Casual Cosplay: Dressing like Audrey

A bit of frivolous fun and dressing up in todays post.

I was recently inspired by that Galaxy chocolate add featuring Audrey Hepburn. This idea of bringing classic actresses and actors back to promote products has been around a while but I found that that this recent advert was a little bit special.

Audrey Hepburn has been a classic icon of vintage, film and classic luxurious glamour fans for many many years, so it makes sense to use her iconic image in the chocolate advert. The advert itself has pretty impressive special effects and I love the look of the dress so I was inspired to have a little go of dressing like Audrey myself.

I already had a button down tea dress that looked the right sort of colour however I did not have the chocolate brown accessories so I had to resort ro a black belt and scarf around my neck.

My fringe was already in that slightly shorter style at the time so I pinned my hair up in a pony tail (that wasn't any where as neat as hers...) and swept it to the side to try and emulate her look. Eye make up and lipstick is the very classic 1950s-1960s flick and classic lips that isn't too different from my usual style. I have to say, I am very envious of her eyebrows, they are a lovely shape... I think I will need mine doing professionally again to get their proper shape back :(

I even managed to pinch some vintage shoes from my Grandmother, they are around 30 years old but in pretty good condition and fortunately in my size!

Let me know what you think?

Cosplay Inspirations: London Super Comic Convention 2013 - Costume Preparation

Right. It's been a while since I posted anything on cosplay but I am finally ready to share the details of my latest big project.

I am preparing a costume for London Super Comic Convention - or LSCC.

I went last year and it was a lot of fun so I was very eager to go back. I wrote a round-up of what went on for Den of Geek last year and I'm sure this year will be no less fun. The full line up of artists has just been announced and the con runs over the 23rd and 24th of February  so there is loads of time if you decide you'd like to give a bit of cosplay a go!

It was a great event for fans of comics but it was also a great chance to meet other movers and shakers of the cosplay world. Oh yeah, then there's the autographs and sketches... oh... and the shopping of course! I went to lots of panels and met lots of people and bought lots of stuff. It was awesome and I'm really glad to be going back.

Now then, last year I dressed as Ms. Marvel. Back before she became Captain Marvel and it was great fun to prance around like an idiot wearing a mask, now this time I am stepping up the cosplay. I am dressing as Carol Ferris as a Star Sapphire:

No not that costume...

But the classic version from the 1960s:

That's better.

Progress is going quite well, although I'm having a lot of trouble with the fabric for the white panel. I guess I'll just have to see how it goes.

Bye for now!

Casual Cospaly: The Day I Tried to Dress Like a Crawley

...or more like a servant on their day off.

Before Downton Abbey came on Netflix I was unsure what all the fuss was about (although I was aware of the very pretty clothes). I have always liked those type of period dramas, things like Upstairs Downstairs, and I know I am pretty easily sold on anything set from 1850 to 1960 simply for the clothes alone. Yet somehow I had managed to miss Downton.

I have now seen the light! For me Downton is a sort of Eastenders in the 1910s-1920s with its social drama, scandal and cliffhangers and I have rapidly become one of the Downton obsessed fans we all know and 'love' to listen to...

My favourite character from her portrayal but also her dress sense is the wonderful Lady Cora Crawley. She always seems to have a mix of prim and proper with the ability to bend society rules to do what she feels is morally right.

That, and she has a fantastic collection of hats:

Not that the other ladies don't wear fantastic hats too, or the men:

I'm not sure why, but more than anything the hats are what drive me wild with envy (as you can probably tell)... I think this may be because I cannot wear drop waist styles so the dresses do little for my figure.

Anywho, after the Christmas special this year I was inspired to take a turn about town and attempted to dress in a way inspired by a bit of the post-Edwardian style featured particularly in Season 1 and 2.




My dress is a vintage Laura Ashley from that period in the 1980s where they made amazing sailor dresses however so many of them are drop waisted, I felt lucky to find one that had a defined waist and an amazingly detailed lace collar. Its a new favourite of mine. My hat is vintage but I'm not sure when from but it has a little label in the back that says 'Miss Caroline of California' which I like for some reason.

Then for the journey outside I wore some lace up boots that remind me very much of that turn of the century era. Eventually I'd love to find the perfect vintage coat to wear with an outfit like this but as of yet I haven't spotted one - let me know if you have any recommendations of places to look for one :)

Dress - Vintage Laura Ashley

Hat - Vintage Miss Caroline

Coat - Vintage Monsoon

Boots - M&S

Anywho, what a show! If you've not seen it yet I highly recommend checking it out.

Cosplay Inspirations: V&A Hollywood Camera App

I think by now it can be considered that the V&A Hollywood Costume exhibition is a big hit.

Now, I can't speak from personal experience as I have still yet to go (I'm hoping to sneak a visit after I've submitted my thesis) but everyone I know that's has been says it is an excellent exhibition.

Anywho, my mum went around a month ago and she came back with an app for me.

The V&A Hollywood Camera is a little bit of fluff that allows you to 'wear' various costumes from the exhibit. The style of the app is a camera screen that you can shoot or upload photographs to and then superimpose the costumes over the top of the photo (the interface isn't unlike Instagram to be honest). The costumes are fully re-sizable and can be rotated, which is great, however they can't be turned on their axis meaning that all photographs used must be taken straight on.

This is okay if you are posing for pictures directly, but if you thought you'd like to Hollywood-ise all your Facebook pictures this probably isn't the app for you.

I had lots of fun Hollywood-ising photos for my blog but the results varied enormously and in the end the best shots came from a photo that was simply posed against a plain background. Unfortunately this sort of detracts from the fun a little.

Having said that I have wanted to know how I would look in Keira Knightly's Anna Karenina outfit for some time - and now I know!

The selection of costumes is split between male and female so you can equally Hollywood-ise brothers, sisters, husbands or mothers - you know they'd love to dress as Heath Ledger from Brokeback Mountain!

I tried putting a Blues Brothers outfit over Mr Fancy but I'm not sure he was too pleased with the results...

Tree are 17 costumes to choose from and each costume has a little bit of info to tell you about the costumes origin and who wore it too.

Maria 'Angel' Barker - Angel & Karen - Out of Africa

Queen Elizabeth I - Elizabeth: the Golden Age & Pu Yi - The Last Emperor

Judy Barton - Vertigo & Viola - Shakespeare in Love

To be honest there is a lot of scope for this app to be regularly updated with new costumes from the exhibit but I don't get the impression that will happen. At 69p it's not bad value and its something you can play with with almost every new person you meet and as far as souvenirs go, 69p is exceptionally cheap.

There are a few things that could make this app a bit more versatile but for the price it's okay, a bit of photoshopping will help an awful lot too! It makes for nice easy costume pictures which always makes me happy!

Did you make it to the V&A Hollywood Costume Exhibition? If so what did you think?

Casual Cosplay: Audrey from Twin Peaks

I only recently became drawn into weird world of David Lynch's Twin Peaks. Mr. Fancy subscribed to Netflix recently and he suggested that I watch it, and to be honest I was intrigued by all the fuss around it (I also tend to think young Kyle Maclachlan is a bit if a damn fine cup of coffee but that is really beside the point).

Upon watching the show I was instantly drawn to the character of Audrey. The saucy teenager, who repeatedly tempts the good hearted Agent Cooper, has impeccable style even in that nightmare period that was the early 1990s.

With her retro glamour hair and make up and her classic outfit choices she makes for a fantastic style inspiration.

All images are property of Twin Peaks 

So one cold day I decided to dress in an Audrey inspired manner.

I have finally lost enough weight that I can get into my vintage plaid (or tartan) green skirt which was exciting enough but when paired with a little boat neck sweater and a nice coat things were starting to seem quite Audrey.

I decided to emulate this look a little further by pinning my hair into a sort of bob. With varying degrees of success but I think you get the idea.

Now this was just an inspired by outfit not an outright cosplay. To change this I would have curled my hair in advance before pinning it up worn a white sweater and added some black and white brogues or bowling shoes.

But all I'm all I don't think it was a bad effort.

Cosplay Inspirations: Ms Marvel

In a months time on the 25^th-26^th of February I’ll be reporting for Den of Geek from London Super Comic Con!

Alongside queuing to get my comics signed by some of the UK and US’ leading writers and artists - including Stan Lee!!! I’ll also be taking pictures, watching panels and dressing as Ms. Marvel.

Ms. Marvel as drawn by Sana Takeda

This was an interesting choice for me. Ms. Marvel is one of the few Marvel books I have read and I really love the art of Sana Takeda on the late runs of her more recent outing.

Plus I already had the blonde wig so that went some way to help make the decision for me. 

This is the closest I have come in a while to vastly modifying a costume, and will require sewing a lightning bolt on to a black t-shirt and making the red sash for my waist.

I’ll post photos of the progress nearer the time.

Cosplay Inspirations: Beetlejuice

Something a little bit different again today. I am trying to schedule more regular posts and come up with a few regular features- this is one of them :D

Movie Dresscapades, a.k.a. movies you should watch if only for fancy dress/cosplay inspiration or fantastic and visually stunning costuming.

This month its Halloween (in case you’ve not realised) so I decided to pick something themely.

Screen Dresscapades: Beetlejuice

Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice is a movie that I have watched on a fairly regular basis since I was very young (probably a little too young if I’m honest- but that’s what you get when you have a Dad that likes that kind of thing and a Mum that occasionally worked night shift on a Friday). It has a very odd mix of comedy, horror, sexual innuendo and bizarre visuals that over the years Tim Burton has become known for.

The plot premise is simple- a couple, Adam and Barbra, move into their small town dream house, accidentally die before they ever get to really live in it and are doomed to spend the rest of their lives haunting the dwelling- so far so good...ish. What complicates the matter is when the ‘outrageous’ designer Delia, her husband Charles and their daughter Lydia move into the house and start to make some changes. The couple then hire Beetlejuice, a striped suit clad spectre, to help them haunt the family away.

Big hair + big clothes = 80s

Beetlejuice himself is played by Michael Keaton, in his best role (in my opinion), he is a wonderful mix of crude troublemaker and sarcastic guide to the couple and Keaton gives a good physical, as well as verbal performance and is on cue with the laughs throughout.

Don't forget to wear your smile

Spooky yet stylish

Although Keaton’s look is a bit gouhlish, it is very iconic- meaning it is easy to get the look with minimal effort. The key is to be able to find the stripy suit (there are some inexpensive options on eBay), once you have that some white facepaint, eyemakeup and hairgel is all you really need to complete the look.

Another great look in this film is that of Lydia (played by Winona Ryder) the 80s goth inspired look is great to emulate, with the pale face, black clothes, giant hat and of course, a camera! Lydia has the great bonus of the red wedding dress from

the final scenes of the movie too.

Gothic-Lolita Chic

 The costume inspiration doesn’t end there either, there’s the huge hair and 80s dresses of Geena Davis, the plaid shirt stylings of Alec Baldwin, the hoard of dead football players among many others!

Of course you can always just go with the Sandworm… but I have no idea how you’d go about that- some kind of sock puppet I’d expect. Check out this one in particular!

In fact, this film has so much fodder for fancy dress that one of my favourite Brighton based fancy dress events Trailer Trash opened its doors at the Komedia with a cabaret club night based on this very film. (On a side note Trailer Trash is one of my favourite excuses to dress up, as anyone who has read any Fancy Dresscapades will be able to tell, and they have had many events each with a cult movie theme).

Costume Gem

My favourite possible costume in this movie is that of the dead-receptionist-beauty-queen. She wears a bright red dress, with orangy-red hair and has magnificent green skin! Quite the challenge for any fancy dresser!

I  wonder if the green skin was what got her noticed in that beauty pagent?

 Trailer Trash organiser and arial artiste Miss Kitty Peels pulled off this look with ease at the event in March 2009- check her out here! All I can say is that when it comes to being a girls best friend, body paint is right up there with diamonds…

Final Verdict

On a final note, although it’s a bit of a weird film, Beetlejuice is actually a very entertaining movie, and it’s filled with fancy dress fodder- definitely a good choice for any up-and-coming dresscapade.

So that’s it for now then.

Hopefully after a few more posts I’ll have quite a little catalogue for inspiration.

Happy Dresscapades!

Cosplay Inspiratons: Canaries, Cats and Cosplay

Hello readers!

So its been a little while since last I updated, with work *yawn* commitments, family commitments and various other, erm, commitments… lets just say August was a tough month.

But enough about that, it is now September which means one thing:

HALLOWEEN PREPERATION!

Halloween is the one time of year when the ghouls and goblins come out, but also the cats, witches, nurses and cowboys it is arguably the only time of year when everyone feels okay to go out and wear a costume. As such, to those of us who are enthusiasts for a bit of costuming it’s a big event.

Added to this is that the European Cosplay Championship finals are taking place at Octobers (28-30^th) MCM Expo in London! Although I’m not entering (I am no where near that standard, and since I don't make the costumes myself I don't consider myself a Cosplayer) I will be attending the Expo and I am hoping to report on the event like I did for the qualifiers held in May this year (Article...).

The MCM Expo is probably the lead event in the country for Cosplayers and the last time I attended my costume was a somewhat safe choice as I wasn’t sure what to expect. This time I am planning something a bit more out there:

The Black Canary

Black Canary

 

Canary Yellow Hair

Black Canary is a popular character from DC Comics Birds of Prey (an excellent series BTW, especially those written by Gail Simone). Her costume comprises of a black body suit, cropped jacket, fishnets, boots and a blonde wig, and just so you know I’ve already bought the wig ;)

I think this costume is fairly simple, but should be quite effective especially for a crowd of geeks and comics fans. I’ll update on how the costume comes along later.

Now for Halloween specifically, I have chosen something a little more in keeping with the theme and am going to dress as Catwoman. I know Catwoman isn’t the most original outfit, but hey, I already had the catsuit!

Obviously there are many guises and variations on Selina Kyle, and I have chosen to go with a retro 60s Batman version in the style of Julie Newmar. This is mainly in honour of Anne Hathaway’s styling in the released photos for 'The Dark Knight Rises' as the long hair and eye mask seem to be closer to the 60s version than the goggles and pixie crop of the current comic incarnation.

Julie Newmar's catwoman-yes I'm on a diet now...

This costume compromises of the catsuit, whip, cat ears, eye mask, and of course incrediably 60s hair. I anticipate the hair to be quite a challenge, but I have 6 weeks to practice so hopefully on the day it will look great.

Now who has a Halloween party for me to wear it to?!

I’m plotting a few articles for the up-and-coming  month of fancy dress, including my top tips to choosing and compiling a costume!

That’s it for now.

Happy Dresscapades!

(P.s. All images belong to their respective owners)