Burda Style For people who sew

Description

In my mind, the greatest Star Wars costume is…Darth Vader (from Episodes IV-VI, take your pick). However, as I do not have thousands of dollars to spend making that costume, I went with the next best thing; Princess Leia’s Metal Bikini, as worn by the talented and lovely Carrie Fisher.

I made a plaster of paris mold of my body which allowed me to make a foam cast for a sculpting form. I then used an oil-based clay to sculpt all the main costume parts (bikini top, bottom plates, side plates, wrist bracelet, snake arm bracelet, 2 bun hair pieces, braid hair piece, collar, earrings, beads and boot toppers). I made an ultra-cal 30 mold of all the pieces and then casted everything in latex! (except for the earrings and beads, those were made out of resin). Most of the pieces has wire running through them, for stability and for bend-abe reasons. The chain was made out of cheap shower curtain rings!

For what little sewing there was (ha) most of it was new to me. The bottom half was easy enough – 2 silk rectangles hemmed and attached to the bottom plates with snaps. The boots were old winter boots that had fallen apart. I cut them and sewed (and glued!) a fitted boot-cover to them (then added the latex boot topper). Having never made a bikini or bra, I found the top to be an interesting task. The key was adding a dart – and keeping it hidden!).

The Frank mask (bunny from Donnie Darko) I have as my ‘entrance’ headpiece. I made it for a costume last year, (out of resin and faux fur) and decided to wear it with the Leia outfit to give it some of that Halloween scare! I plan on taking the mask off once inside parties (it’s too hot/hard to see out of/hard to talk in) and don’t worry – I also have a velvet cloak I’m wearing to keep away October chills. (Decided I needed it after I was FREEZING whilst taking photos).

It was A LOT of fun to make and I actually finished well before Halloween! I spent all summer on it and was done the last week of August. (However, I found that by completing my costume early, I ended up going stir crazy in Sept/Oct and ended up making 2 more costumes…)

Thanks for looking! If YOU want to make your very own Princess Leia Metal Bikini, I suggest taking a look at my Princess Leia Metal Bikini Tutorial Pics and feel free to ask any questions!

Material Notes

silk, faux suede, plaster of paris, foam, clay, plasticine, ultra-cal, wire, latex, paint, spray paint,

Categories

For

Women

Garment Type

Costume

Style

Beach