Tag: Costume

  • Simon’s Medieval Costume

    Simon’s Medieval Costume

    So, Simon is hoping to play Heretic LRP late this year. And I went OMG YES I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE U COSTUME PLS THANK U. So I’m making costume.

    This is the first post in what I suspect will be a series of many. There is already a Pinterest ideas board.

    Follow Charlotte’s board Costume : Simon’s Medieval on Pinterest.

    This is where we’ve got to so far.

    A colour scheme:

    13thC Medieval LARP Costume

    Which coincides with this years Pantone colours of 2016 (not planed – just pleased it happened!):

    13thC Medieval LARP Costume

    Some fabric got dyed:

    13thC Medieval LARP Costume - Dying Fabric

    13thC Medieval LARP Costume - Dying Fabric

    13thC Medieval LARP Costume - Dying Fabric

    13thC Medieval LARP Costume - Dying Fabric

    And we went to the reenactors market and I bought wool and belts:

    13thC Medieval LARP Costume - Wool and Belts

    And that’s basically the material stash as it is for the moment.

  • Mandalorian Costume Layers

    Mandalorian Costume Layers

    So, I got this drawing sent to me recently:

    Mandalorian costume for airsoft

    The artist is Gustavo Mendonca and you should absolutely go and look at his incredible work.

    I guess it’s the concept drawing for the new Star Wars film, but to be honest I’m just not into Star Wars so I dunno. That’s not important anyway.

    Whenever people approach me to make their costume I always say ‘catch my imagination’. Since none of my friends could afford my rates for making things (because I’d have to make as much as my ‘day job’) I prefer to collaborate on things that require some imagination rather than just making to order. This outfit is cool. And has certainly caught my imagination.

    Cosplay vs. LARP

    I’m not particularly into Cosplay. I mean, there’s some incredible Cosplay stuff out there, but copying stuff isn’t really my thing. It’s ok as a technical challenge, but I’d rather be a bit more creative in what I do. I’d rather take inspiration from something and use it as a base to create something new – which I know lots of Cosplayers do when they do gender play, or when they do steampunk Jessica Rabbit, or whatever. That’s more my thing.

    Of course the added difficulty of a LARP costume is that it needs to stand up to more than just standing around at Cosplay conventions. This Bobba Fett inspired outfit is going to have to stand up to repeated use at airsoft games. So that’s long weekends full of running around, getting shot at, rolling around on the floor, crashing through doors, jumping on cars… well… you get the idea. It has to work as a practical set of clothing. And it has to do the things that clothing should do – it has to keep the wearer warm and dry, it has to breath naturally because the person inside it is going to be pretty active, it has to move with the wearers body. There’s no point in having a LARP costume for a soldier that can’t do those things (unless of course, that’s the point of the costume – to be restrictive).

    Pulling the Mandalorian Costume apart

    With that in mind, I started to deconstruct the costume in the artwork above. The most important bit at the moment is the plate carrier – since the rest of the costume can come later. The plates of the armour are distinctive and absolutely key to the look. They have to be the first bit of the costume to be made, just in case the rest doesn’t get made in time. But the costume is more complicated than it looks, and although for Cosplay you might just get away with attaching the plates to a blue jumpsuit, it’s not going to work here.

    I wrote a while ago about how layers are often key for making a costume seem realistic, and this isn’t an exception. Once you start to pull apart the layers you can see how they’ll move together. Layers slide over each other, meaning that the armour will cover the right parts without being restrictive.

    So here’s where I pulled the layers apart in my sketch book:

    Mandalorian Costume Layers - DrawingAs far as I can tell, there are six distinct items of clothing in the drawing that cover the torso (I’ve not counted combat trousers here). And the benefit of using high quality concept art is that the artist is really experienced in drawing figure and will have a fundamental understanding of how layers interact with each other and the human body.

    1. The long sleeve leotard. Ok, don’t think spandex and lycra. This isn’t glam-rock airsoft. Well, Shadow Wars is a bit, but that’s not the point here. Think heavy duty twill fabric, but soft and worn. The arms have stripes that echo the upper two padded layers. The placket down the front covers the buttons or velcro used for fastening. And yes, that is a crotch strap – that’s how the artist has got the V-shaped line on the drawing. I really like that bit of it, but you could equally just go for a long-line top that finishes just below the hips. Or even a shirt that tucks into the cargo trousers. The mandarin collar is essential to the look of the whole top line of the costume.
    2. Then there’s a kind of crop top with side lacing. Initially I thought that this was where the plates would attach, but I’m pretty sure that’s wrong. This is just metrosexuality in all it’s glory. It seems to have a small pocket on the top of his right hand sleeve. Maybe it’s a brassard of some sort.
    3. The red belt padding. That’s… about it really. It’s kind of cool and asymmetric.
    4. The white plate carrier. It kind of reminds me of something that rugby players or American football players might wear, but I could be wrong about that. Maybe it’s another sport that I saw those white stretchy tops from. I dunno. I’m not really into padding, I’m a water polo player. We just try and down each other. Anyway… It’s essentially a sci-fi gambeson, with solid plates to cover the pecs. I initially thought that the shoulder plates attached to this layer, but now I’m pretty sure that they actually don’t. The shape of the white gambeson and plates recalls the shape of some of the variations of storm trooper armour. I reckon they’ve got a zip up the front or other similar construction for fastening.
    5. The black gambeson over the top is where I’m pretty sure the shoulder plates attach. It’s purpose is also to seal around the neck at the base of the mandarin collar and attach the shoulder plates. Why do I reckon this? Because shoulder plates need more movement than the chest plates. The chest plates should be tight to the body to keep them out of the way – you don’t want them moving around every time you put your gun up to shoot. The shoulders however should move and they should be relatively free. I think it would do up at the back of the neck, perhaps with lacing. And there are straps to secure it under the arms and prevent it from twisting as you move. If you look carefully at his right shoulder, there are also ties going under the bicep from the middle of the shoulder plates. Bungee cord or something would work really well. I don’t know what the middle of this piece is buckled to on the chest. I suspect it attaches to the white plate carrier to keep it from moving too much and stop it from riding up.
    6. The cape. NO CAPES! Sorry, wrong movie. Tatty cloth. Not sure what this would attach to. Logically the black gambeson piece, but I’d want to fasten that piece at the back. Attaching to the white piece wouldn’t work properly. I guess actually I’d do this by making it a stand alone piece. Tying it round the neck would be bad, so there must be a way to run it under the shoulders. Perhaps with a Northeners (GoT) inspired method that would go under the arms.

    So… thats awkward. What I originally figured was two layers – at a quick glance – turns out to be six.

     

  • Ice Dyeing Attempt 1

    Ice Dyeing Attempt 1

    A combination of bright colours and drabs to experiment with permanent ageing techniques for costume.

    You can get a great starter kit here from [amazon text=Amazon&asin=B004WJLBPI]

    2015-09-04 07.12.36 2015-09-04 07.13.01 2015-09-04 07.14.24 2015-09-04 07.14.34 2015-09-04 07.15.48 2015-09-04 07.16.48 2015-09-04 07.16.58 2015-09-04 07.17.53 2015-09-04 07.18.08 2015-09-04 07.19.00 2015-09-04 07.20.04 2015-09-04 07.20.09

  • The Day Before Atlantis

    The Day Before Atlantis

     

    I’m fucking awesome at doing everything at the last minute.

    Like today.

    I got a whole load of my costume finished.

    Last night I hand finished the hem’s on my murder robes – there’s about four days of hand sewing in this thing.
    2015-06-11 13.15.30

    And the back:

    2015-06-11 13.15.40

    That’s the seam inside the hood:

    2015-06-11 13.15.48

    And what the inside seams look like:

    2015-06-11 13.15.59

    Just a close up of that nice, almost invisible hand stitching:

    2015-06-11 13.16.28

    Then I got started on hemming the sleeves of the bottom layer of robes. Fancy decorative stitches on the sewing machine meant I didn’t have to hand sew it invisibly:

    2015-06-11 13.52.01

    And I also tacked down the neck facing, you can see it showing through here because I’d just ironed it:

    2015-06-11 15.01.18

    Then I figured that I had to add a new project to the mix. This is something very loosely based on Arya Stark’s belt in the new Game of Thrones series. I’m going to make a second one I think to go over it, made from hemp cord and beads:

    2015-06-11 15.36.43

    The fastening, same as I used on the Mythlore belt:

    2015-06-11 15.36.53

    And then knotted and all together with the top layers. I also have a hero style belt to wear over it, so you won’t see the cord the macrame is attached to:

    2015-06-11 15.45.09

    Then after going to see Rich at Evenlode, we had chips in Chipping Norton. Wonder if this is where David Cameron gets his chips from. They were pretty good:

    2015-06-11 21.02.39

  • Dorne Armour Inspiration

    Dorne Armour Inspiration

    So…

    Game of Thrones happened.

    And the Dorne armour is beautiful.

    And now I need this sash to go under my belt for my Minoan costume this weekend.

    And Simon’s Mythlore costume needs the embroidered gambeson.

    MTMwNjgwNjY0NTkxNzM0MDM0

  • Odyssey Robes – The Dyening

    Odyssey Robes – The Dyening

    I tried out the professional dye I got a while back. Procion MX in dark brown. I’d been warned that the pro dyes are a bit of a learning curve compared to something like Dylon, but I was up for giving it a go.

    2015-06-06 14.45.53

    I added too much water I think. I added a bit more than the instructions suggest to make sure all the fabric was covered. But the end result was that there was really wasn’t enough dye in the water (because I have dodgy kitchen scales too) and I’m not sure that the soda ash activated enough. We put a second lot of soda ash in after about 25 mins, but I think it was too little, too late.

    However they did come out some interesting colours.

    2015-06-06 15.39.54

    2015-06-06 16.52.51

    And altogether it looks ok. I think. I’m doing to see how it wears for the weekend at Odyssey. And perhaps do some tea staining on it before hand. And roll around in the mud a bit. And throw rocks at it.

    2015-06-06 17.57.12

     

    I do love the colour that the darker brown robe has gone though. It’s now a reddish brown, almost like chocolate.

    2015-06-06 17.56.53And the wool robe over the top is the one I’m currently in the process of hand stitching. Hopefully it’ll be finished. Or finished enough anyway.

    Then I just have to finish the gambeson. And make myself a headscarf. No pressure.

     

  • Costume for Shooting LARP

    Costume for Shooting LARP

    Just been asked what I wear as a photographer to shoot LARP events. (more…)

  • The Anglo-Saxon-Ish Tunic

    The Anglo-Saxon-Ish Tunic

    Yeah I’ve been procrastinating.

    I bought a load of wool offcuts last year with the intention of making myself a tunic, perhaps a cloak, maybe some murder robes. Today the tunic got made. Sort of made.

    I’m really pleased with how the neckline came out. I loved making faced necklines, they’re so neat and tidy.

    I’m not happy with how the inset gores have come out. They’re not set in evenly and in addition I didn’t put both fabrics the same way round on each side so they look different. I think they’ve got to completely come out and get put back in again.

    Other than that, the grey stitching is just basting thread to hold everything in place before I hand stitch it. And obviously it needs hemming.

    Meh.

    CM-150401-5292web

    CM-150401-5295web

  • Minoan Murder Robes

    Minoan Murder Robes

    I made the outer brown robes today. I’m not happy with how it’s coming together. I’m not sure why.

    It’s made from three meters of Ikea Bomull fabric (£6) and a packet of Dylon dye in dark brown (£3). So that’s murder robes for under a tenner. Still got to finish the hems.

    CM-150330-5287web

    CM-150330-5288web CM-150330-5283web

  • The Moshchevaya Balka Kaftan

    The Moshchevaya Balka Kaftan

    So we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. And we saw this piece. And Adam said something along the lines of ‘that would be awesome for Carthage’. So here we have it, this would be awesome for Carthage.

    It’s really great finding pieces in a good museum to use as a basis for costume because there can often be a fair bit of information about the piece. You especially know that you’re onto a good thing when it’s displayed in it’s own case in the middle of the gallery space, like this kaftan is.

    Looking it up on the Metropolitan Museum website gives me this page. And there’s just so much info there to be had. Starting off with a fantastic picture – click to get the high resolution image and examine the garment in real detail. Far better than my rubbish phone camera shots – although my rubbish phone camera shots do serve a purpose. They let me see the back and they let me remember details that struck me at the time.

    DT1115

    The pinky-red fabric is all modern conservation, the beige fabric and gorgeous patterned trim is all the original bits of this amazing 9th – 11th century kaftan from somewhere near what is modern Turkey.

    Except it wouldn’t have originally have been beige. The Met are helpful enough to have provided information about the garment to help us understand what it might have looked like when it was made. The ‘white card’ description says:

    The original linen coat (caftan), preserved in part from the neck to the bottom of the hem, is made of finely woven linen. A decorative strip of large-patterned silk is sewn along the exterior and interior edges of the caftan. A minute fragment of lambskin preserved as the caftan’s interior attests to its fur lining. The woven patterns on the silk borders of the caftan include motifs such as the rosettes and stylized animal patterns enclosed within beaded roundels, which were widespread in Iranian and Central Asian textiles of the sixth to ninth century. The colors used in the textile include a now-faded dark blue, yellow, red, and white on a dark brown ground. The decorated silk fabrics are a compound twill weave (samite in modern classification) and the body of the garment is plain-weave linen. Two slits running up the back of the caftan make it particularly suitable as a riding costume.

    Did you know that apparently in many galleries and museums the white cards next to exhibits have to have be the same standard as the national reading age – which is about 12 in the UK. These were only ever intended as basic info. So far from this description I know that:

    • It’s made of finely woven plain-weave linen.
    • It has patterned twill silk for decoration.
    • It had fur lining.
    • The silk has stylised animals and beaded roundels which were common to Iranian and Central Asia at this time.
    • The kaftan used to be dark blue, yellow, red and white on a dark brown background.
    • It would have been suitable for riding in.

    But we need more!

    Linked to the page on the Met’s website there are three journal articles written about the Kaftan and it’s matching leggings. The first is an introduction, the second is a genealogy study and the last is the conservators report on the piece. This last one is where the gold-dust lies. These three journal articles can tell us huge amounts about the garment beyond what the white card does.

    Here are notes from the journal articles, with my own speculations:

    • Other pieces of identical silk have been found – meaning that this was not an extraordinarily unusual design. It would most likely not have been for someone extremely important (like royalty or ruling class) because they would most likely have used more unique fabrics for their garments.
    • The piece is most likely from Moshchevaya Balka, a burial complex that has had to contend with serious amounts of looting over the years during its excavation (which probably explains why this piece came on the art market in the mid-90s).
    • The climate of the Near East means that textiles and whole garments are almost never recovered. They almost always perish because the conditions aren’t conducive to the preservation of organic materials. This means that this is one example of only a handful ever found – you can’t make assumptions that ‘all people from this area wore this kind of garment’ without other supporting evidence. But it certainly is a garment that someone in this place, at this time wore.
    • Moshchevaya Balka was on historical trade routes that linked Central Asia, the Near East, southern Russia and the Black Sea. The garment could have been influenced by any of those places, or could have been worn by someone who was just passing through.
    • It was made for a horseman. This is a more substantial statement than ‘would have been alright for riding horses in’. Perhaps it could have been made for a trader who would have ridden between places? Or maybe a soldier?
    • We’re pretty sure they came from a burial site. People tend to be buried in their good clothes, so perhaps these were finery rather than everyday clothes?
    • The survival of the silk is described as ‘miraculous’, again highlighting the fact that not many examples exist – certainly not in this kind of condition.
    • The staining of the fabric is most likely due to the acidic material produced when the body breaks down. It wouldn’t have been some funky ancient tie-dye. Thankfully the fur lining seems to have protected much of the outer layer of fabric.
    • The alkaline chemicals produced by the decomposition of the body changed the colour of the fabric. The safflower red dye (a pretty bright pinky red) turned to beige, and the indigotin blue (similar to modern indigo) turned to a grey-brown. However the brown bits have kept a reasonably true colour since they are acid sensitive rather than alkaline sensitive. This doesn’t seem important, except it potentially helps us look at other examples of textiles. Now each time we come across drab, beige colours in ancient garments we can make educated guesses at what they might have looked like before they were put in the ground for a few centuries.
    • Cotton is noticeably absent from the finds in this region, indicating that this area might not have had access to it yet. Seems crazy to us today when cotton is cheap and in use everywhere, but it wasn’t always that way. If you’re trying to be authentic then cotton would not be the way forward. Linen and silk to stay authentic. Of course for LARP it’s generally about what looks cool, but you might want to stick close if you’re going for a particular look. (And this does make me want to research into what kinds of textiles would have been available in North Africa for the Carthage outfit).
    • The staining on other garments examined by the conservators that were suspected to also be from Moshchevaya Balka suggest that they could be from the same body. This gives us a lead on possible under-garments for the kaftan. Here it is:Screen Shot 2015-02-04 at 14.41.43
    • That the conservators had several options when reattaching the fragments of materials onto backing cloth. They chose the style of garment that they felt was most likely, but still without a whole garment we don’t know if this was exactly how they would have been made.
    • The kaftan would most likely have reached mid-calf on the wearer. Perfect for a fighting garment for a bloodthirsty well-mannered Carthaginian.
    • Other representations in art of the steppe people suggest that this Kaftan could have been worn with a plain linen version underneath and a sheer but decorated kaftan over the top. When it was cold there could have also been a fur kaftan outer layer, along with accessories like belts and mitts. And boots. I love boots. But apparently layering was cool way back when and we weren’t the first to invent it.
    • The triangular side pieces on the front cause the side seams to push to the back, consequently narrowing it in at the waist and essentially making it a fitted garment. This causes the sleeves to look like ‘wings’ on the back, but they give huge amounts of movement in the upper body – suitable for a rider.8dd5806e12af5e205cc022ceb8f5fe4d
    • The sleeves had narrow wrists, probably to retain heat. Which is good for a Carthaginian in modern England.
    • There are two long slits in the Kaftan below the hip line to enable movement in the lower body. While standing they would reveal the leggings a little, but while sitting on a horse or crouching they would reveal all of the decorated legging. This needs fixing and turning coolthentic rather than authentic – the Carthaginian will be wearing leather trousers under it. But I have a plan.
    • It used a triple button and loop fastening – picture in my camera phone pictures above.
    • The fact that the fabric was found to be cut from a pre-woven bolt, cut with immense skill and then sewn together finely indicates that this region was above average in it’s textile culture. Perhaps it would be erroneous to take this as an example of garments from the wider area at this time.
    • The linen making up the majority of the garment was white – as can be seen on the back shot above.
    • The large, decorative borders of fabric have been used in a previous garment. This could indicate either some sentimentality, or perhaps a thrifty owner who had the clothes remade into a newer and more suitable or fashionable style. It’s therefore unlikely that this would have been owned by someone very high status.
    • Collar and cuffs are unknown. They could possibly have been in existence, they could possibly have been made from the same fur as the lining.
    • The warp of the linen travels vertically downwards on all pieces when the kaftan is laid out flat with the arms outstretched. Including the lower arms. This may not have been an effective use of materials, which indicates some wealth.
    • There’s no seam along the top of the wrist to shoulder line. The fabric was cut on a fold here.
    • The seams were mostly flat felled seams, stitched towards the centre units.
    • And then of course we get the really precious part of the journal article for making a replicaish. An actual diagram of the pieces that made up the reconstruction on show in the museum:Screen Shot 2015-02-04 at 15.17.53
    • It was likely to have been constructed by piecing together the top half of the garment and then following that by attaching the bottom half at the waistline..
    • There are notes about how the front panel was put together. It was slit up the front and a neckline cut out, then extra panels were attached (2 and 3 in the diagram above) to make it double breasted.
    • The side pieces – 4 and 5 above – are the aforementioned gores that push the side seams to the back. Take note here – the length of the side seam on the back part of piece 1 must be the same as the length of the front of piece 1 including pieces 4/5. That means the front of the garment could be shorter than the back – this requires a calculator and some Pythagoras. Presumably this is made up for by the fact that 10/11 are likely to be longer than piece 12, but it will look strange to modern eyes as we would expect the waist seam to fall consistently all around the body rather than being lower at the back.
    • The sleeves are two separate pieces which might give the opportunity to insert decorative fabric or embroidery or something. On the original it is most likely that the lower sleeve portions would have been pieced from various offcuts. Thankfully fabric isn’t that scarce now since it’s all made by machine and I won’t be doing this.
    • There are instructions for sewing on the lapel within the journal. Basically sew the piece to the outer edge of the garment, fold it back, turn the edge under and sew it to the centreish of the garment.
    • It’s unknown if there would have been a decorative neckline.
    • The two front panels extend around the body by 7cm due to the extra inserted panel. This indicates that this garment would have been reasonably close fitting rather than baggy. The ability to move comes from the extra space generated in the back due to the inserts and the splits in the side seams for leg movement.
    • The front panels were seamed to the back panels down to the hip line (might want to make it waist line if I make a version for myself).
    • One fastening inside on the right, one outside on the left and one on the breast on the left.
    • Because the fur lining didn’t extend to where the silk decoration was continued inside the kaftan, a layer of wool wadding was inserted here to maintain the thickness and drape. Worth considering if I make a thicker, lined version.
    • The dyes were poor quality in nature, perhaps indicating that the silk was at the cheaper end of the scale for what it was.
    • It also appears that the weavers were in a hurry (due to tension differences in the material) which again indicates that this could be a cheaper silk than average.
    • Female garments found in this area seem to take inspiration from Eastern Mediterranean culture, while male garments are often based on Eastern or Persian culture.
    • Here’s an example of how it would have been worn – especially around the neck area.Screen Shot 2015-02-04 at 16.03.43

    So then I finished off by taking a quick look through the Vecellio book of costume (from the 16th Century and before) and there’s a remarkably similar garment in the Persian section, illustrating a soldier. Unfortunately Vecellio doesn’t make any comments about the kaftan, only the armour and the horses tack that he would wear. But it does reinforce the idea of kaftans as riding garments. I also really like the way that the front flap is fastened up to the belt. That might have to happen for fighting and stabbing.

    There are also similar garments in the Hungarian and African sections of the book, although they tend to not be asymmetrical closures like this one.

    vecellio-0450

    So what have we learnt…

    • That we have evidence for this kind of garment in the 9th-11th century, the 16th century and in relatively modern times. It’s entirely possible that it extended out way before the 9th century too, making it almost certainly suitable for Odyssey. While I’m adapting this for the Cartheginians it would also be really good for the Persians.
    • That it would have been made for someone who was a rider. Could be a trader or a soldier. The amount of movement makes it quite likely it was a soldier.
    • That it could potentially appear anywhere along the trade route from East to West, but it most likely was a garment that originated in the Near East.
    • It wasn’t an overly high cost garment. It was nicer than ‘basic’, but not extravagant.

    So there we have it. Time to make the pattern pieces!