Commission: Traversing History

Project director and photographer: Marla Bishop

Make-up artists: Kat Winslade and Camila Cufré

Costumes: Connor Coulson

Models:

Nic Färgglad
Erin Delaney
Jasper Storm
Luciano Spadoni
Connor Coulson

 

This was an unusual project, I was approached by Marla, a photography student who had an ambitious photoshoot that they needed costumes for. The concept was androgynous reinterpretations of various periods in history, I love history and I have a fascination with androgyny, so I was keen. In total there were fifteen costumes, I was assigned these five pre-20th century periods and one futuristic one. Marla gave me rough idea of what they wanted but I had a lot of creative freedom and they were happy with these initial illustrations you see below. It was an intense project, very little budget and very little time, but such is the life of a costumer and I was up to the challenge. I only had one fitting with the models and it was one week before the shoot, I was sewing right up until the minute some of these costumes were photographed. But I always meet a deadline!

I enjoyed this collaboration, Marla is a talented photographer and they assembled a fine team of make-up artists and models. I can now say my work has been on display in a gallery now too. Continue reading

Night at the Museum- Ahkemnrah Redesign

ahkmenrahI love the Night at the Museum films and I also love Ancient Egypt, so naturally I was inspired to reinterpret Ahkmenrah’s costume. The goal was to be as historically accurate as possible while still being recognisable.

This took me a couple of months just to research, turns out there’s not a lot of information on clothing from 4,000 years ago. I’m still uncertain of how certain pieces are supposed to be constructed but this is essentially as accurate as possible given the available information. The costume in the film isn’t too far from reality, though it’s evident they were more inspired by Yul Brynner in the Ten Commandments.

Star Trek:TNG Data Redesign

25551905_1606678646052304_7721637567488278526_nA redesign of the uniforms for Star Trek: The Next Generation

I looked at the Abrams films and Discovery and even Alien, as well as modern uniforms and fashion for inspiration. While I like the TNG costumes, they don’t look like official uniforms that would be worn in any context, they look more like superheroes, especially in season 1. I wanted to achieve something that would have the presence and authority of a military uniform while being practical, like a uniform someone could wear every day, all without departing too much from the TNG look, so of course it still had to be a jumpsuit.

I gave Data a bit of an upgrade or perhaps downgrade, I gave him a more modern haircut and emphasised his robotic qualities. I like the idea that he is incomplete, it reflects his character, plus it’s more readily achievable with modern make-up and effects. Ideally he should appear to be a soft gold colour, which didn’t always translate in the TV series. I have a lot of ideas as to how this costume and make-up could be executed, so I may make this costume at some point.

Prometheus David8 Cosplay

 

Model and costumer: Courtney Coulson (Travian Designs)

Photographer: Zachary William (https://www.facebook.com/8bitandover/)

Make-up: Kat Winslade (https://www.facebook.com/katwinslademua/)

It’s been a long time since I’ve cosplayed, it’s good to be back. This will be the first of many David costumes, I am utterly obsessed with Prometheus and Alien:Covenant. I am so dedicated I even bleached my own hair, took me months to get right. This suit is deceptive in its complexity because it is so structured and tailored there was no room for the slightest imperfections. I made two toiles (prototypes) and still ended up having to make the jacket twice. I see some minor imperfections but overall I’m pretty happy with it. I really like David’s style, I could see myself wearing this every day.

Thank you to Zack and Kat for collaborating with me.