MY COSTUME PAGE
ATTENTION--GRAPHICS INTENSIVE
Furry Costuming
Since I'm into foxes, it's
only natural to dress up like one. There are a couple of different
types of "furry" costuming,
like team mascot styles, etc., but I wanted something more
natural looking and "subtle."
The mask is built up from a
regular half mask with paper mache over cardboard.
I covered the base with ginger
coloured rabbit fur, with white acrylic fur
for the inner ears. The
nose is carefully rolled and shaped leather
with whiskers courtesy of my
cats who shed them regularly.
The tail is also made from
white acrylic fur with the tip masked off to keep it white
while I sprayed the rest with
with leather dye to make it auburn coloured. Then the tail
was sewn, lightly stuffed with
polyfil, stitched to a leather collar at the top to give it support
then tied to a leather waist
cinch belt under the costume for wearing.
I made two of the white acrylic
fur chest pieces--dickies,really--one longer for the riding costume,
and a shorter one to wear under
the green leather Robin Hood jerkin.
The dickies are actually the
warmest part of the costume to wear
since the acrylic fur is fastened
up around my neck .
The rest of the body costume
is made from russet coloured silk noil.
The trousers are basically
a high-waisted jodhpur-style with the closure in the back
to accomodate the tail.
The shirt is a basic tunic tucked into the trousers.
The Riding Jacket is an 18th
style pattern with the back vent cut higher to allow for the tail.
Obviously, Robin Hood is based
on Disney's animated film,
so I tried to make the jerkin
as close to the original as possible, but still make it wearable
for an actual human, with human
proportion. The hat had to be temporarily tacked to the mask.
The Robin Hood fox costume
won costume competitions at both
Marcon in Columbus OH and Weekend
in Sherwood in Novi MI.
Basic Medieval Costume Patterns
From approximately 400 AD until 1300 AD, clothing
wore by both sexes of all classes in Europe
was usually some version of the basic tunic/gown shown
below. Nobility showed their social class
in the choice of fabric, amount of fabric and decoration,
fit, and length of hem.
Lower classes wore clothes of lower quality fabric and
usually of shorter length for ease in working.
Men and women of both classes could also wear a form
of trousers (brais, bracci, trews, breeches)
under the tunic for riding, working, or warmth.
Predominate fabrics used in period were wool, linen,
silk, and leather. Cotton was an expensive import
at this time and was generally less common than silks.
Furs were used for linings, decoration, or outer wear
for warmth or 'show.'
In these simple diagrams, the left-hand
side shows fabric layout and basic pattern cut.
The red lines on the right-hand
side show some of the variations of cut possible.
Below is an example of what can
be made these simple patterns. The Cloak has fabric leaves sewn like
layered fringes down the outside, and had the small triangles marked in
red on the pattern cut out. The tunic is sleeveless and made from
a wool blend
that was self fringed at the hem.
The trews have a drawstring waistband.
Both the tunic and trews would
be appropriate for Bronze or Iron
Age Celtic clothing.
Adapting the Basic Patterns for Robin
of Sherwood
(otherwise known as "Outlaw Wear--what the
Best-Dressed Wolvesheads Are Wearing")
Marion of Leaford wore two basic cuts of gown in
RoS. Dress pattern 1 was used for the gown
in "Robin Hood and the Sorceror," and also for the 'finest
Byzantine silk' dress in the "Betrayal."
Both dresses were seamed at the sides and down the center
fronts and backs at Seam 1a.
The sleeves were set in at the normal shoulder.
The Byzantine dress also had a band of white
sewn at the bottom at seam 1b.
Dress pattern 2 was used for practically everything else.
This dress pattern is a modified 'princess seam'--Seam 2a.
The sleeves attached at these seams and the underarm
at Seam 2b. Marion's leather dress/vest and
her blue overdress were both open down the front at Seam
2c and then laced closed from the neck to the waist.
The leather dress was also pieced from smaller leather
pieces to make the larger pattern pieces.
Marion also wore a collection of cloaks, hoods, and veils/scarves.
Hoods are usually the two-piece Hood 3.
Seam 3a is sewn first. Then match and sew Seam
3b. Hoods can be left open in front with a tie or lacing closure,
or sewn shut at Seam 3c. Marion's blue scarf was
one long piece, and worn either wrapped around the shoulders
and tied in the back, or pulled up over the head like
a veil and held in place by a twisted band.
The leather vests worn by Loxley, Scarlet, John, Nasir,
Marion, Huntington, etc., can be made with
Sleeveless Tunic 5. Huntington's metal-ringed tunic
was fastened at both center front and back with straps and buckles.
Loxley's shirt and outer tunic was Shirt Tunic 6 with
leather facings on the sleeves and neck/front openings.
Any of the drop-shoulder shirts can be made from this
pattern.
Breeches Pattern 7 can be made with a drawstring waistband,
a laced fly or side-seam closure, or belt loops.
Huntington's breeches had extra seams in the front and
back at seams 7a and 7b.
And here is what they can look like...(yes,
it's a wig)
(The Lady Wolfshead Collection)
Robin of Sherwood Costuming Re-creating
"Marion"
First Season Episode "Robin Hood and the Sorceror"
Second & Third Season everyday forest wear
Third Season Winter episode "The Power of Albion"
Third Season episode "The Betrayal"
VICTORIAN
COSTUMING
click here to see my Late Victorian Riding
Habit
click here to see the Men's Late Victorian
Suit
Miscellany
Finding the right fabrics for just about any costuming
project can be difficult, more so if you are trying to do something historical,
or even more so if you are trying to re-create costuming
from film or TV.
Scavenging through the remnant tables at the regular
fabric stores can yield up treasure like good wool blends, unmarked linen
or silk blends for inexpensive, or at least more affordable prices than
what can usually be found on the bolt.
And don't underestimate the use of fabric dye--I prefer
to use liquid Rit or Tintex. It mixes more evenly for me than the
powders.
One of my favorite places to find fabric--especially
wools, linen, silk noil, and fustian (linen-cotton)
is a place called Jerry's Fabrics in downtown
Newark Ohio.
A great leather store in our area is The Leather
Factory in Columbus Ohio. Another leathern
goods source are re-enactment fairs.
I also handsew about 60% of my medieval and Iron Age clothing.
The finer fabrics and those items that take a lot of stress do get sewn
by machine, but I also have entire dresses, vests, and tunics that are
completely handsewn that are still wearable after 10 years.
Investing in an assortment of regular sewing needles
is important, but perhaps more so is getting a "home repair" needles assortment
that includes large-eyed needles marked "tapestry," "upholstery,"and
"gloves."
These will allow you to work with thicker threads, sinew,
yarns, etc., for that homespun/handsewn look.
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