How to create a Vampire of Venice costume

Backlog post: 

In preparation for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, fans from all over the globe are prepping up for their own celebration for The Day of the Doctor. In the Philippines, it is no different. We are gearing up for Fandom Production's End of the World Party at One San Miguel Building's Roofdeck on November 23.

Now, the biggest question for every Whovian for this kind of situation is, 'What am I gonna dress up as?' Whovians can choose from being an incarnate of The Doctor to a Companion or to a more challenging costume as a Villain or an inanimate object. And with the doomsday looming in, time plays a vital part in preparing a costume. Here's my step by step procedure on being a Vampire Fish, a villain from the Eleventh Doctor's Season 5 era entitled "Vampires of Venice."

I choose this character because I love historical episodes and there's a sense of enigma to the so-called Calvierri Girls from the planet Saturnyne. Given that their episode isn't a fan favorite because the Calvierri girls are practically... useless, this episode is the introduction of the threesome - The Doctor, Amy and Rory - a romantic romp that established Rory as a companion and a peek at The Doctor's darker side and sense of judgement. 

With regards to their costume, there are 3 Calvierri costumes - One is the full-on gown that was seen during their day out. It is comprised of a blue see-through veil, a corset gown, gloves and parasol. The second one is their nightie costume, which is just obviously, a nightie but made more difficult to pull-off because of their specialized fangs/teeth. The last option for the costume is the one worn during the Doctor Who proms, it is comprised of a nightie, parasol, fangs and gloves. The 3rd one is my choice because it's a bit of both of the 2 costumes and according to the schedule for the party, we will be watching the Doctor Who proms, so it is more recognizable for that purpose. Also, a nightie is more comfortable to move about with, light to pack and easy to put on - hassle free, if you may. 

Seeing that just wearing a nightie is quite boring, I decided to modify it. The Proms costume is still my choice but I decided to put on a veil for more added effect when I take photos. The veil will be pinned at my nightie's shoulder so I won't be picking it up every now and then. Basically, my nightie will have a hoodie, 

1. Printscreen: Reference is important in building your costume down to the last detail. Best tip is to print out the photo especially when your costume needs more details. I printed the front, back, length, and zoom in details of the Calvierri nightie costume.

2. The Gown: The nightie gown stems from old European sleeping clothes. Basically, it is a period piece of clothing. The neckline is quite plunging with a semi-sweetheart shape, there's also the puffy sleeves. But always remember that when it comes to the costume itself, the fabric will ALWAYS be king. If you are gonna cosplay, cosplay it good. 

I went to our local town's fabric store, they have 4 options for me for the beige fabric. They gave me a thicker fabric, glossier fabric, thinner fabric and sort of old fabric. I choose the old fabric, which is to my knowledge and relief is, Old Cotton. It is quite pricey than the rest of the fabrics but it is exactly what I need for a period piece of clothing. It creases well, looks old and yes, dirty white or beige in color. Bought about 5 and a half yards for it because of my body type. I also bought a blue chiffon fabric for the veil around 1 and half yards that is to be made into a hoodie. I sent it to my dressmaker, have myself fitted and waited for about 2 weeks for her to entirely finish the costume, and when she did, I love it a lot. Perfect down to the last detail. Thank you Aunt Dita, you deserve a mention in my blog. I'm perfectly happy with my gown. :D

3. Parasol. The Doctor says so, they are Vampire Fishes. So the parasol makes sense to protect them from the sun. I tried to make one but I only destroyed one of my pretty umbrellas. So I ended up buying a laced parasol online. If you are from the Philippines and would want to purchase one, try hooking up with Everything Under the Sun. Their transaction is fast, accurate and beyond high quality. I got mine 3 days after I deposited the payment, which is quite fast considering I live in the province. 

4. Fangs. Now... Vampires aren't vampires without their blood sucking fangs. It wouldn't be acceptable without them. And the centerpiece of the costume are the fangs, it makes the costume more recognizable. Building the fangs will be quite the challenge.

I look for tips online on how to harden modelling clay. They say baking them would be the key, but mine is just modeling clay and not fit for baking or hardening... I learned it the hard way. I ended up melting my pair of ready-made plastic fangs in the oven. It melted like goo. Meh. Good thing I bought 2 pairs. Haha. Another good thing is that I've been preparing for the event months ago, so the search for the fangs isn't that hard as Halloween came, I bought a couple of ready-made plastic fangs with the proper spacing, so it looks really authentic-looking.

I couldn't harden my fangs and I couldn't make my clay stick to the plastic fangs, so I just had to air dry the clay in according to the mold and hope it holds on at the end of the party. 

5. Details: Looking like a vampire isn't just slapping on the whitest make-up you could find. A little enhancement here and there would definitely help a lot.

a.) Contact Lenses: The Eyes could enhance your look. Here I got the Freshlook Contact Lenses on Gray color. Trust me, Gray enhances your smize 3 folds. It gives you that glossy eye effect and a hint of mystery. Couple this up with smokey eye make-up with heavy eyeliners. The Gray contact lenses will definitely pop out. 

b.) Gloves: During the Doctor Who proms, at the Pandorica Set, the Sisters of the Sea had their parasols on with matching gloves. You need gloves coz you don't want yourself to burn. White cotton gloves could be easily bought at any super market, craft store or office supplies store for a really cheap price.

c.) Hair Volumizer/Hair Tiss-er: This is one of the best finds I had during the construction of this costume. Bought it on the day itself before the party at an annual bazaar. Calvierri Girl's hair are donned in an up-do, an instant tiss. Basically, you stick the thing on your head, near the forehead area and cover it with your hair/bangs. It creates that sexy up-do that vampires have, put a couple of clips on and you have a bangs free vampire hairdo for the rest of the party. 

d.) Make-up: Aside from the heavy smokey eyeliner *not in photos*, a Calvierri Girl needs to have a little bit of enhancement to keep her from becoming human looking. Lol. 

• Nude Lipstick: You already have heavy eye make-up, wearing a bright red lipstick isn't best with it - nude is the way to go. From the photos, they don't have any color on their lips at all, so just recreate that without the feeling of face powder on your lips. I used a Maybelline Nude Lipstick.
• Contour Applicator: Vampires have that sullen look on them, and have you notice they always have high cheekbones? So you can recreate that with the contour applicator, I used Ever Bilena's Honey contour blush.
• CC Cream: This is the first thing you have to put on your face before all the make-up. CC Cream is the upgraded version of BB Creams. BB Creams are blemish balms that makes your face picture perfect, same with CC Creams but with a few enhancements on the coverage of your face. Anyway, one thing with CC Cream is that once you apply them on, you will have a whiter looking skin, but not only that, you look whiter on photos. So I guess, being a vampire, CC Creams help you that effect when it comes to posing alongside The Doctors or companions.
• Translucent Powder: Basically, Translucent Powder just makes you whiter than regular powders. I mean, after applying CC Creams, use Translucent Powder to matte your face afterwards. Avoid using CC Creams and Translucent Powder at ones when going out because it does really make you really ghotsly white. Not pretty white. 

 

After constructing the fangs, fitting the gown with a little bit enhancements on the length, I took it for a dry run and here's what I came up with. :D 

I hope this tutorial has been helpful. It's the first time I focused on a costume with such detail because I fell in love with the fandom and community in Whovians Philippines which made me want to cosplay more Doctor Who characters and go back to the cosplay community that I once fell in love with so much. The community has made me realize that it's still fun to cosplay even when we transfer fandoms. :D