As a two-time judge of historical clothing at CostumeCon and a viewer of this year's entrants, let me weigh in for a minute.
All judges have historical biases, but we're adult enough to put them aside. Besides, there are 3 people judging, so if one person hates 1950s styles, the other 2 might not. I didn't like the hat from the 1959 Dior pattern?-- frankly, I thought it looked like a wastebasket -- but the rest of the outfit was fabulous. If I thought for a minute I could have fit in that suit ... well, you get the point. On the other hand, there are other time periods I love, but that's not going to influence me either. A good job is a good job. At the first CostumeCon I attended, one of the pattern companies (Simplicity, I think) offered a prize for the most creative use of its patterns. The winning outfit was Adrien Butterfield's Nazi uniform. I KNOW the judges hated that, but it was the best. Kathleen Norvell -----Original Message----- From: Andrew T Trembley <attre...@bovil.com> To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> Sent: Thu, 7 May 2009 6:43 pm Subject: Re: [h-cost] CC27 historical judge talks about workmanship and historical interpretation On May 7, 2009, at 2:03 PM, Heather Rose Jones wrote:? > It's probably bad manners to say this on the list rather than > privately, > but I'm a bit concerned for what the lurkers might think > if this isn't > responded to.? ? No, it's really not bad manners.? ? > If that had been something I entered, I would be extremely hurt and > > horrified to see a judge talking about it in this fashion. A hat is > > "stupid" simply because you had a bad experience with '50s fashion? > An > entire historical fashion era makes you gag? I would find it > very difficult > to trust a judge to be impartial who expresses > opinions like this. You say > it "shouldn't" matter, but I'd look for > a bit more evidence that the judges > control their rendered judgement > better than their expressed opinions.? ? There are no judges who don't have any stylistic biases. We need to admit that up front, rather than embrace a myth. A good masquerade director will consider the biases of potential judges and build a panel that provides balance.? ? That said, some of the comments about entries are borderline at best. Like Vegas, what happens in the judging space should stay in the judging space, privy to only the judges, the clerk and the director, unless the entrant (and only the entrant) asks for critique from the judges. The goal is to encourage people to enter by rewarding excellent research and execution, not to scare them away by offering unsolicited criticism.? ? andy? _______________________________________________? h-costume mailing list? h-cost...@mail.indra.com? http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume? _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
