This was a fun costume photo shoot I did with Chris Barbour. I’m still writing up a proper story, but the gist of it is that I wanted to use the camo print and restrictive Victorian dress style as a metaphor for how societal norms cage women and pressure them to conform to the norm. Despite this, we find ways to stand up and stand out, and we’ll put up a good fight even if not with strength and weapons.

The dress is not 100% original work—I adopted a half-finished costume from a friend of a friend (who remains anonymous but is a San Diego based artist). I added some layers to the dress, petticoats, a bustle from my friend Marty Ornish, gloves, and the bonnet. What’s really cool is that the original creator of the dress chose to use two different kinds of camo print—no, the beige fabric is not leopard print; is a design called “Desert Battle Dress Uniform” (a.k.a. “Chocolate-Chip Camo”).

Formal write-up coming soon.