Final: Part III

We had our fashion show this past week and here is how my costume turned out!

I ended up changing my jumpsuit concept completely, and went for high-waisted pants with elastic waist and ankle bands to create a baggy, genie-pant look. I made a white, short sleeved top with a high-low peplum, and paired it with a gold scarf that could be worn as a hood as well. I wore mint colored heels to match my pants and to make my character a little more classy. I braided my hair to the side, and added some bangles, rings, and earrings.




My costume turned out TOTALLY different than I expected, but considering my plan got ripped up at the beginning when I couldn't find fabric, I'm fairly pleased. I really wanted to make a flowy, elegant jumpsuit that I could wear again! I was unhappy with the fabric I had to use for my pants, but I don't think they look TOO much like pajamas. My shirt turned out well, except my sleeves got a little messy during the sewing process. I will probably fix them, and then add the shirt to my normal wardrobe!

Overall, I think I was able to successfully portray a modern version of princess Jasmine.

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Costume Spotlight: Jurassic World Trailer

I have always been completely TERRIFIED of Jurassic Park...so why not do a costume critique on the trailer for the new movie coming out?
Here is the link if you'd like to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFinNxS5KN4

I wanted to look at the two main characters. Chris Pratt's character seems like an adventurous guy who is actually against all of the dinosaur creation experiments. Even though he doesn't really like it, he still stays around to protect the place and is kind of the hero figure. He wears a blue button-up shirt, and a brown, leathery vest. I think these clothes portray him as a somewhat tour guide, wilderness expert. He seems like the normal, safari guy that ends up saving the day.

Bryce Dallas Howard plays a scientist who has a lot of knowledge about the experimentation and
seems very proud of her work. To her, creating dinosaurs is something to be happy about; she isn't the bad guy. Bryce is dressed in very light colors. One specific costume resembles a lab coat, but is more of a white, flowy dress with a collar. As her character progresses through the trailer, her costumes are a little less put together, and more gray in color, as she realizes she might have made a mistake in the lab and needs to help fix it.

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Final: Part II

I have finished my pants! I was hoping to have enough fabric to make a whole jumpsuit, but luckily I have a shirt the exact color of the pants I made. I plan on just wear that shirt underneath.

I bought gold jewelry, and tried on everything I have so far today. My pants were left very long on purpose, but I think I look a little too groovy; I plan on hemming the pants and adding elastic at the ankles! I also think I need too add another piece of clothing. I might try to find a gold shirt, or add a cardigan, just so I don't look so blue.

I am somewhat disappointed in my fabric. My costume looks more like Disney Princess sleepwear, but I guess that's okay. I originally wanted to make something I can wear again, but I think this might turn into a one-time thing :/

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Final: Part I

For my final project I have decided to make a costume based off of the Disney Princess, Jasmine. I plan to incorporate her into the television show Once Upon a Time, and want to dress her in a more modern version of herself. Thanks to Ingrid for telling me about DisneyBound! I have decided to make a mint-colored jumpsuit because it follows the style of her genie pants and crop top. I am basically making her current costume into a one piece suit, that doesn't show as much skin.

FABRIC! ...has been a pain in the butt. I originally wanted to find a flowy-knit, and even a chiffon overlay, just something to give lots of movement and class. After looking in Honolulu and Kaneohe, I haven't been able to find ANYTHING. I figured since the color is pretty popular now there would be at least a few bolts, but nope! Luckily I was able to find a mint colored stretchy knit fabric when we were sorting through donations in the costume shop. While the fabric isn't exactly what I wanted, I think I can still style it to be more classy than pajama-like...hopefully...

I found a pattern in the costume shop that I planned on using for my jumpsuit! I was able to trace my size onto pattern paper, and had planned on sewing a trial run without interfacing, BUT I also didn't purchase interfacing (mainly because I got discouraged from not finding the blue fabric I wanted, so I kind of gave up and went back to enjoying my Thanksgiving xD). Since I will be using the stretchy mint fabric, I actually do not have enough to follow the pattern I found. I think the best idea, and what I'm more familiar with, would be to use a jumpsuit I already have (and youtube) as a guide and make my own pattern.

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Critique of the Week: Vampire Diaries

I've surprised myself a lot this semester with the shows and movies I've watched for my critiques. I typically don't go for the super girly, full of drama and hot guys kind of shows, but I'm running out of options on Netflix, and my sister & brother-in-law insisted I watch, so Vampire Diaries it is! (and I can actually get my husband to watch this one with me xD)

The first thing I noticed about the costumes for Season 1 of this show is that it was DEFINITELY filmed in 2009. The costumes are very typical '09 high school student. At the time they would have been modern, and there are many fads that jog my high school memory (at least for the female characters).

The girls wear basically normal clothes; the main character Elena wears lots of shirts with colored camisoles underneath, something I remember being "in" in high school. She also layers a lot, using jackets. The main thing I noticed was her pants! This is the time when skinny jeans were making a come back but not EVERYONE wore them. She actually wears a lot of flared-leg pants with the horrible embellished butt-pockets (I guess they don't look as bad when you have a tiny butt). I did notice one of her friends wearing colored boot-cut jeans. It's just kind of interesting that in 2014 I view their clothing as costumes, when if I was watching this show in 2009, their clothes would have just been normal to me.

There were also a few flashbacks of Damon and Stephen from when they lived in the 1800's. I thought their costumes were done well with the open, flowy shirts and suspenders. I would probably say the costuming for these parts of the show is just okay. The present day clothing helps with the story, but their flashback attire occasionally looks a little cheesy and like they're playing dress-up....not super believable.
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Costume Spotlight: Public Enemies

FALSE ADVERTISING!

I decided to watch Public Enemies, costumed by Colleen Atwood! I really loved the 30's period costumes and wanted to do my costume critique on the character Billie. She was the love interest of the main character and infamous bank robber, John Dillinger. Judging by her movie poster, I figured her costumes would be very extravagant, but she actually dressed a lot more simple and elegant.




The first time we see Billie, she is wearing a red dress. The knot/ruching on the front of her dress and the sleeves looked very 1930's. I thought her dress looked pretty classy, she later reveals that it only cost $3. I figured she would transform into the movie star in the promotion poster later in the film, but all of her remaining costumes were very simple.

I really liked this costume. The long, white collar in the front, and buttons on her under shirt fit the period well. She looks very business-like, but also sophisticated.

Her costumes fit her personality well. The fur shawl she wore was actually a gift from John Dillinger. When she wore it, there was a contrast between her new, expensive fur piece (her life with a rich bank robber) and her usually plain dresses (her normal life; her father was French and her mother an Indian, so she was low on the status meter).

Billie's character was extremely important for John's character development, but I wish they would have given her more screen time so she could have developed more as a character herself. Overall, it wasn't a terrible movie.

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Play Time!

Here is my long-overdue blog post about One Tattered Angel!

I was able to attend the final dress rehearsal and I was really lucky because most of the kinks had already been worked out. I was super nervous manning stage left all by myself so I studied over the script, the costume changes, and basically memorized the costume plot for my side so I could be ready. Many of the characters were in charge of dressing themselves, but the two main characters, Kathy and Blaine, had SO many quick changes that the costume crew had to help out. I asked the actors for Kathy and Blaine if they wanted me to hang their costumes in a specific place for easy access or to just hold them up, and they both wanted me to just hand them their costume or even help dress them. I waited backstage with the script for the show to start! I followed the script very closely and would get the costumes off the rack during the middle of the scene before they were needed. When both actors exited stage left, it was easier to hand Blaine his shirt and then help Kathy put her dress/pieces on. When only one actor exited stage left, I was able to be prepared for them to just step right into their next costume. The first dress rehearsal went GREAT! There were only a few things that needed fixing: Kathy's purple sweater somehow started on stage right so it missed it's debut, Blaine removed his blazer on stage and then put it back on himself (so of course I freaked out when it didn't show up on stage left for him to put on), and you can't walk behind the screen even if it is faster to run things back and forth during the quick intermission (thaaaat's why there was a huge fence made of furniture and random things..). After the rehearsal I felt really good about helping backstage opening night!

Thursday was opening night, changes to our costume plot had been fixed thanks to Ingrid and Sister Dooley, and everything was ready! Brother Ferre read us a really touching letter from the author of One Tattered Angel (also the real-life father, Blaine Yorgason), and it made me feel grateful I was able to help bring his family's story to life! ...Since there were 3 costume crew members to help, I decided to start on stage left for Act I and then move to stage right for Act II. Everything went really smoothly except Kathy's purple dress...I knew Kimmy would be coming off stage and had about 5 seconds to put a whole different dress on, so I had the neck hole open for her ready to put on. She ended up diving into the dress, neck, arms, and all, into the head hole. Then I asked her "How can you put your sleeves on?!!?", so after struggling to get her arms through, the dress came off and we tried again ahahahaha. It worked out, and I'm just grateful Blaine's actor knew to not start without her! I feel like opening night went really well for costuming!

FINALLY GOT MY NAME IN A PROGRAM

I was also able to come watch the play Friday night. It was nice to see our work with costumes and to actually watch the play instead of listening. It turned out really well, and was a very sweet story.

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Costume Spotlight: Interstellar (Trailer)

I wasn't planning on ever critiquing a trailer, but when I watched this one for Interstellar there were things I noticed just from this short clip that I could blog about!

Here is the trailer:

I main character I noticed was the daughter, Murph. Her costume as her younger self was very tomboy-like, she wore a lot of baggy t-shirts and a wind breaker. She wore her hair up, which is what made me notice her future self further along in the trailer. At 1:35 another woman appears (who I assumed was Murph, and after IMDbing it, her character does have multiple actresses). The older Murph also has her hair pulled back, but one key costume change is that she appears to be wearing her father's brown jacket pictured earlier in the trailer!!! Assuming from the trailer, her father has been gone for a LONG time so of course she would hold on to something he left behind.
After watching the trailer again, I didn't noticed a mother figure or even a stable love interest for Murph's father. This could explain why Murph doesn't dress very girly, and even wears clothes similar to her brother. All of their costumes are very simple, they don't distract from the plot, and help tell the story very well. I kind of want to watch the whole movie now :)

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Costume Spotlight: Heidi Klum

I had planned on roaming around Laie to find a nice costume to critique, but ended up staying in TVA playing poker on Halloween, so for my costume critique I chose Heidi Klum. Heidi is a model, fashion designer, tv host, and basically one of the coolest ladies in the world. Every year for Halloween she has an amazing costume.

Check them all out here: http://www.eonline.com/photos/6449/heidi-klum-s-halloween-costumes/327403 

This year she was a butterfly...but like a REAL butterfly. I love how she took her costume to the next level with not only huge wings and a body suit, but actually having her mask plastered to her face.

Click here for more progress pictures: http://www.eonline.com/news/594035/heidi-klum-talks-halloween-2014-butterfly-costume-kids-reactions-see-photos

Her arms and chest were painted blue, and black contour lines were added. The rest of her body is covered by a tight sequined suit (probably taped onto her chest area). Her wings are colorful and transparent, with sequined, fuzzy black straps holding them on her back. Her shoes just look like black, chunky, wedges which look a little plain with the rest of her costume, but definitely still work. I think it's really cool to see a woman so notorious for her fashion sense know how to just dress up crazy and have fun!
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Buttons and Shoes

For Lab this week I realized that we really didn't have ANY shoes for the actors to wear! None of them had been trying on shoes with their costumes, and I wasn't sure who was bringing their own shoes. I decided to write down the sizes of the actresses shoes we would need for the play and went upstairs to check for more shoes. I was able to find 4 pairs and hopefully they will fit the ladies! Lizzy tried on her nurse shoes, and the actress playing Tami also found a pair that fit.

After shoes, I researched costume ideas for my final project. I have SO many costumes I want to make! Originally I wanted to make a costume that I would be able to wear normally, like sew my own peplum dress or something more wearable. Then I remembered how much I love making crazy video game and comic book character costumes. Then Ingrid mentioned the "disneybound" tag on Pinterest which is full of Disney character costumes turned into real, modern clothes. I'm completely torn for my final project!!! I have way too many ideas.

For the remainder of my Lab hours, I made buttons for Dan Yorgason's Led Zeppelin pull-over jacket. I thought it would be funny to make a ghost busters pin. I'm pretty sure it will be too noticeable on stage, BUT I was proud of myself for successfully painting with fingernail polish.

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Costume Spotlight: Hawkgirl

For my costume critique this weekend I decided to look at Hawkgirl's costume from the Justice League TV series. Her character was originally created by Gardner Fox and Dennis Neville, but Sheldon Moldoff drew the first image of Hawkgirl in costume in the 1940's. Her animation has changed over the years, but her appearance has stayed relatively the same. Animated by Bruce Timm for the Justice League series, Hawkgirl does change her costume a few times throughout the show. Usually her costumes consist of tight clothing, a helmet with a bird-like appearance, artificial wings, and a belt.  She also always carries her mace with her as a powerful weapon. Her costume was designed with a typical superhero feel with the spandex-like clothing, mask, and colorful fabrics. Her costume seems to be a yellow and red leotard; it would make the most sense for this to be one piece. I don't think her top is sleeveless for function, but mainly just so she looks more feminine and attractive. Her belt not only makes her look super skinny and fashionable, but also allows her to fly. Her mask not only hides her identity when needed, but represents her origins from Thanagar.

And so of course I need to put in a short plug for my husbands and I's Halloween costumes, made in under 24 hours out of cardboard, paper, give and take items, and my brother-in-law's socks. Woohoo! ------------------------------------->

Me and my foxy twin.

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Bleaching, Go-Backs, and Planning

For Lab this week, Eseta and I bleached the canvas shoes! Instead of bleaching them all, we did a size 7, 8, and 9. It didn't seem like we used enough bleach, but one of the pairs of shoes looked a little better after soaking for an hour. Every time I've ever bleached my Keds they always end up yellow and gross...I think if we wash them and scrub them a little, they'll look just fine on stage.

Nhil, Eseta, and I took a bunch of the costumes we aren't using anymore back to the costume shop. After putting them away, Nhil and I looked for clothes for Kevin Brady (I can't remember his character's name). Ingrid said to go for "business casual" so we pulled a pair of khaki pants, a light blue button-up shirt, a few yellow/tan plaid-ish vests, and a pair of plaid pants!!! I don't have a picture, but I think they're the perfect amount of business casual cheesy for his character ;D

I was also able to finish sewing the velcro on Kathy's purple dress, and helped Ingrid label some of the costumes we finished. We worked on tagging Travis and Dan's costumes, and decided we needed to find more Travis and Michelle options.

I blocked my face just for you Nhil, muahahaha

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