Friday 31 May 2013

Costume index - season twelve

A while back I took a look at the costume transition scenes that kick off the start each Doctor’s era.

One of the most bizarre has to be Tom Baker’s, where he repeatedly bursts out of the TARDIS in a series of inappropriate costumes: from a Viking; to the Knave of Hearts; through a clown outfit; before finally donning his future trademark fedora hat and scarf.

But what happened next?

Tom appeared in 42 adventures (counting Shada, the unfinished story from 1979). Here is my breakdown of the costumes he wore.

Season Twelve
It should be said that part of season 12 was recorded out of order compared to the broadcast.

PRODUCTION

BROADCAST
Robot

Robot
The Sontaran Experiment

The Ark in Space
The Ark in Space

The Sontaran Experiment
Revenge of the Cybermen

Genesis of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks

Revenge of the Cybermen

This gave rise to a continuity error with The Doctor’s scarf, which gets shorter for The Ark In Space before returning to its debut length for The Sontaran Experiment, only to loose it again for the rest of the season.

Sunday 26 May 2013

And the winner is.... Romanadvoratrelundar

This year is looking to be very successful for the costumes I have been making.

Back in February I won Best In Show for my Ultimate Six Frock Coat, and I have now learned that a number of my other clients have been strutting their stuff and winning competitions along the way.

I made Claire a Romana Pink Frock Coat outfit in February, and soon after she attended a regional convention called Coast Con 36 in Biloxi Mississippi.

It’s a small general sci-fi fantasy event attended by approximately 1,200 to 1,500 people over the course of the three days.

This convention is not specific to any one sci-fi genre, so there were people from many different sci-fi platforms.

Claire attended with her little brother who dressed as a mini Fourth Doctor alongside her as the companion, which made for an interesting combination!

When he wasn’t taking The Doctor role, her brother was inside their Dalek acting as operator!

Homemade from the original plans by their grandfather, their Dalek is a curious combination of classic and new series styling, in a mid-1970s colour scheme ala Genesis Of The Daleks, with Destiny Of The Daleks grenades around the shoulders.

Also at the convention was a superb replica K-9 - the perfect foil for Romana.

Claire had already got her cuff boots and long white scarf as well as a suitable blouse to wear.

I made her the Pink Frock Coat and matching Pantaloons with braces to match.

Part of the convention involved a costume competition, which had several prizes up for grabs.
There was Male/Female hero, Male/Female villain, and group as well as a Best In Show.


They competed and won the Group division, with Claire’s brother inside his fill scale Dalek. There was much discussion about giving them the Best In Show prize too, but the award was a six-foot sword which is not the most appropriate prize for a child to win so a $40 cash prize was given instead.

Claire’s thinking on entering the competition was that it would be a good opportunity for her little brother to have some fun and that if we won something that would just be lagniappe.


Claire told me about her costume:
As for my costume, I absolutely love it. It fits perfectly and it looks amazing. I am easily recognizable as Romana from Destiny of the Daleks. The workmanship is fantastic and I am extremely pleased with the overall result. My favorite part of my costume is the coat itself. It is the best fitting coat I have ever owned which I find astounding since you never saw me in person and did all of it off of measurements sent over email.

Saturday 25 May 2013

Herbert Johnson hat on eBay

Over the past months I have been highlighting many ORIGINAL costume pieces that have cropped up on eBay.
I deliberately try to keep this to screen-worn or used items, as it is possible to stray into a multitude of fan-made (but vey nice) copies which are just a distraction.

But today I found something worth looking at.



I must emphasis this is NOT screen worn, but is near identical to the Herbert Johnson fur felt fedora which debuted in The Brain Of Morbius in 1976.
It looks to be contemporary to the time, since Herbert Johnson stopped making this particular hat many years ago.

Here is the listing info on the hat.

Doctor Who - Tom Baker
original Herbert Johnson hat
SOLD FOR £205

Here we have an identical style of fur felt, broad brimmed floppy hat as worn by Tom Baker when he was Doctor Who.

It is made by the same make of bespoke hatters, Herbert Johnson and was made in the 1970’s. These hats are very rare.

This hat has been stored for many years and is in excellent condition.

The hat size is 6 and 5/8 and is dark/bottle green in colour.

Thursday 23 May 2013

Baron Boutique - season 16 Frock Coat

A couple of months ago in my costume reviews I looked at the Magnoli season 16 Frock Coat - now it’s time to see how Baron has handled their own version of this season 16 classic.
Baron Boutique are based in Nepal, and have been selling a wide variety of garments since 1998, of which their replica film and tv costumes are only a part.

Fourth Frock Coat
Price as of May 2013 - $479

Obviously this is a coat that I have become very familiar with over the past few months, so I do know my way around it a bit better than most. So I apologise now if I’m a little bit more critical than usual.

The first impression of the coat, as with any garment, is the choice of fabric. The website states the fabric is a super 110s wool, which is more appropriate for making a suit or formal trousers rather than a overcoat.

The screen-worn coat is made form a Harris Tweed, so is much, much heavier and has a coarse weave. So to use a standard wool will not give the fell and drape of the original.

That said, they have cut the coat in such a way that it drapes and flares reasonably well, though not in the same was a heavier tweed would.

The lapels are a fair size, though could be a little bigger as could the collar.
The roll-line of the lapels is a fraction too high, so the ratio of lapel to level of the waistline is too top-heavy.

The size and position of the buttons holes aren’t too bad, though the lower six should have a keyhole.

Like the Magnoli coat, the trim on this version is bias binding which is a finely woven cotton tape as opposed to a more open weave wool braid.

The pockets are a little off, with the flaps being too square. The lower pockets are definitely too small.
The button placement is not so bad, though I feel it is too far apart at the top.
Although this is not a coat with a practical double-breasted front, it should feel and look as though it might actually work.

The back is the major letdown on this coat.

As a frock coat it has been cut to an American style, which has the waistline seam running all the way around the coat, whereas it should stop at the placement of the back buttons.

The placement of these back buttons is too far apart, and thus the princess seams above run in the wrong place too.

All in all this is the better of the options for understand what a frock coat is, though some of the pattern cutting lets it down.

The feel of the coat is of a lightweight blazer jacket, but knee length.

The main failing is the choice of fabric, which is totally wrong.