Chapter 2: Conjuring Up a Design
So I know that I want to be The Steampunk Queen of Hearts. I just have to decide if I want to piece it together (from sites like etsy, ebay, and thrift stores) or make it myself. While trying to decide how I am going to do this, I came across a very inspiring website: http://steampunk.cnbeyer.com/overskirt.shtml that got me fired up to do a little bit of both. I decided to take already made pieces and transform them into what I needed for my costume! I was fired up and excited that I might be able to pull this off. Now that I had my character down and a gameplan, it was time to go thrifting!
I had decided on the rough vision: a skirt, an overskirt that was bustled up in some way, a corset, a shrug, and a hat (all of which to be decorated of course). Now I know that you shouldn't set your heart on a certain style or fabric choice when you go thrifting, but I couldn't help myself. I had visioned my costume being regal, velvet, black, gold, and red. Way to keep an open mind right? I did happen to get very lucky in my findings. I found a long black velvet skirt, a button down black velvet shirt to be transformed into a shrug (even the cashier thought they were a set at first), and a long gold velvet skirt with red hues in it and a very regal feel to it. That is luck. As far as the hat goes, I purchased a plain red hat/headband online....I am a beginner and can't make everything. However, I can decorate it!
I then conjured up the design in my head based on the Disney queen, the Tim Burton queen, and some re-vamping of my own. I am, for the most part, a visual person. I wanted to know if what I came up with in my head I was actually going to like. So I put it together on the computer (using similar pieces found online) and was pleased. Now all I have to do is start sewing.......
P.S.-I did buy a practice skirt (velvet so I am used to the material that will be my final result). Since I haven't sewn before and am not sure exactly what I'm doing, I bought a skirt to practice on for my overskirt/bustle piece.
Showing posts with label Costumes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Costumes. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
The Journey of Creating My First Halloween Costume
Chapter One: Deciding What To Be
Since last halloween I knew that I wanted to try and create my own halloween costume. The difference between last year and this year, is that last year I was intimidated. The thought of my lack of craft and sewing skills combined with constructing something I actually had to wear in public didn't seem like the best idea I had come up with. Needless to say I didn't make anything....Instead, I bought a Merlotte's t-shirt and apron and a blonde wig and I was Sookie from HBO's True Blood....Wasn't as cool as my Red Son Wonder Woman I had hoped to be. After last years last-minute not so elaborate costume, I decided to create my own this year. All I had to do was decide what to be. The possibilities are endless when you are creating your own costume.
I was watching Sherlock Holmes when I thought to myself I really love the clothes Rachel McAdams gets to wear. I didn't think too much of it until I was assembling my art appreaciation project (which is my Monet Steampunk blog). The assignment was to pick an excerpt from our reading and create a visual display. I chose the Monet Picture in the bottom right corner. It reminded me of Paris and Sherlock Holmes. The further I dug into finding more pictures to create my visual display, I kept coming across "steampunk." The best description I found of what steampunk is exactly was "Steampunk is the future past that never happened." It's based on steam engines and the victorian era with a twist of sci-fi. I decided to dig a little deeper into steampunk costumes. I noticed a lot of video game characters and comic book characters. What I did not see to many of was Disney characters. I decided I wanted to be a Steampunk Disney Character. I only had one problem: which one?
I typed steampunk Disney into my google image search and the Disney princesses came up. It was fan art but I was hooked. I now had to pick which one. I had origionally decided on Ariel because I could get a cool red wig. I played around with some possible looks, but it just wasn't working for me. So I decided I was going to be someone who wears a red corset (only because I had bought a red corset for 9.99 when I had wanted to be Wonder Woman). I then came up with Cruella. I know she isn't exactly a princess but yet again I found a cool wig I could wear. I was thinking it would be simple: red corset, black pencil skirt, cool wig, and a long yellow jacket with a bustle....I really thought that would be the winner. Problem: I can't sew. That being said, how am I going to create the jacket? That was the key item to my costume. I looked online and it was running around $100-$300! So my search for a steampunk disney character continued.
Who else wears a red top? I went on etsy and came across a steampunk Queen of Hearts costume I liked. I didn't love it, but I could change that. So sometime in the wee hours of the morning (I was not going to sleep until I had at least figured out a character) I decided on being the Steampunk Queen of Hearts.
Since last halloween I knew that I wanted to try and create my own halloween costume. The difference between last year and this year, is that last year I was intimidated. The thought of my lack of craft and sewing skills combined with constructing something I actually had to wear in public didn't seem like the best idea I had come up with. Needless to say I didn't make anything....Instead, I bought a Merlotte's t-shirt and apron and a blonde wig and I was Sookie from HBO's True Blood....Wasn't as cool as my Red Son Wonder Woman I had hoped to be. After last years last-minute not so elaborate costume, I decided to create my own this year. All I had to do was decide what to be. The possibilities are endless when you are creating your own costume.
I was watching Sherlock Holmes when I thought to myself I really love the clothes Rachel McAdams gets to wear. I didn't think too much of it until I was assembling my art appreaciation project (which is my Monet Steampunk blog). The assignment was to pick an excerpt from our reading and create a visual display. I chose the Monet Picture in the bottom right corner. It reminded me of Paris and Sherlock Holmes. The further I dug into finding more pictures to create my visual display, I kept coming across "steampunk." The best description I found of what steampunk is exactly was "Steampunk is the future past that never happened." It's based on steam engines and the victorian era with a twist of sci-fi. I decided to dig a little deeper into steampunk costumes. I noticed a lot of video game characters and comic book characters. What I did not see to many of was Disney characters. I decided I wanted to be a Steampunk Disney Character. I only had one problem: which one?
I typed steampunk Disney into my google image search and the Disney princesses came up. It was fan art but I was hooked. I now had to pick which one. I had origionally decided on Ariel because I could get a cool red wig. I played around with some possible looks, but it just wasn't working for me. So I decided I was going to be someone who wears a red corset (only because I had bought a red corset for 9.99 when I had wanted to be Wonder Woman). I then came up with Cruella. I know she isn't exactly a princess but yet again I found a cool wig I could wear. I was thinking it would be simple: red corset, black pencil skirt, cool wig, and a long yellow jacket with a bustle....I really thought that would be the winner. Problem: I can't sew. That being said, how am I going to create the jacket? That was the key item to my costume. I looked online and it was running around $100-$300! So my search for a steampunk disney character continued.
Who else wears a red top? I went on etsy and came across a steampunk Queen of Hearts costume I liked. I didn't love it, but I could change that. So sometime in the wee hours of the morning (I was not going to sleep until I had at least figured out a character) I decided on being the Steampunk Queen of Hearts.
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