[suicidal zombie]

Hey all, sorry to add another 'help plz' thread, but need some inspiration from you halloween geniuses!

I was giving serious thought to going as Dracula (massive red cape costume, worn in Castle Dracula) from Bram Stoker's film (see pics attached). Was just wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to achieve this.

For the costume, I was going to try and find a red satin kimono/dressing gown, along with a cape in the same colour of material and wear it over a sort of white nightgown. The cape from the movie is MASSIVE (think 10ft train!), so I could get some fabric and sew it on to give some extra length, and then I could get some gold fabric paint to add the gold embellishment. Any thoughts on this, or can anyone think of a better way of doing it (not the worlds best sat sewing!). Any help would be really appreciated!

The wig should be simple enough; get a white wig from the costume shop and style it with mouse and hairpins. As should the make-up - latex for the ear detail, off white cream makeup with blue for the veins, so it's just the costume I'm struggling with! And not forgetting, of course, the long fingernails, and furry palms

P.S - Sorry for the crappy pics...I couldn't find any good stills of the costume!

 

[peterose]

Suicidal Zombie, we shall acheive this!

I too am making this costume this year. I have to say I am concernedmostly about the wig, so if you discover any info let me know. For the robe, I went to my local fabric store, and bought a material similiar to that of silk. Then I bought a kimono pattern to construct it properly. The patterns are basically piece of paper that you pin to the fabric, cut out the fabric in these shapes, then sew together. I know that sounds tough but maybe you could find someone that could help you put it together. The gold fabric paint is a brilliant idea, I'm looking for a order of the dracul stencil right now. Let me know if you come across anything. Everything else, I'm in the same boat as you. Let me know if you have found anything else and I will do the same. Good luck...

your friend....D

 

[Spats]

I have never seen a seperate cape in the film, stills or anywhere else. That massive train is the Counts dressing gown, all one garment.
The trick would be to make sure the front half of the bottom hem is just above the instep of the foot, whereas the back trails 8-10ft plus your body height to the neck.

 

[peterose]

There's a type of fabric adhesive you can buy that you put onto your textile then iron on. I'm speaking of course of the order of the dracul coat of arms on his robe. Here is a great pic that I plan on tracing...

 

[suicidal zombie]

Argh, sorry guys!! I didn't know there were replies to this thread! Cheers for the ideas! That's a good pic of the coat of arms, it's the only decent one I could find as well. So I went with the idea ( ) So update.......

-MASSIVE 12ft cloak that I made by buying a cloak from a seamstress on eBay, and then adding another 4/5 ft of the same material to the bottom, and tailoring it to make to cloak fan out wider. it's not quite the same material from the movie, but it's the best I could do without spending upwards of $80 on the cloak alone.

-For the white gown, I got a Plus-Size cardinal costume from eBay. It's a white Satin cassock, and is billowy in all the right places. It's perfect! If anyone wants the link just holler.

-As for the wig....difficult! I bought a decent quality long white wig and some huge rollers from a salon boutique. The idea is to role up the front and sides of the wig with the rollers, to get the coils. The back end (plait) is simple enough. The trouble with the wig is that when rolled up my hair can be seen underneath it....Gary Oldman had to shave his hairline for the movie! I've ordered a wig cap which can be painted white if need be, so that should tackle most of that problem. Creative use of white hair dye and cotton wool should cover up an stray strands! And then of course, getting all the hair to stay in place is another problem. Perseverance is key here....i will have it perfect! Anyone have any tips/other ideas?

-Make-up: Face putty to extend the ears to the jawbone and create the bulging brow and joules. The miracle worker Spirit Gum holds this in place nicely! And the make-up itself is fairly simple.

Out of Curiosity 'peterose', or you still doing it aswell? If so, awesome, and how are you getting on? Oh, and great minds do think alike afterall

 

[Annea]

Hope you are going to post some pics

 

[suicidal zombie]

Annea, will definitely post pics

Will post pics of the wig when (and if!) I manage to get it done :S

 

[peterose]

HEYHEY! Alright well for the robe myself, the white part that is, I just found a perfect robe at the local thrift store so that's no problem. But I'm going to check out your cardinal thing if you don't mind posting the link. I'm doing the face putty thing as well. I'm not making my red robe as lengthy, as I have to wear it to a party and I'm sure there will be drunks stumbling over it all night. So my red one is just floor length. The wig has also been a problem for me as well. What I've done is purchase two long blondish white wigs that will be fastened one in front of the other. I'm going to spray them with dye upon completion of the shape. The front one will be the butt shaped hair, with curlers as well, the back one will be the braid, and I am wearing a bald cap under the whole thing. I'm going to be painting over it with my makeup, putty to hide the line. I'm still worried about how the wig will hold up. I'm thinking of stapling it to the baldcap so it won't fall off, then it's just a matter of keeping the bald cap on.
That damn wig eh? When you watch the movie the thing looks so solid like it's going nowhere. Let me know if you come upon any breakthroughs. I'm lucky cuase my girlfriend has long hair and is an expert at the syling aspect of putting it into the two buns. For now I think lots of hairspray and gel.

 

[peterose]

Oh yeah, what are we supposed to do for shoes?!

 

[peterose]

PS. You realize we're dressing up essentially as an old woman don't you?

 

[suicidal zombie]

@ The old woman thing....I know! I had this fear...the make-up is the only thing that will distinguish us from being an old lady, if its done right! If not = old lady with questionable sanity and morals.

As for the shoes, I have a pair of white Con type shoes to wear underneath, but my cassock is just larger than floor length, so you can't really see them. I'm wearing my red cloak to a party (mine) as well, but If it gets to annoying I have a back-up. At least for the start of the night I really wanted the grand effect, since it's my party lol.

The damn wig indeed! It is bloody annoying! I toyed with the idea of the bald cap, but the wig cap is more 'grippy' so it'll hold the wig on better (I hope). In practicing with the wig, I've managed to get it to stay up and l have the right shape, I just need to get it too look a little neater, and then pin and hairspray the hell out of it! The 2 wigs sounds like a pretty good idea, is it working out all right?

As for the link to the carindal costume, I live in the Uk, so it wouldn't be much use to you. Here it is anyway though!

Real Plus18-40 DELUXE WHITE VICAR FUN FANCY DRESS XXL on eBay (end time 20-Nov-09 11:34:14 GMT)

It looks much better than it does in the picture, it's really good quality fabric, and it's massive on me, so it billows out at the bottom like good ole' Vlad's does and obivously I don't wear it with the cross! Or the sash and belt

 

[suicidal zombie]

New tip for rolling the wig!! Hold the roller so it's pointing vertically up the way, and roll the hair around it in a slight spiral motion (making sure that you've attached the end of the hair to the top of the roller first, I used a bit of tape on the inside), then pin it in place in it vertical position. This gives you more height, more width, and you cant see the roller. Much better!!!

 

[Living DeadGirl]

I have to say I can't wait to see how you guys turn out. Lots of work but fabulous idea...

 

[suicidal zombie]

thanks LivingDeadGirl!!! Good to see someone else likes the idea

Will takes lots of pics....I can't wait till Saturday to get the full garb on!!

 

[Dani21]

Not sure if this will help you, but for the wig you could try buying some floral foam and carving to the shape you want. Its sturdy so it will hold shape and you can carve it to fit on your head and hair pins should go in easy. Hope that might help some. But i'm sure it will look great. BTW didn't he wear slippers

 

[Si-cotik]

I wanna see when you get it all together!

 

[krypt_angel20]

Sounds awsome hope it all works out Sat!! And yes pictures PLEASE!!!

 

[suicidal zombie]

Pics coming ASAP! I seem to have lost my [email protected]\dy camera cable!!

 

[peterose]

At long last!!

Hey man. So I doubt mine's as good as yours, and It was just in the living room but here is my bram stoker's dracula..Finally!
I hope you get your usb cable for christmas at least. I believe I could learn a great deal from our insane overkill halloween obessions. I await your art.

 

[Si-cotik]

Oh wow!!! Looks so much like him in the face!!! Wow! Really nice job Peterose!