Boushh upgrade progress

As mentioned in other posts on the website, my original Boushh costume was used in the film ‘Paul’ and I have now boxed it away and I am working on an upgrade. It has been over five years since I finished the last costume and since then more information on the costume has become available and I have seen the original at the County Hall in London. My new costume has a lot more attention to the small detail, more accuracy than practicality.

Firstly I worked on the tunic, I sourced a new pig skin with more texture and made the pattern more accurate. The front is self faced and the overall fit is much better.

Next came the under tunic. There is quite a bit of difference between this under tunic and my last one. This time the body of the tunic is made from a brown cotton chintz which is overlocked at the hem and the suede collar is top stitched to the cotton. The tunic now has a brown zip up the back and the sleeve ends are lined with suede. The sleeves are still long enough to gather, have the tree spikes and the thumb slots. Above the wrist there are the opening slots in the seam, these are held closed with large stitching. The sleeves are also now lined with black satin.

The cummerbund was the next piece I made. It is piped suede and then unlike my last cummerbund it is lined with suede, this makes it a little more expensive to make but finishes it off nicely. At the back the cummerbund laces with black cotton tape and has a wrap over cover to hide the lacing. At the top of the cover a hole has been cut into the suede. I have yet to discover why but I have put it there for accuracy.

I have just finished putting together the trousers. The trousers are similar to the old pair but have more detail in the pleated knee sections. The trousers have been made from a new leather which I then spent a whole week dying to the correct colour and weathering. This took hours of painting, sanding, re-painting, weathering, sanding, finishing… extremely time consuming but I had to keep going until I achieved the correct look. Lots of studying the original costume to get the marks in the right places.

The gloves I purchased from Sierra Trading, the suede matched quite well but they are fleeced lined which created difficulty when dressing. I have had to remove the lining and put a cuff on the wrist which makes it easier to fit them comfortably under the under tunic.

I am now working on the boot covers. These have been completely re-patterned. The striped detail is more accurate and the back fastening has been completely upgraded. The boot covers now wrap around the boot and velcro at the back to an underpad. They also have the vintage hook and bar fasteners and the ski clasps. The boot covers have the suede stirrup that feeds under the boot. I am still on the look out for accurate boots. Across the front of the cover is the strap which again has been completely re-patterned. This has been scaled from the tie fighter model part on the new boot discs we are making. The strap is piped up to the boot disc and then stops. The edge of the strap is also piped. We are making the discs removable again in case I damage them. This time we have strengthened the attachments so they pull tight against the strap.

Whilst I have been working on the soft parts Jude has been busy making progress on all the new hard parts. Using sourced correct model parts he has scaled up and sculpted new boot discs, made the basic sculpt for the helmet and is working on the staff.

For the new bandoleer again using sourced correct model parts he has built the bandoleer resin parts, we have the webbing and the correct sliders and fasteners. We just need the correct size of the armour so we make the bandoleer up and fit correctly.

Jude has also been working on my armour. We built a basic mould which he has then covered in body filler and now he is sanding to shape and creating the imperfections for the mould to pick up. I will then line it with the suede for comfort.

It has been an extremely challenging upgrade to build and we still have a way to go. I have attached lots of photo’s of the work so far so please enjoy. If you require more information or help please email us at info@clothearscostumes.com we are happy to try and help.

 

 

Savage Opress

Wow! What a fantastic character. This has to be the costume I am most proud of. We were working to a tight deadline on the costume but everything turned out just the way we’d hoped. It is a massive costume and very impressive. The costume is made up of an built up muscle top, under tunic, waistcoat, shoulder and arm armour , arm vambraces, trousers, belt, sash and boot covers.

The top is made from black neoprene bulked out on the arms to fit the armour and give the impression of strong intimidating character. It has long sleeves and a breathable fabric body to keep the wearer cool. The top was then distressed and broken down.

The under tunic is the same as the one Darth Maul wears. It is made from linen, has the striped stitched collar detail and the slits at the sides. This has also been distressed.

The waistcoat vest is made from real suede and leather, It has a charcoal/green appearance and is made from an extremely battered hide. Each panel has been painstakingly patterned, cut and edged and then built up onto the vest. The whole waistcoat has then been bound. It is fully lined and fastens at the front with hook and bars. The waistcoat has the slashed stripes to the suede on each chest section and a small mandarin collar. A lot of bleaching, distressing and scrubbing created the weathered look, it also brought out the hint of red in the leather/suede.

The shoulder and arm armour is made from real leather, dyed, weathered and finished. I had great fun walking the leather across a bed of rubble and nails to form the deep scratches and scars in the hide. The pieces of leather have then be layered and riveted to one another and simply velcro to the costume and hold there position perfectly. The arm armour is riveted to the padded top. All the leather work has scoring detail around the edges.

The arm vambraces are made from real leather, moulded, dyed, weathered and finished. They have been patterned to bell at the wrist and they fasten with corset busks and straps of leather around the wrist.

The cummerbund is made up of strips of suede bound in leather and sewn to a backing strip. The cummerbund fastens at the back and has a wrap over cover which copies the striping to hide the join. This is made from beautiful soft clothing leather so it is comfortable to wear.

The belt is made from leather, dyed, weathered and finished. It has a display buckle at the front made from aluminium which has been polished and then weathered down. The belt also carries the saber hook. Behind the belt lies a real suede cummerbund which carries the snake tongue edged sash. The sash is made from the same linen as the under tunic and has the characters symbol bleached into it. It has then been distressed.

The boot covers are layered leather, dyed and finished and velcro’d to the boot. There are then straps which wrap around the boot.

A truly awesome costume. Having only animated reference for this costume a lot of it is our interpretation, how we think it would look had it been used in the film. We hope you like it.

 

Qui-Gon Jinn costume

 

This costume has to be the best Jedi costume I have made and I loved working on it. When the character first appeared on TPM I wasn’t that keen but since taking the time to research this costume and the materials I really like it. This costume looks as though it has been worn day after day and serves it’s purpose. It has also been one of the best costumes for actually sourcing accurate fabrics. The costume is made up from an under tunic, tunic with matching tabard and obi, trousers, belt, boots and robe.

The under tunic is made from noil silk jersey which has been dyed to colour. It has the wrap over collar bands from left to right and has long sleeves that gather at the wrist. This is a beautiful yet delicate fabric which has been gently weathered down.

The tunic, tabard and obi are made from noil silk dyed to colour. The tunic also has the wrap over collar and fastens with discreet hook and bars. The tunic is lined and fairly long in length. The matching tabard to the tunic hang front and back extending down past the hem of the tunic. The obi wraps around the waist of the tunic and fastens at the back discreetly with more hook and bars. This garment has also been gently distressed to give that worn look.

As you never see the waist of these trousers I opted to make a simple elasticated waist in a chocolate brown colour. I chose a medium weight fabric which is cool to wear like the rest of the costume which is mainly made up of natural fibres.

The belt is made from real leather dyed, weathered and finished with sam browne detail supporting the thinner belt. It fastens at the back and has the wrap cover to hide the join. The buckle is a found item. It has the brass centre fastener like Anakins TPM buckle but we had it remade in nickel and then weathered it to be more accurate. On the belt we have the covertec clip for the saber and the MR sabre hilt.

The pouches on the belt are cast resin, painted and weathered. The larger pouches are working pouches allowing storage for small change, credit cards etc.

The robe is made from choclate brown wool crepe, keeping it light and flowing. The robe has the full bell sleeves and a large hood.

The boots are incorrect for Qui-Gon, these are from our own personal collection until we find accurate boots.

I am very pleased with this costume and had great fun taking the photo’s, especially recreating the pose where Liam Neeson wraps himself in the robe. Why?

Shaak-ti Costume

 

Shaak-ti was always one of my favourite Jedi costumes from the Star Wars prequels, this is a costume that I have costumed in and the attention that it receives is always fantastic, we have also made the head piece to go with this, though we are hoping to sculpt a new version as soon as possible. I will update this post with more images of the costume soon.

This costume consists of a dress, a belt, a fabric tabard, a leather sash and robe. The basic structure of the costume is the dress which actually looks like a skirt and top but it is all connected to keep everything looking smooth and fitted. The dress is made up from a top section which is a brown slightly stretchy off the shoulder sleeved t-shirt that then attaches to a skirt which is made from 13 mtrs of crinkle silk. The skirt also has a black crinkle pleat silk underskirt which can be seen in the deleted scene of Shakk-ti’s death. Around the waist is a leather belt with a leather buckle both of which are weathered.

Hanging down from the belt is a leather sash that has been hand tooled and then hand painted. This piece took hours of designing, therapeutic hammering and painting. The finished tabard is a work of art and having worked on the Luminara sash too they make great display pieces.

Hanging around the neck is a fabric tabard. This sits under the lekku at the back and then falls down either side at the front.

Lastly is the robe. Made from a sheer striped weave fabric, the robe is full length, with full bell sleeves and has a hood, though I never quite understood why Shaak has a hood she can’t possible wear.

I really like this costume but the headdress, make-up and jewelry make it extremely difficult to costume, taking around 3 hours to prepare. It’s great for large one off events but just not practical at the moment for regular costuming.

As you can see from the photo we had a bit of fun with our Bushbaby head.

Chris and Jane’s wedding

 

Chris and Jane approached me earlier in the year to make an outfit for Chris to wear at their Disney inspired wedding. When I attended a fitting with the couple it was obvious to see their love for everything Disney and wanted to carry this through as the theme for their wedding day. Chris had a set idea in mind, nothing too extravagant but handsome and romantic. The items I made for the couple were the coat and waistcoat. The other items were hired from The Royal Exchange Costume Hire Department in Manchester.

The coat was made from dark navy suiting wool, again a summer wedding, so suiting wool to keep Chris cool. The coat is fully lined and was decorated with two different silver braids, layered and all hand sewn to the coat. The coat has large cuffs also decorated and silver metal buttons. Due to a short deadline the metallic silver aplique was purchased and reshaped to suit the coat. We had hoped to have a custom design embroidered to the wool but the short deadline would not allow it. Never the less the coat looks great and just what Chris asked for.

For the waistcoat we used a brocade satin, a floral weave of purple, pale blue and navy, fully lined it also has pockets for the speech. The waistcoat was decorated with silver braid and silver metal buttons and has a lace up cinch at the back for adjustment.

I believe Chris and Jane had a fantastic day, and the photo’s they sent me are truly magical.

Clone under suit

At last we are able to offer our clone under suit. The suit is made from black foam backed fabric which has been quilted vertically, it is lined with breathable gauze and the areas that are not visible are stretch gauze to help keep the wearer cool. A zip has been placed at the waist and one at the back collar which has an easy reach pull enabling the wearer to dress themselves. There is also a fly zip so the wearer can take a quick toilet break between trooping without having to remove the whole suit. To finish the suit off we have also added a rubber silicone cog for the voice amp lead to feed through. This is optional and can be positioned either on the front chest or back depending on where you place your voice amp. Simply push the plug end of your lead through the cog and out to your voice amp. This will keep all excess wire hidden from public view. The suit is available in sml, med, lrg, xlrg and xxlrg, a measurement guide will be sent out to you and we will fit you to the appropriate suit. There are other suits out there on the market but none as fitting, durable and more suited to it’s needs.

At an event in 2011 we tested the clone under suit and it went very well. The suit wasn’t made for the guy who tested it but it fitted him extremely well. He wore his own jersey suit on the Saturday and then wore our suit on the Sunday. The guy testing for us made the Bozo armour kit up himself and there were no visible gauze areas at all. He was very impressed with the suit and especially liked the fact there is no need for a separate neck seal (money saver), it is all in the suit and is very comfortable to wear. For more information please email us @ info@clothearscostumes.com

Please note the model wearing suit is a little too short for it.

French revolution inspired

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This costume was made for Robert who married Chelsea on July 2nd this year. Wanting this to be a truly magical day and one to remember Robert decided to go for a French Revolution inspired outfit. The attire he commissioned from myself consists of coat, waistcoat, jabot and breeches. The coat was made from beige suiting wool, being a summer wedding and in the hope that the weather will be good we opted for the suiting wool as a cooler option, if we had chosen linen there was a high chance it would crease. The coat has large dupion silk cuffs and it was decorated with a dusky pink trim. Originally when I purchased the trim it had sequins down the entire length, but it was the perfect colour and therefore I set to removing every sequin. The coat was lined with a two tone shimmering gold/dusky pink lining and decorated with gold metal buttons.

The waistcoat was made from pale gold dupion silk and decorated with gold braid. It is fully lined and has pockets for a handkerchief, just in case. The back of the waistcoat is laced for adjustment with matt cream ribbon.

The breeches were made from a beautiful cream wool and are fully lined. They were decorated with gold metal buttons and buckles and lace at the back for adjustment.

The jabot was made from 100% linen and a delicate lace. There are several layers of lace gathered onto the linen collar. The collar fastens at the back with a linen button.

This costume was a pleasure to work on. All the best to Robert and Chelsea for your future married life together.

My Boushh costume used in ‘PAUL’ the new film by Simon Pegg and Nick frost.

My Boushh costume used in ‘PAUL’ the new film by Simon Pegg and Nick frost.

For those who don’t know a while ago I was contacted by the wardrobe department at Universal Studios in LA to make a Boushh costume for a new film that was being made. With such a tight time frame and little chance of making and sending a costume in two weeks I posted them my costume to use. That film is now out to buy here in the UK and I am aloud to talk more about it. The film starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman and Sigourney Weaver is called ‘PAUL’ . It is about two English comic geeks who take a trip to the US to visit Comic Con and take a road trip across America via Area 51. On the way they run into an alien called Paul who has escaped the base after 60 years and seeks help to return home to his own planet.

After being contacted we spent a whole weekend building a new staff to go with the costume, which we were able to brake down small enough to ship abroad. The costume was bubble wrapped and boxed and off it went for two weeks. The lovely people at the wardrobe department kindly let me know when it had arrived and photographed every little weathering scratch just in case it had happened in transit. The only damage the costume sustained was the stalk on the helmet which they kindly glued back in place. Kristen tried on the costume and it seemed to fit fine. I knew the costume was being used for the re-shoot of the final scenes and therefore new the costume would not appear in the film until the very end. I sat in the cinema and there it was right at the very end as the credits were rolling and the final scenes were being played out, Kristen appears in full costume with the helmet. I must say her voice amp is much better than mine. She removes the helmet and has the cowl piece around her neck. The staff never made it to the shot but never mind, it felt fantastic seeing the costume up on the big screen and has fulfilled a lifelong ambition.

Kristen is wearing my real pig skin tunic, under tunic, cowl, boot covers, gloves and my leather trousers. You can also see the helmet, bandoleer, tanks and armour. It looks very clean and new but up close it is well used as I costume nearly every other weekend in it. Now the costume is safely back home I am boxing it up in the hope that one day I will get it signed by all the cast. So I can carry on costuming I am now working on a new, more accurate costume. I am sourcing better materials and with all the images I have of the original costume I am re-creating every little detail. I will post progress on my webpage and on my Facebook page for anyone who is interested.

I hope you get to see the film and hope you enjoy watching my new project evolve.

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Kristen Wiig wearing my Boushh costume in the movie Paul

Kristen Wiig wearing my Boushh costume in the movie Paul

Kristen Wiig wearing my Boushh costume in the movie Paul

Viking Costume

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This costume was a commission from Andre. Having recently become a member of the Regia Anglorum Viking re-enactment group he needed a costume for the Jorvik Viking Festival, this was to be his first costumed event. I was asked to make the soft parts for the costume which includes tunic, over tunic and hose.

The tunic is made from a earthy coloured natural fabric. It has the tight forearms with baggier upper arms and the under arms have gussets inserted to allow for movement. The upper body is fitted, it has an open neck and has been faced with the same material. The skirt reaches down to below the knee and has gores inserted at the sides. As a new member the tunic remains plain. It is machine sewn at the seams and then all the seam allowances are hand stitched in place with linen thread to look completely hand made.

The under tunic is made from natural linen and is constructed in the same way but is shorter in length so not to be visible. This can also be used as night wear.

The hose/trousers are made of a heavier weight natural fabric for more durability. They are loose fitting at the thigh for movement, close fitting on the calf and are long enough in the leg to tuck in to the shoe. The upper part of the trousers has a gusset and a waistband that finishes either side of the gusset and tie gathers with rope. They have machine sewn seams and then all the seam allowances are hand sewn in place with linen thread to look as though they are hand made.

Andre has made the shield and scabbard using original techniques. The overall look is fantastic.

Faux leather Boushh costume

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Before the real pig skin and leather came faux suede and pleather.

Under-Tunic – This is made from faux suede and Airtex, which is a great fabric to keep the costume-wearer cool. The collar section and the sleeves are faux suede, with the rest of the body being in Airtex. There is a zip up the back with a cord so you don’t need any assistance to zip it up. The costume then has a high neck, which gathers while being worn, and the sleeves are shaped at the wrist to form a glove which the thumb sides through, although it can be difficult to slide the sleeves over the gloves if you are trying to dress yourself. The sleeves are also given extra length so that they gather at the wrist and there are 16 half inch tree spikes attached to the back of the hands. Finally, the wrist section is left open for ease of dressing, these are finished with hand-stitching and the black cotton lining of the sleeves can be seen at the wrist openings.

Tunic – Made from faux suede with front and collar facings and elbow length sleeves.

Trousers – Made from pleather, an artificial leather. The legs are paneled with stitch detail. There is a stitched zip up fly section, and a wrap-over waistband with a hook and bar fastener. There are also several darts in the waist. Just below the crotch the trousers meet with the thigh sections, which in turn meet the lower leg sections above the knees. This seam is then top-stitched. The lower leg contains a pleated section to allow the knee to bend; these pleats are pressed into the leather. The bottom of the trousers also features a Lycra foot stirrup which holds the trousers in place while the wearer puts on their boots.

Boot Covers – A affordable basic boot that has been cut down ans resewn.The covers are made from faux suede. The upper boot cover section is quilted with stripes and velcro’s up the back, and they have an elastic stirrup that goes under the heel of the boot to stop them riding up the leg. The boot strap is made from piped cord which is then encased in a ring of cord to form an oval and the boot strap is then backed. Eyelets are set in the strap for the boots discs; this allows us to remove my boot discs in case they get damaged. The strap is then sewn to the boot cover.

Boot Discs – These are cast from polyurethane resin. The boot discs have the correct TIE fighter greeblie, and we have set small nuts and bolts into the resin so we can attach and remove the discs from the boot covers if necessary.

Cummerbund – Again, made from faux suede with around 13 metres (yes 13 metres!) of piped rope which really does make for a tedious job. This part of the costume velcro’s up the back which means that the cummerbund can then be tightened or extended slightly if necessary ( if I eat too many pies). Finally, there are also two toggle buttons on the lining of the cummerbund which then fasten to the armour.

Cowl – Made from, guess what? Faux suede! This section is pleated to give that crumpled effect. The head section is then made from black is stretch jersey, which is more comfortable to wear, and this fastens up the back with the aid of velcro.

Cotton Cloak – Yes, you read right, this is indeed made from cotton and not from faux suede. This cotton has a warp/weft weave and the cloak also features a 1” machined hem all the way around. It then has a popper on each of the two top corners which attach to the bandolier.

Leather belt – This is dyed leather with a cold cast aluminium resin belt buckle, polished to a shine. The belt then fastens with a ring pull prong and has a hole placed at the correct length which the ring pull fastens into. The leather is sewn in two places to attach it to the buckle.

Then it was time for the weathering. You might expect this to be the fun part of costume making, but this was far from fun, and was actually very time consuming. The weathering is made up of black on the trouser part of the costume, which resembles oil spills, etc, and the rest of the costume is generally grubby looking, as you would be if you traveled around in space looking for alien bounty I suppose.

Armour – When I first made this costume, I had the plastic armour which I found very painful; it pressed against the shoulder blades and caused a lot of discomfort. And so we decided that if I was to continue trooping for long periods, I needed something more flexible and therefore comfortable. We then opted to make a mould for the shoulder armour and mould a set from leather, which is much more comfortable and flexible. The armour is then simply dyed, painted and finally weathered. Inside the armour is a faux suede padding, which velcros in place and is removable if necessary. There is a velcro section across the bottom of the front section for the com link to fasten to, with the vecro holding the com link sprayed brown. Finally, there are also two hoops of elastic at the bottom of the front sections that hook to the cummerbund.

Tanks – These are cast from resin and filled with expandable foam, which keeps them really light and comfortable to wear. Once all the parts are cast, which is a lengthy process, they are assembled, sprayed and then the details are hand-painted, including all the decals.
The tanks are then mounted onto a back board, which attaches to the armour with a leather strap featuring two poppers. We also use industrial velcro for extra adhesion. This stops the tanks from moving around on the back and if you get knocked while out and about, the tanks will maintain their position so I won’t have to worry about the heartbreak of losing anymore tanks!