The Masque of the White Death

[Tatterhood]

This was a quick look put together for a masquerade ball on the Friday of Cos & Effect (a local convention).



I had bought a medieval-ish two piece set from a thrift store a few months back, and had yet to wear it. The ball was the perfect occasion to debut it. I made my hat and hand-held mask, and adorned my shoes. And to top it all off, I also wore my beloved latex skull mask. The creation of this cosplay was inspired by The Phantom of the Opera's costume, The Red Death, worn at a masquerade. (Which in turn was based on Poe's Red Death)

I started off with some cheap supplies from the dollar store and Michaels.



This is just a plastic mask painted with lace and pearls glued on. I wanted to make a papier-mâché mask, but I simply didn't have time! The holding-stick is part of an old spoon glued to the mask.



 I bought a blocked, wide-brimmed hat, trimmed and spray-painted it, sewed on lace, and steamed and sewed it into place. Later I added a spray-painted flower and pearls.



My skirt was just a little bit too short, so I adorned some shoes with spray-painted flowers and lace. They're just held on there with paperclips (and later safety pins, thanks to a lovely lady at the masquerade ball)



When I put it all together, and I got something beautiful. And/or terrifying!


Thanks for looking

[elderflower]

Lovely.  The whole effect is stunning.  I love what you did with the hat. I hope you had a great time at the ball.

[midnight]

I've always wanted to go as a character from  Masque of the Red Death for Halloween - your costume is more incredible that i could have envisioned! truly imaginative, it looks brilliant, kudos for originality!

[domesticmamma]

That is terrifying and beautiful at the same time!

[Quozol]

What an amazing costume, I love the double mask, that's a brilliant idea. I would say the two piece is later than Medieval, rather more Regency, your shoes and hat are most definately Regency which is in perfect keeping with when Masked balls were all the rage.

[Tatterhood]

What an amazing costume, I love the double mask, that's a brilliant idea. I would say the two piece is later than Medieval, rather more Regency, your shoes and hat are most definately Regency which is in perfect keeping with when Masked balls were all the rage.

Thanks! Double-masks are great  

I guess it would be more accurate if I said it were a 'fantasy' dress, because there are definitely Baroque-Piracy-Rococo-Etc-Etc elements in it! The place I bought it from said it was originally a wedding dress for a 'medieval' wedding. Regardless of what time it's supposed to reflect, I thought it was *faaaabulous* and just had to have it!

[bunny1kenobi]

I also think the double mask is inspired!  beautiful costume!

[hgddm]

stunning!

[TechnicolorAquahearts]

Beautiful!!

[ludicrouslouisa]

This is absolutely fantastic, and I'm surprised that you managed to find something like that dress in a *thrift store*! Did you have to do much to it?

Where did you get a plain wool hat? I've been wanting to make a tricorn - just black, with a white edge - and I tried a pattern where you knit the tricorn and felt it, but it seems that I used a wool that doesn't felt. I have no idea where I *can* get wool that felts, and so if I could buy a plain black felt hat like your tan one, it would make the whole thing a lot easier, because the only reasonably priced tricorns I can find online are costumey and rubbishy looking.

[Tatterhood]

Thank you ludicrouslouisa It was one of those flukey things that just happened to be there, and save for being an inch or two too short, it fit *perfectly.*

I had a really hard time finding just 'blank' hats. There are suppliers out there, but it can get kind of pricey. Even on ebay, finding a non-floppy wide-brim fairly-priced hat can be aggravating. I have bought 'partial blocked' hats before, and it was $$$, and I had to buy a whole bunch of other stuff for it, and, guh! I would love to own wooden hat blocks and do proper millinery, but I don't have the time or money! I just want to decorate a blank hat! So after scouring the web (and seeing oh-so-many pretty blank hats available in the UK/Europe) I found a good US supplier. This is the hat I got (in camel, since they were out of ivory. It was still too dark so that's why I spray painted it). If anybody can find a comparable supplier in Canada, let me know!

I have bought several hats from that store, (Shopsye) and have added to/modified them. For this tricorn (and a black bicorn I made with a black wide-brim hat) I just held brim sections over steam (be careful) and held it in place (and left it as so, with clothes pins holding it). I sewed the tips of the edges together, just in case. For the wide brim hats, there is a thin ring of wire around the edge of the brim. It offers a tiny bit of support/shaping, but it's not needed (I didn't have it for this hat, because I trimmed the brim). Just be aware if you flip up the brim you see the 'hem' of the brim that holds the wire. It's not a big deal but just thought I would mention it! (I covered my bicorn's edges in lace so you can't see it, but you could also resew it and put the 'hem' on the 'other side'...hope that makes sense!) Hope that helps!

[cmarion3]

The details are what makes your costume so amazing. Very well done.

To the person who tried to knit and felt a hat. Make sure you use 100% wool. No blends or superwash. Only 100% wool will work. Good luck.

[psyche]

Love this! I adore the Phantom's Red Death, and Regency masquerades, and creepy things, so this is a great combo for me.