Thread by @babuteefs

Nessa wig: the twitter thread

TLDR: the wig was snatched then worn to an expensive underwater photo shoot without full payment for the work. After the story spread on the Internet, assholes harassed the chick. Con staff and security got involved and the wig was dropped off SAT.

Back in October I was approached to do this commission. I was pretty booked for December but I told her I could squeeze her in for MAG and since I was going I could deliver it to the con. Delivering is usually easier for me bc mailing heavily styled wigs = big anxiety.

I quoted her $250 and required half payments. So $125 was sent at the beginning for materials. $90 for base materials as well as money for hot glue, fabric glue, thread, silicone spray, foam ball, Eva foam, paint, etc.

About a week before the event she told me she was doing an underwater pool shoot in the wig which kind of made me panic. I told her that it would probably ruin the wig and she said “noted.”

So I tried to last minute change up some of my styling ideas. I tried my best to hand sew as many wefts as I could in. I changed the way I mounted the ball so it would screw on (I’ll come back to this later) I changed the little rings to craft foam that could be removed later

She tried asking me the Sunday before the con if I could ship it instead of delivering... but I was leaving the next day and still had some work to do on it. I spent Tuesday night and all of Wednesday thru Thursday finishing the wig since hand sewing takes 5x longer for me.

She asked me if I could give it to her Wednesday but I had work to do for the company I came to Mag with so we agreed to meet Thursday morning.

Thursday morning comes and I ask her for a meetup time. She tells me she’d be there at 1pm. Her shoot was scheduled for 2.
Then she changes the time to 1:30 and asks to meet me at the front doors of the Gaylord. Then she mentions the shoot is at another hotel.

This is when I had some problems with the screw attachment method for the bun. I needed something sturdy like worbla to put on the inside of the wig so the screw would stay in place but I wasn’t given enough time or money to order it.

So at 1:30 I was trying to double check really quick that the foam I used to reinforce it would be enough. It was but if enough force was applied to the bun, the screw would pop out of the hole. I headed down after it was secure and got stuck at the elevators.

She told me she was in a hurry so she would need to grab it and go. I got to her at 2. I didn’t think she would literally just snatch it and run. I usually have 30-60 second of handling instructions for wigs and I also needed her to make the second payment before she took it.

As soon as I get to the lobby I turn around and she quickly walks past me without saying anything and aggressively grabs the back of the wig and bolts off.

She messaged me on the way to her shoot and said the wig fell apart. I told her I had handling instructions for her and that she shouldn’t have grabbed the wig the way she did.
“Oh bet it’s my fault” was her response. And I asked if she needed help putting it on.

Then she blocked me 😂 I made the post on Instagram and kept her handle out of it until someone sent me a screen shot of her calling me incompetent on her story. A friend messaged her telling her she should pay me but she responded with saying my work wasn’t good enough

That’s when I released her name since people kept asking me. I asked everyone not to harass her but to just be aware of how shens treated artists (because this wasn’t the first time something like this has happened with her)

Then I was sent the screenshots of her underwater shoot (which was more than she paid for the wig lmao)

The story started getting shared all over and oml the amount of support I’ve gotten from this has been wild. I really appreciate the kind messages and kofis I’ve gotten thru this wild incident.
BUT there was the ugly side of people going after the girl.

Friday comes and she went to con security to try and get me removed from the con. Her side of the story was presented by her and a friend of hers saying that I was starting a witch hunt and telling people to attack her and say racist things.

Her and her friend some wild stuff which... I won’t get into because I didn’t hear it directly. My friend/ the owner of the company I was working for was asked to remove me from my shifts in the dealers hall.

My friend had to explain to staff my side of the story and then they had me come in to talk and show my posts and stories. Staff had agreed that I hadn’t done anything to dox her or harass her.

BUT according to her she was being harassed and threatened which isn’t cool.

Her friend was getting pretty heated about everything and kept going to security about it. He also tried coming to speak to people at our table a few times so Friday night staff agreed it would be best to not have me work the rest of my shift to de-escalate the situation.

I guess she’s posted her story somewhere on reddit? Or something idk but now I’m getting people messaging me telling me I’m harassing her and calling me unprofessional. So that’s wild.

Some time during Saturday her friend approached our table again asking to speak to the company owner. I think he wanted me to take down my Instagram post? But security told us not to deal with him directly without them so security was called.

We were told not to interact with eachother for the rest of the weekend or else someone would be asked to pack up and leave.

Late Saturday night while I was working my shift I guess the chick dropped the wig off at con security. It was still very wet and in a bag (pictured in the first tweet). Sunday morning con staff dropped it off at our table.

So I guess that’s over now? She’s not going to pay. I’ll update this thread when I check on the condition of the wig after we’re done packing up arcade stuff 👌

People think I’m in the wrong for some crazy things... using Eva foam, using hot glue, not having the wig be indestructible...
This whole situation has given me so much anxiety. The way this chick reacted almost made me feel like I was wrong for the work I made? Idk

I just want to turn this situation into something good. Some really amazing people I really look up to ended up reaching out to me because of this situation. Arda’s owner messaged me about reimbursing me for the wig materials via gift certificate!

If the wig is salvageable I want to clean it up and auction it for charity. Idk how much I could even get but we can see! 😂

Directly from the bag

Dry n stinky
I’m so glad I added A TON of silicone spray bc she would be way worse than this. Arda’s fibers tangle pretty easily so it’s always good to add some silicone to their long wigs.

I’m gonna soak her in fabric softener and detergent overnight then gently rinse her in the morning. I’ve only ever used dish soap before when dying wigs. I also didn’t detangle her since stickiness was the main issue.

I removed the “cheap craft foam” and bobby pins. I used hot glue on the craft foam rings since that was the best way to glue them together. I could have used contact cement but that stuff takes longer to use and is harder to control...

... I used the orange craft foam to avoid risking any paint rubbing off onto the wig from the chlorinated water. I honestly thought it looked okay 🤷‍♀️

Rinsed in cold water and de tangled with this neat little Arda brush. (I have like 10 of them if anyone wants one)
She smells almost too good now.