World of Warcraft Draenei

[Ailuromancy]

First time posting on the site, so pardon me if I muck it up a bit. =x Also, since this is my first time posting (spent a long time lurking ... I'm kind of shy), I'm not allowed to post a picture! But I can link, so I'll have to do that.

This year for Halloween I worked my butt off to pull together a costume I've mentally constructed in my mind for years. Draenei! From World of Warcraft.

1. chain lightning?!


2. moar lightning?  


3. dedairhax (for those that play and know the awkward shape draenei take upon dying)


4. chillin' and chattin'


5. profile


I made the hooves, tail, horns and face tendrils. The clothing portions were altered; leggings that I trimmed and embellished, etc. The bodice was an old costume piece that's been stored in boxes with all my other costume pieces from ages past.

I did have a little help, so hopefully that's not a disqualifying factor. But the honest truth is using fiberglass resin and fabric is very messy and it was impossible for me to work on the boots without another pair of hands to help hold things steady.

During the course of making the costume, I kept a little blog ... well. Tried to anyway. Towards the end things got a bit crazy and it became more of a "finish it now!" thing so taking step-by-step pictures went out the window a bit. Also, I'm forgetful. But if anyone is interested, you can find it here:

http://ailuroscreations.blogspot.com/search/label/draenei


Anyone who wants the quick rundown without my rambling:

hooves - four inch heel boots, hacked off the heel, added four inches of pvc pipe to the ball of the foot, formed a hoof out of lightweight cereal box cardboard, covered in fiberglass, then fabric/gorilla tape on the bottom

horns - standard packing styrofoam, glued together in stacks and shaped, then covered in paiper mache and painted, attached to two headbands

tail - fabric tube with an insert of a nylon leg, filled with polly pellet beads and tied off every inch or so to create a fake spine, giving the tail weight and movement

tendrils/tentacles - tiny handsewn tubes bobby pinned to my natural hair under the wig


Thanks for looking!

[PenguinSoup]

THIS. IS. AWESOME!!!!! I LOVE the hooves. You did such a great job on them. I'm sitting in a room with 2 guys and myself and we're all playing wow (horde though) but all 3 of us definitely love your costume. Such an awesome job!

[PenguinSoup]

I just read the entire blog posts and have to say the the construction to this is amazing and so well though out. I really want to make some warlock or paladin gear as being a blood elf would be super easy (add ears and super long eyebrows) I'm just too terrified at making plate armor or crazy glowy and spike warlock stuff. Maybe I'll try it next year. Thanks for the inspiration and what an EPIC costume!

[sophieangele]

Wow, that looks great! I love your photos too, the light's amazing - your hair seems to glow, and the purple really pops! Plus your hooves are very impressive.

[Angry Angel]

Oh WoW (ha ha!)! This is very, very good - the whole costume is really 'together', your face looks realistic and the hooves are amazing. Love all the poses too!

[Belladune]

oooh Draenei!  much better then a Night Elf. Although there wouldn't be an option of dancing on the mailboxes
Well done!

[Tygir]

Everything looks great! So many fun details  The tail especially gets me, hehe.

[xmodxgoddessx]

When I looked at your first photo, I honestly thought it was a digital image, because of how white your makeup was, and those hooves! You did a fantastic job.

[MinnieMay9]

You look super amazing!  I love all of it!  The Draenei are my fav Alliance race to play!

[PosiTori]

LOL! Awesome. Are those hooves difficult to walk in?

[somethingcelestual]

now THIS is a costume! this is too incredible! i remember way back in high school when my friends played this game (far too complicated for me) & this character looks so familiar!

A friggin plus, dear!

[fayeven]

this is gorgeous!  and yes, i'm in awe of those hooves! 

[kunoni]

this is awesome!

[Vallyncia]

Impressive! Great job. As a former WOW geek myself, I have to say you nailed it!

[shelbert75]

Absolutely fantastic! I love the hooves, very clever and you look amazing! Well done.
hugs
Michelle
x

[aliceownsj00]

SO AWESOME *applauds!*

[suereal]

AWSOME job!!  I love the counter balanced hooves.  I have only seen that for devil costumes, it was nice to see it used in a more positive way..I'm pretty sure I'll be voting for you

[missmuppy]

THAT IS FLIPPIN FANTASTIC!!

[spotnik]

ROCK ON!  Normally, I'd say "For the Horde!" but... 

Seriously, this is one amazing costume.  Great job!

[Hyper-Piston]

Dude! Kickass! You did such an amazing job on this! I'm a Hordite but this level of awesome goes beyond factions!
Those hooves are definitely the highlight for me, not only do they look wicked but they're not overly complex. That's a perfect balance

[Ailuromancy]

Wow! (no pun intended, tehe!) Thanks for so many positive remarks! I'm so glad people like it. =D I spent lots of time putting it all together and doing some trial-and-error work figuring things out. I've nothing against the Horde, did some bounces back and forth with my faction, but I will admit that I've spent 99% of my time as Alliance. Though I don't think even the Horde can denounce the awesomeness that is Draenei Women. Experience taught me the same of people who didn't know the game -- I had plenty of people approach me to tell me, "I have no idea what you are or where it's from, but it's amazing looking." It made me feel all special.

The hooves were actually really quite easy to walk in -- for me anyway. I did dance for about 12 years, though, and that included four and a half years of pointe work in ballet, so I might have an edge in the balance department. Even without that history, though, I think they would be not too difficult for someone else to be able to wear. The only question then would be how well they actually moved in them ... I wish I had video of me with them on. I could speedwalk and trot around very easily -- which I just had to do as soon as I was on a sidewalk and my hooves started making absolutely perfect clip-clop sounds.

As for the comment about dancing on a mailbox ... a friend of mine wants there to be a replica of the Ironforge Bridge constructed, just one of the end posts. Big enough for me to stand on. Then I can be a proper draenei sans epic gear. I'd thought at one point about doing gear, but I wanted to keep it simple ... at least for now! Besides, everyone does complex gear and I think the simplicity adds to the costume. It's just enough to look at without being over the top. I don't really want to tackle gear until I'm confident in my abilities to make it look good, too.

Also, it looks like a moderator fixed it so my images actually show, instead of being annoying links to elsewhere. That's what I assume anyway since the forum gave me an auto-generated message that I wouldn't be allowed to post images because I hadn't posted enough (or at all) prior to this ... so, thank you mysterious benevolent force!

[Bobbysgirl]

You made my Draenei jealous, she said she wanted to look like that! Awesome job!

[Hyper-Piston]

Holy crap, four years of pointe? You continue to amaze me! It's seriously a fantastic job though, and honestly I gotta agree with you on the simplicity. Going epic gear kind of washes out the point of the costume (unless you're a human, I guess, in which case there's really not a whole lot of costume WITHOUT the gear). Also simplicity makes that much more of an impact

[Rinoa1024]

I love this costume!  I read through all of your blog posts about the construction process.  The boots turned out GREAT and I'm glad you had an awesome friend helping out.   You nailed the tail drape too.

[goddessgarb]

That is absolutely amazing.

[Ailuromancy]

Thank you to everyone for your support and your comments! I'm glad my efforts are appreciated by people who understand the amount of time/effort/planning that goes in to something like this.

Rinoa1024, I'm glad the tail looks right! That was a big deal for me because I absolutely abhor limp, lifeless, floppy tails. Again, I wish I had video of me walking because the tail had an absolutely perfect sway back and forth behind me. Kept hitting my friends when they walked beside me! I thought it was hilarious. It never once impeded my walking or got caught up in between my legs; just my friends', tehehehe. I just need to find a better way to attach it (so heavy!) ... But I've already got ideas on how to do that in my revamp plans for future use of this costume. =3

[LovieDovieAnn]

This DEFINITELY rocks. I've seen lots of people do draenei costumes and most flub the hooves, understandably of course. Yours are spot on! Nice work!

[Radmom]

LOL! Awesome. Are those hooves difficult to walk in?

I was going to ask the same question. I looked at every single image I could of the hooves, and I am still trying to really grasp the stability for your heels. Great job!
My kid sister who is a massive WoW chic will freak when I send her this link. LOL

I never remember what she plays but I know she is highest level you can get...I think it is 80...I don't know her whole life revolves around that game and her web designing. LOL

Anyway, huzzah!!! on the costume.

[Ailuromancy]

Fiberglass is a surprisingly strong material. Since I used it to reinforce the arches of the old boots (two layers worth), it gave me a lot more stability on the shoes than you'd think. Although while standing around and walking I had to keep my weight forward on the ball of my feet (imagine wearing a high heel shoe; now imagine the way one walks up a flight of stairs in them, putting no reliance on the stem of the heel at all ... it was like that, but all the time), if I had a counter/wall/anything to lean against, I could pretty much put my weight wherever and the shoe was able to support it without caving or bending in the slightest. I honestly wasn't too sure how well it was all going to work out when I started, just had to hope that I was doing the right thing and that I wouldn't end up dead by the end of the day. Luckily, it went off without a hitch. =3 If you try to walk in regular high heels without putting your weight back on your heel, it's impossible. The natural pattern of walking, even solely on one's toes, revolves around some slight stretching and flexing of the foot's arch; the shoe's heel will peg the ground unless you severely butcher your walking. The fiberglass, although extremely durable, allowed for the boot to have just enough give so that I had adequate movement in the shoe/my foot, but wouldn't collapse.

I'm actually going to a late Halloween party tonight (it was supposed to be last weekend for obvious reasons, but due to unforeseen circumstances got rescheduled to accommodate a host feeling very ill on the best weekend ever and didn't get to wear her own costume that we'd worked on! sadface). I won't be doing full makeup this time (took about an hour and a half to apply, and equally long to remove ... and it tended to come off on everything), but if I can get someone to record me walking, I'll be happy to link it up here so people can see how they really move.

[MumbleFord]

HOLY!  This is so flippin' amazing.  I LOOOOOOOVE the hooves. 

*ahem* FOR THE ALLIANCE!

[spicecarrie]

Wow this is amazing!! I love everything, but those hooves are really awesome!! How did you walk?? Your makeup looks flawless! Great job!

[Distant_Twilight]

This costume has been approved of by the "G lab of Fanshawe College" (AKA the programmers of the college)

[Ailuromancy]

This costume has been approved of by the "G lab of Fanshawe College" (AKA the programmers of the college)

lol; awesome! Thank you. =3



As for the video I said I'd try to get at the late party, people showed up rapidly and things got very loud (rock band + some drinks = not a good environment for filming anything somewhat informational). Unfortunately, I couldn't get any recording of me walking. I really didn't trust anyone there with my camera/phone. (for the record, I didn't drink; so I can't attest to how tipsy me handles being six foot one, though I'm sure it would have been hilarious) Sorry guys. =(

[AndThenThereWasSilence]

Wow! This costume is most impressive... as is your capability to walk in those hooves!