costume Archives • Page 6 of 6 • Jessica Smith Creates

April 15, 2013

Here, have some flowers, and a puppy, and some spying.

Isn’t progress great?

And honestly there is a bit of progress here. Not a lot, but it’s something!

I visited a wonderful multi-floor Forever 21, and bought a few colorful camisoles. One of these will likely end up in the costume.

The store not only had the largest section of colored camisoles and leggings that I have ever seen, but also was very bright and shiny. After about an hour I started to get a headache because it was so shiny.

Over my spring break, I traveled to London and Cardiff and picked up some adorable pins, or badges, whichever word floats your boat.

Claudia tends to wear a number of pins, if not on a jacket then on a purse or messenger bag. I’ve now got quite a few to choose from!

Claudia also tends to wear a bunch of thick rings, so I’ve started my collection. I love this flying owl ring, which is adorable and lovely, and one of the only pieces of jewelry I’ve seen that acknowledges that the owl is a flying bird.

They fly people. They don’t just look cute, standing there blinking at you.

I’ve also obtained an ear cuff that will likely not be part of the costume itself, but has definitely opened my mind to ear cuffs for my costume. Now just to look for a sale at Claire’s… Hmmm… That could be a while.

See, I don’t have pierced ears. It causes some minor problems.

Well, there you have it!

Progress!

April 3, 2013

Parking Brake

One of my favorite parts about the Eleventh Doctor’s first TARDIS is the time rotor.

It’s the part in the center of the main console that is enclosed in a clear tube and moves up and down.

Its also the most gorgeous use of glass sculpture I have seen in a non-museum setting.

Granted, the show did commission said glass piece, but still…

It’s lovely.

And I want one.

You can see a video tour of the TARDIS here, which shows off the TARDIS and mentions the time rotor. It’s so cool!

But for my costume I really wanted to take the time rotor and make a necklace pendant inspired by it, so I’ve created a draft. I’m considering a few ways to do this, but I wanted to create a loose draft.

Then I realized I had only brought black beading thread with me on my study abroad excursion.

P.S. It’s not finished yet.

And looks so much better on a nearly black background.

I also thought I’d let you know, if you happen to care, that I plan on crocheting three blocks on my crochet sweater per day. By that method, I’ll finish the back in about two weeks if I just stay with the three per day. Then I’m over half done.

So far so good!

March 24, 2013

I smell fudge!

So my final costume that I’ll be making for comic con is… drumroll please…

Miss Claudia Donovan from the lovely show Warehouse 13.

Claudia Donovan is a wise cracking and crafty tech-ofile who works at a secret government institution to track down objects imbued with powers from a certain moment and emotion and time, and she may or may not be my role model.

She’s probably my favorite female character on TV right now. And I’ve been waiting since October for this season to continue. Only one more month.

Here we go:

Vest: I can’t quite figure this one out exactly. It looks like she’s taken a sweatshirt, and layered it under a white vest, in which the vest looks to be made of relatively heavyweight fabric that is fairly stiff, stiff enough for the collar to stick up a bit. I’m thinking of making the vest, and flat-stitching it to a bought sweatshirt to achieve the look, without so much of the actual layering and heat involved with actually wearing the quantity of layers. I’ll possibly be stealing the zipper from the sweatshirt to make this, as I’ll have nothing else to do with it. Fairly easy peasy. And I’ve kinda got the sweatshirt that will work to cut apart for this project, and it even has bright white zipper! The “vest” will also be elbow-length sleeved, maybe a little shorter.

Shirts: In this outfit, she’s layered a peach camisole under a black three quarter sleeve henley. I’m probably going to go with peach camisole under a black tank, knowing that the heat would start to get to me… In the interest of my personal comfort, I’m taking every effort to make this comfy. Because I can. And if I’m going to be fairly uncomfortable in the interest of heat with my other costumes, I might as well acknowledge it this time.

Trousers: Claudia in this shot seems to be wearing black jeans, or some other type of black skinny trousers. Luckily I’ve got these already.

Shoes: I couldn’t get a good screencap of the shoes, but while she was moving, I was positive that they were boots, small black combat boot kind of boots. However, in the interest of saving space in my suitcase, I’m going to go with another type of shoe, possibly my TARDIS shoes… or if those didn’t work I would hijack another one of the shoes involved in my other costumes. ~~Because Claudia would totally wear t-strap heels.~~

Jewelry: The necklace that she wears in this scene appears to be some kind of robot or alien or something, which isn’t exactly up my alley. In another episode she wears a very cute dark metal bat-wing or angel wing necklace, which I’ll be much more on board with having. Because I don’t have pierced ears, and I’m not planning on doing so, I’ll be skipping earrings, but I’m perfectly good with wearing an ear cuff. She’s also wearing what seem to be black jelly bracelets on her wrists, but I might make get a thick leather cuff to replace them on one wrist. Claudia also wears a lot of buttons, so I’ll be getting some very cute ones for this.

Purse: Claudia gets a lot of messenger bags and canvas shoulder bags, but in the interest of space, I’ll be using one of the bags for the other costumes.

*All images used in the post were screenshots of Warehouse 13 Season 4 Episode 6.

** This costuming plan is subject to change based on the final episodes of season 4. Which could change everything.

Any other Warehouse fans out there?

March 21, 2013

Lookee here!

I’ve gotten some work done on some of my costumes already!

Aren’t you so proud of me!

I managed to pick up some fabric from a fancy dress shop, and it is just the right color fabric for the TARDIS bustled overskirt, and maybe could also be used as a bow for my Belle dress. It’s a deep golden color shiny material, and though it has some holes in it, it is gorgeous.

I also got fantastic t-strap heels, in a lovely brown, which would be fantastic with my planned Belle dress, as the Belle in OUAT’s Storybrooke has a vintage fashion sense, and I do too.

March 18, 2013August 25, 2022

I am thirteen hundred years older than you.

This was really my first idea, as this dress was my favorite from the Narnia movies the minute I saw it.

link

It is the dress Susan wears at the end of the Narnia movie Prince Caspian, as her farewell to Narnia. It’s not even in the movie for very long! Just the ending.

link

But its absolutely lovely!

A few people have recreated this dress brilliantly, but I just want to try it out!

link

Because its pretty…

And I think I can.

link

So here’s the deal.

Underdress: A crisp white undergown, which has a few folds at the neckline, and the neckline itself is far off the shoulders, and slopes to a small V at the front. There are sleeves on the original, fitted to the elbow, and then they puff out and are brought back in with a cuff at the wrist. I’m considering making my undergown short sleeved, because of the warmth in San Diego in summer… and I wouldn’t have to figure out the sleeves. Big advantage. The front of the underdress, at the least, is pleated but for my ease and ironing pleasure I’ll only be pleating the front of my dress. It’ll be easier if I do need to iron it after it being in a suitcase and all. And finally, the undergown is nearly floor length.

Overdress: The overdress is made of a dusty blue stiff fabric with brown embroidery. Its constructed with princess seams, and is boned up until the hips. The front of the dress is mostly open, and the area from near to the top to the hip is closed with what seem to be hooks and eyes. The back is closed with buttons and loops attached to a matching modesty panel. Its also nearly floor length, just like the underdress. I’ll be probably trying like an idiot to recreate this part of the dress and closely as possible. The dress is also trimmed with a lightly gold colored thick ribbon.

Shoes: I’ll be obtaining white or matching blue flats, or sandals, or I’ll be making some sort of slippers in the same fabric. Its up for grabs at the moment. The shoes in the film cannot really be seen, so I can take liberties!

Necklace: I’m sure I’ll make one. It’ll likely be either a simple single stranded in a color, or a clear beadwoven necklace close to my base of my neck, so it doesn’t take away from the dress itself.

Hair: I’m not going to get a wig, but I’m going to style my own hair to as close to the proper style as possible. Hopefully that’ll work out!

Purse: Cause I’ll need one… So I’m either going to get a brown leatherish pouch or backpack, or I’m going to be insane and make a quiver-purse. Using help and inspiration from this site. I might take the crazy route, just to see if I can!

In case you wanted to see my… lovely sketch.

Any tips?

March 10, 2013August 25, 2022

“If it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it!”

Don’t you just love Cogsworth?

I just couldn’t wait much longer to start explaining to you all about the loveliness that is my costume planning, so I’d like to start with my plans for a dress inspired by Once Upon A Time’s Belle.

link

Because OUAT is a show on ABC, owned by Disney, the yellow costume is clearly inspired by the Beauty and the Beast yellow dress.

It is a princess seamed off the shoulders dress with a full and actually very large dress. What attracted me to this dress specifically was the very smooth top and the absolutely gorgeous embroidered design on the front. Its magnificent, and lovely, and, well massive. But I love the interpretation of the dress.

link

This dress, which is worn by Belle in our world around the town of Storybrooke, is also a favorite costume of mine from the show. I love the simple flow of the fabric, and the combination of the lace and the shell of the dress.

Being a redhead, I can’t easily go very yellow with a dress without looking insane and making my skin look weird. But I also want a dress that I can wear in a non-costume friendly situation.

I’ve decided to therefore combine the two dresses, in a way. In my pitiful attempt to sketch out the dress, I came up with the above. The lace will be around the shoulders and will make up most of the sleeves, with the rest made up of a knit or woven. The lace will only be above the dress, not covering it like the blue dress.

For the con, I’m planning on creating a beadwoven necklace to recreate the neckline embellishment.

The higher drawing is my interpretation of the actual neckline, and the lower is my design for the necklace. The necklace will be worn over top of the lace of the dress, and will likely be a nearly full bib necklace.

The color I’m planning for the main dress will hopefully be a nice goldenrod or golden, and I’m hoping to have matching lace, but if I can’t get lace to match, the lace will be a warm reddish brown color.

link (ETA – this link is now broken)

I’m also going to be making a cape for the con, and will likely be a short cape, not much longer than an elbow length, because I’ll be in warm and sunny California, and it will mostly be made out of curtains. Because that fabric is not easy to imitate.

What do you think?

March 4, 2013August 25, 2022

I’m totally not being… hypocritical.

Not at all.

But I had to tell you about my fantastically big project, that can’t even really happen until I return home from my time abroad. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t (completely) planned out this massive project. Well, I guess its kinda four projects in one.

I’m going to Comic Con, or at least planning to. But not this year. No, that would require much more extensive planning, as it would only allow me to have one month of actual sewing machine and fabric time before the Con. I’m going to Comic Con 2014, as it will be both a celebration of graduating and becoming what society believes is an adult (of which I am never quite sure of), and it will be a reunion with some of the friends I’ve met while abroad.

But really, let’s face it, that’s not the exciting part. Going to Comic Con means that I have a reason to make extravagant and unnecessary costumes. So I’m making extravagant and unnecessary costumes. Because I can!

Drumroll please! (dzdzdzdzdzddzdzdzdzdz)

My first, and most elaborate, costume will be a Victorian Steampunk dress that recreates the inside of the Eleventh Doctor’s TARDIS.

(link) (ETA – this link is now broken)

Ain’t it purdy? I love the magnificent color scheme and how it all works together to bring up the fun and free spirit that exists as the Eleventh Doctor.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch Doctor Who. You have approximately fifty years worth of episodes to watch, but I’d definitely watch the newer stuff if you are a newbie. Its not only more colorful, but it has better special effects and monsters.

I won’t burden you with a sketch, at least not today, if ever. But its going to be awesome

My second project will be a recreation of the dress Susan wears at the end of the Prince Caspian movie in The Chronicle of Narnia series. Typically its called her Farewell Dress, as she says farewell to the land of Narnia.

(link)

Its a two part outfit, with the white underdress and the blue boned overdress.

I’d also suggest watching Narnia, if you haven’t seen any of the three movies. They have amazing landscapes and effects.

My third costume will be a fall/spring dress inspired by the Belle of ABC’s show Once Upon A Time.

(link)

In the fairy tale land, she is the Belle we know from legend and the Disney movie, but is a little more, well, kick ass. Her Beast is Rumplestilskin, which I find great, and she goes on adventures and saves lives.

(link)

In our world, she is just finding herself, and tends to gravitate towards cute, though rather bookish and vintage – inspired outfits.

So my dress will combine the two, so I have a pretty dress that I can wear without it being a costume.

My final project is to make an outfit inspired by the fantastic Claudia of Warehouse 13

(link)

This will be the only project that will require the least amount of sewing, but in theory could also involve the least cost involved, if I hunt for good deals on accessories.

For each of these, I’ll be posting about in its own post. First, though I promise I’m going to be working on a post about one of the ufos I have with me. Now I just need to charge my camera…

So in conclusion, I’m insane. This will be a set of stashbusting projects, but it still isn’t quite planned to include ufos to finish it.

Also, watch all of the above. They are all great shows, which is why I watch them of course!