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Zechs Merquise
I made this costume for myself to wear at an anime convention. It is a recreation of the uniform worn by Zechs Merquise in the anime Gundam Wing. The coat is made of polyester, which resists wrinkles and hangs beautifully. I created the epaulettes on the shoulders from an inner layer of wool felt with piping details, and covered them with gold quilter’s lame. I hand-stitched all of the gold ribbon details onto the epaulettes. I made the belt buckle from aluminum bracelet blanks, which I cut with tin snips and glued together. The boots are actually spats made of stretch vinyl that meet the under boot at the ankle. They have wires inserted into the upper flaps to keep them rigid. The pants are a stretch cotton twill, and the under shirt is polyester.
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Dungeon Master
I made this costume for a gigantic fan of the 1980's Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. My client wanted his costume to be very accurate to the show, so he had the metal studs for the mantle machined, and the glass gem for the necklace custom-cut by professional manufacturers. This costume consists of a linen under robe, a cotton velvet tabard, a duchess satin over robe, and a cotton velvet mantle. I custom dyed the under robe linen and the mantle velvet with the same color dye so they would match. I also custom dyed the velvet for the tabard to match the existing color of the duchess satin of the over robe. It took several dye baths to get it just right. I made all of the gold edging from a fabric that resembled gold leaf, and I made the necklace from veg-tanned leather. Since the gem that my client provided was clear, I attached a white backing onto it by running some heavy white cardstock through a sticker-maker, and then sticking it on the back of the gem.
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Dungeons and Dragons- Eric the Cavalier
This costume is a recreation from the 1980’s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. My friends and I are all fans of the series, and thought it would be a lot of fun to dress as the characters at our local Renaissance Faire. I created all of the costumes, and my good friend Brian Healy created all of the props and weapons. This Eric the Cavalier costume was the most complicated of the entire group to make. I used blue metallic stretch denim to create the “scale mail” shirt and leggings. The pleated tunic is made of cotton poplin, and is worn over a plastic breastplate (created by Brian Healy) to achieve the correct shape. I made the gauntlets out of cotton poplin with a wool felt interlining, and attached them to yellow leather gloves at the wrist. The cape is made of linen, and is held in place at the shoulders by way of snaps that are located on the undersides of the shoulder discs, and on the breastplate that is worn under the tunic. There are buttonhole slits in the tunic to allow the snaps to show though. The armor and shield are made of vacuum-formed plastic, and were made by Brian Healy. The outer edge of the shield is trimmed in Livewire, which glows white at the flip of a switch!
Dungeons and Dragons- Hank the Ranger
This costume is a recreation from the 1980’s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. My friends and I are all fans of the series, and thought it would be a lot of fun to dress as the characters at our local Renaissance Faire. I created all of the costumes, and my good friend Brian Healy created all of the props and weapons. This Hank the Ranger consists of cotton rib knit leggings, a cuff-sleeved cotton shirt with a hood made of rib knit, and a sleeveless tunic and mantle made of suede with large metal studs. The suede pieces are lined in cotton and trimmed with cotton bias. The boots are a pair of inexpensive costume boots that I altered by replacing the side closures with heavy-duty snaps, and sewing a suede upper flap to match the leather tunic. The bow was hand-carved by Brian Healy out of Cyprus wood. The bowstring is made of Livewire, which glows yellow at the flip of a switch!
Dungeons and Dragons- Presto the Wizard
This costume is a recreation from the 1980’s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. My friends and I are all fans of the series, and thought it would be a lot of fun to dress as the characters at our local Renaissance Faire. I created all of the costumes, and my good friend Brian Healy created all of the props and weapons. This Presto costume is made of faux linen, with a long-sleeved cotton knit shirt underneath, as well as matching knit leggings. The sash and pouch are made of suedecloth. The hat is made of felt, with a yellow satin lining for contrast. I deliberately made the hat out of a slightly different fabric from the robe to make it stand out, since in the TV show it is Presto’s magic weapon. The boots were altered from a pair of taller ones to sit at the ankle with a cuff, and painted green to match the costume.
Dungeons and Dragons- Sheila the Thief
This costume is a recreation from the 1980’s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. My friends and I are all fans of the series, and thought it would be a lot of fun to dress as the characters at our local Renaissance Faire. I created all of the costumes, and my good friend Brian Healy created all of the props and weapons. This Sheila costume has a silk noil dress with cuffed short sleeves. I self-lined the dress to prevent a visual hemline from showing on the bottom of the skirt. The sash is made of linen, and laces up the back. I made the cloak from crepe-backed satin, and lined the hood in cotton. This fabric hangs beautifully, and has just the right amount of sparkle to portray the “magic” aspect of her cloak. I made the thigh high boots by sewing leather into a boot spat that fit perfectly over a pair of loafers. I then glued the spat permanently to the under shoes, and hand stitched around the entire lower edge for a finished look. The castle tops on the upper edge of the boots are made of suede.
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Weinerlicious Girl
This costume is a recreation of a character from the TV show “Chuck”. My client planned to wear it at DragonCon 2009. The skirt is made from a cotton calico, with a small polka dot print. It has a large ruffle at the bottom, which is accented by lace that circles the skirt. The blouse is made of cotton broadcloth, and has an elastic neckline, baby-doll sleeves, and buttons down the center front. The waist cincher is made of satin, and lined in 2 layers of cotton canvas. It has steel boning for support. I made the name badge by creating the image digitally, and then printing it out and using decoupage to affix it to a plastic backing.
Click for More PhotosDumbledore
This costume is a recreation from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It is without a doubt one of the most complicated things I have ever made! It is comprised of three parts- a long-sleeved under robe, a matching middle robe, and a lighter outer robe. The inner robe is made of silk ottoman, with a jacquard yoke. I custom-dyed the silk ottoman, the yoke fabric, the striped hand-made cording, and the brush trim at the bottom of the yoke. All of the embroidery on the yoke and sleeves was custom-digitized. The medallion on the chest is made of pleated cotton, with trimmed details. The middle robe is made of silk twill, which I dyed to match the inner silk ottoman. It has a pointed back drape, with hand-painted details. It is entirely edged in custom-dyed cotton brush trim. The front fastens with a gold ball and toggle set. The outer-most robe is made of custom-dyed silk noil. It is the same design as the middle robe, but features hand-painted details on the front edges and back hem. My client chose all of the fabrics and colors for this project.
Click for More PhotosDumbledore Hat
This hat was made to accompany the Dumbledore costume featured above. It is made of custom-dyed cotton jacquard. Two layers of wide trim decorate the band, as well as hand-sewn glass rhinestones and glass bugle beads. The top features a fancy medallion with two tassels. I hand-painted the bead cones on the tassels with gold dye, and hand-made the tassels to fit the bead cones.
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Darkseid Supergirl
This costume is a recreation from a comic book in which Supergirl turns evil and teams up with the villain Darkseid. There are two versions of this costume- the original comic book version, and a simplified animated version. My client and I discussed both versions, and combined the elements she liked from each one to create the final costume design. The pants are made of spandex, with black Swarovski rhinestone accents. I covered a bra with leather-look spandex, and added eyelets and the cape attachment pieces. The cape is made of holographic spandex. I used flesh-toned spandex in-between leather-look spandex to create the armbands, since they had to be able to carry the weight of the cape, yet still look like three separate black straps on each arm. The necklace is made of acrylic “tooth” pieces, with hand-sculpted resin caps and a hand-sculpted resin center bead. The spike pieces that hang from the forearms are made of latex-covered foam, and hang from gathered spandex straps.
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Star Wars- Padme Arena Outfit
This costume is a reproduction of Padme's outfit from the arena scene in Star Wars Episode 2. The pants and shirt are made of spandex, and feature an inset pintucked panel on the upper chest of the shirt, and unusual seaming details. The cloak is made of upholstery chenille, and the shin guards over the boots are made of leather. I sculpted the gun holster from sculptor's resin, and lined it with spandex so that it would not scratch the gun. The belt and belt pouches are made of leather, and the pouches have hidden magnetic closures. The arm bands are made of aluminum plates, which I affixed to a wide elastic base.
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Abel Nightroad
This costume is a recreation of the costume worn by the character Abel Nightroad from the anime Trinity Blood. I made all of the fabric layers, and my good friend Brian Healy made the shoulder armor. It has a priest's cassock, cape, and stole; plus two belts, gloves, and brass neck and wrist cuff pieces. The cassock and cape are made of cotton twill, and the stole is made of satin. All of the metal decorative elements are made of brass. The cassock buttons up the front with tiny hidden buttons. The bottom hem of the cape is decorated with a two-layer appliqué made of shantung satin. I turned the fabric 90 degrees for one of the layers of the appliqué for a three-dimensional effect. The stole has a bright red appliqué of shantung satin, which is embellished with gold trim. I custom silk-screened the red crosses onto the cotton gloves. The armor is made of vacuum-formed plastic, which was custom-sculpted and painted.