Phantom costumes - real and replicas 1

Oh blast.... Almost, but definitely not there!

*Bodice is finished, sans decorations. But I have a pretty good idea on how to decorate it.
*Skirt is decorated with sequins and fringes, but not draped on the bodice. Haven't added belt decos either.
*Tights, boots and writstbands, check.
*Backdrape, check
*Tiara and mask-on-stick, not even close....

So... 70% finished? Amazing in one week (for me, that is... I work so slow). But I just wasn't able to finish it. I think I spent too much time on struggling with the skirt, decorating it with sequins, spraying red fringes golden, making neat hand seams etc. I do that every time... But anyhow, sneak preview of unfinished bodice - I think several of you guessed which one I was working on:


The bodice is not finished in this photo!

I did an interesting discovery when I zoomed in on the costume design. It has always seemed a bit random that this delicate turquoise/metallic shaded costume comes with bright red tights. But there might be a reason for it. In the design she wears a turquoise bodice with gold details. The skirt is also turquoise and golden, but also black and red. The red of the skirt seems form a transaction into the red tights. It made a lot more sense to me. I don't think any stage costumes has ever picked up this detail, except the Aussie ones where the skirt is transparent and allows the red tights to show through. That version have no black details in the skirt, however. Note also how the drape over the shoulders have red dots. And is that small, golden wings on top of her boots, similar to the bodice and mask-on-stick?? Coolness!


I've tried to incorporate red into my replica, at least for the skirt. I lined a black/golden embroidered and beaded tulle with a turquoise polyester matching the bodice. This gave a subdued turquoise shade. On the leaf embroidery of the tulle I've sewn square, red sequins. I hope the effect will be similar to that of the design.

The big challenge now is to drape the skirt in a similar manner to the design... Turns out to be a lot harder than it looks! The bodice also have a slightly funky fit, but ah well. It was a fun challenge.

need some shoes?

Oooh. It IS that costume. Looks great so far.

Yay, it is the costume I thought it would be. Looks good, looking forward to seeing the finished version.

phantomfett wrote:need some shoes?

Owner beware!!! I might steal those. I love them. You lucky, lucky thing.

Here is a preliminary picture of the costume, as it was after one week of work. Bodice is finished, apart from the decorations. Backdrape is attached and awaiting big brooches on the shoulder. Skirt is pinned to the bodice and is waiting to be sewn down. And I need decorations on the skirt - golden rope belts with stars, and golden beads on the fringes. I also ran out of gold spray for the fringes, so part of them are red in front... haha.


Skirt before and after draping it.

I tried to keep the skirt as plain as possible, to make the fabric be in focus. So I gathered it loosely in the waist, pinned in at the bottom of the bodice. The "fluff" in the waist was created by tucking up areas and let them fold in the waist. In the costume design it looks like the three large gold stars is what holding the "tucks" down, so I had that in mind.

Dreading decorating the bodice front... It's a make-or-break...Josefine, thank you for the nice words.

The triton costume has gotten its own site, finally:
http://aneafiles.webs.com/triton.html

Working on mask-on-stick and tiara now. Glue gun = genius. How have I lived without it??

1. Tiara in making. As I think the original design borrows the wing iconography from Hermes, and I couldn't find any good Christmas decorations with such wing shapes, I bought various feather items and painted them golden. The tiara was originally a pair of white wings. It's gotten two layers of golden paint, of various colours, and is lightly shaped. A star has been attached to the front, and smaller "wings" will be attached on the side.

2. When going through my stash, I found this gorgeous bullion like gold trim. I've had it for years, but i've had too little to be able to incorporate it into any projects. It was just enough for the neckline of the "Triton"! I'm just trying out those gold clasps on the shoulder. I plan to use them, but I might make them narrower and longer.

3. The front panels of the bodice are very curved at both sides. This will (hopefully) give the wearer a narrow waist and a curved bust.

4. The back. I originally planned to attach the drape on center back and at the shoulder, concealing the back of the bodice. But it's such a nice fit to it I didn't want to conceal it. And I found some photos of backs of the costume which I liked, and they showed a lot of the bodice back. I'll probably use large golden clasps on the shoulders to attach it, similar to the costume design. In the design the shoulder straps are very narrow and all covered by gold trims and what looks like clasps.


1. Costume design (detail), 2. World Tour, 3. Japan.

This is so gorgeous. One of my favorite costumes so it's awesome to finally see replica versions of it. Very creative with figuring out what to use for the tiara etc.

EEEEEEEEEEEK!!! Meg in stripy tights!!

In other words, the Meg-Masquerade gallery has been updated...
http://potocostumes.webs.com/masquerade/megmasque.html

operafantomet wrote:
EEEEEEEEEEEK!!! Meg in stripy tights!!

In other words, the Meg-Masquerade gallery has been updated...
http://potocostumes.webs.com/masquerade/megmasque.html

MAN. I remember seeing that photo in my Meg Masquerade search a few years back, but the pic I had was super tiny!

So while picking a friend up I stopped into Fabricland while waiting for her to come out of the doctor's office. I was looking through the pattern books and noticed they had added a historical costumes section for patterns.

I found an EXCELLENT pattern for $7 that inspired me to tackle the wishing dress--which means putting my drafting for my Christine's masquerade costume on hold (though technically it's been on hold since I started school). I'll be posting pictures of the pattern soon--I am seriously so happy about finding it.

In the mean time--suggestions for starting points for looking for fabric for the dress?

Christine's Shadow wrote:In the mean time--suggestions for starting points for looking for fabric for the dress?

Oi, the Wishing fabric... How close do you want to get? And what is it you want the most from the fabric? The floral pattern, the stripes, the colour? There have been many suitable brocades on eBay these last couple of years. I would personally try and find one with stripes, as I think the stripes are essential to the dress. Then there's the blue colour. Go for something between lavender and turquoise. And buy a yard extra. I would say you need between 6-9 meters, it depends on how much you "cheat" when making the dress.

This one looks cool:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lyndhurst-Cotton-Fabric-Blue-Tonal-Ornate-Stripe-Per-Yd-/110598524982?pt=US_Fabric&hash=item19c02f9036#ht_3127wt_1100

This one could be dyed more blue:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Quilt-Sew-Fabric-Impressions-Dark-Blue-Vine-Stripe10361-/370468924278?pt=US_Fabric&hash=item5641ab2b76

Ditto:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Light-Blue-Rose-Stripes-Quilting-Fabric-Yard-1949-/330480215731?pt=US_Fabric&hash=item4cf227e6b3

The pirate edition?
http://cgi.ebay.com/COTTON-CLOTHWORK-BEDDING-FABRIC-CUTE-PIRATE-STRIPE-BLUE-/370364392014?pt=US_Fabric&hash=item563b70224e


Apart from eBay I don't shop much online. I'm sure there are tons of good pages, so I hope someone else might have suggestions. There are lots of nice cottons available (as show overneath). However, if they're similar to quilting ones, I would consider lining the skirt and drapes. If only with a light polyester. It will make the fabric drape better, and give it more "oomph".

I'm working on upgrading my website. For the Phantom costumes, I'll try and add more detail shots and pictures of the inside. I started with the Aminta one, and will continue with the slavegirl/Elissa one next. I don't know why I haven't done it before, it's stuff like that I immediately seek up in other people's sites. I remember first time Josefine asked me for closeups, I was like "Don't I have tons of that?". But no, I was just so used to seeing the costumes in my apartment...

So first, the Aminta one: http://aneafiles.webs.com/aminta.html

Others to follow...

Well! here is the pattern I bought and I think I was extremely spoiled in finding it. I'll modify it to take a closer look to the show in terms of the drapery and whatnot, but alas! I was jumping a little when I found it.


and these are the fabrics I saw in the store a little further to the back that I really liked but couldn't really decide which was best--part of me wished they would just leap together and have a fabric-baby.

operafantomet wrote:
This one could be dyed more blue:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Quilt-Sew-Fabric-Impressions-Dark-Blue-Vine-Stripe10361-/370468924278?pt=US_Fabric&hash=item5641ab2b76

Ditto:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Light-Blue-Rose-Stripes-Quilting-Fabric-Yard-1949-/330480215731?pt=US_Fabric&hash=item4cf227e6b3

I'm extremely tempted to buy either and dye or even go ahead and look more for the stripes with hints of blue and go from there. I'm with you on the stripes being vital.

operafantomet wrote:The pirate edition?
http://cgi.ebay.com/COTTON-CLOTHWORK-BEDDING-FABRIC-CUTE-PIRATE-STRIPE-BLUE-/370364392014?pt=US_Fabric&hash=item563b70224e

"Aaarr! Ye be helpin' me make th' music of the night?"

Oh yes, that pattern looks very good. Making the neckline a bit lower, and adding waterfall drapes in the back, et voila! Great find, I can see why you're happy about it.

As for fabrics, I really like the ones you can dye blue(r). They have a nice pattern and good stripes. They are of course cotton and not silk, but finding a suitable silk would probably cost 15 times as much... Other than that, I totally agree those fabrics you posted a picture of should have a fabric-baby!

As mentioned previously I am working on upgrading my web site. The Aminta one is done, today I did the Wishing gown. Probably 15 never-before seen pictures of the progress of the dress. Oh, I was so clueless back then... But it's fun to see too, where I started and how I would do it today.

THE AMINTA COSTUME: http://aneafiles.webs.com/aminta.html
THE WISHING GOWN: http://aneafiles.webs.com/wishing.html

looking back at the pictures and close ups for the wishing dress--I think I'm going to go back to the fabric store and get a yard or two (... probably a lot more) of the blue fabric on the top row of the pictures or even just the white and blue patterned one (Third from the bottom) and dye that for the details like the bodice to give it a bit more of a textured look. I'm hesitant to go for a navy velvet and have it either clash with the dyed fabric or just not do well in my hands with a sewing machine.

... How well does velvet sew anyway? Any precautions I should look at taking?

Christine's Shadow wrote:... How well does velvet sew anyway? Any precautions I should look at taking?

Cotton velvet (I think this is called velveteen in the US?) is short-piled and very easy to work with. It's what is used in the "faux vest" (front) of the Hamburg Wishing dress, as well as on the cuffs. I know the UK slavegirl costumes also were (and probably still are) made of cotton velvet. You might get an idea of just how short the pile is here:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/originalwishing/hwishbod11.jpg
https://2img.net/h/i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu101/potocostumes/slavegirl/uk20detail.jpg

Viscose velvet and modern silk velvets have softer fundament and longer pile. I don't think they will be hard to work with as such, but I know they fray more and it might end up in your sewing machine. Be sure to remove it at least when you change your bobbin thread. I used viscose velvet for my slavegirl bodice and for the backdrapes of my Wishing dress. The colours are often deeper and/or more changeable than cotton velvet, almost to the point of appearing black from certain angles. This is especially valid for the green I used for the slavegirl bodice:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/elissa/hnblfronten.jpg

Are you thinking of velvet for the details of the dress? I used velvet for the backdrapes. Although it looks cool, I would definitely recommend taffeta, like the actual stage costumes has. The velvet is pretty, but heavy!

Apparently I've gained a lot of weight since 2003. All the costumes I made back then are too small for me. Not just a bit small, but so small that I cannot possibly close them. It's bad. When did this happen? I don't feel all that much larger... The slavegirl bodice was particularly bad. I planned on taking some new photos of the full Elissa outfit, but there is no chance of wearing the costume. Baaah.

I'm currently replacing the two back panels, hoping it'll help. But there are limits to how big I can make them before it looks disproportionate. Luckily I had a LOT more velvet in my stash. And now I'll finally get to replace those flimsy shoulder straps with too heavy glass beads. The new strings of beads will be feather light, and the new straps elastic.

I've also added 10 meters of black netting to the old Elissa underskirtskirt. It has a lovely silhouette now. I must admit it's my favourite project to date (closely followed by the Aminta costume). There is so much gold on it, but a silverish gold. The original idea was to make it appear "dusty" and antique, so I avoided all golds with a strong yellow tone. Instead everything is gold with a silver teint, towards nuances of moss green, dark green and blood red. Can't wait to share decent closeups.

Here is my newest mask:

Ooooh, it's a beauty! Is it the ones from Germany?

Thanks! No its not a German repro, I made it myself. Not only I wanted a mask that fits the proportions of my face properly, I also wanted to do my own take on the design-something I would love to wear if I was to appear on stage.

You seriously made it yourself? I am SO impressed! It looks very authentic. What kind of material have you used?

Yeah, I seriously made it myself. Here's the whole process:

First I had my face cast using alginate and gypsum. On that face cast I sculpted the rough mask shape (I used my German Simon Tunkin repro and Love Never Dies pictures as my reference on the basic shape and dimensions). Built a mold box around it, poured some silicone and from that mold I cast a mask using a liquid polyurethane plastic. I finished that mask, using "hard tools" like a Dremel and different sandpapers. Then I essentially filled the inside of the mask with sulphur-free clay and took a silicone mold.

To that silicone mold I poured a liquid resin compound filled with minerals. After it had cured, I did some final finishing using 1000 and 2000 grit wet sanding paper. Now my intention was to make a vacuum-form "plug" so I could vacuum form the mask using sheet styrene. As luck would have it, my vacuum table broke. I also had an opened canister of silicone molding compound which has the tendency to go bad easily so I decided to make a 3rd mold of that completely finished vacuum plug and use that mold to cast mask(s) from liquid polyurethane plastic. And thats the mask pictured.

My approach is a bit complicated, but I am not very experienced in sculpting neat smooth surfaces in clay, I rather work with hard surfaces and tools like Dremel and files and what have you. But then again, now I have a mold for casting plastics or even rubber and I have a vacuum form plug so when I get a new vacuum table, I can use that as well.

I'll post pictures of the plug and mold once I get home.

It looks seriously awesome. Especially the eye area is impressive - so well sculpted, and so smooth. Bravo!!

If anyone is up for another item - a Broadway bear featuring Phantom Princess Leia Christine as the Slavegirl, signed by Harold Prince - this is your big chance...

https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=124855779

It's a bit depressing that those tiny replicas for a bumpy bear is some of the best replicas I've seen. They're always spot on, down to the tiniest detail. I assume it's the actual POTO costume makers who's making them? I remember learning a LOT from the description of the wedding dress they did, stuff a regular costume maker would probably not know. But they might have gotten the info from those making the full-size dresses.

Thanks. Here's some more pics.

Here is the initial clay sculpt (its an iPhone pic, sorry for the quality):



Here is the "plug":



And here is the mold:

operafantomet wrote:
It's a bit depressing that those tiny replicas for a bumpy bear is some of the best replicas I've seen. They're always spot on, down to the tiniest detail. I assume it's the actual POTO costume makers who's making them? I remember learning a LOT from the description of the wedding dress they did, stuff a regular costume maker would probably not know. But they might have gotten the info from those making the full-size dresses.

When they did the Red Death bear a while back, it was made by the folks at Parsons-Meares who make Red Death.

operafantomet wrote:It looks seriously awesome. Especially the eye area is impressive - so well sculpted, and so smooth. Bravo!!

If anyone is up for another item - a Broadway bear featuring Phantom Princess Leia Christine as the Slavegirl, signed by Harold Prince - this is your big chance...

https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=124855779

It's a bit depressing that those tiny replicas for a bumpy bear is some of the best replicas I've seen. They're always spot on, down to the tiniest detail. I assume it's the actual POTO costume makers who's making them? I remember learning a LOT from the description of the wedding dress they did, stuff a regular costume maker would probably not know. But they might have gotten the info from those making the full-size dresses.

I don't think it was the actual costume makers. I remember seeing the bear at Broadway Cares and the name in the description wasn't of anyone from the shop, at least not that I remember. I could be wrong though.

Phinnish Phan wrote:

That looks great! Do I see some Fazer's chocolate paper wrappings?

Just popped in and had a look at the mask photos. Wow. That's a really complex job with all the steps to complete the mask. It looks so smooth in the photos. Well done.