RB's Motivation: AMKE Elsaba cape/dress !!

Alright giant mass post for AMKE in the next few updates so we'll go chronological order and start with Elsaba which I wore for Friday. There is so much that went into prep for this con that I can only break down into certain parts. I worked my ass off in last two weeks before AMKE thanks to a refund check I splurged on a sewing machine that WORKED FUCKING MAGIC. I had no idea I would even get a refund check and let me a tell you I would not have been able to finish this outfit if not for it. I was delusional to have thought I would have been able to do so

So onto it then!! This is the fabric I used for the cape to start, I didn't really have enough but I was in no place to buy anymore seeing as the closest michaels and joannes are waaaay too far by bus now. 

But I tried to make my own pattern using math. By taking a rectangle of fabric to turn it into a cape, just cut the part into more diagonal shapes. It kind of worked but I cut too many shapes and so the effect didn't make much of a different

Follow this pattern people, unlike me who didn't take advantage of a dramatic cut.

SO then I sewed all the pieces together to get this which was a much better outcome than I thought seeing it laid out on the floor. This was just the first layer for sure I wasn't even thinking of how to attach it yet just MORE DRAMA  MORE FLOW MORE DIVA.

But this was a hybrid of the sparkly web fabric and more wrinkly soft veiny fabric. Hard to describe and unfortunately hard to photograph. it starched more and was much longer so i just sewed that on without any cutting unlike the web fabric

Next was handling the details of the shirt. I made the shirt myself so it was kind of hard to deal with, but it worked in the way it was form fitted in the sleeves like I needed and stretched everywhere else thanks to the beautiful mesh fabric a great great great Joannes fabric employee directed me too. I had so much excess for my tiny size too 

I based the shirt pattern off of an existing compression shirt and went from there. This is the front and I used a lot of left over fabric for details and improvising like my prom fabric seen in the ruby skirt and shirt details. What can I say I had a lot of it leftover and it's kind of become a signature thing so far.

I made use of the sewing lines from the machine to try and incorporate some of the nordic designs in Elsa's shirt as well as the feel of Elphaba. Also my favorite part as the leftover lace for the shoulders my roommate gave me from her own leftover school project. Since I chose to boost the neckline, for body paint coverage reasons as well as Elphaba reasons I lost the off the shoulder effect of the lines on Elsa's design and had to improvise with this lace aspect. I was feeling pretty unsure about the shirt UNTIL I put on the lace and everything else came together much more

Also a very bad picture of the back. 

A lot of the reference I used here. I looked at concept art a lot because the artist would know exactly the motions I am going through. 

Also there are never enough cape references to look at. But the big thing was taking all these details and translating them into Elphaba's style and colors, and then into what I had on me

So I remembered I cut up a shirt for a Pearl reference and pattern. This was the design that was on it. It was one of those sheert top, peplum shirts sold at Body central on the clearance rack. I cut it down to the essentials and knew this thing would come in handy. 

I think the design really screams flying monkey, wicked and further more elphaba's glamour

So here's a giant finished result. The rest really was just a lot of layering and improvising on the train and cape so it goes without saying, what is best to your idea. It was grueling to say the least. I actually put myself into decommission and had to slow down for school because I puked in class after this was all done.

But also I decided to attach the train to the shirt permanently. As I knew people were going to step on my train, I didn't want to deal with a sloppy velcro job. It made the costume pretty hard to put on, almost got stuck at the con but very much once it's on, it's second skin which I do enjoy.

ALso I very loosely sewed the symbol onto the back of the shirt by the top meshing and none at the bottom so that way the peplum prt would flow as much as possible

Also you can see the peplum cam out so much I was able to sew it to the fronts I could solve a lot of the hanging parts of the train I thought were messy edges

I used the very last bit of the red lace prom fabric to do a dripping ascent that mirrors the long snowflake in elsa's cape. I still think it stands out way too much compared to the blunt black peplum  so I might find more black mesh to go over or just with black fabric paint wash. I still like the tear and rip effect though.

Look at that sparkle glitter!!

Speaking of fabric paint. I wanted the symbol to pop more so I went in the red and watered it down slightly

It got kind of a rustic feel which while I like I might one day go in and amplify more with jewels or something else in the future

Also it fit very well when the whole thing was put on. It goes, skirt, leggings (yep can't be seen but I was wearing green leggings), shirt +cape, and then corset to seal everything inside. 

No one recognized me much but I was still so happy with the result cuz it was comfy, workable, and I felt fucking fabulous with this train.

I know for sure I want to put a high slit into the skirt to show off those leggings and get the full diva effect.

-RB out

RB's motivation: I'M WIGGIN OUT BRO jk puns but seriously never again

 Well I am never trusting Mallats again. Seriously wasted 50$ on wigs I can NOT use and can not return AT AT ALL. I know I should have tested out these things and thought more on my decision. But then I almost feel like they should have helped me make my decisions better like, "oh what costume are you putting together? Don't buy this then" They didn't exactly steal my money but ya know, no returns wtf.

Anyway here they are. I wanted to get a wig for Fluttershy and Notepad and I did not get them

 This one looked promising, much shorter than I expected but I thought okay, 32$ should get somewhere

 See and it looked like nice quality for a skin piece in the netting and extra volume around the head

And it turned out to be so fucking short. Like fluttershy isn't asking for a lot but I know she has long hair. Like it wouldn't have been a huge problem expect it has no hair in the back. My neck felt cold there was so little hair in the back

 Now onto the white one. I was already uneasy taking it out of the bag here. It didn't need to be that long, just curly

And it didn't even seem that much curlier than the picture

And then I put it on and got mad, like really mad. As you can see in the picture. It made my head look so damn bug and the bangs were so thick and just ALL WRONG. I know I wasn't just cutting them wrong, they were made wrong..... It looks like a fucking elvira wig

So I said fuck it, I got to find a way to resell these things... So i turned it into an elsa wig. Just took the holding spray and an hour in my garage listening to music and sort of vented. 

 I need to work on my french braiding more, seriously it keeps comign out pretty loose....

On better wig news I got the pearl wig done. It'll need some got to be gel, but for only hairspray a ghetto wig stand, gravity, and the book of morman soundtrack I think it turned out well.

Bad pic of the front

 Nice DBZ pic of one of the sides, this was all taken at 3 am. So only difficult selfies

And another pic of the side. I know I'm goind to have to do something bc it won't cover my dark hair fully. Like maybe putting in extensions or spraying my hair down with yellow spray before putting the wig on. We'll work it out

So to end this post here's some pics of Diva looking like a desk hooker in a Harley Quinn test run. Thank god she got a better skirt to complete the look more

Tata for now lovelies. SRP will hopefully update on Geek.kon bc I couldn't be there to enjoy it

(I'm in college and the dorm life is great)

-RB out