Handmaid's Tale Costume

I had the wonderful experience of reading The Handmaid's Tale for the first time earlier this year. While the book was nothing like I expected it to be (somehow I had it in my mind that it was futuristic science-fiction, not near-future post-apocalyptic), it made quite an impression on me. You can read my Goodreads review of the book to hear more about my impressions. I had chosen to read this book finally (after years of hearing nothing but amazing things about it) because I knew Hulu was making an adaptation of the novel for a television show this year. 

While the show struck me completely differently than the novel (the dangers of adaptations...), it was still neat to be able to visualize fully the world Margaret Atwood had created. So when someone presented the idea of doing a Handmaid's Tale costume for Dragon Con this year, I eased into the idea of sewing my own. Because of the popularity of the show and the surprising (or maybe not?) choice of many liberal protesters to wear the iconic red costumes, there was no shortage of costumes out there to buy. But, the guilt of buying something that I could definitely make was too strong, and so I set out to sewing. 

"Blessed Be the Fruit."

Of course, I've been busy making Dolores for most of the summer, so this costume was made over the past two weekends. Probably about 12 hours of sewing all told. At least I was able to re-use Dolores' boots for this one!

"Under His Eye."

Westworld Cosplay: Making the Bodice

While it only seems like a few days to you, it's actually been several weeks for me working on the bodice of Dolores' costume! I am actually so ridiculously impressed with myself by how this turned out. Sure, I can't lift my arms higher than shoulder-height, but if I stand really still it's still gorgeous to behold. 

Are you beholding yet? Reference photos in last post

Because there was quite a lot that could go wrong with this, what with having to improvise on the pattern, having to add ribbon, having to make the shaped hemline, convincing my machine to sew buttonholes, etc... I decided the first thing to do was to create a mock-up using some spare fabric.

Westworld Costume: Planning and Preparing Stages

I'll bet you all were wondering when I was going to start posting Dragon Con costume progress, huh?

Well, while I am definitely procrastinating, I have not been idle! I have been planning my two big costumes (that's right - I SAID TWO) for Dragon Con for months now. In June, I decide to take the plunge and commit to my most complicated costume, Dolores from Westworld.

If you haven't seen Westworld and you like robots in cowboy hats, you need to get on the bandwagon. It does contain a fair amount of gore and naked people though, so you may want to watch it through your fingers scrunched up over your eyes.

"Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world. The disarray. I choose to see the beauty." - Dolores