Phantom of The Opera 2010 Dragon*Con

 I had such a blast bringing this costume back, truely it is my favorite to wear, sure the mask is hot the make-up is messy but the feeling  you get as you prowl through the streets and  and let your cape billow cannot be equaled.
Here are a few updated pictures, there will be more to after Halloween, our theme this year is Phantom.

King Baldwin IV- Finished

 Well I mostly finished.  I'll be making changes and adding the over robe for next year but what I wanted to get done I got done before the con, go me!  I wore King Baldwin on Friday which was lots of fun, although I wish I had worn him on a later day for more pictures, so many people this year seemed to get there much later and as a result I've not found very many pictures of my costumes, in fact the only ones I do have was the one taken my my friend (who didn't tell me the front had bunched up!), and  two of me sitting down, I really need to have a photo shoot day!  I'd like to remake the mask and the head dress but  I love how the belt and the main body of the costume came out. A few people recognized the costume and called it by name so all in all I am very pleased with how this costume has come out.

Dr. John Watson's Costume (BBC Sherlock 2010)

I am still in the process of hunting down bit and pieces for a Watson costume. For me close enough is close enough, but I would like to find as close as possible without selling my soul and two cats :) I thought I’d share with you what I’ve found so far and what search words have proved the most effective.

Watson's Jacket

 We know from the GQ article were it came from, just not the exact details (brand etc.) and by the costumers own admission this coat is very expensive.  If you are looking for close enough we are all in luck! This year  the military style coat is the thing to have.  But more on that later.

 There are, to my count, at least two jackets used (not counting the pilot, or the one at the pool). They look similar but are not the same.  The one I am talking about below is the one worn the most, starting when John meets Sherlock at 221b, and is worn through the rest of the series. It is also shown in the publicity stills.

Basic description

The jacket is black with four pockets; (1) the pockets have different buttons to the jacket front. The pocket buttons are smaller than the main buttons and are metal disk (Not a sewn on, probably hammered in like you would a grommet). (2)The buttons on the front of the jacket are larger than the pocket ones and are a standard black four hole or two hole style. There are likely five of these buttons but the top one (I’m guessing) is under the lapel.  Thus far John has only buttoned up three of them.   The collar of the jacket(3) is darker and a different material then the main body and looks like a corduroy sewn on a diagonal.

There is only one shoulder pad (6) and it is on the right side.  The front of the pad is straight but then curves at the shoulder and back. This looks more like vinyl or PVC then leather. Both arms have elbow pads (5) also of the same material as the shoulder bit. The cuffs of the jacket are small and pointed, the button of the cuff are the same as the main buttons. The back is simple; it has one pleat for give and two smaller pleats at the sides that are accented with the smaller buttons. The jacket looks quite different in the publicity stills (which I think is down to how the show is lighted and post production grading).  In the show looks to be richer wool, like a pea coat. While if you look at the publicity stills it seems to have grown in length  (4) and changed into a more canvas like material. I’ve toyed with the idea that it could be a different jacket all together, it is standard for a show to buy at least three of the same costume piece (one hero jacket, one stunt, and one extra) but because it doesn’t look as rich in the photo shoots (they would use the hero jacket for that) I’m pretty sure they are the same jacket. 

Finding One

Now then if you are trying to find a jacket with all of this you’ll be very hard pressed to do so.  It would be far easier to find a similar jacket and alter it.  At the base level you need a black four pocket jacket. (this would look like the one he is wearing at Bart’s) If you want to look more like John’s then  find one with elbow pads, or better still  find one without the elbow pads and add them and the shoulder pad on yourself (easier to match material that way) I plan of doing this myself.  

  When I first began my search for the exact jacket (before GQ) I searched for “Donkey Jackets” this had a few hits that looked similar but not many.  The black patch on the shoulder and the length are the only Donkey-esq things about it.  After we found out a bit more from GQ I found that searching for  “Black military jacket”   had the best search results, adding “four pocket “ is optional and a bit redundant. I’ve found many at reasonable prices and as stores get there winter gear in there are more and more , although because this is the style of the year they are still retail price, but better to pay a bit more now than not being able to find one later.

Where to find (in the US): eBay, Amazon, Banana Republic and Hot Topic all have options available, drop me a line if you find a really good one (after you order yours that is ;)

Sweater

I'm knitting this by hand, If that's not an option for you then I'd suggest goodwill or charity shops for a cable knit jumper. the article mentions where the sweater was bought, but s to brand or even if it was hand made I don't have any info on.

The Shirt

I think that this is the piece you can fudge the most, and you can  find one that most resembles the shirts we can see a lot of so that way you can have "different" John costumes. Just a note Americans if you are hunting for the "real" shirt remember that  patterned shirts like this are called a "check" pattern. Best bet to find one of these would be at an H&M, Kohls, or the like. 

Blue Jeans

  The article mentions the brand used, so I’ll just refer you to that, really 

Shoes

 These look to me like a men’s tan work boat, or they could be a soft leather oxford. I need to look into this more. The more I look I'm going with oxford.

The Cane

 My God this cane! It has been hard to find but through hunting it down I have found lots of close (a bloody) ‘noughs.  It is a palm grip walking stick, also called a Fischer stick.

 

The basics:  John’s cane is aluminum and adjusts in two places on the shaft. The bottom, the adjusters, and handle are gray, I realize in some scenes it looks dark gray and even black. It isn’t! It’s a light gray, you can tell in the therapist’s office and when he is meeting Mike. Of course this standard issue gray has been the hardest thing to find, black lots of, but gray Ahhh! The handle is the most distinctive thing on it. The handle is called a palm grip or arthritis grip.  In a few scenes you can see that the handle has a black sponge –like bit.

 You can add this to yours as well they sell it at many of the places you can by medical supplies. but I have been unable thus far to find it already on canes for sale.  Just remember these canes are for the right or left hand, John’s limp is on the right side so if you are using this purely as a costume piece then you’ll want a right grip one!

Where to find it

The real one (I think): to be added when I can get the link to work

Great alternatives:   I found some great inexpensive ones on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.  There is also eBay or check your local pharmacies, the ones near me didn’t have them but that doesn’t mean the ones near you won’t.  As I mentioned above the gray is hard to find, I say the black is close enough, no one but another Watson costumer is going to know :)

Watson Cable Sweater Study

 I promise I'll post  my finished costumes soon but a new obsession has taken hold recently and  I simply must begin on making a Dr John Watson costume  (BBC Sherlock 2010 style)  Pictures  are bigger (and more detailed)  if you click on them. I'll be adding some from The Great Game and a few more from Study in Pink soon, this was just my first quick batch.  If you have any info on the sweater  used (brand etc.) I'd love to know. Same goes for his black coat and cane.

All of these captures where made by me, feel free to use but please save to your own computer!

Sweater front

Back

Sleeves

Tintin

 Tintin started off as my only new costume this year, I like the character and I had everything I needed for the costume already.  But even after getting started on my other costumes I realized how much I was looking forward to playing Tintin so I dropped  a few of my older costumes in favor of  bringing Tintin. If you've never heard of Tintin he is very famous in Europe  and you can  find out more about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintin_%28character%29


 I did end up buying some new items for Tintin, the pants and a little snowy dog (omg the drama I've had about that dog!) But the sweater, white shirt, shoes and Wig I already owned.  This will also be my lightest costume this year, though not as light as spellbinder was. I took a few quick photo's yesterday  I'll have more of this and everything after the Con which for me starts tomorrow!

 I didn't have a Snowy dog yet so My Adipose  stood in for the picture

Spellbinder

Spellbinder was Austrailian television show I used to watch on the Disney channel  along with  other shows at the time Like Ocean Girl and The Tomorrow People. I think these where the shows that lead to my love of   international television. It is also very hard to find anyone over here  who has seen these shows, but that's ok I don't mind being the only fan on this side of the pond.  (But for gosh sakes if you have heard of these  (or others!) let me know!)

  I have only one picture of the costume, I hope to solve that next week  when my friend and I go on a photo shoot. I took it by myself in the hotel room . 


My LJ Post from that time  Aug. 25th, 2009 at 1:09 PM

"...I've also realized that  the tunic I had made for a possible spellbinder costume is not as bad as I first thought it was  (I'm starting to believe my mother when she says I'm too hard on myself about things I make) I   only need to shorten the hem  and dart around the waist .  While rewatching the program I realized that the insignia on the tunic for the show where printed onto paper  (or similar material) and glued onto the shirts  I figure just about any method I use will be better looking then the originals.  I may try and get this costume finished in time for Dragon* Con,( maybe there will be one person there who will know show.)   If I do finish it it will be the lightest costume I own :)   (is it really a costume if you are not dying in the heat?) 

 I used a cheap red felt ( which I think is likely what the show used too)   and just kind of winged the pattern on my own, I'd like to remake it now that I know what I'm doing but for a first attempt I don't think it came out to badly.  No one knew what is was from  but that's ok I enjoyed being a spellbinder.

King Baldwin- 18 days till dragon Con!

 The body of King Baldwin has been finished   Today I went in search  a belt for him. I had toyed with the idea of making my own braided belt but nixed the idea after looking at stills of the costume which show that the belt is cloth  with lots of jewels on it.    After a trip to Joanne's (thank goodness they have cupons in every weekly ad)  I decided to use This:

And this:

Together :

                                   

 I've sewn the two together and now I'm adding clasps so that the sides stay together and it will stay even while I wear it. After this I just need to figure out the headdress which I'm dreading. I know what I want it to look like I'm just not sure how to accomplish it. I also need to figure out shoes for this costume. Oy so much to do so little time :)


Next page on King Baldwin

Sharaz Jek

 Sharaz Jek has the distinction of being the first costume I spent (a lot of ) money on and the first costume I've ever done  without thinking too much about it.   I saw it sometime in January 2009 and by July I was making the costume.  I loved the character on sight. I mean really a Phantom of the Opera type character in Doctor Who played by a great dancer... what's not to like?  I created this costume the summer after I graduated  collage  it was wonderful to get to spend time on something creative and for the first time in a long while without  a large amount of stress.

Research:
The original costume used by the BBC was surprisingly simple, although it took going through the DVD (which has cleaned up the footage considerably from the taped version I had been looking at to start with) to figure it out.

The costume is simply a close fitting leather biker jacket

and leather pants (styled like blue jean pants are) that if you look closely  you can see the pockets and belt loops on it. The belt and neck piece are there to hide the fact that the top and bottom are two pieces. The neck  bit hides the zipper and the belt hides the knit band of the jacket at the join between the it and the pants.

The mask, however is anything but simple. It is leather and is kind of like the Power Ranger helmets.  It opens at the sides with a henge at the top. You can find out more info on the DVD feature "Making Sharaz jek, which uses a radio interview with Mr. Gabel  and footage from the taping of the episode. (Sadly Mr. Gable passed away from cancer a few years ago)  The original mask went up for auction not too long ago, I only wish I could have bought it.

  Creating my version:

 I started  by looking for other people who might have done the costume and, with the exception one picture of someone who had done the face make up and worn a t-shirt, no one that I could find (online) had done it. So  it seemed I would be the first (no pressure there!) 

When I started I was using only the taped footage. I had I thought the body of the outfit was one piece,  and I bought patterns for a one piece animal suit, thinking I would attempt to make it in a black faux leather. After buying the DVD I saw clearly it was two pieces.I started hunting for jackets and  pants on ebay, even going as far as to order one jacket. I quickly realized though that  it was hard to match up  fabrics this way. And then there remained the problem of creating the neck and belt pieces and matching them to the jacket and pants.

I decided then to do what the BBC had tried to create the look of in the first place: a one piece suit. So I bought a PVC suit off of ebay (you can guess what kind of store it came from.)  and then  bought pvc fabric  to create the head, neck, and belt from.  I created a muslin for each of these pieces before cutting the fabric  of the real one.

I kept going on the project by  posting updates online and  on the Dragon*Con Doctor Who group. I found out there would be some dressed as Peri from the same episodes as Sharaz Jek which made it much more fun and gave me something to look forward to. Hearing the squees from people to see an old Who villain represented was wonderful.

The mask gave me the most trouble, and I'm having the same kind of trouble now with King Baldwin's mask. I knew that making it like  they did in the show would be near impossible for me  with what I could easily buy. For Sharaz Jek  I used a store bought plastic mask and covered it with paper clay, thinking when it dried I could pull the paper clay away. Not having used it before I didn't realize it would stick to the plastic. The result was a very heavy mask, but because of time and money (I didn't have either)  I decided to go with it. As you can see the chin is far too pointed  and the nose is the wrong shape, it should be more rounded. But [ainted and with the rest of the costume it does an ok job.


I'd love to have better one made in leather some day.

The other big thing for me with this costume was that it was very close fitting  and during my last year in collage I had put on a good deal of weight, (stress eating!) having this costume sitting in my room and spending the time and money on it motivated me to stay on a diet and exercise  so that I would look better in it. I lost over 20 pounds! I'm quite proud of that, I haven't ever put the weight back on.

Sharaz Jek has been worn to Dragon*Con and Time Gate, I'll be bring him back to Dragon *Con this year for the parade again.

The Phantom of The Opera

  Background:
This is a costume that has been with me my whole life, seriously I was dressing up as the Phantom at the age five.

The musical had come out in London and my father had bought the  recording (on the high tech  Tape rather then the record ooooo :))  and he told me the story as he played the music I fell in love a=in that moment. The story moved me as no other story has  ever done.  Not too long after when the show started to Tour the US my dad got me tickets to the stage show. We went Opening night in Atlanta, my parents went whole hog for me.  My mom had a dress made for me and my Dad took me out to dinner at beautiful old restaurant and  he hired a limo that drove us to The Fox Theater (one of those lovely old gilded theaters).

  It was also the first time   I had seen a stage show (I think unless I had seen the Nutcracker before it). Anyway it was a very special night.  I dressed as the Phantom for many different Halloween's and during middle school I introduced my friend to the show, and she in turn introduced me to Dragon*Con.

The first costume I ever wore was the Phantom and I experienced the thrill of someone stopping you in the hallway to get a picture.  We would actually go on to win best horror during the Masquerade  one year .

We also got hired to play the parts for a bit of atmosphere during a charity auction.  During collage I dropped the costume embarrassingly because I had gained quite a bit of weight and because there where now many Phantoms  at Dragon*Con, mostly of the movie variety. The last year during  the ALS walk I brought the costume out again for the walk  finding that after my dieting the previous year (see Sharaz Jek for details)  the costume fit again. Also this year marked the end of the Touring company of the Stage show which of course I went to see.

Which brings me to the present day  I've done a minor over hall to the costume this year, I've bought a new tailcoat  and while this year I'll be borrowing  a friends cloak I plan on making a new one to better go with the costume. new Phantom will be making an appearance at Dragon*Con 2010.
Next Phantom Post

King Baldwin the IV- Making the finished costume

 And finally I am up to the present time , from here on the costume progress reports are in real time! Only 26 days left until the Con!

  Anyway ...

  I got all of the pieces cut out for the costume  ( it was scary time with the scissors). I cut everything out on my big dinning room table (after cleaning it a billion times and checking that the cats had gone into sleep mode ;)

 Yesterday I spent the day putting to together, and it surprised me at how little time it took. Doing the muslin took the scary out of the real thing.
  I've also spray painted the mask, which looks much better in silver and is growing on me now.

My posts from LJ yesterday
@ 2:27pm
The body of the King Baldwin costume is together and the hem ( the hem that takes for freakin' ever and ever) is sewn. I just need to do the collar, neck, and arms and I'm procrastinating on it, I didn't think it would sew up so quickly.

I've only really encountered one problem and that is the pleats in the back  seem  higher and larger in this fabric and thus  give the back a bit of a bustle look  ( I may be asking you if my costume makes me look fat ;))  I'm leaving it though 1) when I get a chance to do the over robe this will be covered, 2) it still looks better then having a flat back and 3) I'm hoping I can press it down a bit. I still need to do the coif and head dress (not sure how I'm going to do the head dress that's going to take some time and creativity)  

@11:17pm
ooo I just need to do:
the neck line
add the buttons
Find a belt/ make a belt
and figure out the head dress (I have some ideas after playing around today)

and I am done with King Baldwin with time to spare! And even better  I like how it's come out, for once what was in my head is what I got.   I am proud. I still wish the mask where better, but nothing else has come up yet.  A few pictures for you:

 Me trying out the mask and headdress and Coif (which you can't really see) I'll try and get pictures later

The front back and collar.


 Hopefully I'll be finishing up the rest of it this week!  Next entry.