Charlotte Sometimes

Tag: inspiration

Shadow Wars Planning

So… it’s the new year. And that means in less than three months I’m shooting Shadow Wars. And at the moment I’ve got no costume.

Well that’s not true, I have bits of costume. But in truth, I’ve not read any of the Shadow Wars documentation yet – I’ve just been relying on Adam to give me ideas of things to wear to the event. I’m sort of playing it a bit by ear.

Luckily though I have the start of a kit. I moved in with Adam and he went ‘oh I have this bin bag of girl-size Airsoft kit. And a rifle for you to use.’ So I have (I think) a rifle, a set of basic body armour, a leg holster. They’re all black. A few weeks ago I also managed to pick up a jump suit in the H&M sale. I’d been eying it up when it came out at the beginning of summer for Shadow Wars, but I didn’t really want to spend £15 on something I might just shred for effect. I promised myself I’d keep popping in and having a look to see if it dropped in price. It did. I got it for £7.50.

It’s interesting though, this jumpsuit. It nearly disappeared altogether because H&M were heavily criticised for making an outfit that appeared to be a little bit too close for comfort to what the Kurdish women who are fighting ISIS wear. Ooops – bit insensitive there H&M. However at least I know I’m vaguely on brief for Shadow Wars.

As an aside, I think that their advertising video for this range is pretty cool. I quite fancy those brown boots too, but they’re a bit impractical for running around a field.

Anyway…

I figured I’d pull together some of the inspirations I’ve had so that I can begin to decide what to make for my outfit.

Eiffie Trinket – Mockingjay / Hunger Games

Oh yes. If you’ve seen the film you’ll know how fabulous she is, even when she’s stripped of all her wonderful Alexander McQueen outfits. Did you also notice that throughout the film she customises her standard issue jumpsuit to make it more fashionable?

Starting off with her makeup though. I love how bare-faced she looks. In the books, if I remember right, she makes eyeliner from charcoal or something, which explains why she has no mascara. I think a pale foundation base with white powder and some eyeliner would get something close to this look.

But I mean, if I’m playing a media person I can totally play up to the fact that I like pretty things.

And aren’t these promotional shots great?

Yup, totally cool look.

Katniss – Mockingjay / Hunger Games

It’s obvious really, isn’t it? I mean, she’s dressed for battle in totally realistic female armour. <3 Not a piece of boobplate in sight.

I will take the breastplate, the gauntlets and the greaves.

And maybe the bow too.

One more picture for luck.

Cressida – Mockingjay / Hunger Games

It’s hard not to when you have half of your hair shaved off. There might be some tattoo paper being applied to the side of my head.

Triss – Divergent

There has to be at least a brief mention of Triss here. And this jacket. I want.

Should really start making things then…

January 5, 2015
Vortographs

I was reminded this morning of Alvin Langdon Coburn‘s Vortographs, creating in 1917. He was the first photographer to ever show abstract photographs in the history of art. He was a satellite member of the Vorticists movement and photographed both Pound and Epstein as part of the set of images.

The tool he used was something that he called a ‘Vortiscope’, three mirrors attached together in the form of a triangle in 1916. Later he photographed pieces of wood and crystal on a glass table and in the autumn of that year he experimented further with mirrors and the Vortiscope to shoot portraits in silhouette.

He initially labeled his work as cubist however later he picked up the Vorticist label. The exhibition at the London Camera club in 1917 included prefaces by both Pound and Coburn, however their collaboration was to be short-lived as Pound had little appreciate for the photographic medium and what Coburn had managed to achieve with it. This divide led to Coburn withdrawing from the Vorticist movement and really from photography altogether.

By the year after, 1918, Coburn had formed links with an artists colony in Wales where he pursued his interests in Freemasonry, astrology and the occult.

And here are his photographs.

February 5, 2014
Outer layers inspiration

More Spartacus here.

I can’t just wear a tunic, I’ll freeze to death. I’m always cold and being outside for four days doesn’t help. Who thought it would be a good idea to run a mediterranean themed game in the UK? I know exactly who. I’ll get my revenge one day.

So wraps and cloaks it is then. The long, hard task is going to be finding some suitable fabric for a wrap of some sort. The three examples below are varying approaches. There’s Spartacus’ rough blanket. I’ve got something that might be suitable here, it’s a threadbare throw that was on our couch for as long as I can remember, and worn away over the years by two labradors. Alternatively there’s the praetors smart red wrap with that golden trim that is just to die for. This in blue perhaps? I hesitate to look too Roman though.

Ganicus is in there because I like the layering his character has. You really get the feeling he’s carrying all his possessions on his back, don’t you?

Speaking of Ganicus, I’m just going to indulge for a second.

Anyway. (Also I like those bracers for my Empire character.)

Ashur in the first couple of series also had a beautiful cloak but I’m not sure how I’d go about creating something like that. Might have to visit some upholstery fabric shops. Perhaps a jacquard of some sort might work?

I want to talk about female costumes in Spartacus.

It is hard to talk about practicality here in any meaningful way, because obviously the men also have their bare chests and stomaches exposed. In southern Italy in Roman times I can imagine this would have been practical if you were a gladiator. No top getting in the way of your armour, nothing to stop you sweating, free to move etc.

I can also understand why the female slaves don’t have leather armour in most cases. The male slaves took it with them when they were freed from being gladiators anymore. It made sense for them to retain their leather arm pieces, leg armour and the like.

But the girls don’t seem to have any armour at all. I can’t imagine that after fellow slaves had fallen they wouldn’t have picked up and adapted the guys armour? And on top of that, the outfits are just so sexy. It’s all scant little threads of fabric wrapped around their boobs! God, if I tried that everything would all fall out within hours.

Having said that, I do like Navias outfit for the show. She wore something practical and it seems that she also salvaged bits of armour from other slaves. Why couldn’t all the female characters be like this instead of being ultra sexy? (Citizens excluded as they were generally in their nice dresses.)

January 25, 2014