As Corona Kawa, after my dance performance (the one shown in the picture on my frontpage). White silk dupioni kosode, white silk-linen mix hakama, white and gold brocade collar with purple satin lining, edged with gold ribbon. Ropecon 2002 roleplaying convention (hence the coloured badges). Picture by Jaakko Broström.

At the Fotevik Viking Market in southern Sweden, summer 2003(?). I'm wearing my yellow linen-wool mix undergown (also seen in the Lohilaakso II picture) and a black wool overdress that's been committed to the scrap heap since, though the beautiful tabletwoven bands by Anni were salvaged for my current green overdress. Anni is further to thank for the loan of all the visible jewellery in this one (only the barely-seen necklace and earrings are my own)! This is a crop from a picture by Nina Talvela.

At the shooting of the YLE1 television series "Siamin tytöt" ("Siamese Friends" or "Daughters of Siam"), which depicted imaginary teenagers who were running and playing in a LARP campaign, and for which our society provided the extras. I was responsible for delivering the extras and seeing to their comfort and costumes, and was working in that capacity for all summer and most of the autumn of '99 (voluntarily, of course). It was not an easy experience, but it was not without its rewards, and the series turned out rather nicely (as a youth drama, that is - its portrayal of LARPs was by necessity overly simplistic).

Dancing at the ORC Independence Day ball of historical dances, in December 99, wearing the first version of my silk bliaut, which looked nothing like a bliaut then. I made it for the dancing scenes in "Siamin tytöt" (in parts 3 and 5, if you go look at the photos at the site), and though it didn't look bad, it was a mishmash of centuries and styles. This picture was taken by Lasse Vartiainen as well.

In a sci-fi-anime mood at the Millennium Party at Pihlajatie, an apartment that was shared by some friends who graciously offered me a place to stay when I needed it (though that was before this). The costume consists of fleamarket finds, lots of supportive undergarments and my beloved, high-heeled black boots. The hair is helped by two fake braids twisted into buns (no, I was not aiming for a Leia look - it would make me look terrible!). This is my half of a picture by Henri Block.

Here's an example of the constant reworking of my costumes: a Russian firebird-princess (able to change from bird to human), modeled by a friend at Ropecon 2001(?). The overdress is the old Indian silk gauze, with a false front opening with lots of black and gold trim, taken from a Mideastern coat. It's worn over the red, gold-sleeved leotard from my Colors superhero costume (for a character who actually happened to be called "Firebird" - seeing a trend here?), and the red lame skirt from the old, old Vanerikreivitär costume (by way of the Vampire chronicle). The cape is dupioni silk that was a renaissance-style skirt in 1997, then (pleats opened, ironed, pieces taken apart and attached together at a new angle) the chiton of a Roman lady at the sequel to "Jerusalem 30AD", then a half-circle cape with a huge hood and the reused trim from the chiton, for Caladnei the royal magician in the Faerun campaign. It has a lining of gold lame that is a separate piece, and is attached at the shoulders with short lengths of trim with big feathers on them.

Here are some more examples of the way my costumes evolve and go through several incarnations. The dress in this picture is where the gold lame ballgown skirt actually originated - though at first the red crushed-velvet bodice had none of the decoration and only small detached sleeve pieces. It was made for the first ball in the Vampire chronicle in the spring of 1996. I put in the forepart, trim and long sleeves for "Haavena I" at Olavinlinna in September 96, and am wearing it here again at the ORC ball in December 98. In between, the gold skirt had taken a sidetrip, to be paired with a white velvet bodice and some iridescent organza sleeves and overskirt for a later Vampire ball, and for a Changeling game. After this, I again detached it and put it together with the pale gold bodice to make the undergown/ballgown it currently is (you can see the combination with a pearled fabric over the bodice on the Vampire page).

Here, then, the brocade forepart from the old ballgown has been moved to its near-latest incarnation, a sort-of renaissance dress where the only new part is the gold-and-red trim. The deep-red velvet bodice was a wraparound corsetlike thing approximating the antiquated interpretation of bliauts with the red silk gauze, for a celebratory scene in "Siamin tytöt" (see here, at the official site). It was recut to fit the forepart, and some scraps were salvaged for the sleeve strips. The pink velvet skirt and lower sleeves originated with my now-deceased black velvet corset, for "Haavena II" in Tammela, and then followed the gold skirt to be paired with the white velvet and iridescent organza, at which point I also cut off a strip of the skirt for wide guards for that dress - and then reused them here as well. I wore the white-and-pink combination (with gold trim and accents) at the Linda gala in 1999. This version was put together for "Vanhat Valat, Uudet Ajat" (a game in Maahinkainen's fantasy continuum, again in Olavinlinna) in the winter of 2002.

I liked the combination above, but needed to tweak it for "Yhden Illan Perhosia", a game that took place in Renaissance England. I turned the upper part of the sleeves into shoulder rolls, found some more red velvet for oversleeves and put in a gold undersleeve, split the skirt and trimmed it with old-gold trim recycled from the crushed-velvet bodice. I like the outfit, but it isn't very period-correct, as my sleeves were too short and therefore the shoulder straps had to be pulled down from the shoulder - where they'd firmly belong in Elizabethan England!