk Seamstress

I've been wanting to do this one for awhile now, but while I have ideas for a ton of cute accessories, I'm still figuring out the actual dress.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/69459911/tailors-assistant-a-functional-leather?ref=sr_list_39&sref=&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=steampunk&ga_view_type=list&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

#10 1920s

Because I want these shoes.

(Actual vintage shoes, no idea where from)

And after I see the upcoming season of Downton Abbey, I'll be desperate for the pretty clothes.

#11 Anything as worn by the women of Showtime's The Borgias.

Because seriously.  They are gorgeous.

#12 Clockwork Droid (Doctor Who)

I like them.  I like them alot.  And a group of friends are doing them for Gally.

#13 Doctor Seuss Steampunk

Because these fabrics are so CUTE. 

It would be funny.  And I could wear a tiny little top hat like this:

#14 Twi'lek (Star Wars)

I'm pretty sure this one's going to happen because I want to make those head tentacles (yes, I'm a bad Star Wars fan - I can't remember what they are called and I'm too lazy to google.)  And I also want to paint myself blue, because that's one thing I've never done.

And all of these are in addition to the ones I'm definitely making: Hufflepuff Steampunk, Egyptian Mummy Steampunk, Steampunk Femme Sherlock Holmes, and Steampunk Ghost.  I also really REALLY want to finish the Elizabethan Faerie Queen and the Pearl Regency dresses -both of which have pages made for them on the left.

So...which ones would YOU like to see me make?

For months now, I've had a secret.  And now I can finally tell you guys what I've been up to!

For Costume Con 30, a group of friends decided to enter the Masquerade.  I don't remember exactly how it came about, but we stumbled upon the idea of doing all eleven Doctors as Femme Victorians (some with a steampunk edge, some Lolita, whatever each of us desired.)  And then, because one of our number is not a fan of Doctor Who, she came up with the inspiration of joining us as Cindy Lou Who.  And thus a new brand of crazy was born. 

It was honestly SO MUCH FUN.  And we won Judges' Choice for Presentation!  And four of our number won workmanship awards as well.

Sadly, the stress of waiting to hear if we'd won anything took its toll and we turned on one another....

...but in the end, it was Cindy Lou who had to die.  She can't be allowed to be the Twelfth Doctor.  She's too pink, and still not ginger.

I wish I could link a video to our performance...we realized the joke was going to work when our professional photographer couldn't stop laughing long enough to take our official Con pictures...but no one's uploaded one yet that I can find.

Ladies, you are awesome, and I hope to do this again with you one day!

One of the costumes I wore to Costume Con 30 was a skirt I made from Butterick #4092.  It turned out to be a great pattern, very simple, and the only tweak I had to do was take in the seams at the hip just a squidge. 

I love this pattern, and will be using it again in the future!  It's out of print, but you can still find copies for sale on Etsy or Ebay for a decent price - I paid $5 for mine.

With friends Arte and Erin at Costume Con.  It's a good thing someone was dressed as a responsible adult!

I'm back!!!!  And I have pictures to prove it! 

What an awesome con that was - I already know I want to go back!

Go to my Random Blog for the full story and pictures:

http://liselfwench.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/gallifrey-one-2012/

A couple of days ago, I picked up a book at my local used book store entitled "Support and Seduction: A History of Corsets and Bras".    It's a beautiful book, with lots of lovely illustrations.

But...I'm only into the first chapter, and I'm finding so many false statements!  It's bad enough when fiction promotes the idea that corsets were torture instruments invented by men to demean and "control" women, and that women who wore corsets were unable to do anything but stand about for a short time and then faint in a decorative manner!  My friends who follow my book reviews on Goodreads know about my hissy fits whenever I read fiction with corset misinformation like that!  But when it comes to non-fiction, one expects a higher level of truth.

But take, for example, this quote from my new corset book:  "One wonders why, from the 16th to the 19th century, the corset was never challenged by the women of the aristocracy or the bourgeoisie.  The reason may have been that it served first and foremost as a sign of their superiority.  Those wearing it were barred from even the slightest useful exertion, thus reinforcing the prestige of the ruling class.....women of the aristocracy felt that to wear a corset was more vital than health itself, so imperative was the need to distinguist oneself from the common people." 

First of all, much like the battle over health vs smoking going on today, wearing a corset was once thought to be the healthy thing.  Men wore corsets.  Children wore corsets - for their health.  Just like there used to be ads saying smoking was good for your throat, there were ads telling you to wear corsets.

Corsts were never worn solely as a method for keeping those pesky poor folks in their place; they were worn by virtually everyone, for a multitude of reasons.  And they were worn while working, while riding horses, and while playing sports.  I'm sure a lot of it was pure vanity - just look at this vintage ad for male corsets:

Beats having to suck in your gut every time a pretty girl walks by!    Also, if you didn't wear a corset, you couldn't wear any of the fashionable styles, which positively require the supporting base of a corset.  All those layers of undergarments and heavy bustled fabrics - can you wonder why women tended to pass out?  Imagine, you're wearing one of those outfits in the heat of summer, pre-air conditioning, and you're packed into a ballroom.  Even now, sans corset, it's common for women to faint in places like church.  I think the fainting cannot be entirely blamed on corsets.

And how tightly were those corsets laced?  We all grew up with images like this:

That, folks, is called 'tightlacing', and it's an entirely different animal than simply wearing a corset.

First off all, throughout most of corset-wearing history, the goal in wearing a corset was not a tiny waist.  You wore a corset to form your body into the right shape for your clothes, and to provide a supporting base for those clothes. 

The Elizabethans wanted a nice cone shape with no breasts.  And to support the weight of those skirts, they needed a corset that would help disperse the weight evenly.  The corset didn't give them a small waist, it gave them a smooth torso.

By the 18th century, they had discovered the appeal of breasts, but they were still using their corsets to support the weight of their skirts, and to provide shaping to the torso.  If you look at someone wearing a properly made 18th century corset, you'll notice the waist appears smaller from the front, but it's largely an illusion.  The torso is actually thicker through the side view - because that's how the corset shapes it.  It doesn't make your waist smaller, it just reshapes what you have.  Plus, ladies of all these corseted eras were big into hip and butt padding, and the Victorians and a few others were big into bust padding as well.  If you pad out your hips and bust enough, any waist will look tiny in comparison!

I will tell you, from studying extant 18th century gowns myself, that it's somewhat rare to find a waist size smaller than about 25".  My natural waist is 25".  And these dress are proportionate in their size.  You can tell they aren't tightlacing.

THIS is what tightlacing looks like:

This is a real photograph, of a real woman.  She wears a specially made corset day and night to achieve this.  This is a fetish, practiced by a small percentage of the modern day population, and this fetish is not limited to women:

Just like this fetish is only practiced by a small group of people today, I think it was simularly practiced by only a small percentage of people in the Victorian time as well.  We have a few photographs of ladies who are clearly tightlacers:

But considering how prevalent photo re-touching was during the Victorian era, many of these pictures may not even be genuine waist sizes.  In a survey of 1000 extant Victorian dresses, the smallest waist size was found to be 21 1/2".   The average waist seems to have been againt around 25" - 28".  Considering the fact that women on average were a lot smaller than today, and the overall size of the dresses are very petite, I would say this shows they were almost certainly not tightlacing.  Probably, at most, they were lacing down to a couple of inches smaller than their natural waists - something easily done, without any harm.

But what about the whole Victorian frenzy over corsets and tightlacing?  If women weren't, on average, tightlacing, then what was causing all all the excitement?

I tend to rule with author Bill Bryson on this one: "The tone of anti-corset literature for women was strikingly similar to the tone of anti-masturbation literature for men."  Basically, the Victorian doctors had a grave concern that compressing the body so close to the reproductive organs could not only increase amorous desires, but could possibly cause involuntary "voluptuous spasms".  One wouldn't want one's woman spasming, now would one?  Gradually, this fear moved on to other tight items of clothing, even tight shoes.  I don't know about you, but when I wear tight shoes, I don't get any voluptuous spams, involuntary or otherwise! 

In any case, what does give me spasms (of a decidedly non-voluptuous kind) is when I constantly read articles and books that make claims such as "thirteen inch waists were common".   It makes me wish it were mandatory for every writer who wishes to write about corsets, to be laced into a properly made and fitted one for a day.  I myself frequently wear corsets to various events.  I've worn them to work.  I can eat, I can sit, I can bend over, and I can do basically any thing I can without a corset. 

Here is what I cannot do: I can't slouch, I can't slump, I can't over eat (you do get full sooner while wearing corset!), and sometimes a really big sneeze is uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to run a marathon wearing one, but I wouldn't have to run a marathon at any time.   Basically, all wearing a corset means is that I have to carry myself like a lady, which is something our mothers always wanted us to do.   (And they do provide nice back support.  I know of one lady who got her doctor's ok to wear her corset daily instead of the brace he was going to prescribe!)  I like wearing my corsets.  I wouldn't want to have to wear one all the time, because I'm a blue jeans and sweats kind of girl, but one occasion...it feels really nice.  I feel special, in a corset.

So anyway, my first rant of the New Year!  I hope 2012 is filled with lots of costuming and yes...corsets!

As promised, here is the first two videos in my fabric distressing tutorial series! 

Video number one - which is one of my techniques for shredding fabric and making it look torn and old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOsv0DKXyco

Video number two - a quick one on using fabric paint to age fabric:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcwzfeB39m0

Before I get into today's lecture, :P, I want to mention that Thanksgiving and the other holidays are totally messing with my time to costume....and also, my time to blog.  But I have gotten *some* stuff done on Idris, so I swear I will update that page soon! 

Okay, so there are some costumes that are just easy to steampunk.  Anything that hails from the Victorian time period, for example.  But what if you want to make something steampunk that isn't Victorian?  Funny enough, I was already planning to write about this subject, and then I went to this year's Steamcon, and one of the panels was on how to "Steampunk your Fandom".  Of course I went, and the panelist pretty much said everything that I had floating around in my brain!  But, for those of you that couldn't attend *that* panel, here's my take on the subject.

I've been steampunking my fandoms (and everything else) every since I discovered I was a steampunk.  Two of my upcoming costumes (just given their own pages to the left) are my Steampunk Hufflepuff and my Steampunk 10th Doctor.   Right now, I'm going to talk about the 10th Doctor costume.

This is the 10th Doctor, in case you aren't a Doctor Who fan.

Basically, he's just a man in suit and a long coat.  A very gorgously wonderful man.  In a wonderfully gorgeous coat. 

The back of his coat has this fabulous buttoned flap:

When you steampunk something that isn't visually in the steampunk aesthetic, there are two things you need to do.  You need to make it steampunk (obviously!) and you need to express enough of the original design/character so that people won't just think "Oh that's a cool steampunk outfit" and fail to realize who you are meant to be.  In my case, I also want to make my steampunk'd 10th Doctor a woman as well.

My first idea was to make his suit as an Edwardian woman's suit, because the lines are quite similar.  His suit is very straight and skinny, and so were those Edwardian suits:

And this would have worked fine.  But I've worn this type of skirt, and I know how you have to move when you wear one!  The 10th Doctor's physical trademark is his love of running and other exhausting activity...and that sort of thing is NOT going to happen in this kind of skirt.  I also considered making a Victorian bustle skirt, but that had nothing whatever in common with the look of the Doctor's suit, and I just couldn't settle my mind around it.

And then, I remembered this Victorian oufit:

It's a Victorian cycling uniform, from the Kyoto Costume Institute.  Here is a Victorian woman's outfit that is made for activity!  And it has similiar lines to that of a modern suit.  Oh, yes, I can see a female Doctor wearing this!

I googled a ton of different cycling uniforms, and I discovered that women frequently wore spats or gaiters with them  Such as this pair:

My other problem had been what to do about Ten's shoes.  He wears red canvas sneakers...not exactly Victorian OR steampunk!  But...imagine a pair of red canvas spats, worn over a pair of white Victorian boots.  Yes.  That works.

The 10th Doctor is active and physical.  We'll put my Ten in a blue pinstriped cycling suit, with white boots and red canvas spats. 

Now for the coat.  This is the single most recognizable thing about the 10th Doctor, and if we take it away, our Ten will be just a woman in a cute cycling uniform.  But neither can we leave it exactly as it is, if we want to stay at all true to the "look" of the Victorian era. The back of it, with the buttoned flap, is easily its most distinctive detail.  That has to stay.  But the front...we can play with the front!

What about doing a tailcoat? Victorians wore them all the time.

Since this is steampunk, and doesn't have to be historically accurate, we'll have our Ten wear a modified tailcoat over her cycling uniform.  We'll crop the front of the 10th Doctor's coat, and make it more fitted to a woman's body.  But we'll leave the buttoned back flap pretty much as-is, creating a steampunk-y version of a tailcoat.

Instead of a tie, we'll have her wear a cravat.  The 10th Doctor has a fabulous bit of tech, his sonic screwdriver, and we'll maybe play with that bit to add a more steampunk feeling.  The 10th Doctor loves various props, and in one episode, he wears a pair of 3D glasses.

What is the steampunk equivalent of 3D glasses?  Goggles with one red lens and one blue lens, of course!  Yay goggles!  I like having an excuse to add them to a costume; goggles are cool.

Here is my finished concept sketch (and forgive the fact that I cannot draw the back of a buttoned-flap tailcoat to save my life):

So here are my tips for how to steampunk anything:

1) Think about your character/thing/person.  What are her/his abilities, strengths, likes, and favorites?  What does s/he value in his/her costume? Comfort? Fashion? Does he have an item of clothing that he is never without?  Make a list of the things that he has to have in order to be "him", and then modify those into Steampunk equivalents.

2) Try to think of what a Victorian version of his work/job/hobby would be.  If he has a profession, what would his profession have worn in the Victorian age?  If it's a profession that's been around for a hundred + years, that's a simple thing to google.  If it's something new to our age, you'll have to look for a more ancient equivalent.  A computer tech today might have been an engineer in the past. 

3) Look at the cut and style of his costume and props/gear.  What does it LOOK like?  What does it do?  Could be made tooperate with steam?  If he does magic in his real world, could he do the exact same things using mad inventions and Victorian-age tech in a steampunk version?

4) Don't fret about being too "historical".  If there is no Victorian equivalent to what you want to do, then just do it anyway.  Steampunk is about having fun, and don't let anyone convince you otherwise!

5) Don't fret about it not being "steampunk" enough.  I cannot stress this enough.  For every steampunk costume I've made, there has been at least one person who commented that she doesn't see what makes it steampunk.  Don't get scared and start hot-gluing gears all over or stick a pair of goggles onto your hat just to "make it steampunk" - unless you want goggles on your hat and a lot of gears.    Steampunk is one part aestetic, one part attitude, and a whole airship full of whimsy.  In a world that embraces mad invention and time travel, there is no way there isn't justification for your vision of steampunk.   I don't care how "big" a person is in the steampunk community, don't let them convince you that they have the only legal definition of steampunk, and if you aren't playing by their rules, you're doing steampunk wrong.  I've heard one Really Big Name say that (among a bunch of other things) anything post-apocalyptic can't be steampunk.  In my opinion that's load of hooey.  We aren't recreating the past, we're imagining a new future for that past.  Who's to say that  some evil inventor didn't destroy most of the known world in my version of 1885?  Who's to say that the world in 2085 wasn't destroyed, and the only books that survived were a Victorian etiquette manuel and a textbook on steampowered technology?  What do you think the world the few surviving people created might be like?  My view on steampunk is, if you can figure out a story to go with it, and you're having fun, you're absolutely doing it right. 

And with that, I've been meaning to say that, while I absolutely adore comments left on my blog, any of you can also feel free to email me as well, with suggestions, pleas for help (I don't promise to actually be ABLE to help, mind you!) or whatever else you'd like to say.  Bear in mind that I don't do costuming for people other than myself (although I plan to make a few pairs of spats to sell, and embroidered purses as well, so if you're interested in either of those....)  Also, I'd love links to your own costuming blogs if you have one, or photos of what you've done - especially if something I did/said inspired you to make it!  Also, I am not one of those people who jealously guards my photos/designs, so if you want to post pictures of mine on your own blogs, have at it.  And I get a TON of people asking if I'll sell my airship pirate jacket.  I don't plan to, but feel free to copy the design for yourself, or find a professional to copy it for you.  I don't mind, honest, and if the professional costumer says she won't because copying someone else's work would be unethical, tell her that isn't true in my case, and refer her to this post!    Anything cool I post or make is there to be shared with you - I just appreciate all the praise and enthusiasm for my costuming!

My email is MiddleEarthFan@yahoo.com 

If you email me, please put something in the subject line so I will know you're not a spammer.  I have a very active spam filter, and while I do check my spam folder for things that accidentally slipped into it, subject lines of just "hi" make me think you might be a 'lonely sexy woman' who wants to show me pictures I'd prefer not to see, or else some kind of Nigerian royalty!  *grin* 

JK Rowling's Pottermore website says my wand is 11 1/2", and made of cypress with a unicorn hair core.

I found a place online that offers custom made wands in many different woods, styles, and extras...and cypress is one of the woods they offer.  So a few weeks ago, I requested a wand made in the image of my Pottermore wand.  Today, it arrived, and it is beautiful!

Cypress has a lovely grain...and it smells really nice, too!  It came with a microsuede bag, a certificate, and a sheet that lists the many magical/historical uses of cypress.  (Egyptians made the coffins out of cypress! )

Also, I got to pick two special extras.  I chose to have a crystal in the pommel:

And also secret compartment.  This compartment will be where I locate my unicorn hair core - see, it unscrews!

I was stumped on what to use for unicorn hair, until Robin on facebook offered to send me a few hair from Penny, her horse "with imagination".  Penny has a silvery grey tail, and her hairs, while not *quite* a unicorn's, are perfect for braiding into a core.  And then, I stumbled across a genuine, 100% real unicorn...

So when I get the time to put it together, the core will be made of a mingling of Imaginative Horse and My Little Pony unicorn hair.  I think that will be a magical combination.... 

Bah...I've got a bit of a cold today - not enough to feel truly miserable, but just enough that I don't really feel up to sewing.  So instead I'm googling costume stuff and otherwise messing about on the internet.

Because I've been so obsessed with my new Harry Potter: Page to Screen book, naturally my thoughts are running along that vein.  So here's a bunch of random costume ideas I'm considering - not counting the Hufflepuff uniforms that are actually going to happen for sure.

#1  Severus Snape. 

Oh, how I love this character!  He might possibly be my favorite character ever, in any book....at the very least he's up there at the top.  For a long time I've debated doing his costume.   Basically what's stopping me that I don't at all possess the body build or fabulous glower.  I'm just petite and happy, basically!  Also, I possess a small white hairy dog, which means I'd be lint-rolling the bloody thing ENDLESSLY.  Yeah, I learned that when I made my Sith Lord costume - black costumes are the devil in my household.  Still, though....all that drape, and buttons, and sleeves!  I love it.  So I'm not entirely deciding NOT to make this someday.

Plus, I've found a couple of great tutorials/makings-of:

http://www.severelyrightbrained.com/2009/09/10/1st-part-of-the-severus-snape-tutorial/

http://www.yvettes.net/SnapeConstruction.html

Then, today, I stumbled across an interesting alternative - a female Snape:

I could do a version of this...and carry it off a whole lot better than I could the masculine version.  I'd make the robes as well...which would be pretty much like his.  Things to ponder....

#2: The Grey Lady

Still want to do this.  Not sure whether, after I finish the also all-grey Steampunk Ghost I'll be wanting to work in grey again for awhile though!

#3: Dolores Umbridge.

This one is pretty definitely happening...I have pink boucle that would work for this dress:

And I also have a print similar to the material of her cape that she wears over it:

I also bought that simplicity New Look 6909 that I thought would work as a base.  So yeah, basically set to begin as soon as I have time!

#4 Bellatrix

She may be evil, but she's awesomely evil.  I love everything about her look.  Plus, as I discovered when I saw her costumes in person at the Harry Potter Exhibit, we are nearly exactly the same size.  So I could definitely make a good Bellatrix.  I've previously done a Bellatrix Black schoolgirl uniform, but of course no one could tell exactly who I was meant to be.  I don't know which of her outfits I'd make...possibly one from Deathly Hallows.

#5 Quidditch uniform

A keeper uniform, in the early style.  Like Oliver Wood.

I think the protective gear would be fun to make.

But before I can do any of these, I have to finish the following:

#1: Idris

#2: Female Steampunk Tenth Doctor

#3: Let Them Eat Cake (the Cupcake dress)

#4: The Moulin Rouge Can-Can

#5 Steampunk Hufflepuff Uniform

And I have to bear in mind my costumes for next year's Steamcon:

#6: Steampunk Mummy

#7 Steampunk Ghost

#8 Steampunk Zombie

If any of you do Pinterest, I have started making concept/idea boards for my future costumes there.  http://pinterest.com/liselfwench 

I was asked through my guestbook how/where I buy my wigs, and if I have any tips to share.  Rather than reply solely to this one person, I decided to do a quick blog post, because yes, I do have tips, and this seems like a good helpful topic. 

I used to get most of my wigs through ebay, and although I still do that for cheap costume wigs, if I'm looking for something a little more quality, I've been shopping at online ethinic wig shops.  I purchased both my River Song wig and my Femme!Ten wig at ethnic wig stores - although not at the same place.  And I don't remember the names of those stores!

More recently, I just ordered a wig for my Idris outfit.  I ordered it from Beautyshoppers.com, and this is the one I bought. 

I don't have it yet, so I can't speak to the quality, but the shop offers same day shipping, and I approve of that - I am an impatient girl.  Even though I don't need the wig until February, I want it NOW. 

My wig-buying procedure is to browse around on shops like this until I find a few wigs that I like.  Then I go to youtube.  If you type in the brand/name of a wig, you will almost always find several video reviews of that wig.  It is extremely helpful to see the wig on a real person, straight out of the packaging, and hear comments on the feel and quality of the wig in question.  Here, for example is one of these reviews:

Then after I decide on a wig to buy, I google the model/name and see who sells it for the cheapest price.  I've saved $10-$20 on wigs using a simple google search for a better deal!  Then, if I haven't used that particular store before, I google them and "reviews" to make sure they don't have a bunch of customer service marks against them.  Finally, I check to see if I can find an online coupon code for a percentage off my order; this place is a great place to look.

And there is it - everything I know about buying a great wig!

And hey, while I'm thinkig of it, if anyone has anything else they'd like me to blog about, leave me a comment.