SG Uniform Progress

I have gotten three packages in the last three days, so I give you...

Pants - olive drab vietnam fatigue pants
For the price that I found them on ebay, it was not worth the time, effort or fabric purchase of actually making them myself. Not to mention a heck of a lot simpler to just buy them. Also lucky in that they come in a wide range of sizes. The only way that you would run into a problem is if you are a petite woman. Mine have cost me under $40AUD.

Shirt - black t-shirt
This one didn't come from ebay. I ducked over to Big-W in my lunch hour and picked up a plain black bonds t-shirt. You can really go with anything that you want. Just as long as it is a black knit shirt. It should be slightly form-fitting and not swallow you whole, but as long as you are comfortable. It varies in the show, sometimes they wear short sleeve, sometimes long sleeve or 3/4 and sometime a tank top style. Really you should be able to get something for under $20.

The jacket - olive drab G-8 WEP jacket.
I have found quite a few on ebay made by scifi-hero. From what I have ready these are pretty screen accurate. Normally I would make the clothing pieces, but after looking at how they are made, not to mention trying to find the correct fabrics, it is just so much simpler to just purchase. If you are looking at making the jacket, the sort of fabric you want is cotton ripstop (sometimes called ribstop) it has a square pattern woven into the fabric. And you are after an olive drab fabric. One of the other advantages of purchase a pre-made one is that it already has the velcro swatches on it for the badges that you need to attach. It is also a lot more complex than I expected, with all the detail ribbing, pockets and zips. Mine has cost me around the $250 AUD mark and I think it was well spent.

Tactical Vest
Now we start getting into some of the detail bits and pieces of the costume. The thing I love about having a tactical vest for my costume is that it has heaps of pockets. There is no need for me to carry around a bag while at a con, or try and build pockets into my costume because they are legitimately there. I bought my vest through here (the vest guy). It looks great and they have a wide range of sizes available but you may run into problems if you are really petite. I was really surprised of the fabric that they are made - it is a plastic like net sort of thing. I guess that means that it will breathe, but it was definitely not what I expected. These ended up costing around $160AUD



 

Zat Holster
The holster came from the same place that I bought the tactical vest. (link) One of the best things is that they have holsters for left and right handed people, so you can get one that suits you. This quite simply hangs off the belt and clips around the upper thigh. This one cost me about $55AUD.












P90 Tac
The tac came from the vest guy again (link) and only set me back about $50AUD. I probably could have whipped up something appropriate myself but I think it would have taken quite a bit of playing around to get exactly what I wanted, so it was just easier to purchase this, and it seemed prudent as I was already putting in an order to just add a little more. The way I see it, I am already paying for shipping, so I may as well just add in the extra lightweight items as well.









Zat Gun
Again, ebay saved my on the zat gun, though I did get this a while ago. From what I have found there aren't that many people out there casting zat guns, but I did find one seller on ebay who sells a whole range of cast movie and tv replica weapons. They are unfinished and unpainted, so you will need to do a little research on what the finished paint job should look like, but if you are desperate for a zat, this would be one of the best ways to get one. I will worn you though, that they do seem to be picked up quite quickly, so you may have to bid a bit higher to get what you want. I spent around the $80 mark to get mine. This is the seller (link). Now I just have do the actual painting on my own.

SG Progress

I got another lovely package in the mail this morning. Like I said in my previous post, everything is about to start rolling in. I ordered everything about 2 weeks ago now, so they should all be on their way.

Boots
Again, an eaby purchase. I went for ones that didn't have the side zip, but you could easily just purchase some black tactical boots or army disposal shoes to get an appropriate look. I wanted something that would fit and I could justify spending the money in the belief that I will wear them for other costumes. Namely scifi like stargate and battlestar galactica. My suggestion is to spend some time hunting around on ebay to give you a guideline of some prices. You may luck out and pick up a cheap second-hand pair. Mine set me back $150AUD
The only issue you run into when buying your shoes on-line is the sizing. For some reason, Americans seem to think that Australian sizings are bigger, but they aren't, and are in fact relatively the same. My advice is to have a look at the tongue in your sneakers and go by the European sizings. Mine ended up being a little too big, but nothing that some thick socks and tight lacing could not fix. The way I see it though is that it is better to have boots that are slightly too big than slightly too small. Otherwise, I was very surprised at how comfortable they are. They make me want to do some of my other sci-fi costumes. At the rate I am going, I am going to have to find more pop culture conventions to attend so that I can wear my costumes more often. I may have to start looking at travelling inter-state.

Stargate Offworld Uniform

I am so excited. My Stargate uniform bits and pieces are starting to arrive. Well, my first package at any rate. Of course, it ends up being the simplest of items, but still it is a start.

Note - Ebay is your friend, and I warn you now that this is not a cheap costume by any stretch of the imagination to put together. But then, I am a costumer and wanted something accurate. You could probably get something that works on a cheaper budget, but you will find that most stargate fans who are inclined to costume are going to spend a lot of money on getting their costume correct.

Headwear
Ebay. I found this seller that has a massive range of Olive Drab military garments and accessories. From all my research there are plenty of options for headwear so you really should be able to find something that suits you. I chose to go for the military cap (very similar to a movie cap that I already own and love) and I am particularly happy with it. My brother wanted a Boonie hat, and they are worn in the show - particularly by Daniel Jackson. While I was at it, I ordered two bandanas as well, mainly because they were only a couple of dollars extra and it means that I have a bit more versatility with my uniform. More options so to speak. I did notice that the seller also had the tactical helmets. They are a replica costume prop so they aren't going to stop a bullet, but really is that what you want in your costume? I was very tempted but though that they postage was a little bit much to get it to Australia. But by all means, if you live in the US, I think that this would be a great option.


Belt
This came from the same seller that I bought the headwear from (link is above). I ordered two but I underestimated the size, so my brother will just have to wear another belt. Big bonus though, they only set me back $4.95 each and they are exactly what I wanted. Now I just have to hope that they pants I have ordered have the correct size belt loops. If not, I am going to be seriously annoyed.

All in all, I am pleased with my purchases so far, and I have had a couple of shipping notifications, so now it is just a matter of waiting.

Stargate Offworld Uniform

And here I thought that I would be deadline free for a while. I am really, but I am starting to look ahead with my plans. And that takes me to supanova. I know it is still 6 months away but when you are looking at ordering costume pieces in from different countries, you need to be well prepared. Or so I have learnt. Last minute online shopping can leave you hugely disappointed.

That being said, after this year's supanova, my brother expressed his intrigue to dress up for next year, however his physique poses a bit of a problem. His height, broad shoulders and girth create me no end of trouble when I start to look into sewing for him. In the past we have gotten away wit standard costumes that involve robes and simple elastic pants (Buddy Christ, Spanish Inquisition, Monk). I made a few suggestions, one of which being a Stargate offworld uniform. He expressed a desire to, but only if I would dress up with him. Believe me, this is no great trouble for me, huge stargate fan that I am.

This all leads to my online shopping habits of late. With the Australian dollar very high against the US dollar, it is the perfect time to start ordering up bits and pieces. My research has been made fantastically easy by a number of websites around as well as the Australian Costumers Guild Forum. So, in the effort to keep people informed and help someone else on, I thought that I would collate my resourcing here. I have ordered some bits and pieces already, but I will post my shopping locations and photos as they arrive in my collection. For the moment this stands as an introduction and a guide to this link:

http://stargatery.blogspot.com/

I found this blog vastly helpful and if I forget something, you should definitely go there. The costumer has put in a lot of time and effort to get his costume to a fantastic standard. I think it is downright amazing and hope that I can get mine to a similar standard.

Victorian Day Spa

I have already posted up my photos in facebook land but I love sharing into the world of blogging. Last weekend one of my friends held a Victorian Spa Day. Thankfully the heat has not yet set in so it is still nice to be wearing all the layers of a bustle gown, but the day was lovely. We started out by dressing up in our Victorian undergarments. We are talking chemise, stockings, drawers and corsets. Five of us sat down to brunch and tea before the rest of the accompaniment arrived. We dressed them up in some undergarments and started our pampering. We tried an assortment of Victorian reproduction cleansers, masks and moisturises before moving onto dressing our hair. Ten of us in total and only two doing hair, it took quite some time to be done, but they all turned out rather well. Since my hair has all been hacked off, I took along one of the hairpieces that I picked up while I was in Japan, ironically it is the perfect match for my hair (I had bright fake red hair when I bought it and have only recently gone back to brown), but it was a matter of just attaching it, popping in a few pins and attaching the hat.

We then made it into the dressing room. I was amazed. Only four of us have Victorian costumes, and yet we have enough between us to dress up ten people with one left over to spare. All done up, we sat down to lunch. We had hoped for some croquet and strolling in the park and gardens but the rain had set in so we were strictly stuck to the house. But all in all we got some beautiful photos.


But I was so overly happy to wear my very new and just completed gold and orange day gown ensemble. It is the skirts that I made for my ballgown earlier this year in July but I thought that it would be prudent to make a day bodice and get even more wear out of the ensemble - especially considering how much work I put into the skirts. Early on in the cutting out process I ran into a few problems. Because I had decided to do the ruching on the skirt, I shorted myself out of some of the gold fabric which meant that while I had quite a bit leftover, the pieces had the slub running the wrong way to match. This is wear I had to be creative. I decided that since I had so much of the golden orange silk leftover, I would make it more of a feature. I had originally just planned it for the collar and maybe a cuff, but instead added the centre back panels and the undersleeve. I was a little worried that it would look strange, but it turns out that I love it. The bodice itself is very simply trimmed. I had tried to do some ruches on the sleeve but it just looked too fussy, so I instead went for the white velvet ribbon, and the only other ornamentation is the pin-on jabot. The pattern for it is based off one of my Innocent World lolita items, but I have seen these in some of my fashion books. At any rate I like how it dresses up the bodice at the neckline. As for my second attempt at the hat, you can see that it turned out so much better.

It was such a lovely afternoon and a pleasure to wear a bustle gown again. I just don't get to do that too often anymore, with all the regency that I do. I must make an effort to wear my Victorian. Note to self!

And now for something completely different...

So, next project. I should have been working on it all week, but I just have not had the motivation. Inspiration yes, motivation - er no. Procrastination seems to be the order of the week. Though I have been a little stressed with some work issues of late, so it is no wonder the by the time I get home all I want to do is relax, watch TV and play computer games.

Anyhow, this weekend (Sunday to be precise) I am attending a Victorian Spa Day. I will post the photos and what not after the event, but at this stage I am focusing on trying to get my day bodice for my Gold and Orange Natural Form gown ready. As it currently stands, the bodice is put together with the sleeves on. I had tried to do some sleeve trim, but that was a complete failure, it just didn't suit the style. I made a trip up to Lincraft this week during lunch and picked up some buttons and some white velvet ribbon. The first step is obviously to do some button holes and attach the buttons. I am then thinking that a slight amount of velvet ribbon with bows for the cuff and maybe some of the leftover trim as well, but only if I have enough. I am also intending to put together a white cotton jabot to be pinned at the neck for a bit of froof.

I will also be trying to find some time to whip up a hat of some sort. My first attempt was a complete failure. The style just looked terrible and I was really unhappy with how it turned out. So I binned the poor thing. It probably didn't help that I had attacked it with the hot glue gun. I do however, have another straw hat stashed away that I am considering using. It is a different base with a much flatter crown. But if this doesn't work, I will be just going with the hairstyling and some combs. I have actually seen this work quite well for fashion plates of the time. Just need to get onto it all. Good thing that I have all of Saturday to dedicate to this process.