Wigging Lottie LeBouff

In November of 2012, I created a wig for my Princess and the Frog, Lottie costume. This is a tutorial of how I used an old blonde wig to finish off my character. It was originally hosted on another blog, however this is where it belongs - in my costuming world.

To start off, research. Not too difficult for a disney cartoon, however going from a drawing to actual life is where the challenge lies. But then, this goes for creating the costume as well.

Once I had decided how I was going to go about creating this wig, it was simply a matter of getting stuck in. I was lucky enough to have a couple of blonde wigs already in my possession that I had decided to use for it.

I ended up doing the wig twice.The first time, I created a wire frame to support the height - as I do with a huge Georgian wig. Once I had finished the style, I popped it on my head and realised that it was way too big. So in the end, this is what I did.

1. I popped the main base wig that I would be using onto my wig styling head and separated some long sections in the front out - this is to hide the building of the beehive. I also made sure that the wig was very securely pinned to the styling head so that it doesn't move once it is stretched to shape.

2. Next was to create a teased section of hair to use as the base of the beehive. I cut out a piece of the second wig, stitched it into my main wig and teased it to town and back. The trick with teasing wigs, is that if you want it to be permanent, go against all the rules. Plaster it with hairspray and run your comb back and forth to build up matting. I then tamed it down a bit with some bobby pins to get it into the shape that I was needing.

3. I then worked these sections into the general style. I took sections of the long wig, teased them at the roots and then worked them into the shape.

4. The next step was to smooth over the remaining hair to get a neat beehive. I used the ends of the draped over sections and created flat pin curls which I mounted on top of the style. This is not the way you would normally do a beehive, but with wigs, you need to be a little creative.

5. The difficulty with using costume wigs is hiding the base of the wig where the hair wefts are stitched on. I worked around this problem by draping the hair from the front around to the back where I overlapped it to cover any exposed wig. It's very important to hide the base wig as well as any open sections - especially if your hair does not match the wig. You don't want it showing through.

6. The final step was to take the back section and add it into the style. I couldn't find any drawings of the back of Lottie's hair and because of the huge collar, I was allowed a little creative styling licence for this section. I decided to do a neat roll that would twist up all the remaining hair while keeping a neat hairline on the bottom. It also helped to hide any further exposure of the wig in this area.

7. The final step was to trim off the ear draping curl sections, curl under the fringe - which I popped in large rollers with a coat of hairspray, then I simply brushed it out into place. To complete the look, I slid in my comb tiara.

Back at the Ball

Back from an exhausting weekend away at the annual Australian Costumers Guild Ball. This year, was my fourth trip, the only difference being that I was making it by myself this year.

Each year the ACG hosts its annual ball in Adelaide (where the guild is originally based), and each year, I make the trip down to attend. I left work early and jumped on an afternoon flight to make it into town by 6pm. The unfortunate side effect of seeing the PINK concert the night before had left me so tired that I don’t even remember the plane taking off – I had crashed.

I spent Saturday, doing the fabric shopping thing. In Adelaide, there are a couple of really good fabric stores within the city space. The first that I went to was DK Fabrics at 105 Port Road, Hindmarsh. I considered taking a bus, but was looking at a 30 minute trip. Instead a taxi took about 7 minutes from where I was staying. The store opens at 9am, and I was there shortly after. The main different with DK Fabrics over other stores is that you don’t collect the fabric that you want, but instead it is cut on spot. If you are planning to shop for a lot of fabric, I suggest taking a pen and paper to jot down some notes on what you are after, so you know what you are going back to. I picked up a number of lovely pieces of fabric for future projects. As you can see from my photos, there is an amazing selection of fabrics available, and all at good prices.

I then made my way to Eastern Silk. A quick tram trip down the line (only two stops, and within the free travel zone) saw me arrive. The address, for those looking to travel to it is 7 James Congdon Drive, Mile End. I shop online at Eastern Silk as they offer free standard postage within Australia. And while their fabrics are standard prices, the quality is much higher than the silk available at Spotlight or Lincraft, and they offer a wider range of colours. Their website if you are looking at shopping there. But shopping at Eastern Silk is another thing entirely. The shop is a converted old house and it encompasses not only the fabric side of the business but the home furnishings and accessories as well. This time, I didn’t actually buy any fabric for myself, but did grab a couple of beautiful scarves on sale.

I then made my way back to North Adelaide to pick up some food before heading off to rehearsal for the Ball. I had decided to enter into both the Parade and Workmanship competitions this year. For the Parade, I wore my Charlotte La Bouff costume and performed a simple display with lip synching to a 45second snippet of sound taken from the film. In workmanship, I entered my I Dream of Jeannie costume. Workmanship, is where your seams and construction are examined and judged. Trust me, it is rather daunting.

Later that night, came the ball itself. It was great to catch up with so many of my fellow costume friends from Adelaide. Most, it is the only time of year that I see them in person. I unfortunately didn’t get as many photos as I wold have liked, I was too busy having a good time.

Below, however are some shots of the winners accepting their trophies in the various categories and the hall awards. I myself, won the workmanship in my class for my Jeannie costume.

It wasn't until well after midnight that I shuffled the couple of minutes’ walk back to my room, where I proceeded to fall into bed. It had been a long day.

I woke up Sunday morning, to pack my suitcase and check out of my hotel before meeting up with a couple of the ACG members for brunch. Unfortunately there were many who couldn’t make it (Father’s Day falling in the way). Afterwards, I spent the day catching up with a close friend of mine before heading to airport to make the trip home. I had a wonderful weekend, and am already trying to decide what I will wear next year.

Supanova Brisbane 2012

And yet another Supanova has come and gone. In case I have not mentioned it before, Supanova is a pop culture convention held in Australia. We get television and anime personalities out and the costumers and cosplayers come out in droves. Naturally, I am there the entire weekend, and in costume.

It starts on Friday. I knocked off work early and got all done up in my Saber Lion suit for the afternoon. By far, this has to be my cutest costume of all. It's quite comfy in that I don't have to worry about corsets, however the sports bra that flattens my chest out underneath can get a little uncomfortable. It's also quite a warm costume - being made entirely of polar fleece (not the best thing to wear in spring in Brisbane), but luckily the weather had turned to wet and breezy, so I wasn't too overly hot. The costume was received well and I was actually recognised. Something does not usually happen with this costume in Brisbane. My brother and I took the opportunity to shop to our hearts content as there is a much smaller turn out on Friday, the crowds around the stalls aren't quite so bad. We made it to the opening ceremony where they announced that they are planning to have Eliza Dushku come for Gold Coast Supanova in April next year. Afterwards, we headed out for some Thai food before calling it a night.

Saturday morning, I rose bright and early ready for a full day out and about. I decided to wear my K-ON! uniform as the character Yui. The wig was a new addition to change the costume up from when I last wore it. It was a rainy and wet day, so I thankfully didn't get too hot in the full tights, skirt, skirt and blazer ensemble. Again, my costume was a success with many people recognising me. A couple of girls even said that my Yui was perfect. A huge compliment in my eyes. My brother and I spent most of the day in and out of talks. We saw James Masters, Felicia Day, Billy West and John Di Maggio. Best of all, James Masters let slip that he will have a reoccurring role on Warehouse 13 next season. We shopped some more and rounded out our evening by attending a small James Masters concert. He is a great singer and I really like his style.

Again, I was up early and ready to go on Sunday morning for the final day of Supanova. My brand new costume had been sitting on my mannequin ready for me to wear. I started to get ready with my mum helping me to get dressed. Then the zipper jammed. We soaped it up, got it done up all the way and then it decided to split open. From there, we had to cut the zip to get it off me. My wonderful mum then took the dress from me and unpicked the zip (I was by far too stressed and freaking out). I replaced the zip (not using an invisible one this time) and got all dressed again. Thankfully I was only a half hour behind my original schedule. I tell you though, that is the very last time I use and invisible zip - evil things really. But in the end I was determined that I was going to wear my dress - especially after all the work I had put into it.

It was for Lottie from Disney's The Princess and The Frog. For those who haven't seen it, Lottie is Tiana (the princess)'s best friend. It was a real chore putting this costume together. Underneath I had made an underbust corset to support all my undergarments and was wearing my mum's oversized crinoline and my full ruffled petticoat. The dress itself took about 4 mock ups to get the pattern right. The bodice has a sweetheart neckline in front but a full back panel with a sewn in collar and huge puffy sleeves. It's made of taffeta and georgette with a faille sash. I stuffed the sleeves with toy fill so that I would not be constantly puffing them up, and the collar has a piece of buckram lining it as well as a bone that goes from the top of the collar to the bottom of the bodice to help hold the collar up. I didn't want that thing to flop or go anywhere. It was so stiff and in shape I almost took out an eye. :D It does up with a zip and some hooks and eyes under my left arm. All in all, aside from the zip issue, I was very pleased with how the dress turned out. The wig itself was another drama that I will cover in a tutorial - but it did take me three goes to get it right. I knew that I had gotten the dress right when I got out of the car and before I had my wig on - someone pointed to me and said "hey look, it's Charlotte from The Princess and The Frog"

We eventually got to the event where I promptly lined up for my photo with James Masters. Afterwards I met up with my fellow big skirt and Disney crew. We had a Tiana (my cousin), Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, a Steampunker and Kaylee in her Shindig dress from Firefly. We were held up with photos for quite some time. I then spent most of my day wandering around the stores and catching up with my friends, two of which were visiting from Sydney.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. I spent way too much money, but I had a blast. I am looking forward to the Gold Coast on April next year now. The costume plans start now!