Saucy Swimwear for Solstice

O beloved readers, I have been utterly remiss in my long absence... rest assured I have a good reason, which will soon be revealed. In the meantime, my band, Baby Seal Club, has been in full gigging and recording mode. We have two shows coming up with watery themes: a giant warehouse party called Sand by the Ton and the Rivertown Revival.

All this nautical goodness has caused us to decide we need a full suite of turn-of-the-century-beach-wear to don for these gigs, and so our research for inspiration has commenced. We unearthed so many great images I had to share, especially on this, the first day of summer.

I just adore the theatricality of these suits. The Victorians wore wool suits that covered them almost completely ~ knickers, puff-sleeved dresses, stockings, and all. You can find more delightful pictures and history here. Things lightened up considerably in the 1920's.

Having no desire to squeeze into a modern bikini bottom myself, I rather like the idea of swimming-bloomers. And ah, the utilitarian silliness of the "bathing machine" ~ those stripey booths for changing from your long woolen petticoats into your long woolen swimsuit and bathing-cape.

And then there's the circus mood of these "Fancy Bather" cigarette trading cards. It appears that stripes and bathing suits go together... And it would seem parasols, oversized bows, and leg-ribbons are a must.

Stripes are de rigueur for the gents as well... this rather serious beefcake of a chap looks like his wool may be chafing his tender bits.

We are fortunate to have the help of our incredibly talented artist friend Else Olava to put together these outfits ~ she spent all weekend sketching madly as the band began recording our very first album. So we shall certainly see what comes of it all. Happy longest day of the year!

New Year, New Life

I am ever so pleased to share the news that the turning of the year brought with it a little addition to our family ~ my new niece. After a jaw-droppingly long and challenging labor, my beautiful sister and her husband welcomed their new daughter to the world.

It was an incredibly emotional event for us all, not only the first baby in my generation for our family, but a terrifying and gorgeous reminder of both the tenuousness and the vitality of life.

And when the little one was finally (finally!) safely here, I found myself spinning into a vortex of infant-related sweetness - hours perusing hip designer baby fabrics online, like this incredible mermaid-and-octo print by Heather Ross - plotting all the tiny finery I'd make for her... in my copious spare time, yes.

So while I try to stay focused on sewing more adornments for the upcoming Edwardian Ball, and rehearsing to record next month with my band Baby Seal Club ~ I must also make some space for simple, blissful amazement at this new child's tenacity, my sweet sister's courage, and the overwhelming love I have for both of them.

A Blisteringly Brilliant Day

Still, I find myself struggling for words to describe the Great Handcar Regatta. It's been over a week, and I carry on basking in the glow. Sweltering heat, yes ~ 102 degrees. Intense crowds, yes ~ possibly more than 9,000 people. But all in all, an incredible, joyful, luminous day.

(Picture by Gwen Harlow)
Hats off to the organizing team, who I am so proud and grateful to have in my community. The Regatta is a most astonishing confluence of determination and talents and passion, and it came to life with a roar once again, in the very back-yard of my own sleepy suburban town.

(Picture by Mr. Nightshade)
The heart of the event is surely the races on the railroad tracks, where no less than twenty-three teams of industrious racers entered, with amazing person-powered vehicles of every stripe. The Screaming Vortex, pictured above, the Rail Skins by Nordic Track, a bobsled which slid along the tracks on blocks of ice, and Todd Barricklow's giant Two-Penny were crowd favorites.

(Picture by Mr. Nightshade)
To bring a little absurdity to the races, my beloveds Krank-Boom-Clank built a vehicle out of pink children's bikes for the delightful clowns of Fou Fou Ha to ride...

(Picture by Rick Washburn)
A wonderful variety of people in costume were seen traipsing about, and many a beautifully-attired patron thanked me for my costume guide from the Regatta Web site. I was so pleased it had proven useful.

(Picture by Gwen Harlow)
The art installations were incredible, especially Bryan Tedrick's Portal of Evolution and the always-delightful work of Tony Speirs. The various and sundry curiosities in the Wunder Closet were fantastic, from antlered babies to disturbing machinery to hybrid musical instruments ~ complete with sideshow freaks hanging about outside...

(Picture by Daniel Silveira)
And Baby Seal Club put on a medicine show of our own on the Snake Oil Stage, where I tried to keep from fainting in the heat whilst peddling our much-lauded Baby Seal Club's Miracle Elixir and Tits-Up Tonic, which very nearly sold out.

(Picture by Sassy Monkey Media)
We were thrilled to hear that our most-beloved publication Coilhouse was sending photographer-about-town Mr. Nightshade to take photos of the event, and his images are gorgeous, as ever.

(Picture by Audrey Penven)
Some of my favorite artists, builders, crafters, and performers were on hand. The Golden Mean Snail Car pulled up next to the Front Porch where the Hobo Gobbelins were playing... Cyclecide set up their bike rodeo, the Neverwas Haul crew showed up, and the Department of Spontaneous Combustion brought contraptions... there was a steampunk stilter, and a tiny marionette robot...

(Picture by Mike Estee)
Like a miniature Maker Faire with a steampunk edge, it was a celebration of ingenuity, beauty, and the simplest of technologies. All in all, a rip-roaring success for all involved. My deepest love and gratitude to everyone who made it so fantastic!

(Picture by Charlotte Hampton Trombley)
See more Regatta photos on Flickr. Watch Regatta videos on YouTube.

The Sinners' Circus

Sometimes you just have to run away with the circus, you know? Along with co-conspirators klown-fi band GOOFERMAN, the Sisters of Honk, Circus Metropolus, and a whole slew of other moderators of mayhem, my band Baby Seal Club hosted a 3-ring sinfest called the Sinners' Circus at a local brewery last weekend.

Glorious moments were plentiful, but here are a few top ones: seeing my beloved Stache go-go-cage dancing in a vintage band jacket and a Lucha Libre clown mask... joined shortly thereafter by my brother in a bear suit.

The stunning 10-cent Absolution Booth confessional hand-built by one of our dear friends and local mad genius Muir... you confessed your sins into an antique telephone inside, and they were broadcast out to the surrounding crowd.

My beloved band-mates getting theatrical for the Seven Deadly Sins theme... Wizzbang as a gorgeous and aloof Pride, 19 as the avaricious banker Greed, Doc as a terrifyingly wicked Lucifer, Fudo as a powerful preacher named Wrath, and your own Choklit, of course, as the harlot of harmonies ~ Lust.

The brilliance of the wanted posters Stache made for us to put up around town and in the venue... See the full set here.

Amazing performers on both stages, outside and in, including a mesmerizing show by fire-eater Monique, who absolutely embodied an enchanting swamp priestess.

Once again, we pulled off a spectacle of epic proportions - complete with tent revival faith healing, fire-dancers, carnival games, stiltwalkers, jugglers, and an oversized bear. And plenty of klowns, of course.

We worked all day Saturday to transform the venue into a red velvet big-top, performed, stayed up being debaucherous with the clowns until dawn, and tore it all down the next day. More pictures are coming from the fabulous Miss M - check back here.

Ah, sweet ephemeral events... so fleeting. And now we start the planning for the next one!

Fuchsia Sparkle Glam and Taxes

They say only two things in this world are certain. For me, of late, it's been glam and taxes. Baby Seal Club just played our first gig of the season, and early on it was announced that not only was it a glam theme, but my band-mates wanted it to be hot pink glam. Witness the results.

Faithful readers will know that although I am a consummate costume freak, "hot pink glam" has never entered my lexicon. I tend towards the rich fall hues and corsets, goggles and fishnets, feathers and stripes ~ my own bizarre little genre-bender I like to call Tribal Victorian Burner Circus Freak. After several days of *shudder* combing the trashiest teeny-bopper stores in the mall to no avail, I decided I'd have to make it myself. And own it.

Thus began what shall henceforth be known as the "Week of Fuchsia Sparkle Glam-ness." Sewing zebra spandex is not for the faint of heart. I even let my brilliant friend Amber Lee have her way with my make-up, and ended up coming out like a cross between Jem and Bowie circa 1973.

Yes, that's my man Stache behind me, wearing a giant hair-metal wig ~ he was in the opening band. And my much-adored bassist Lord Wizzbang Hopton also took the glam thing to new heights. And I, for all my complaining, totally pulled it off. So much so that three or four people came up after our ridiculously fun show and said we should dress glam all the time.

Alas, to come down from being a glam diva and spend ten more hours slogging through those painful taxes was misery. Having to figure out inventory was making me feel like I was trapped in a nightmare of algebraic word problems: "If Choklit bought 1 spool of velvet ribbon for $20 and made 4 collars with 12 inches of ribbon each, and a train traveling south was going 50 miles an hour towards a train going north at 35 miles per hour, how many yards of velvet ribbon would it take to tie a bow around the southbound train before they collided?"

But I finally triumphed. Over the taxes, AND the glam. Overall, the weekend was incredible. So now we're trying to figure out how to incorporate some glam elements into our usual costuming to spice it up - but still feel like ourselves. Any ideas? Gaslamp Glam?

Adornments In the Flesh

The Steampunk Convention already seems so far away. But as promised, here are a few reflections from the trenches.

The best part, no contest, was meeting some of my fellow members of the Etsy Steam Team in person. I was thrilled to see Industrial Fairytale again, and to meet Emily of Theriaca Fina and Kathleen from Figments for the first time, among others. We were all floored by Fyriel of Orpheus Alchemy - who spent the whole weekend in the most amazingly beautiful arcane bird-creature costume I've ever seen. More on Fyriel here.

I had trimmed out my table with small indulgences, causing more than one person to laugh at my predilection towards excess and lushness - going down the row - feather plumes, silk garters, and dark chocolate... musts for any well-stocked boudoir, I say.

My stripey black-and-silver corset by Louise Black finally had its debut, and I had a beautiful vacuum tube necklace by Libby of Exoskeleton Cabaret hand-delivered to me by the dashing Nathaniel of Abney Park, as he is a dear friend and neighbor of Libby's. It all came together for my Victorian Gilded Bat costume.

I did miss the Abney Park show in order to dash home for my own, where Baby Seal Club opened for Mutaytor, and then proceeded to dance our hearts out until 3am.

Back to the convention Sunday morning, bedraggled but in good spirits. I had the pleasure of meeting some lovely people - like amazing artist Suzanne Forbes, and fellow Steampunk burner Miranda V, who has promised future adventures and debauchery.

The exposure was well worth it, and the Steam Team had a moment of fame last week when the Make Blog posted about us, complete with shop links and a picture!

All in all, a splendid time, if a wee bit exhausting.

Weekend Warrioress

The fast-approaching Halloween weekend is going to be madness.

First off, I'll be vending Adornments for Tarts lovelies at Steampowered, the Steampunk Convention, with my mates from the Etsy Steam Team. I'll be there all three days - October 31st, and November 1st & 2nd.

But wait! You may be wondering - doesn't Baby Seal Club open for Mutaytor at the Cirque du Sebastopol on Saturday night?

Your post-apocalyptic craftista siren is keeping impossibly busy, as ever. I'll be sneaking out of the SteamCon on Saturday night to run home and sing my heart out, and then back the next morning to keep selling my work. Sigh.

Picture from our show at the San Francisco Burning Man Decompression, courtesy of 94114photo.

Red Letter Day

Yesterday was an unusually lovely day for me. Not only was I recognized with an award at work, which was wonderful, but an interview with me was published on the Steam Team blog! Thanks to Hyla for letting me wax poetic about my work.

Here's me basking in my fleeting Interwebs glory. Actually, it's technically me basking in Burning Man glory, but, you know, basking is basking.

And as if that weren't enough, last night we had the pure joy overload of seeing David Byrne in concert, from the second row. Suffice to say, it was a wondrous performance, and served only to confirm to me that the man is a genius. Everyone should acquire his newest album, and soon. The only thing that could have made it better is if he had played "Burning Down the House" accompanied by the Extra Action Marching Band, which I hear he did at the San Francisco show.

And this weekend, Baby Seal Club plays at Decompression, closing out the Circus Stage. Should be brilliant, and with any luck, we'll cross paths with Fou Fou Ha and the Golden Mean again.

Huzzah for a Marvelous Day!

I'm ever so pleased to report that the Handcar Regatta was a roaring success. Over 3,000 people in attendance, many in splendid costumes, and everyone thrilled to pieces that we could put on an event of this magnitude and magic in our sleepy little suburban hamlet.

You can watch the video or read the articles in our local rags, or see tons of pictures on Flickr, but it's hard to capture the bliss of the day.

Despite the heat, everyone in attendance seemed to be bewildered and elated to find a beautiful spectacle like this unfold around them.

Many of the race entrants were breathtaking feats of engineering and beauty, especially the magnificent Lumbering Contraption by the Steampunk Treehouse Crew.

The Hennepin Crawler was brilliant when it raced, and though it didn't win for speed, the boys earned a special prize for elegance and beauty.


All of the music was amazing. Baby Seal Club made an appearance on the Sideshow Stage, and we got a small crowd Otter Dancing. My beloved band-mates looked absolutely stunning in their finery, in my humble opinion.

In the craft show area, I had the pleasure of sharing a space with the charming and lovely Indy of Industrial Fairytale, and I was so pleased that the Adornments for Tarts booth looked luscious.

And I had the pleasure of hanging out with the fantastic crew of the Neverwas Haul, who have been heroes of mine since the first time I saw their majestic traveling house at Burning Man.

All in all, a spectacular time was had by all, and I think the event is sure to become an annual celebration.

Hearty congratulations to all my many loved ones on the organizing team!

Glorious Garlingtons

Forgive your poor Choklit for being so absent... I've been even more busy than usual, what with the Burning Man preparations, sewing my little fingers tender on piles of adornments for the Handcar Regatta and the Steampowered Convention (both of which I have somewhat foolhardily agreed to vend at in person), and oh yes, that pesky day job.

As a peace offering, I give you the spectacular results of our photo shoot with magician Michael Garlington. Hanging by the Airstream...


And perhaps my new most favorite picture of myself EVER, wherein I am sporting leather skirt~lifters and goggles by BoilerGoth, my oxidized brass Dragonfly necklace by Honeyspy, and a fabulous medal by Molly Porkshanks. I could be the steampunk Etsy poster girl.


A few more can be seen on my Flickr photostream, including an intriguing portrait of the ever-dashing Lord Hopton, and the set-up which inspired the whole shoot - of Baby Seal Club as Victorian Explorers in a natural history museum-esque diorama.

I'm ever so pleased. Viva Garlington!