The Lady in Red: The story behind the Dark Phoenix Costume
Part II of at least III. See Part I (Part III forthcoming).
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Me as the Dark Phoenix
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Of my two Dragon*Con Costumes the dark phoenix was by far the least involved. In fact the costume itself was a somewhat last minute choice. I saw a billboard for X Men 3 with Jean Grey wearing a truly awesome outfit (or so I thought). I then went to the website and downloaded the desktop image they have of it . I thought this would be a cool costume and one I could pull off. It’s good superhero costume: long coat or cape, check (and even cooler with different separate panels); sexy item, check (in the form of an under bust corset); neat footwear, check (tall boots)! What more does one want? Plus she has red hair! However, I was disappointed by the actual costume in the movies, so I went more with the wallpaper version. Although this was the easier of the two costumes, it was still time consuming. I cannot go into the full process, because many of the parts were done when I was not around, but I will discuss each part and who did what, at least as far as I can remember and/or know (my apologies for any mistakes here, I in no way intend to not give credit, I just do not remember or may not even know . Do know that I in no way trying to slight the fabulous efforts of Tina, Sam, and Misty. Or even J, who had input here and there.). The Underbust Corset: the crowning glory of this costume is the underbust corset. I actually commissioned Tina towards the beginning of the costuming process to make this. I knew I did not have the skills, and I wanted this to look right. Plus, having a real corset I could use later would be cool. The fabric is a lovely shantung silk-like fabric. I love this fabric. Tina did a great job working from a single picture to make this. Sam and I spent hours looking for the front buckle part. We ended up buying a clearance bag with the right buckle, but later it was replaced with another buckle (and I have no idea how this came to be). Sam put the grommets in the back so it could be laced, but made the holes too big and the grommets were pulling through. After much thought and discussion (J was involved and I am sure Misty was too) and on Tina’s advice, we decided to put the straps with buckles on the back to solve the problem, as can be kind of seen in the image of the back (second one down, not the best picture). The straps are not an element of the movie costume, but it meant the corset could act like a corset and not fall apart. They do give the corset a harder, more industrial look, which provides contrast to the fabric and to some degree the whole costume. So it’s a cooler interpretation of the costume, perhaps. At least a more industrial look |
Sam told me costuming was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and he proved it here as making the straps actually caused him to bleed. Apparently I have Sam blood somewhere on or in it. 
The Coat: The coat was developed from a pattern. I bought the pattern and figured out how I wanted to make it work. I cut out the pieces, but because I was never taught how to use the serger, Tina took over the coat. She serged it, styled it, made it fit, and probably did a lot more work than I am even aware of on this. Sam ended up doing some hemming and finishing I believe here. Do note how the lining is used to mimic the double layers of the movie costume (kinda hard to see from the images, but trust me, it does). Tina made this with the idea I could also wear it later when I need a nice coat. The fabric here is a satin fabric, very close in color to the corset fabric.
The Shirt: The costume calls for a chiffon-like top under the coat. I found a lovely fabric that is almost shimmery. The color was a great match with the corset and coat, I got a pattern which I adjusted to give it the right look. The sleeves ends on the movie costume are asymmetrical and hang below the coat sleeve—this was particularly tricky to do right. And we didn’t; they ended up being more drapey and full, but it is a cool look. I cut out the fabric and Tina sewed it and the shirt ended up being awful. It fit way too tight in places and loose in others and it looked bad. Bad pattern! So Tina fixed it—making the neck wider and putting a stripe of the coat fabric down the tops of the sleeves to make them fit better. The end result was very nice.
The Pants: The pants are jeans I got on sale at JC Penney’s. Got to love pants that cost less then $12.00. And the color was almost perfect. Amazing since I bought them first.
The Boots: After much searching by Sam and I, we decided that two choices from Hot Topic might work. This was after we found perfect boats and then couldn’t find the size. But I love the boots we got. I now have kick ass boots!
The Tank: You may notice that there is a tank top under the chiffon shirt. This follows the movie. I got this at target. Again, the color was perfect. Not sure how I got all the colors to match.
The Hair: Mine with a redder 8-10 days wash out rinse over it (shown in the top photo). It worked out quite nicely.
All the fabric for this was bought in Maine with my mom. She helped me choose the right colors and get everything to work. She was also with me when I got the jeans.
Now one funny/odd thing with this costume: I had seen another Dark Phoenix Costume in the costume contest Friday, so I knew there was at least one other. I wore this Sunday afternoon/evening. I was standing around with some friends and this other women dressed in the Dark Phoenix costume walks up to me and says “Do I know you?” Now she is in costume and a wig. I have no idea who she is. She was convinced she knew me though. And she kept asking me about it—practically grilling me. She was very friendly—almost touchy friendly. This totally threw me for a loop. That and I apparently was not prepared to deal with someone in the same costume I was totally flustered. I was so flustered by this that two of my friends commented on it later. The other phoenix asked me a few questions, to which I replied in ways that must have sounded idiotic. For example, she asked me if I made the costume and my mind went totally blank. I don’t think I could have told her my name. And plus, as you can see 6 people had their hand in the costume. There was no way I could have gone through all this easily and quickly in my right mind, let alone with the total mind blank I had then. I managed to remember that I had Tina make the corset and then I think I said I made the rest, but I am not even sure. If this is what I said it was obviously wrong! Obviously I didn’t make the rest! I had a hand in making the rest and not even a big hand. I totally blew this opportunity to brag about the great achievements of all my friends who created the costume and give credit where credit is due. This makes me sad. I in no way intended to imply or say I made most of the costume, I was just so flustered by the other dark phoenix. Weird! But at least I only messed up with this one person, and at least the people who matter know, including you because you now read this! I feel a bit better because one friend was convinced that she was really asking me if the costume was handmade, commissioned, or maybe bought it flat out, and not specifically if*I* made it. [Post Note (9/15/06 @ 1:55 pm): I was thinking about this whole thing at one point today and realized this was probably due in part to my blood sugar. I’m hypoglycemic and I have been having major issues with this lately. I remember later that night I had a moderate (comparatively) hypoglycemic episode and this may have been the start of it. I did have issues all weekend (due in part, I am sure, to eating at odd hours and not getting much sleep) and remember feeling a bit off when in costume. One symptom of such episodes is “[c]onfusion, difficulty in thinking, or inability to concentrate” (webmd.com), which fits perfectly. The more I think about this the more likely I think that is what happened. It would explain a lot!]
Well there is the creation process for the dark phoenix costume. Probably rising from the flames/ashes would have been easier. Coming soon: The process of making Jadis, which was much more time consuming (a teaser: making manes sucks!)