philip estradaSequins, Henry The VIII, Halloween, Costume, Costume Design, Doublet, Pumpkin Pants, Fur, Cape, Velvet, King Of SpadesComment

KING OF SPADES: DEVIL IN THE DETAILS

philip estradaSequins, Henry The VIII, Halloween, Costume, Costume Design, Doublet, Pumpkin Pants, Fur, Cape, Velvet, King Of SpadesComment
KING OF SPADES: DEVIL IN THE DETAILS

Halloween 2014 was a raging success!  To celebrate we decided to honor our new found love of Texas Hold 'Em by dressing up as "A Pair of Pocket Kings." Ryan as The King of Hearts and myself as The King of Spades. The design of our costumes were inspired by Henry VIII and other Tudor period clothing references which was ever so much fun to research! These costumes have to be some of my finest work... thus far.

This post will focus on the details of the King of Spades costume since my Project Page has the main overview pretty well covered.  

The King of Spades doublet was very simple in shape and design but very intricate in its execution.  I wanted The King of Spades' costume to be layers of black, purple and metallic silvers. Texture upon texture, layered on top of each other to make his character seem more mysterious and duplicitous. In my mind The King of Spades is an interloper and is hell bent on stealing the throne from its rightful owner, The King of Hearts.

The body of the doublet was cut out of metallic mesh and I used cording to create the filigree pattern.  I wanted the body to look as though it was encased in black wrought iron.  Incorporated in the pattern is an over-sized Spade which I sequined black to make it stand out more.  The entire doublet was then backed with purple satin for some added color depth.

The sleeves of the doublet are my favorite part.  Each sleeve is made from one inch velvet ribbon that was woven diagonally. At each intersection I stacked a cup sequin, on top of a flat sequin, and secured both in place with a bead. Each sleeve took roughly 6 hours to fully construct. Every minute was worth it since the end result was so lush.

The pumpkin pants were another area where I got to flex my creative muscles. The under layer was a simple purple satin while the vertical strips were made using a black sequin encrusted material. To add depth I bias bound the strips in a contrast sequin fabric. 

Stay tuned for more to come on the details on the King of Hearts costume.

-Philip Estrada