The Passion of the Kirsty

WARNING: Long Post. This blog needs the cut ability. :/

I may currently be studying fashion, but that is not what I am genuinely interested in. Fashion is a stepping stone to what I REALLY love, a small stepping stone on the road to Costume and Performance!

For a long time, I have been interested in Film, and the production of Films. When watching anything I absolutely love not just to sit, and watch it for what it is, but for the actual production techniques used! I notice costume quality, I will look at a costume and not think 'thats cool,' but mentally take it apart and work out how its been made, I look at lighting, angles, music, even the TYPE of camera used, and prosthetic work.

Sewing has been in my bloodline for generations, dating back to the Victorian Era. My Great Great Aunt and Uncle were actually Master Tailor and Tailoress of Birmingham, and in my mothers side of the family not only have the Medium Trait been passed down the female side of the family, but career choices have always been in either Cooking/Baking or Tailoring.
My mother is a cook, her father was a chef for the army, his mother was a baker, and my Nan's mother was a medium, and going wayyy back, seamstress, tailor, master tailor, master tailoress...
I was once told by that Great Great Aunt that I have the hands of a Tailor, and you can think i'm making that crap up, but I dont care :)

I should probably make a post on who I really am, soon...

Anyway. Since my passion lies in periodic wear, it has transferred into costume-wear.
And when I was 15, I started to make costumes!

So just to show what I have done in the field I really want to get into, here is some of my works that I have created over the years, costume and otherwise.

I will list them in chronological order.
VINCENT VALENTINE: OF THE TURKS - FINAL FANTASY VII DIRGE OF CERBERUS (VIDEO GAME)
Well, this is.. and isnt a costume. It was the 'thing' I threw together for Memorabilia, I am meant to be a guy, and its not really.. well it sort of works. Just so y'know, this is Crossplay.
The girl with me is an old friend who is playing as my 'love interest', Lucrecia Crescent of the SHINRA Science Department.
I'm a turk, so basically .. bit of an assassin, and we look after the President. Assassin/CIA.
I was 15 here, so... yeah. I was meant to be carrying a gun, but since it was my first con, my mum was like 'noo! you cant carry a gun! people will think you're weird.' ... *ahem*










Aeris Gainsbrough: Final Fantasy VII (VIDEO GAME)
INCOMPLETE

This was the first thing I ever made, when I was 14-15 years old, it was made based off a dress I already had, I made a pattern and modified it. This was made when my mum was first teaching me to sew, she told me how to sew a seam, make a strap, use facing, make piping and add it in.
It was going to be made into a Underwater-Zombie costume, because in the game if anyone has never played this (SHAME ON YOU.) Aeris is killed, by being stabbed with a Masamune through the lower abdomen, and she is then layed to rest in a lake.
The idea was that she has come back to get her revenge on other characters, for letting her die.
Plus I freaking HATE Aeris, and everyone adores her, so I wanted to practically ruin their idea of Aeris Twatting Gainsbrough >=] Cuz I'm lovely liek that!



Yeah, I was really thin back then. :/
I'm going to try to get back to that.. I'm fat now. Thats what 20,000 metres of rowing does for you.




Thats my wig :) Awesomeness.





PIPING, MAN. I was sooo freaking chuffed after I did that.



Had to put this in, cuz I seriously dont believe I ever looked that nice at any one time. :/




Zombieness.. not really. I was a n00b.




I will finish this one day... Or remake it. I'm not good enough at prosthetics yet.

THE VAMPIRE ALUCARD: HELLSING ORGANISATION (Anime)

Well, this is the first REAL thing I made when I was 16, that I have finished, and used.
The jacket inside is fully lined, with a pocket and everything, as well as the coat. And yeah, I'm fat here, shush.
To be honest, I thought this costume was rubbish, but... everyone loved it :/
I got freaking screaming fans calling me on the stage, but managed to stay in character the whole day.
Which is basically the whole idea, you forget yourself for a day and be someone else!
However, :) I did meet my other half at this convention, and BECAUSE of this costume, so... its not all that rubbish :P hahah.
We went on stage, and I didnt even know it was a competition til 5 minutes before, so when I got on stage, I raised my head... to over 200 cameras... :/
We came second in the competition, got interviewed by ADV Films twice, then got featured in NEO Magazine and won over £200 worth of prizes.
My guns were made by me, out of polystyrene. As I was a noob.








The next Costume I did was....

ELIZABETH SWANN: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN II: DEAD MAN'S CHEST (Movie)
PIRATE DISGUISE.

This costume, actually I decided to make, and then the day I asked Ross online if I could be in his group as Liz, we got together, so this costume was a special one.
I started making it, and actually took it away with me on a vacation to Florida to finish... >.O then the day I got back from America, I took a coach to London the same day.. FREAKING TIRED.
I almost fell asleep walking around.

I love this costume, for the fact that POTC is my inspiration for costumes. They take so much detail into account, so well made, then they send them to the weathering department to be plucked at, burnt, and totally trashed for an age of bad-care and pirate-ettiqete.
I went to the studio in America where the costumes for the film were made, and was absolutely taken with the idea of working in such a place.

Of course. I also hate this costume for the simple fact that its ME wearing it, because i'm not exactly aesthetically pleasing. Plus, that wig was soo uncomfortable.

Sadly though I only have two photographs to show:




This costume was also used for a 16 hour promotion in a Morrisons store, in Essex for the release of the POTC III which then recieved the highest sales record for the DVD in all the morrisons in the country! :D

Ugh, long post is long.

My last and final costume so far, probably the best one, but holds bad memories for me.



SERAS VICTORIA: HELLSING ORGANISATION (Anime)

This costume was the trickiest thing I've had to make, seeing as no pattern is similar to this, so I had to use a base pattern, and merge it with another one, and make my own pattern for the collar.
The one thing I found hard was the patches, as official ones are hard to come by, the one on the front was lent to me by a friend, and the one on the arm was actually...
freehand cross-stitch by myself.
EXTREMELY HARD X.X
But looked the part.

I also adore that wig, its the comfiest thing i probably own.
The cannon was also made by me, its made from PVC guttering pipe, metal, foam and carved from solid wood. Hand-painted, and hand made in my living room. It stands at 6feet tall, and retracts to 4foot, and is to scale.

The bullet is a real fired 30mm anti-tank shell, fired from a tank and has had the cap replaced. The Ammo case is actually a 50 cal, because it looked more accurate to what I needed it for, orignally a weird brown colour, it has all been hand-painted by me :)

I also made the black costume seen in some of these photographs.












And am currently planning many more :)