Atomic Blonde Adventures - Part II

Here it is so far! I'm going to change the single button on the coat to something lighter in color, remove a fake pocket flap on the right front breast, and remove the black buttons from the sleeves (that are not functional, with no buttonholes anyway).

I have also found the boots! A perfectly appropriate, over-the-knee, combat style sole, by Sam Edelman called 'Remi'.
I pretty much have everything else squared away, but I can't find my damn black 4 clip garter belt after the recent house move. So, I may need to buy a new one. Amazon.com, here I come (again).

Atomic Blonde Adventures

Wow, this year is already speeding by, and I have a birthday coming up in a few hours.

It's a big one, too! But enough about that; here's one new(ish) character currently on my drawing board for this year's cosplays:
Introducing Lorraine Broughton, from the film "Atomic Blonde", to be released this summer, also based off the graphic novel by Antony Johnston, called "The Coldest City":
This is the teaser I have so far, as all the bits and pieces for it's creation are slowly arriving in my mailbox and doorstep.

The long black wool trench and the wig arrived (the Skyelar by Arda Wigs, trimmed in front to make tousled bangs), with the addition of my longer length black leather gloves. I still need to replace a broken pair of classic wayfarer sunglasses that I had, that would be perfect for this; the pseudo-cat eye shades aren't quite working for this era's look.

Yours truly, channeling Lorraine in what could be a shadowy flat in Berlin.....or just a well timed, after work selfie in my bathroom. I was super excited about the wig ending up being exactly what I needed ;)

I also managed to find a pretty 'awesome' 1980s Cold War era sweater dress, that's also a black and white abstract turtleneck. It's very similar to the sweater Lorraine wears with the white coat, mini, over-the-knee *non high heeled* boots, stockings and exposed garter straps, in a few fight scenes.
(Found on Etsy) I plan on just making this into a sweater and wearing it with a mini dress or skirt, underneath. I thought about cutting this into a mini, but the chunkiness of the knit and the fit wouldn't be quite right.

Atomic Blonde 'actual'...

So, stay tuned as I add a little more 'spit and polish' to this cosplay over the coming weeks. I'm hoping to have them ready (as Lorraine has a few I'd like to take a stab at), between Silicon Valley Comic Con this April, and Dragon Con 2017 in August/September.
XOXO!


#AtomicBlonde #LorraineBroughton #TheColdestCity #NoSewCosplay

Ghostbusters, Gatsby and Tudors - A Belated Picture Post

After a bit of a hiatus from this blog, thanks to a crazy post-Dragon Con schedule, I'm slowly creeping back out from the piles of sewing.

Of course, I'm throwing myself back in as I type this but in the meantime, here is a heavy smattering of images from the last few months of adventure.

In my Bowie/Ziggy Stardust drag tribute, at Dragon Con 2016

The weekend following our return from Atlanta, I was hitting the stage as Edel Vice, for a vintage burlesque performance at Berlin '32...

 Above photos by Arian Hormozi

 Photo by Mary Anne Butler

The very next day, we wiped away the vampy soot-shaded eyes, blood red lips and soaked up the gin with a hearty breakfast, to attend the Gatsby Summer Afternoon picnic.
There were more gin laced adult beverages, only this time they were a more 'healthful' blend, with lemonade, cucumbers, mint and other refreshing ingredients, plus quite the spread of luscious snacks that everyone contributed...

With my friend Laura, Photo by Laurie Tavan 

 With my friend, Tom LG

I had the pleasure of helping out a friend's daughter this Halloween, by making her very own, close to screen accurate, Ghostbusters uniform!

With the help of Grant Imahara (of Mythbusters fame) building her a scaled down version of the new proton pack, complete with lighting effects, we made this fellow mini Ghostbuster's dream come true.

My continued Holtzmann style over the last few months, at work and at play...

 Heading to the pub...

More on the way soon! After the holiday season is done, I'll be back over at my Austrian Woman blog, sharing some of the historical fashion projects I'm currently working on, so be sure to click on the tabs above to view my various endeavors.
Until then, have a safe an happy holiday season XOXO!

We Return To Our Normal Programming

Whew, what a crazy ride the last few weeks have been!

I apologize for the delay in the post-Dragon Con posts, but I had to hit the ground running as soon as we returned last Tuesday night.
Of course, after the mad rush to finish up all the costumes in time, you'd think I wouldn't want to even look at my sewing machine for at least the next week or two...right?
Because I'm crazy, by Wednesday afternoon I was already swimming through a swath of cobalt blue silk organza. I needed a new dress for the picnic at the Gatsby mansion!
I'll post photos of that over at my 'Austrian Woman' blog.

While I still need time to gather more of the best photos from Dragon Con to share here, I need to at least post a couple for you. Here is photo post #1!

 Can't go without the 'salty parabolas'
Photo by Mary Anne Butler

After acquiring badges, the next logical step is the booze and snack run!

Women of Sci-Fi.

LtoR : River in Star Trek, me as Zev (Lexx Season 1), and Gwen as Xev (Lexx Season 2). Photo by Mary Anne Butler.

Zev and Xev; sexy Cluster Lizards
Photo by Mary Anne Butler
Also; a big awesome shout-out to Pish Posh wigs, for the best lace front wig I've ever had the pleasure of wearing. This was their Farrah in silver, and I had cut and styled it to my needs. Amazing fit and quality, and while the price point is a bit higher than their root brand Epic Cosplay Wigs, it's very much worth it!!

 My two dads; my Princess Aura cosplay with new friends, Trent Thornton and Jay Wright, as Ming The merciless. Our Flash Gordon group grew to epic proportions through the day!
My long luxurious dark hair is the Eros wig, by Epic Cosplay.

Photo by Bill Watters

Me, Laura as General Kala, and Mary Anne as Dale Arden.
Photo by Bill Watters.

In my fun 'super' costume con twist on Holtzmann, goofing off with River as Kaylee.

Holtzmann in cat heaven. I mean look at that...so many CATS! <3

Note the 'super' Screw U cape.
Photo by Garrett Manuel

Stay tuned, more photos are on the way. Including my Marriott carpet/Bowie tribute!
XOXOX

When Life Gives You Lemons....

...grab the Sculpy, 2-part epoxy and paint!
Since my custom metal Screw U pendant won't make it to me in time for Dragon Con (and it's just one of those things, no one's fault), I decided to make a quick stand-in.
It's not going to be fabulous, but it will do for now ;-)

(This is a shot from the underside, hence the screw going in the opposite direction)

After I get the 'U' epoxied to the screw, it will all get a light brushing of deeper metallic gunmetal paint, to age the cracks and crevices a bit more.
I'll post a photo here when it's complete.

***Update***
Here she is, my quickie Screw U pendant!
I still want to take a small file and even out the inside curve of the 'U' a bit, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out all things considered.

Now cross your fingers I finish all the other costume projects for Dragon con. Holy crap, it's in a few days!!

XOXO

Sneak Peek

Many, many thanks to my friend Anders Scot Hudson of Midwick Armory, for getting on board with my crazy ideas. One day I thought out loud, 'what if we made a pair out of EVA foam?'.
He was within earshot, and was all, "Let's do it!". The rest as they say, is history :)
Behold, the Holtzmann proton pistols (or at least one of them, the other needs a bit more paint)...

Made completely from EVA foam and some well-placed LEDs.
This set is pretty darn amazing for a quickie round 1 version, and done in time for a fun, albeit silly, tribute cosplay I have in the works.

I'll post more on this project in the coming days, so stay tuned!
XOXO

Ever Onward

Well today could have gone better...but in happier news this week;
I arrived home after work to find my Soviet era safety goggles had arrived, all the way from the Ukraine, in an unexpectedly speedy ten days. Many thanks to the wonderful seller; darklightscorpion

I'd also found the same yellow polycarbonate replacement lenses on Etsy, via JadedMinx.
(The One Of The Boys muscle tee was found online at Urban Outfitters UK, which is unfortunately sold out.)
This whole combo is what made up the goggles worn by Holtzmann, in the scenes right before and during Patty's delivery of the hearse that would become Ecto-1.

Like Holtzy's, these lenses are slightly convex, and fit perfectly in the vintage goggles. I'll admit I was worried they might not, but I have a way to grind them down a bit if I had to.
All together, the cost of this project came out to under $30 US.

The goggles came with the original box, an extra adjustable nose piece and the original black glass removable lenses.
While it's all in fine condition, I'll be replacing the elastic with the same kind in black.

As a side note, and posting this as reference for a friend; here are some images of the "One Of The Boys" muscle tank by Truly Madly Deeply, worn by Holtzmann. It originally came in ivory, but like hers, I dyed mine that odd faded aqua shade.
The first pic is a good shot of the lettering (made to look as though it was spray painted through a stencil), and the second is reference for placement:

XOXOX