Doxies and DIY

My dad introduced me and my sisters to Star Trek at a very young age. He had models and collectibles in his office. His favorite is Captain Kirk, but I’ve always loved Mr. Spock. I remember being in awe of my big sister being able to recite the opening and wearing plastic headbands in front of my eyes to be like Geordi La Forge. That passion for Trek has never faded away, and has only gotten stronger. Daddy may not have cared for DS9, Voyager, or Enterprise, but I have devoured anything Trek related. Since my first love was TOS, I decided to make my first Star Trek cosplay.

Yeoman Janice Rand always intrigued me with her sudden departure and amazing hair. After reading Grace Lee Whitney’s biography and learning more about her, I decided to attempt recreating her costume.

The first step was sewing the red tunic dress. This was actually my first sewing project ever and took two tries. I learned how to sew in my hotel rooms at night while travelling for work. I used the katarra8 patterns and insignia from etsy, destroyed them (lots of learning, I know now to trace my patterns) and bought them again. I did have to add several inches of length to the dress, and it’s still quite short. Thank goodness for bloomers. I did choose the wrong size for the first try, and gave that dress to one of my smaller sisters. Once the dress was complete and actually fit, I was really excited to try and tackle the wig.

Finished TOS tunic

Yeoman Rand Tunic

This was also my first attempt at making any sort of hair piece, wig, or updo in general. I watched a lot of tutorials on youtube, but in the end it was mostly trial and error. The hardest part was getting the shape right. I tried building the shape on top of the wig, but it ended up looking a little too boxy.

Failed attempt at wig shape

I managed to get the shape I wanted by putting a foam cylinder underneath the wigs base netting and pinning it into place. I think that may not be the suggested method, but it made it a lot easier for me to build up and weave. It does slightly prevent the wig from fitting perfectly in the back, but it hasn’t been an issue. I sewed wig clips into the front and back though to keep it from wiggling and wandering.

The wig I used was a long straight blonde wig, and I purchased cheap long blonde extensions to weave with. In the future, I would suggest using wefts instead of extensions. I had to hide the extension clips because I didn’t discover wefts until well after I completed the wig. For the basket weave section, I used the extensions for the vertical sections and the wigs hair for the horizontal pieces and weaved them together. Using more of the wig hair, I was able to cover up the clips in the front above the bangs. This all stayed together using bobby pins and a ton of hairspray. The woven section is hard with the amount of hairspray used.

Yeoman Rand wig shape finished

Trying on the wig for size

After I had the weave the way I wanted it, I could finally style the rest of the wig. The wig had long side swept bangs that I had to cut into straight bangs and a two little longer sections. She also has two pieces that join together in the back. I did not make them permanent since she wears that part down in one episode with a different dress. The length of the rest of the wig was trimmed across to match her length.

Finished Yeoman Rand wig

Nichelle Nichols photo op

Yeoman Rand cosplay at DragonCon

Yeoman Rand and Spock at DragonCon

Yeoman Rand Cosplay

Yeoman Rand Cosplay

Final touches: I used a tricorder to carry my ID, cards, cash, and lipstick. It’s a pain to get stuff out, and I dropped stuff a lot, but it worked. It’s also really hard to find non control-top panty hose, but I found some to wear under the red bloomers. I found the boots on clearance at Charlotte Russe as I was searching every store I could looking for them. The final touch is the MAC line of Star Trek makeup. It’s amazing, and the Live Long and Prosper lipstick is my go-to color now. I used the lashes, Luna Luster highlighter, The Naked Time and To Boldly Go eyeshadow, On the Hunt eyeliner, and LLAP lipstick for my Rand look.

MAC Star Trek Collection

Yeoman Rand makeup

Yeoman Rand Cosplay

Now I want to create all of her looks. She has a great pink night dress I’d like to make as well as making her purple rashes for the red dress.