Reflecting - Masks, headress, jacket & fitting.

Using latex

I started making the latex beaks first, which I found a really interesting process, I learnt how to use latex properly and how to incorporate colour into the mix, and how much latex to paint ratio I should use. The process was very effective and I will defiantly use the process again in the future as it was so accurate and easy to manipulate. However I will remember that latex perishes and if in the future I need to make masks which need to last longer I will consider using a different material such as vavaform. 

Attaching the beaks to the masks

The next step was attaching the beaks to the masks. If i had more time, budget and fitting time I would have taken a mould of the girls faces to make a properly fitting masks which fit perfectly. However I sourced some plastic masks, and used a glue gun to to attach the beaks to them. It worked really well and is sturdy however it would have been nice to make it from scratch, although using the bought masks made the masks as a whole more cost effective. Furthermore using these masks and not making it from scratch is helping me be more creative and think out side the box. 

Owl head dress

Owl head dress, with the owl costume rather than a lycra hood covered in feathers I made a padded head dress to represent the shape of an owls head which is very rounded. Originally I was going to make them out of foam, but I found a round stiffened felt hat, which I ended up using as a base. I bulit up onto the hat with wadding and covered it with cotton. To match the Dodo costume I made a hood which fitted over the padded hat, it concealed the padded hat and created the shape of the own head perfectly.

After the fitting I found that the owl mask didnt fit the dancer very well with the headress on as well. So therefore I decided to attach the mask to the headress so the dancer looks underneath the mask and not through it.

If I was to make the headress again I would like to use more materials and maybe mould a headress using foam. However I was relunctant to do anything to elaborate and heavy as the dancers are young and I didnt want to make anything that would be to heavy on their heads and make them uncomfortable.    

Owl Bolero.

For the owl costume I was not allowed to paint on to the unitard as it needed to be used again for something else. Therefore I designed a bolero style jacket, which could be worked on so that i could still decorate it the way I originally designed but not harm the unitard. I decided to make it out of a shaggy fabric to add texture and movement, and then I attached home made feathers on to to create more movement. because the stiched and glue could be felt from the inside of the jacket I decided to line it around the front inside so the dancer would not get scratched. It is fastended at the back with poppers to keep it secure and for easy removal. 

Fittings

A difficult thing with this project was trying to get the time and fittings with the dancers, so it wasnt until I had made the costumes and masks that I could get to see if it all fit. This was difficult but possibly a taster to the professional world. I made a lot of changes and allowances to the costumes such as large seam allowances and extra room in the hoods etc to make sure that they all fit.