The Sad Story of the Wands...

So keeping with the trend of Harry Potter posts, I figured I'd tell you a little story about a crazed fangirl and her dream of owning a collection of Harry Potter wands.

Reading the books, the characters I resonated strongest with were all Blacks: Sirius, Bellatrix, Andromeda, Narcissa and Tonks.  I laid out a wonderful plan for the last few films to bring my favorites to life: Narcissa for HBP:

Narcissa (Black) Malfoy

What the newspaper clipping in HPB SHOULD have looked like - the amazing Alex as Draco

 Tonks for DHpt1 (I'll post photos when I retake some cuz I looked nasty) and Bellatrix for DHpt2.

While I brought these characters to life for the movie premieres, I dreamed a dream of collecting the wands of the Black sisters (Andromeda, Narcissa and Bellatrix).  Someday I'll get Tonks too, but that will be a day with money and when I'm done mourning the loss of my dream...

So finally I made it to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Orlando!

What better place could there be to stock up on Harry Potter wand replicas than Ollivander's at the official home of Harry Potter fans!

Ollivander walks through his shop

Now what you may not know if you haven't been to the park is that you can see Ollivander and have him select a wand for you - that is if you desire to stand on line for 10 hours to have him ask you when your birthday is and hand you a wand pre-selected for that date range.

I chose the other option - the shop out back.  It was like replica heaven!  They had everything - from remembralls to time turners to collections of the main characters wands.  The walls were packed full of boxes lined with cloth each holding a wand just waiting to be selected.  I debated picking up a unique wand, but remembered my dream and made my way to the movie replicas wall where I found such wands as Cho Chang, the whole Malfoy family, Neville Longbottom and Voldemort, but try as I might, Bellatrix was nowhere to be found.  I asked the clerk to find that they don't sell it.  THEY DON'T SELL IT!  As my brain shut down with disappointment:

Angi makes her sad face as she surveys her diminishing options of magical replica happiness

My wonderful mommy encouraged me to pick up Narcissa's wand since I probably couldn't find it anywhere else and bought me another Butterbeer to lift my spirits.  And so, I left the park with a tummy full of Butterbeer and the first wand of my collection:

When I started prepping for DHpt2, another opportunity arose.  I didn't feel right carrying "my sister's" wand around, so I decided to pick up a Bellatrix replica.  I was quite picky about it.  She has 2 versions: a bent wand that comes in replica form on a display wall mount and a straight style that comes in carry-able form.  I searched EVERYWHERE for the boxed version.  Nothing.  I was desperate.  A few days before the film, I contacted Blast From the Past and was blown away by how quickly they responded to my problem.  Within moments, they had a wand on the way and the next day it was in stock in the store.  About $30 later, I had the second wand of my collection:

The world was looking up!  The progress I'd made made up for the lack of Lestrange wand at Ollivander's and now it was just a waiting game until the new movie came out and I could pick up the last wand in the collection...

I assume you've all seen the movie by now.

WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?  As a filmmaker, I understand the choice to cut Andromeda.  She was only featured in a few pages of the book and did little else.  As a collector, I am devastated. 

And so, dear followers and fellow HP lovers, poor, sad Angi will never complete her collection or fulfill her dream of cosplaying all 3 sisters and composeting them all together into a group shot with official replica wands in hand...  :(  *cries in corner*




CosPlay with me
-Angi

Up-Close and Personal with Bellatrix Lestrange

You deserve an explanation.  Well, my like 3 frequent followers deserve an explanation >< haha

So here's what happened.  When we got together for the Lestrange costume photo shoot before the movie, my good friend Alex was good enough to agree to shoot for us.  While he took amazing photos of Rodolphus and our House Elf, I was so busy making sure everyone looked good and putting finishing touches on the outfits that there was only one good shot of Bellatrix taken.  I recall us taking more then one shot, but when I received the final images, there was only one of me!  Well that just wasn't good enough for me, so I took it upon myself to take more.  I couldn't get anyone to do a full-fledged shoot with me again, so the newer photos are taken with my decrepit old camera in my work room and I've lost about 20-30 pounds since the movie, so the costume is a bit big, but bear with it.  I think you'll still enjoy it.

As always, feel free to send me questions or comments here or on Twitter!

So as it turned out, Bellatrix was actually pretty easy to take on.  I based her dress on this image by Makani:

Since the image is kindof unfinished, I had a bit of leeway as far as color, but the design was quite well laid out in Chapter 2 of Makani's Half-Blood Prince Project (she's illustrating every chapter and it's amazing).  For the dress, I went with a lovely thin, textured black with a black lining and used Butterick B4929 (style C - the black coat in the top right):

Those of you who follow my blog may recognize this pattern as the one I used for the top of Peach's dress.  This time around, I used the whole pattern and elongated it.  I moved the zipper to the back, left off the trim, closed up the front opening, added a few feet and extended the sleeves to wrap around my middle finger:

Surprisingly, that was the single hardest thing I had to do for this dress.  It was entirely guess work and I wish I could break down for you how the heck I did it...

Anyway, for the "corset", I used Simplicity 2556:

This pattern is FANTASTIC.  It's designed to be altered, so it was incredibly easy to use.  I chose pattern C because the back was very elongating and elegant and I knew I'd have to chop the front off for the corseting, so I knew the wide and low opening in the front would be easy to alter.

I found an amazing purple suiting fabric that was thick and rich looking with a purple satin lining.  I also used the satin for one side of the twist in the back to give it a bit more character.  I sewed a few pieces of boning along the seams (under the bust and along the full back) on the lining so the stitches wouldn't be seen, punched eyelets through the front edge and threaded through a thin, braided black rope.

Then it was a trip to the thrift store for some gorgeous rings, dangly earrings and the most magical, rich witch shoes you've ever seen:

LOVE these...

The final touch (aside from the post-sucked-at-for-years-by-Dementors-in-Azkaban makeup) was a wand.  Of course!  Now, you'd think I would have a Bellatrix wand.  You think wrong! But the sad story of how Angi got cheated out of the wand she wanted at Ollivander's is a story for another day.  The sad story came to a happy conclusion when I contacted Blast From The Past in Burbank, CA and they saved my booty by special ordering a wand for me and getting it in just in time for the movie!

And so, with wand in hand, I prepared for the movie:

at the premiere

 

I love this collection of costumes and I am so happy to share them with you all.  I sincerely hope you enjoy them as much as I loved wearing and making them.  If you saw us at the premiere and got a photo, let me know and I'll feature it on the site!  And if anyone knows how I can get in touch with Makani, I'd love to show her the finished pieces.  She's such an inspiration to me.

Enjoy!



CosPlay with me
-Angi

Up-Close and Personal with a Miserable House Elf

Ok.  So here's why I'm posting the house elf first:  he's easy.  Jon's house elf costume was by far the simplest outfit to make and he embodied the character spectacularly; never breaking character.

(side note: I give up.  I saw a blog after the movie about how a group of kids met our house elf and he had to ask permission to take a picture and they thought it was awesome, but I can't find it again.)

Sad as it may sound, Jon was actually the most popular in our group.  A few people approached to ask us who we were and then scurried off when I threw my pure-blood Wizard supremacist attitude at them, but EVERYONE wanted a picture with "Dobby". 

First note: It's sad to me that at a Harry Potter premiere, clearly dressed in costume and excited for the movie that people would think I seriously thought I was better than them. 

Second: Jon was not Dobby.  Not that I don't loves me some Dobby, but he was not Dobby.  Quite in fact, we didn't even give him a name.  We felt it better suited the characters of the Lestranges that they would care so little about their house elf that they would not even refer to him by name.  And we did not.  He was referred to as "House Elf" the entire night and he held my purse and cowered in our presence and it was glorious!

Now that that's cleared up:

So Jon's costume was quite simple.  House elves (aside from Dobby once he is freed) are described as wearing burlap sacks as tunics and fashion any other clothes out of what they find lying around.  So that's exactly what we did.

I purchased a strip of burlap that would be long and wide enough to go over Jon and I sewed the sides, leaving openings for arms.

For his "shoes", I used scraps of fabric from Rodolphus and Bellatrix (pretty sneaky, right?) being that a real house elf would've fashioned his own "shoes" from scraps found around the house.

We found a nice rope that we agreed seemed like something the Lestranges might have lying around their home and wrapped it around his waist and attached elf ears (as well as added a little paler, greenish tint to his skin).  The final product was incredible, especially with Jon's incredible acting in the part:

Thanks to the amazing Alex Rothauser for magically making Jon look like a tiny little house elf.

Stay tuned for Bellatrix and Rodolphus!




CosPlay with me
-Angi

The Lestranges

Celebrate, for I have at last been able to download the Lestrange photos and will be posting them momentarily.  But first, a short history on the characters and costume choice.

From her first introduction in the books, I was captivated by Bellatrix.  The image stirred in my mind was that of a beautiful, wealthy socialite torn down by years of torture awaiting the return of her master and she is described as such:

"Bellatrix was described as a tall woman with long, thick, shining dark hair. She had thin lips, dark hair long eyelashes, heavy-lidded eyes, and a strong jaw. She had the classic 'great good looks' and arrogant bearing common for members of the House of Black, but like her cousin Sirius, time in Azkaban took a toll on her appearance. After her lengthy imprisonment, she was described as having a gaunt and skull-like face, but managed to retain some vestige of her great beauty."
--source: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Bellatrix_Lestrange

Now, I am a firm supporter of Helena Bonham Carter's depiction of Bellatrix in the films, but I do count "Book Bellatrix" and "Movie Bellatrix" as two completely separate entities.  Movie Bellatrix is very much insane and impulsive, whereas I always felt that Book Bellatrix was much more calculated and aware of her actions, which I believe created a completely terrifying and evil villain.

While the depiction in the films was an interesting take and definitely mirrored Bellatrix's fracture psyche, I always felt that Bellatrix would have gone straight back to attempting to regain her former glory, dressing and acting as she would have when her family was a prominent member of Wizarding high society.  Apparently, DeviantArtist Makani felt the same way, because her depiction of Bellatrix and the rest of the Black family perfectly represents the way I had always pictured Bellatrix when I was reading the books.

A note on Rodolphus:

Not many are familiar with Rodolphus Lestrange, but I assure you he is an important member of the Harry Potter story.  Rodolphus is responsible for the torture of the Longbottoms (along with wife Bellatrix and brother Rabastan) and he is one of Voldemort's most dedicated disciples.  Unlike Bellatrix's sister (Andromeda and Narcissa), Bellatrix and Rodolphus' marriage was not from love, but rather an understanding that joining two pure-blood families was expected of Wizards in their position.

Bellatrix's first love was always Voldemort, but the two remained dedicated to each other and fought side by side in both Wizarding Wars.  Both refused to accept the Dark Lord's defeat at the end of the first war, leading to attacks on Aurors and Order of the Phoenix members Alice and Frank Longbottom, leaving the couple insane and the Lestranges in Azkaban where they patiently awaited the return of their master.

While I don't have a film representation to compare to, I had always pictured Rodolphus as an attractive man with a highly pure-blood supremacist attitude.  I couldn't see a woman like Bellatrix agreeing to marry any other kind of man; even if she didn't love him, she would expect him to have the same attitude she did.  As such, I would also expect him to go straight back to living like the high society, perfect Wizard he saw himself as.

My costumes are based entirely on Makani's depictions of the characters, the makeup represents the sunken appearance they would possess after their many years in Azkaban, and our attitudes towards the other filmgoers (and our house elf) kept consistent with the characters' supremacist attitudes.

I will post detailed breakdowns of each costume in a bit, but until then, I want to give you a teaser of the images I based the costumes on and an image that my amazing photographer friend Alex took that perfectly catches the attitude and look that I was going for.  I could not have been happier with the way the whole thing came together and I owe special thanks to Alex for the amazing photos, Jon for putting up with the degrading treatment the whole night and my good friend Shawn for dressing up in Victorian fashion and posing with me for these portraits.  You guys are amazing.

FULL CREDIT TO MAKANI

FULL CREDIT TO MAKANI

CosPlay with me
-Angi