Of Rosemund and Nuit Blanche

Rosemund, being worn by me in the Toronto subway system.

Last night was Nuit Blanche in Toronto, and Katie, Rhonda and I went out accompanied by Rosemund, a fabulous mini-top hat made by Love Charlie.  I bought this hat with Drew in Charlottetown and this was the first time I had worn it.  Katie encouraged me, as this was not part of my original ensemble.  I'm really glad she did because it turned out to be a hilarious touch to our night.

First of all, the hat is hand made of felted wool, with a crinoline swirl of blue, an ostrich feather curling around from the side, and peacock and other feathers forming a plume at the side behind the crinoline.  Here are some shots of it: 

Front

Side

Back.

Rosemund stays on with an elastic band which goes around the back of the head and which I fastened for added security with two bobby pins, all hidden by my hair.  It was a windy night, but there was never a moment when I was worried Rosemund would fall off.  She was so much fun to wear, in part because so many people commented on her!  I expected that to some extent, because this is clearly not the kind of hat that you just wear to the store, but I didn't think she would get as much attention as she did, especially in Toronto, and especially on Nuit Blanche, when everyone is out in crazy outfits and there are thousands of people in the streets.

The first people to comment on Rosemund were at the end of my block, not a ten minute walk away.  Then there were some people in the subway, some people when we got out of the subway, some random people walking, the waitress at the Liberty Bistro where we had dinner and listened to live jazz, and so on and so on.  Everyone, men, women, even teenage guys, were commenting that they liked Rosie - and none of them were being sarcastic as far as Katie and I could tell.  Every time someone said something Katie laughed, and at one point Rhonda suggested that we should have been counting.  

Rhonda and I had planned before-hand to check out a few of 'Les Rues des Refuses' exhibits - a play on Le Salon des Refuses of Paris, for those art exhibits and other activities that didn't make it onto the 'official' Nuit Blanche program.  In my view, they're more interesting and more fun because they're a little unconventional and at least far less densely attended - no lines and no covers.  Thus, our second N.B. stop of the evening (after the bistro) was La Belle Epoque design competition, to see Amber's new designs.  They were *great*.  Below is a photo of her five models and a mannikin wearing her designs, which unfortunately are not very clear since the photo was taken on a phone.

Amber's romantic picnic

We wandered around the show of clothes and jewellery for a while, and Rosemund fit in really well there.  She was barely getting any second looks since there were full-fledged models in amazing outfits wandering in the crowd and posing on platforms occasionally.  The models had to be there from two in the afternoon to at least one in the morning posing and wandering the crowd. The girls in this beautiful tableau would switch their positions occasionally as one's feet started to bug her, and one's back or wrist got sore from sitting a particular way.  Modeling is *not* easy, it turns out.  Even in the midst of all the frills, feathers, and lace there was one woman who decided that she wanted to take a picture of Rosie.  So, I stood awkwardly by as the woman took a few photos of that little stunner.

The funniest compliment of the night came a couple of stops later, at a bondage show in a tatoo parlour for "Morpheous' Bondage Extravaganza" where people were just allowed in to see people getting tied up - men and women both.  As Rhonda, Katie, and I stood in the crowd between five people tying up six other people - two riggers to our right and three to our left (one who wasn't technically rigging since he was binding two women to a pole with a huge roll of saran wrap) - we observed the interesting techniques and outfits of the people in front of us.  The men and women getting tied up had at least their tops off (breasts could be covered or not, as desired) and the riggers were mostly wearing medieval blacksmith-type get-ups.  The man right in front of us tying up a mid-twenties girl, who looked very much like a Betty Page pin-up, was wearing a gas mask with his skull-and-bones black t-shirt and heavy boots.  He tied a rope around the girl's ribs and hips, and began to string her to the ceiling from ribs, hips, knees, and ankles.  Before she was attached to the ceiling though, while she was still standing, and I was watching closely, the man in the gas-mask suddenly looked up and cried "HEY, I LIKE YOUR HAT!!" Six or seven people close by immediately looked at me, including the girl, who from her restricted vantage point yelled just after "Yeah!  It's so cute!"  Katie and I almost died of laugher.  It was such a strange contrast, a Victorian-inspired cocktail hat at a Medieval-inspired bondage art show. 

Here's a photo of the man in the gas-mask's almost-final work.  The girl's hands were tied around her back in the very end, and she was spun around in circles, and appeared to love it.

Rosie was a universal success at Nuit Blanche.  Everywhere we went after that, people commented on the hat.  It would not have been the same night without her!  I can't wait to wear her again sometime soon, and maybe even get a few more like her, though I'm not so sure that I'll be heading back to a bondage bar just as quickly.

**Corrections**
I had originally called the people tying others at the bondage show 'tiers' because I wasn't sure how else to distinguish their role, but after reading the comments below I've changed the instances of 'tiers' to 'riggers' to reflect the preference of people who do it.  I also tried to clear up that there is no bondage bar in Toronto (which is a shame, because martinis would go very well with bondage art I think).  Morpheous' show was in a tatoo parlour.  So I guess if I ever want to head to a bondage bar again I'll just have to open one.