The Pemmi-Con Masquerade

052, Convention Report, Costuming

Getting a quality masquerade from a convention with only just over 500 attendees is a challenging task, but somehow Sandy Manning managed it. There were a bunch of top quality costumers who came up from the USA and provided some master-level entries and judges, but it was particularly pleasing to have 4 young entrants, none of whom had ever been on stage before. Congratulations in particular to Turaga Vakama who used 3D printing to create what I assume was an anime costume.

It always helps to be topical. Derwin Mak dusted off a “Tour Guide Barbie” costume that last saw competition in 1999. Amazingly, it still fit. Here it is.



Pierre and Sandy Pettinger always go above and beyond the call of duty. Their entry was titled, “Beneath the bay of Innsmouth” and included this jellyfish prop that lit up when on stage.



You couldn’t see it from the audience, but the costumes the Pettingers wore were beautifully decorated with fish. They both had amazing headgear, which Sandy shows in the picture below. The lamprey teeth are apparently actual bits of shell that Pierre bought one day in case they might be useful.



It’s not often that you see the Pettingers upstaged, but the Best Master award went to Janine Wardale for “Exile”. It is a beautiful costume. Here are photos of the front and back.





However, the undisputed star of the show, winning Best in Show for both workmanship and presentation, was Snail Scott with this amazing rendition of the hut of Baba Yaga. The important thing to remember about this costume is that chicken legs bend backwards, not forwards (because the main leg joint that we see is the ankle, not the knee). That means that Snail had to do everything backwards, and in a large hut. A good masquerade team has a bunch of strong persons stationed at the edge of the stage just in case someone with poor vision is at risk of falling off, and in this case they did their job to perfection.



Here’s Snail without the hut on.



A good masquerade needs a half time show to keep the audience entertained while the judges do their work. Pemmi-Con provided a top quality filk group. One of the guitarists was, at best, partially sighted. Playing a guitar well is hard enough with good sight. I can’t imagine having to do it when you can’t see well, but he was superb.

The con newsletter didn’t have room for the full results, so I asked Sandy to send them to me. Here they are. Youo’ll note that the judges worked hard to something nice to say about each entry.

Hat Kid – Young – Ian Tilley

  • Performance – Our hats off to you
  • Workmanship – Best recreation and use of corrugated cardboard.

Miss Frizzle Time Lord – Novice -Josee

  • Performance – Honorable Mention – School bus time lord
  • Workmanship – Best crochet – amazing stitches

Beneath the bay of Innsmouth – Master – Pettingers

  • Performance – Cthulu Jell
  • Workmanship – Best Use of Alternative materials

Irradiate Space – Novice – Turaga Vakama

  • Performance – Judge’s choice in Novice Class
  • Workmanship – Best Use of Modern Technology – 3D print, electronics, applique

Hut of Baba Yaga – Master – Snail Scott

  • Performance – Best in show
  • Workmanship – Best in Show

Mrs Aching – Novice – Marlys Schneider

  • Performance – Honorable Mention – Searching the Disc World
  • Workmanship – Honorable Mention – Historical Hat Recreation

Tour Guide Barbie – Journeyman – Derwin Mak

  • Performance – Throwback Barbie Award
  • Workmanship – Honorable mention – Historical Recreation

Tangible Artifact – Novice – Sue Burke

  • Performance – Honorable mention – Stage Memory
  • Workmanship – Most Tangible Artifact

Exile – Master Janine Wardale

  • Performance – Best Master
  • Workmanship – Best Use of Stash and recycle

Manticore Navy – Exhibition