There was a dialogue with 'Tootsie Plunkette' (Julie Zetterberg) :-
TP- It says on the video that the workmanship was for the bird, but I believe it was a general workmanship award for the entire costume.
BG- My source was from a magazine article at the time of the convention which specifically said the award was for the bird, but if I find other references to the contrary I'll update the description accordingly.
TP- OK. Since it's me, and my costume, and my award, I'll be interested to learn if your sources are correct! It was, after all, a loooong time ago.
BG- Awesome! I think it was in SF Chronicle. I'll check right now.
BG- Got it! Locus of November, 1983, under a section detailing the Masquerade Awards, there is a subsection that says "Workmanship Awards," and among others like "Len Kamenski, armor & sword, 'Elric the White Wolf" and "Jane Cordingly, cross stitch on tunic, 'Free Amazon," it also says "Julie Zetterberg, bird, 'The Empress of the Universe'." So that's where I got the info from. Within the body of the story about the masquerade in general, Marjii Ellers also said, "A real show-stopper with a Chinese makeup and costume and a bird on her shoulder that fluttered its wings, Julie Zetterberg as 'The Empress of the Universe' walked away with the Best Novice Costume award and a workmanship award for the bird." It really was a beautiful costume, even all these years later yours is one of my favorite costume pictures I've taken.
Photo by brengibble
Provided by Doug Brown from Bren Gibble's website