Adam Taurus Villain
Creating a costume that has never been done before is one of my favorite challenges. That’s why I was so exited when a new client contacted me earlier this year, inquiring if it would be possible for me to create a costume based on the notorious Anime villain, Adam Taurus. Naturally I jumped at the opportunity because converting something from a one dimensional image into a three dimensional article worn by a human is always a worthy challenge. An animator’s illustration may be a beautiful work of art but it can’t always translate into a wearable garment.
Challenges like this always serve to help the costume designer hone their crafting and construction skills while at the same time respecting the integrity of the original design. This particular project reminded me of the “Bard” project that I created for another client last year.
In the case of Adam Taurus, there already exist many ready made costumes that are available online, but not surprisingly, they are lacking in quality. As for his magical mask, well, forget about it. I was going to have to really work my own magic on this puppy. My client was concerned with quality and durability since he was wanting to wear his costume over and over again. So we would have to find materials that were unusual but practical.
The suit itself was relatively simple; think of a sort of samurai cassock only that the hemline was unusual in the sense that it was asymmetrical with a sort of a ‘mudflap’ panel attached to the front left of the suit. My concern was the selection of fabric. I did not want to select conventional men’s suit fabric because it can be hot and heavy. He was going to have to be wearing this inside convention halls where the room temperatures can get pretty high sometimes due to all the other people in costume milling about.
I wanted something that was light weight, looked sharp and had that ‘futuristic’ sheen to it. Polished Cotton was the fabric of choice. Yes, that old throwback from the 70’s and 80’s is making a comeback in this new century. It had nice hand to it and had excellent body. But at the same time it was lightweight enough for comfort. It was an easy fabric to work with and in the areas that needed build up I used light weight wadding to give shape to the shoulders and collar. For his bright red lining, I had originally thought about using silk Habotai which is traditionally used for lining. But I opted instead for microfiber polyester because again, it was breathable and the slight gabardine weave gave the overall look of the garment a good shape.
Once the garment was assembled, it was time to work on the appliqués. As you can see from the pictures, the design is quite complex: trying to decipher the pattern was an impossibility. So instead of trying to draw it out freehand, I captured some screenshots then put the images in photoshop where I tweaked them then enlarged them to match the dimensions of the garment. Once that step was completed, I took the jpegs over to a local printing shop that had a wide format printers to have them printed out. Voila! Instant pattern!
For the actual appliqués I chose a bright red ultra suede fabric. Another throwback from the 70’s! Ultra suede is a synthetic material with suede like qualities on one side but is actually a woven fabric on the other side. So like suede, it can take on some pretty bright colors, but it can also behave like conventional fabric in the sense that the colors won’t bleed like the real thing. Plus I liked the contrast of the textured red against the glossy black fabric. I think it worked quite well, don’t you?
As mentioned earlier, the mask was my biggest challenge of all. According to the storyline, Adam Taurus was blinded and so had to wear the mask to not only hide his face but to be able to see. My goal was to make it as close to the original as possible while still allowing the wearer to be able to retain his peripheral vision. My solution was to use a heavy mylar sheet and painting it with a translucent paint that would look opaque from the outside but still allow the wearer to see. Piñata Paints by Jacquard did the trick! The overall effect worked quite well. I purposely lightened the paint application around the eye area but from a distance the mask looks almost completely opaque.
The same Piñata Paints were used to enhance his accessories as it gave the sword and holster a nice iridescent sheen. Overall the project turned out quite well and it gave me the chance to once again work with unconventional materials, designs and concepts. Onward and upwards!
Ready to create your own villainous costume?
Please visit my website: costumesbyantonia.com
Call: 832-652-9180
email: costumesbyantonia@gmail.com
