Darcy Schmidt Design

"Merman" costume at Strut Your Stuff II

"Merman" Darcy Schmidt © 1998 foam rubber, spandex, mixed fibres

The "Merman" outfit was constructed for a performance event called Strut Your Stuff III at SAW Gallery in Ottawa in 1998. I went all out on this number and spared no expense. Pricey spandex, sparkly sequin-like fabric, and the finest 1" polyurethane foam known to mankind! The scales on the back were all individually cut out and lined so that they would shake and shimmer. They would have taken an eternity to hand stitch and my buddy Jenna Oldham bailed me out and did them on her machine. Like my other earlier costumes, however, the bulk of it was sewn by hand. It was brutal since the cheap metal on the "sequin-ettes" irritated my skin, so working on it was a real task. The outfit remains one of my flashier pieces and is a real hit at alternative fashion shows. On stage at "Strut" I spewed out some kinda history about the little known Mer-men, complete with reference to wayward sailors and the like, and a vague details concerning a bizarre auto-reproductive cycle. I had a volunteer from the audience (the talented and fashionable Reuel Dechene - always a good sport) come and assist me with my spawning ritual. He had to shove his arm up into the tail part of the "cavity" of the outfit (all the way up to his elbow) and retreive some faux "roe" that was situated there. I hadn't done a very good sewing job on this portion of the outfit and Reuel had trouble rooting around in the right area for the roe so it took quite a bit longer than I had planned, but it was rather comical as a result. Then in front of an unsuspecting (yet totally hopeful) audience I then proceeded to unfurl a 3-ft, fully retractable "mer-penis" from the front of the outfit and perform a (very brief) faux self-fertilzation process. For the finale, I faux "milted" on the "roe" to complete the spawning process, much to the delight of the audience. The 3-ft penis on this outfit was made of a spandex-covered dryer hose which compressed nicely to about 10 inches and was easily concealed behind a zipper so it could hang down between my legs. Much like my own. To get a better idea of what this outfit looks like in action, please see the"Exposing Dr. Darcy and the Dirty Dozen Fashion Show at Kiss & Tell" photos on this site. You can also read a brief review of Strut Your Stuff III as it appeared in a press clipping in the Ottawa Citizen. This outfit was also modeled on the catwalk at Black Tie 2 Bondage II.

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