Thread: A Cat, a Rabbit and a Queen.

Tweet

Ok, so my plan for Halloween is a quick trip through Wonderland, and as with anything my mind makes up, it's complicated, bizarre, occasionally stomach turning and worth questioning if I may need psychological help.
Fortunately the costumes aren't the hardest part, but they will take some effort.
So I have come to ask you folks for advice, and I'll do it character by character.

First up is the Queen of Hearts. She's going to be an ax wielding, off her rocker nut, in a corseted dress adorned with hearts and belts and some long arm fingerless gloves. Think punk wannabe with some rockabilly-ish influence.
I need some ideas about fabrics to use in reds to dark reds and blacks with perhaps some white trim.
I also need some natural dark red long haired wigs that are easy to style in different ways without any seams or netting showing.

Next is the White Rabbit. Think paranoid, sleep deprived and wired to high tension. His waistcoat is torn disheveled and he looks beaten about and abused, almost leper like. His watch is now a classic style alarm clock chained forever to his wrist. His personality is that of a strung out druggie looking for a fix, who also has some OCD time issues.
I need the best places for affordable to downright cheap faux fur, in white or off white. I'm going to need a lot of it so getting as much as I can for as little as possible is ideal.

Last for now is the Cheshire Cat. He's gonna be sleek and crafty. The kinda guy who you know is leading you on but you can help but follow. He's going to be in a suit and tie looking quite professional and almost like he could sell you your own soul. His face and hands will still be cat like, he'll keep the face splitting grin and he'll have a long tail, which is kinda why I need so much white fur.
For the Cat I need ideas on fabrics that have a velvety feel without looking like drapery. I want his suit to feel soft and fur like to the touch but still look business like. The fabric needs to be in purples, like violet and plum or darker. I want eccentric high lifer not pimp. The fabric will be used to make a coat and pants, possibly a vest. An undershirt and tie won't be too hard to procure.

I will try to get some basic concept art up in this thread as soon as possible. I will also use this thread to ask about other characters and props later on.

Any help you guys can give me will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Here is some quick concept art for the Cat. I'm still getting used to drawing with a tablet.

Does anyone know where to find a fat face/neck prosthetic?
I've checked out a few places but no one seems to carry them.
I'm looking in the range of obese to morbidly obese.

I've seen one fat face / neck appliance here...

Rogue Planet FX - Fat Neck

Never bought anything from this place, so I don't know anything about their stuff. Perhaps some other folks here have tried them.

Originally Posted by the dogman

Does anyone know where to find a fat face/neck prosthetic?
I've checked out a few places but no one seems to carry them.
I'm looking in the range of obese to morbidly obese.

Just for camping ? Any case U can have it on. I think so ?
_____________________
Cool stuff | Wedding stuff

cn356 - Thanks for the link. It's a bit out of our price range for now because a lot of our money is going to fabrics and sets. I have a method in mind that should give us the same effect without the same cost.

omeliok2010 - The fat neck piece is for our version of the Hookah smoking Caterpillar. He's not going to be a pretty sight.

Has anyone made a suit with faux suede before?
I'm thinking about using that for the Cat's suit.

Also, would making the Cat female be a bad thing? It turns out that I am going to be the Cat and I'm not sure how masculine I will look in a suit.

Originally Posted by the dogman

Also, would making the Cat female be a bad thing? It turns out that I am going to be the Cat and I'm not sure how masculine I will look in a suit.

I don't think that would be a problem. I've seen more women dress up as the Cheshire cat than guys, so that wouldn't be out-of-the-ordinary, and if you feel unsure about the suit you could always make it more like a women's cut.

I wish I could lend more help with these costumes. I'm pretty excited to see how they come out as it sounds like you have some really fun concepts going. Good luck!

Well my biggest issue with making the Cat female is that a lot of the women who dress up as Cheshire also tend to fall into the "trying to make it sexy" category. I don't want Cheshire to be "sexy" I want him to be appealingly evil.

I'm also running into a bit of a block with the Rabbit. He may end up being less mange and more strict and furiously angry. It's looking like we will be putting pants on him due to the overall cost of fur.

The other characters are coming together alright, although the Hatter will be a fun song and dance to try and get as far away from Tim Burton's design. I have nothing personal against Burton's Hatter, I just don't want his design in my haunt. It's gonna be insanely popular this year as it is, I'd just rather avoid it.

The Alice in Wonderland theme was set down and agreed upon before anything for the movie was released so we really didn't know what to expect. Hopefully it will turn out well and people won't walk away complaining that it wasn't like Burton's Alice.

So another update.
For Cheshire, it looks like we will be using a faux suede because it has a fuzzy feel and is low cost and he will be in shades of Purple and Teal rather than Purple and Pink. Purple fur, suit, teal shirt, suit lining, etc.
W. Rabbit will be in pants but still disheveled and ornery. Prussian Blue and Golden Yellows for him, perhaps some regal Greens.

For both, due to the high cost of faux fur, we are considering using white (bleached or natural) rabbit fur sold for crafting. We have found a couple sellers who sell individual furs in bulk for less than what the yardage of faux fur will cost us. We also know of a person who sells damaged fur coats that may have some made of rabbit fur that we can use.

The issue with rabbit fur right now, is that it will be toasty hot, so drinks will need to be handy. Cheshire will only have face, neck and hands covered, but W. Rabbit will have face, neck, arms, partial chest and lower legs covered.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to thin the leather side of a rabbit pelt without losing all the fur? Would getting it wet and stretching it out be a bad idea? The furs we are looking at are tanned so they would essentially be ready to use.