Watchmen Cosplay Crunch: The Photos!

Im still waiting on the construction photos from our 3 day costume challenge, but I do have the final result pictures in! Just pretend like this blog is all Memento style and youre watching it backwards…I swear, production photos coming soon! For those that havent been following our journey heres a quick recap, Katie and I had planned to dress as the two Silk Spectres (Katie as Silk Spectre I from the movie and I as Silk Spectre II from the comic) for the midnight release of Watchmen, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we were not able to start on our costumes until the week of the release. So we were left with less then 3 days to make 2 complete costumes from scratch in our free time after work. How we ever finished it, I will never know.

Me with my man Night Owl…is he staring at my boobs?

Katie with The Comedian…who is trying to light her on fire!

The two Silk Spectres posing with Rorschach.

Our friend Shannon who made an adorable Silk Spectre inspired outfit that said WATCHMEN on the front and back. I really wish you could see it better in this picture because it was super adorable.

After the movie we posed with some other people dressed up as Dr Manhattan, Rorschach and Comedian. As I mentioned this was after the show and Katie had taken down her hair while my wig was messed up..but its still a cool shot!

All in all, I think we did a pretty good job given the time constraints. We had to cut corners in construction just to get the outfits together, but they still reflected our initial designs. Katie’s outfit was done completely from scratch and we ended up not using the pattern. I just threw fabric on her and cut and pinned until it looked right. My outfit was based on a pattern that I altered, but due to the material I had to alter it quite a bit. We’re planning on revisiting these costumes for San Diego ComicCon and we’ll blog along as we make them stronger (my sleeve was starting to come apart and so was Katie’s mock corset) and more awesome!

To follow our costume journey click the links below!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

<3 seanalyn

Watchmen Cosplay Crunch: Final Day

Hallelujah! We did it! At the 11th hour Katie and I crunched and finished our costumes in time to run over to the IMAX midnight showing! And the costumes actually looked pretty good if I do say so myself. Unfortunately I dont have any pics yet since I forgot to bring a camera (doh) but our good friend and fellow Watchmen geek snapped some shots so as soon as she gets those up I will upload them. Although several people at the theater took our pictures so I did a little googling today to see if any of them happened to be up already and low and behold there was one. Its very blurry (I dont even remember this pic getting taken) but its proof to all of you that our costumes actually got completed!

Ok so you cant see Katie at all and Im very blurry but its proof that we had costumes on! hehe.

I was actually able to complete everything I wanted except for my earrings, which was ok since the wig covered my ears. Katie actually was able to make her hair look pretty close even without a wig! Next time all we’ll need to do is add some extensions and it will be spot on. I was even able to add some detailing to Katie’s corset (even tough some of it fell off towards the end of the night). Im very pleased with how they came out…especially considering the time crunch. It probably took about 14 hours total to make both costumes…which is really very little time. They werent perfect and some of the rushing showed (by the end of the night I had a hole forming under my arm where I had to redo the sleeve). We want to revisit these in a few months and remake them better and stronger to wear at Comic-Con in San Diego. Plush I want to get our friend Shannon in on the awesomeness. I would love to make her into a sexy Rorschach or a third Silk Spectre. When that happens you know I will definitely share the journey.

Oh and I promise promise I’ll get pictures up of the construction soon…Cesar and I have both been very busy so we havent had a chance to upload them. But its the weekend and we can relax so I’ll probably have them up by Monday. Hopefully by then we will also have some pics of the final product!

<3 seanalyn

Watchmen Cosplay Crunch: Day 3

Sorry for not updating with pictures of progress yet, the boy has not uploaded my photos (stare impatiently while tapping foot). Anyways, so for now you shall have to rely on my vivid descriptions and your imagination.

Last night I finally started on my costume, I should know never to assume something will be easy because that always bites me in the ass. The fabric ended up being incredibly difficult to work with (both sewing and cutting) and somehow I screwed the arms up and had to pull and restitch one arm about 5 times. I eventually got it ok…they arent perfect and shoulders are a bit off but it will have to do for tonight (my wig will cover the shoulders anyways). Unfortunately that set me back quite a bit so Im left with a fair amount to do as quick as I can tonight before rushing over to line up.

Left to do:

Katie’s corset and choker- I had to pull the stitches on this one and start again because I messed up the hem….doh!
My choker
My wrist bands
Fix Katie’s neckline – I wasnt pleased with how it turned out so I need to quickly adjust it
Hem Katie’s skirt
Clean threads and extra fabric from my costume
Make earring (this is lowest priority really)
Make my belt/tie

So thats quite a lot to do and I will only have an hour or so…Im honestly a little nervous here but I will do my best! Im also worried because the fabric Im using for my outfit tears easily….I dont want to end up naked halfway through the movie! So I’ll bring a sewing kit and safety pins to try and keep it alive! Also it looks like it might down pour tonight…yay. Lets hope this all works out!

Watchmen Cosplay Crunch: Day 2

If you read my previous post you would know that Katie and I are trying to do the impossible…construct two different Silk Spectre costumes in less than 3 days so we can wear them for tomorrow’s midnight showing of the Watchmen movie. Last night Katie came over and we worked late into the night fitting and sewing her costume. Hers was actually the most difficult of the two because it has several different pieces and has to actually fit her. Mine is a more loose costume and doesnt have to fit perfectly since there will be a tie around the waist.

The first task was to create the top of Katie’s costume. I cut out a loose block shape of fabric and pinned it on her (Im surprised I didnt totally prick her all over!) to determine the shape. Then I went in and cut the fabric and sewed it to create the halter top. I would normally have tried to make a pattern but I didnt have the materials or time so I played it risky and went straight to the fabric. Because we dont have time to do buttons or zippers we decided to make the dress loose so that it would fit over her head and the fake corset around the middle would create the fit. I made the skirt similarly to the top by just draping it then sewing it to the top.

So we finished the basic part of the dress, I need to cut the bottom (shorty short skirt!) and re-do the neckline since the hem looks off and doesnt drape right. I was also able to fit Katie for the mock corset and neck piece, now they just need to be hemmed and have button holes in the back for the corset and Velcro for the neck piece.

Since time is not a luxury and I dont have a dress form, we dont have the option to make things perfectly and put in a lot of clasps and closures. So to work around this corsets and Velcro will allow for Katie to adjust the costume simply.

Tonight I’ll begin construction on my costume, it should go quicker since as I mentioned, it doesnt have to fit perfectly and I have a pattern that I can (hopefully) alter to fit. So 3/4s of a costume down, 1 whole costume to go! Wish us luck!

BTW- We took some photos last night to show the steps and progress so once I pull those off the camera I will add them to the blog.

<3 seanalyn

Watchmen Cosplay Crunch: Day 1

A while back Katie and I decided we wanted to dress up for the premier of Watchmen since we are both big fans. We decided that I would go as Silk Spectre II from the comic and she would go as Silk Spectre I from the movie (lets be honest, the movie version of Silk Spectre I is a lot more awesome). Unfortunately due to family emergencies and other unexpected life projects our costumes had to take the back seat. Now that doesnt mean we arent doing them, it just means we are met with and unbelievable challenge…most people spend months on their costumes but we are doing 2 outfits in less than 3 days…all while maintaining our normal jobs and life responsibilities. Can we do it? Lets see.

Day 1 Monday: Planning

Silk Spectre II- My Costume

This last weekend I finished buying the fabric for my costume (Katie got hers the weekend before). Mine was fairly difficult to find because it needs to be sheer, but not too sheer and a chiffon/silk material. Most Silk Spectre IIs that I have seen dont nail the fabric and either have not sheer enough fabric or use mesh which looks all wrong. I finally found the perfect fabric although its a hair too light, but it will have to do. Thankfully Katie has a bathing suit which is almost identical to the black under layer so that will cut down significantly on my construction time. I also picked up a pattern that I will be able to alter. Im taking the poofed sleeves and the round neck bodice and just making the skirt really short. After that all I need to do is attach black ribbon to the wrists and make a waist tie…simple right? I also found the perfect wig yesterday which is another thing most girls don’t nail. Most girls buy a brown pageboy bang wig but if you look at the comic, Silk Spectre II doesnt exactly have pageboy bangs! She has some short bangs pushed to the side, not a blunt cut all the way across. So I bought a decent quality wig with no bangs and cut the bangs in and pushed them to the side. Perfect! If you cant tell Im a perfectionist, I dont ever cosplay but if Im doing it you know damn well Im doing it correctly so Ive been obsessively analyzing the comic. The only thing is Ive noticed some inconsistencies with how she is drawn! Sometimes her yellow overlay attaches to her choker and other times it doesnt, the color of her shoes and belt also change…so I’ll just have to pick one version and roll with it. Oh and bonus, I have a freckle in the exact same spot she has a mole…so all I need to do it enhance it with some eyeliner!

Silk Spectre I – Katie’s Costume

Katie’s is going to be simpler in some ways and more difficult in others. Unlike my costume she doesnt require sleeves, which always cuts down on time. However, mine doesnt have to be perfectly fitted because it will tie around the waist but Katie’s has a mock corset that needs to be fitted. Thankfully we found the perfect fabric for hers (slightly less sheer than mine) and she has a few pieces that she can wear under the yellow to create the under layer. Yet again Im going to be taking a pattern an altering it to create the dress. Now this pattern may look nothing like Silk Spectre’s dress but actually the top is fairly similar as is the neck piece, I’ll just have to create some extra slits but it should work fine. The only real snag we’ve run into with Katie is finding the wig. She thought she could get one online but that fell through and unfortunately the clock is ticking so we cannot bank on getting one shipped in time. After checking several party stores we came up empty. In a pinch I think we could just style her hair up in a retro fashion and it will be close enough to at least create the effect of Silk Spectre I’s hair. Other than that all she really needs to get are the thigh highs and possibly one elbow length black glove.

So that the plan. Katie comes over tonight to help with construction and fitting so we will actually only have about 2 nights to work on the costumes since we’ll be lining up early on Thursday for the showing. Can we do it? I hope so! We’ll take pictures along the way and let you see the final products! Wish us luck!

<3 seanalyn