Dolls. Again.

Apr 08, 2013 14:02

- Dolls. Ack! (Alternatively... Ack. Dolls ( Read more... )

doll babble

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seraphim_grace April 8 2013, 23:45:35 UTC
the front is easy, the problem with the back is making it a functional lacing, which might not happen
I'm going to have to actually make the lacing for it, which is one of those things which is tedious but something to do in front of the telly -
I was thinking that dark military green, possibly a light broadcloth, like a summer jacket material there doesn't appear to be a lot of boning so I can fake that with quilting, and the rivets will have to be glued on, but I can make it
I can make his too, I've been really sneaky behind the scenes with what I'm doing, I don't mind doing the whole costume, I can do it as a tute so it's just as easy, I can even (but am not going to) make the boots, because sizing boots is a pain.

I've just been working with the american dolls more so it's been available, but I've gotten really quite good at translating patterns. I'm going shopping for fabric tomorrow (1/4 yd is all I need but you have to buy by the yard so I always end up with lots left over) so it'll be wed before I start, but if you could find me a picture of the back
so I can see how far up it laces, it'll be probably be faux lacing but it will look right
I'll have to get Vedra and her stand out
the pants are super easy!
I haven't seen the film yet
I normally use this site for movie costumes
http://www.costumersguide.com/
(and I will probably regret showing you this) but it's not on there yet

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talithax April 9 2013, 01:03:56 UTC
I've actually got his... more or less... sorted (it laces up as opposed to buckles, but it's brown and I'm thinking it'll... do - as I'm not expecting miracles here! I've got a coat too, but it's not leather and the only thing that really sold me on it is that its collar stands up! Yeah, yeah. Clutching at straws here...)

Trousers for him I've already got. Trousers for her are sorted. Boots are sorted. Shirts are more or less sorted - hers is currently white, whereas it looks as though it should be, well, dirty... but I'm sure I can manage a bit of dirt!

I know there's a picture of the back of the damn thing, but... I'm currently at work and will have to hunt it down tonight. (There's HQ pics here - http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/g89wyiw1lrjjgdvc14u3218rgcojzjtg - I don't think the one of the back is there, but the rest are of good quality and may be of assistance...)

The movie is pretty naff, but I love it. (My favourite movie is Van Helsing anyway, so it's not as though I'm exactly high brow in my tastes or anything!)

If you need any money now I'm happy to send it to you via paypal. And, of course, thank you!

As absolute... whim ideas go, this one would have be one of my more... random!!

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seraphim_grace April 9 2013, 01:20:02 UTC
I do this all the time, I don't watch period movies any more because I get twitchy fingers,
I've got my sketchbook ready for Gatsby, I understand completely.
I also understand how awful movies can be awesome, but I drew the line at Van Helsing, I made the three vampire dresses on commission, I still have left over things from that, fabric, beads, bells that sort of thing.

tea bags! seriously, make a very mild tea and dip parts of the shirt in it, then soak it in HOT water, it will cause the tea to bleed and set, voila that sort of dirty look, try it with a handkerchief before you commit to it in a shirt.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28292583@N02/
that's my flickr if you wanna see what I've done lately, I very rarely share photos of commissions because that's for the actual commissioner to sort out.
I've mastered the renaissance corset - the trick is sinamay, not boning, I went on a hat making course and it was like my eyes were opened.
I have most of the stuff needed in stock, seriously, I have this lovely brown cord that would be perfect but its brown, so I might make a few.

Do you know if the vest is partially laced at the back, or all the way down,
ie is it all the way from the shoulders, or just at the waist with a few cross overs, I can get some bridal loop trim and feed it through so it's laced, believe it or not this isn't that complicated.

I've done this one too
http://www.costumersguide.com/vanhelsing/red_exhibit1.jpg
the blackwork on the smocking gave me grey hairs (and yes it's still called black work even when it's red)
but it was actually simple, the trick is getting the right materials to start.

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talithax April 9 2013, 02:06:27 UTC
Having had to suffer the Great Gatsby at school, I can't say I'm experiencing any sort of... interest... for the movie at all. (That and, well, Leondardo...) I do, however, have a very sad affection for Van Helsing (coolest Dracula *ever*!)

Tea bags, huh? I had kinda wondered about tea. But... Don't dip the whole thing into it, yes? Just random bits and then hot water? I like the idea of trying with a hankerchief first... It's an old Dollmore shirt that I've had since the very beginning of my doll days! It was a 'poet' style shirt, but I've got the front frill off in order for it to 'work' better. But... It is currently *very* white!

It looks like Ellowyne is proving to be quite the muse!

The back of the vest (and I know there's a pic of it somewhere, because I actually despaired when I saw it...) will have to wait until tonight. There is, on Youtube, a very good 'behind the scenes' featurette in HD that may possibly help. Just search Hansel and Gretel B Roll...

So you've made Van Helsing customes (which are pretty good, btw), but you've not seen the movie? Tsk! It's actually quite funny...

Oh! And the head witch (with the unfortunate name of... Murial!) in H&G, she has quite a cool gothic type dress... No. I'm not angling for it (I have enough witchy looking dolls as it is!), but I just thought I'd mention it as you might like it...

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seraphim_grace April 9 2013, 02:19:58 UTC
I saw van helsing in the pictures on a free ticket,
actually every movie i've ever seen early on a free ticket has been awful, van helsing, troy, cool runnings....
i should stop taking those free tickets

I loved the idea of van helsing but hated the execution, there was a thing called the Van Helsing project where fans rewrote it to make it work, and then they were all taken down from the internet and a week later they announced they were making a new Van Helsing movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2388803/?ref_=sr_2
and what was worse was I really liked the Mummy
a good bad movie is a joy forever, like Big Trouble in Little China.
My favourite is Nightbreed which just takes itself so seriously, and I wanna go see the new evil dead because I love the series and apparently its not a remake just a new set of kids find the book and start it all over. So no Ash, snaps fingers in dismay but considering the age of Bruce Campbell now, and that film is in it's thirties.....

I saw the witches costumes when I was looking for Gretels, because they put them in exhibition, I liked the uniform-battle costumes with the skirt trim, but thought that Famke Janssen's looked a bit too over done, it didn't look too complicated, something easily done with a light jersey and then embellished.
http://hollywoodmoviecostumesandprops.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/jeremy-renner-and-gemma-arterton.html
http://hollywoodmoviecostumesandprops.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/famke-janssens-muriel-witch-costume.html
it looked like The Brothers Grimm (the queen's dress, weeps that velvet doesn't work in scale) but i figured I'd wait till it came out on video and watch it then. I don't watch a lot of movies any more. I have audio books when I'm sewing, and music the rest of the time, occasional forays into tv but then it has to be in english because I'll have my knitting on my knee, which sucks because all decent anime are dubbed...
Have you seen Solomon Kane, I think you'll like it, it's that sort of awful fabulous and completely bonkers too.

I cut my teeth on Eiko Ishioka costumes, nothing phases me any more, I went in mourning when she died, and I still haven't watched Mirror Mirror because I know I'll want to do those costumes.

I only want to see Gatsby literally for the costumes, baz luhrmann directing, those costumes will be fabulous.

What I found with ellowyne is people want these complicated costumes but want to make them themselves so patterns sell really well for her, she suits things as well, she's not as fussy as the bjds, probably because she is a designed fashion doll not a character doll, so you can get away with a lot. I've got a gene too, now.

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talithax April 9 2013, 03:10:16 UTC
I was going to argue that I've had great luck with free tickets (Van Helsing, H&G, which I actually scored free tickets for twice), but then I remembered I also had the misfortune of seeing Alexander on free tickets - and whatever his name is (Colin somethingorother) with that hideous wig or dye job, on top of what was already a crappy movie, just *killed* me!

I have to *really* want to see something to make the effort to go to the cinema. And, seriously, that rarely happens.

The... worry... I have with the idea of a new Van Helsing movie is... Tom Cruise. Now, I'm not even *that* anti-Cruise, but... Seriously. I still don't want his name attached to Van Helsing. (Unless he was a gremlin or something like that...)

I haven't seen Solomon Kane - or Nightbreed. I didn't mind The Mummy, but nor do I really care if I never see it again.

I've got a Gene doll too - back from when she was first out. She lives in her very own, pretty much locked down glass cabinet though, so she's always been a display doll and nothing more. *Somewhere* (I don't even know where, despite the fact she too in her own locked cabinet) I have a Morgan Le Fey Franklin Mint porcelain doll that, clearly, at the time I simply had to have! I was fascinated with the detail and costumes of Gene when she first came out. I also liked the look of Ellowyne when Haute Doll used to (exist!) feature her, but if I'm going to have a 'straight' display doll then I'll go for Silkstone Barbies every time.

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seraphim_grace April 9 2013, 03:26:37 UTC
weirdly with Gene when i was a kid I had a copy of dracula that was illustrated by the guy who designed her, who is a hugely influential gay artist, but tailoring, I have a thing for tailoring and so I like working with her, i picked her up for a song, almost literally.
Have you seen the Evangeline Ghastly doll, she has a red headed version which i actually like, and they're wigged now, and there is a resin ellowyne (which pretty much shares it's body with a unoa)

Solomon Kane is... I can't really spoil it, he's this bad ass who is tricked by a demon worshipper so the devil will take his soul instead of the sorcerers so panicky he decides to live a virtuous life, but the universe just aint hip to that plan, and he ends up fighting witches and all sorts, mostly to get left alone to be virtuous. It's James Purefoy as well, so he's hot, bad hair but... and the witches are kinda scary. The effects are... because it was cheap but it's just one of those movies.
Nightbreed if awful bad, it's about this chap who dreams of the nightbreed and their home, midian, but gets accused by his psychiatrist of the murders that the good doctor is committing, goes to midian, gets chomped, shot down by the police, then comes back from the dead as a sort of messiah, much to the annoyance of the good doctor who's I just blamed you for all the terrible murders I committed I need you dead and tries to kill him again. It's like the least scary horror movie ever made and has David Cronenberg acting in it, it has this city of monsters that live under a graveyard that is very clearly a sound stage apart from some really obvious exterior shots... it's so bad it's brilliant and really quotable.

Tom Cruise is having some sort of midlife crisis. I wouldn't particularly worry about it, but one thing is that he is very good in the roles he chooses but he doesn't choose the roles that would be the most fun, so dunno if he's going to be VH or Dracula. I'd wanna be dracula but lets face it gary oldman pwned that role, and the costumes, (Eiko Ishioka) and no one was quite as dangerously seductive ever since.
Ah when Vampires were vampires and bit you (or sat around in the dark reading each other dirty poems)

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talithax April 9 2013, 09:39:03 UTC
Mel Odom (sp?)? That name rings a bell in relation to Gene. I had seen Evangeline Ghastly (is she the one with the younger siblings) 'back in the day' and, again, I quite liked her... but just not enough to actually *want*. Are they still making Ellowyne's? I used to love looking at the details of her outfits in Haute Doll.

Tom Cruise as Dracula could certainly be... interesting. Far more interesting than as VH at any rate - and I did actually like him as that mad 80s rock star in Rock of Ages. James Purefoy -- and I don't actually mean this facetiously! --should I know who he is, or what he's been in? My favourite Dracula I have to say is Richard Roxborough in Van Helsing - he's just... mad!

And... Vampires. Like, I suspect you, I used to like Vampires before Twilight came along and made them all... sparkly... and the property of (pre) teens. ::sigh::

And... I've found the pic of the back of Gretel's corset. The bad news, however, is that it's in a book and I can't really share it, sorry. (it's a scarce as hen's teeth press book and I don't want to faff around with a scanner because I'm afraid of cracking the flimsy spine) It appears to be very similar to the front though, albeit it straight along the spine as opposed the odd... crookedness of the front.

To be perfectly honest, given how complicated it all looks, I'd be just as happy with a stock standard green corset vest! I mean, it looks like enough of a horror to make in human size, let alone doll size!

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seraphim_grace April 9 2013, 11:08:37 UTC
oh yes, back when vampires killed and ate people
and had to worry about hunters who were often as terrifying as they were, those were the days

I wrote a teen wolf fic actually which had the kids watching Lost Boys and they were all arrgh he ate someone, look at the mullet, and is that donald sutherland? and I got all these comments asking what were they watching so I told them, mwahahahah

you know a bad cell phone snap or a sketch would do, but I'll work up a prototype (I have enough for many corsets)with the back like this
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28292583@N02/7543031432/in/photostream
so you can see how it's shaped into the doll. Now what I was thinking of doing is leaving the front lacing as functional (lots of hand stitched eyelets, not as hard as it seems) and having a faux lacing at the back using bridal loop lace (which makes lots of little eyelets woo!) all along the curves, but what I can do is leave the lacing off the back entire and have it fasten up there instead if you'd prefer, I don't know if you can see on that photo but it arches up at the back for support just above the hip, it would actually be a good shape for killing witches in, but this is where you go it's a racer back and I weep

here is the evangeline ghastly site
http://www.wildeimagination.com/default.aspx?skinid=3
she's not the one you mean, that's Agnes Dreary, this is like the fashion doll lily munster would want
she's their gothic girl, as in pale, victorian melodrama in all her costumes

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talithax April 9 2013, 23:07:32 UTC
I miss the good old days of when vampires were... vampires. And they didn't freakin' glitter.

Lost Boys is something of a classic, isn't it... Haven't seen it for absolute years, but do nonetheless have it on DVD somewhere!

I can try to take pic of the book - but first I have to find the energy! I mean, I thought about it last night and, seriously, was so tired that it simply felt like far too much energy. (Despite, somewhat sadly, having the book on my lap and my camera within reach - sorry!) The back, seriously though, is very much like the front, albeit straight. And, again, I am more than fine with the back simply being where it fastens. It's not like it's ever really going to be on show. That, and I am honestly fine with... whatever... so long as it has the vague style and the vaguely right colour! (Oh! And I think -- mind you, I'm only applying logic to the term here -- that it does have a 'racer' back. Again, it seems to be quite a close copy of the front! They put so much effort into the damn thing and then cover it with a jacket for half of the time - go figure!)

And... Oooops. You're right. I had the wrong doll. Are you aiming to get an Evangeline Ghastly doll at some point?

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seraphim_grace April 9 2013, 23:30:49 UTC
the problem I have with the Evangeline doll is her body is strange, she's kinda freaky thin and tall, like slenderman, which suits the vision they have of her but is just odd
they are bringing out more and more flat footed dolls but I haven't fallen for a doll in some time, I go through phases were I make lots of clothes but I have more fun with the making than the dolls, I could probably do human sized but doll clothes are quicker
I was going to use a period extant sort of corset back, shaped but not a princess style, using trim to form loops that are almost hidden in the seams for the lacing, it's not that complicated it just looks it, although I'm going to have to make laces small enough (again easy, but tedious) it just means cording some embroidery floss, I do it all the time, usually watching a movie.
However it means a racer back becomes almost impossible, it'll be fitted but not as cut away at the back around the shoulders, it will be lined because there is no alternative really, but it might be a little ugly around the arm holes, I hate doing lining on sleeveless, it always comes out a little ugly with the stitching.
I've got plenty of fabric and fixings and a working pattern so it's as easy to make two as one, one of each.

Lost Boys is one of the best vampire movies, it and Near Dark which no one has seen, vampires that are just plain nasty as well as bitey, I'm pretty sure the vamps in things like Supernatural were based on the Near Dark ones, at least when they first appeared.
Maybe Buffy is to blame, but half of what was attractive about vampires was that they wanted to eat you.

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talithax April 10 2013, 00:54:24 UTC
At least with Buffy vampires were pretty much still vampires. I *liked* Buffy. And, again, I used to like vampires. Now I just shy away from them for fear of accidentally looking like I fell for them courtesy of the dreaded Twilight. (That Stephanie Meyer has a lot to answer for - glittery vampires, Robert Patterson, the even more dreaded 50 Shades... Seriously. I blame her for a *lot*.)

The only reason I know I've been disinterested in dolls for three years is because I know my last doll was from Luts (and the poor dear has never been changed out of the clothes he came with... Ooops) and the date in my order history was 2010! From then on it was completely cold turkey...

... Until, that is, my current... whim... of madness.

I can not stress enough that you (unlike me!) know what you're doing and, seriously, will be happy with whatever you're able to come up with.

And... Yet again, if you require payment, don't hesitate to let me know. Alternatively, if there's anything you can think of that you might like from Australia, again, just let me know. I'm actually going to be in Kent from mid May to mid June, so I can post 'stuff' from the UK, and I was thinking that if you've got anything made by then that you could just post it to Kent instead of having to deal with the tediousness (and cost!) of international post...

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seraphim_grace April 10 2013, 01:52:08 UTC
wait till I'm finished and then you can pay what you think it's worth, my dolls are still wearing your jewellery long after the fact, and I never know what to charge

Buffy, ah Buffy, I liked Buffy until he spun off angel and then much prefered it, but I like darker work, then I discovered Sailor Moon and realised how much of it was stolen and really blatantly too and every time he comes up with a new show it's "I've already seen it" because it was an anime but he's great with dialogue, and so i often feel like an outsider looking in because there's all these people raving about some show he's done and it did nothing for me because I loved the original, Firefly is very like Cowboy Bebop, Dollhouse just sounds like an anime (I didn't watch it so....) but everyone complains when his shows are cancelled and I'm thinking probably got the heavies from the anime company knocking on the door
seriously, watch the evil angel arc of buffy and then read the first season of Sailor Moon in manga, it's almost shot for shot
we're spoiled, I tells ya, spoiled
although that Revolution was pretty much the premise of a show I watched as a kid called the Visionaries
never mess with a fangirl with an eidetic memory, we have to watch foreign stuff because we can't be doing with repeats.

I'm okay with Robert Pattinson mostly because he hates twilight more than anyone else in the world, seriously, it's like a thing, he's a decent actor in other things, but the poor kid is going to be sidelined forever as that piece of shit lingers, but it's already being forgotten because the arc is over. I wonder if there wasn't clever marketing there, that everyone read it because everyone thought that everyone else was reading it - same thing happened with 50 shades, which my mum read and claimed she'd read better and set up an ellora's cave account. How can you write porn if you're afraid to use the word penis, cock or dick. seriously.

Remember the klaus kinski vampire who looked like a rat and was still hella sexy and really really dangerous.... those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end

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