Doxies and DIY

After ten thousand and (and 23) years, I’m free! It’s time to conquer Earth!

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers were a huge part of my elementary school life. I loved the yellow ranger, and I knew I wanted a costume from the show. Instead of being a Ranger though, I decided to create Rita Repulsa. This was my first costume that was more than a simple dress and wig.

I did most of the work in hotel rooms at night while traveling for work. TSA will sometimes check your sewing machine and foam heads, But you can take your sewing machine as a carry-on, if you’re wondering. Just check the scissors.

The total process took me about 9 months to construct all the pieces, and I had to learn a lot of new techniques to complete it. After wearing it at Dragon*con, I have some adjustments I’d like to make, and then I think it will be perfect.

The Dress:

I started with what I knew and created the dress. I used a ball gown pattern for the basic shape with a lot of tweaks to the pattern. I adjusted the pattern for the skirt to be one piece without layers and to have a train. The main change to the pattern was creating long bishop sleeves with a cuff. I traced the pattern onto tracing paper and extended the length and cut long strips in order to fan out the shape.

The most difficult part was adding the sequin design to the front of the dress and sleeves. I watched and re-watched hours of the show trying to get the pattern just right, and laying it out on the fabric.

Vest and Chest Piece:

The vest is what still needs the most work. I created a pleather vest and velcroed the chest piece onto it. However, my body heat caused the glue to fail. I plan on replacing the vest with one thermoplastic piece with the cones permanently attached for next year.

I created the Madonna cones out of worbla, styrofoam and craft foam. The details are additional layers of worbla. Automotive filler primer evened out the surface. I painted it black and did all the details in gold paint.

Collar:

The collar is made from trovicel plastic. The feathers are craft foam with the bases painted black using PlastiDip. I used eyelets to connect the collar to the vest and used the ribbon as part of the pattern. Little gold studs, ribbon, worbla globs, and paint decorate the top.

 

The Feather Bustle:

This is one of my favorite parts. I used a white fanny pack with the strap removed, and velcroed it to the back of the dress. This velcro is sewed onto the dress and pack, so there was no glue to fail. I used a hot knife to cut long strips of a sheer white fabric and sewed them together in groups to cover the faces of the pack. I was able to machine sew some of the groups to the pack, but most were hand stitched. I kept cliff bars and fruit snacks handy, as well as super glue and extra batteries.

The Wig and Crown:

I built the foam structure using a hollow half sphere and two large cones attached together. I used styrofoam glue and reinforced it with pins and wrapped it it gray tulle. It’s surprisingly stable.

Using two 40 inch gray wigs, I wrapped the hair to cover the cones. In order to cover the cone near the tips, a good deal of the second wig was cut up and glued in place and overlapped to hide the ends. Pins and hairspray weren’t quite enough to hold everything in place, so a lot of hot glue was used.

After the hair was in place, I made a worbla mold of my head to keep it in place when on. It was wrapped in brown fabric and glued to the inside on the half sphere. The edges of the fabric were brought over the wig edge to peak out above the crown.

The crown is made of worbla. I made the raised sections by layering craft foam and pushing the hot worbla into the spaces between. The stones are glass pebbles that have been painted on the bottom side and glued in place. Everything was painted black and accents in gold. This was then glued to the rest of the wig. I then cut pieces of brown fabric and glued in place with the appropriate holes, slits, and knots.

I purchased a black head covering and sewed wig clips inside and Velcro to the top. Velcro was also attached inside the head form to keep everything in place and allow me to remove the wig when necessary.

It was particularly difficult to find good images or shots in the show of her gold straps, so I repeated the few symbols I could make out. I drew the symbols on the gold ribbon with fabric markers and then glued them to the inside of the crown.

Staff/Magic Wand:

Layered EVA foam formed the base of the staff. I created a template in Illustrator and used it to cut the basic shape from the foam. I used a Dremel and sanders to shape the top. After fully shaped, I inserted a curtain rod for the handle, and painted everything with PlastiDip.

The red ball is a clear plastic ornament painted with red fingernail polish on the inside. I glued a string of red LED lights in place and created a pocket within the staff to hold the battery pack. I also strung blue LEDs through the base to light up the blue stones. The blue stones are also glass pebbles painted on both sides.

I inserted a ring between the foam layers and applied worbla around it, and created another worbla ring holder for the top of the chain. After attaching all the stones and red ball, I handpainted the details with gold paint.

I attached the chain and combined beads to create the drop shape bead. Unfortunately, I choose poor jump rings, and both beads went missing from the staff.

Jewelry:

I cheated a little and purchased an assortment of rings. I did, however, create the bracelets. They are worbla shapes with glass pebbles. I used D rings to attach the beads and chain.

Hidden Stuff:

To keep cool, I wore UnderArmor shorts and three quarter length shirt. I also purchased cooling wraps for my neck, ankles, and bra. Which helped a lot, I just had to flip them around occasionally. I wore a petticoat to plump up the skirt, and some hideous slip on shoes for comfort.

I had so much fun wearing it at DragonCon, although it was a bit hot and difficult to navigate through crowds. Sorry to all those who got poked! 

I plan to rework the vest and reinforce the staff before next year. The best part though, Alex has agreed to go as Lord Zedd next year!

Updated Vest and Magic Wand

Graham Helping