Return of the Watercolour Sketches

Chinese New Year is around the corner and everyone in the clothing industry, from the haberdashers to the cloth merchants to the tailors at the workshop (as well as every other industry) are going home and calling it a year. I've not much I can do for a little bit, so I'm taking to opportunity to dig though some of the old sketches I haven't found the time to paint and, well, paint them up.

To a certain extent, these aren't just ideas that weren't as good (and thus didn't quite get coloured first time round). Some are just abandoned because I'm not a very organised person, or I was too timid to put paintbrush to page. I was once told that you should always scan, then pain and ink. Then you could always go back and do it again a different colour. The Designer used to work in the glory that is Microsoft Paint and we would recolour drawings in it with the flood tool (the Flembic military dress went through half a dozen colours before we went with blue). We should probably do that again.

The above is of layered Persian outfits I was toying around with for Odyssey. I'm not entirely happy with it; I should have probably been more ambitious with the patterns, but drawing is hard (and I'm also out of practice).

There are a lot of rumours regard Empire and among them what the costumes inspirations would be. I'm still hanging back from actually drawing anything for it, but I do seem to have hit a vein of high medieval dresses in my sketching past, so here it is (to the right and bottom). Perhaps I'll be able to pass it off as some Empire culture or another in a few more months. (Insert smileyface here.)

The other seems to be some of the preliminary sketches for when I was dabbling with ricepunk. Revisiting that sketch and visiting Shanghai has got me thinking again, so I'll probably post about that at some point.

Flembic Splendour: Military Dress

part of a series of Maelstrom-related Portraits

done by Chris Brett

Current fashion is with the embroidered frock coat, although an impressive military uniform is still a popular choice amongst the rakish.

This dress was designed for the military-themed "Parade Ball' that the Flembic Ladies held at a Maelstrom even some years ago now. It is made with a navy light wool-mix (suiting, actually, now that I think about it), with yellow cord for the braiding and buttons from ebay. It was designed to be worn with white underskirts and a hoop skirt, but here it's worn with black trousers and a white linen shirt.

This was one of the very first pieces the Designer and I collaborated on, back when we were still drawing our concept art on paper dolls from a museum website's "design your own outfit!" children section. The picture was then scanned, tweaked and coloured (and repeatedly, indecisively recoloured) in Microsoft's Paint.

The decision was to have something that fit with the theme of the ball (uniforms and military parades) but still appear frivolous, with an undertone of a silly lady playing at being a soldier (rather than the a dashing lady who's actually in the military and shoots a dozen fallen before breakfast, which is rather more the norm in Flambard). The blue was chosen to match the outfit of a gentleman of my character's acquaintance at the time.

The beautiful rose scabbard is made by the inimitable Tim Baker (though chronologically could not have been worn to the aforementioned ball, but artistic licence and all). The sword was borrowed from the local fencing society.

To commission a similar coat-dress ensemble from the Mercenary would cost in the region of £180, though this is a very rough estimate due to the original being made quite some time ago, so you should probably just get in touch.

More photos of the military dress under the cut.

Collection of Coat Sketches from the Paintbox

Mostly just a post of all the coat designs I've sketched in the last month or so. As said somewhat flippantly before, coats have somewhat become our mainstay. Perhaps in part because there's a certain leeway in our culture for wearing more flamboyant coats in everyday life (less so dresses and doublets). This is probably to do with mainstream fashion churning out a plethora of military-style coats for the last couple of years.

That, and after a while you don't need any more frilly shirts or black breeches. But a new coat would define a new character.

Anyway, here's a collection of coats. Many rather bright colours and due to my rather finite drawing skills, much of what may end up being patterned brocade in the final product is plain colour here.

I'm also playing around with new templates and these women are slightly less skinny and completely made of legs. This is probably a good thing.

Oh, and I do did think there was something rather badass about the buttoned-up collar coat to the left, with a dash of cyberpunk thrown in. Though it may just be the purple hair.

A couple more sketches under the cut.

Commission: Steampunk Magistrate

The steampunk magistrate consists of a real silk surcoat (or chao pao, 朝袍, literally "dynasty robe") and a hand-embroidered rank badge (also known as a "mandarin square"). The surcoat is fully lined, edged in a slightly lighter shade of green and has engraved jade buttons and side pockets hidden in the seams. The mandarin necklace Jha has made herself.  


The outfit was designed for Jha's steampunk persona, a Qing Dynasty colonial magistrate hot on the heels of opium smugglers. She was hoping to introduce education about the Opium Wars to steampunk events and was planning her character around it.

More photos and discussion of the steampunk magistrate outfit under the cut.

Not Quite Waterhouse's Miranda: Linen Kirtle and Cotehardie

The underdress (or kirtle) is in red linen and is laced under the arm. The overgown (or cotehardie to use the more controversial term) is in a coarse teal linen and is buttoned down the front.

Not half as windswept and certainly without the sinking ship, but still slightly reminiscent of John William Waterhouse's Miranda which was what inspired this simple medieval-esque ensemble. The sketch was done quite a few months ago, though without much intention of ever being made then. The shape of the sleeves have altered somewhat and we added the buttons down the front. It does seem a shame to have the lovely red linen kirtle is almost completely hidden by the overgown. It is possible to construct it as one garment like the banquet dress recently sketched.

There's a temptation to ramble about the colours and symbolism, repressed passion and unleashed tempests, but it seems somewhat far-fetched. And the Pillywiggen would probably never forgive me.

Like the rest of Shakespeare's work, the Tempest has been having a healthy afterlife. Most recently, The Tempest recently been made into a film with albeit quite a different aesthetic, though their costume designer, Sandy Powel, did get nominated an Academy Award for her work in it.

The orc dagger and other weapons are, as usual, from Character Kit.

To commission a similar kirtle or overgown individually would cost in the region £40-50, though a set would cost £70-90. To buy the prototype set (sized to a UK size 16, but somewhat adjustable) from the Costume Mercenary would cost in the region of £70.

More photos of the Miranda under the cut.

Concept Sketches: A Mostly Medieval Banquet Dress

For all the dresses on the blog, we don't often commissions for them and certainly not to design them froms scratch. Perhaps it's due to their inherent lack of practicality (and frequently very character-specific nature, for those in larp and believe in the curse*) . So I was rather pleased when I was asked to do a banquet dress.

For those who don't live around here, Durham University Treasure Trap hosts anual banquets for current members past and present (and friends!). It's a weekend of dancing and drinking, feasting and fighting (the tournament for weaponsmaster is traditionally held the day after the banquet).

The dress was supposed to be light (as despite being held in Feburary, the hall is almost always very warm) and easy to dance in. It was also to be green.

I was intent on using these golden ivy leaf buttons (and we ended up buying the supplier out of them, which is very inconvenient for any future designs hinging on them), which seemed to dictate at least a touch of the elven.

A meander through costume books later (for all their faults, John Peacock's books are good for that sort of spirited, illustrated gallop through western costume history), we had settled on the high middle ages and sketching happened (the results of which illustrate this post).

Of course, there are also the green dagged sleeves.*

Hopefully there will photos of the lovely woman in her own dress next weekend.

--

* In live roleplay, it commonly believed that you will have doomed your character the moment you buy them character-specific kit. They will likely die within an event and you will never be able to wear that gorgeous frockcoat/ dress/ shirt/ armour/ jewellry ever again.

* The Designer has been teasing me for some time about the fact that the only character in my alleged novel who had any physical description (clothing or otherwise) was wearing green dagged sleeves. I have, apparently, an obsession.

Steampunk Pirates Concept Art

Airship pirates, steampunk or otherwise, owe a lot of the aesthetics to the Golden Age of Piracy (which is largely Georgian, with particular emphasis on bucket-sleeves frock coats). And I do love the Carribean-esque air pirates (in all their many shades of historical accuracy), but as The Designer and I began talking steampunk pirates of late (in part due to a remark from one of the denizens on the BrassGoggles Forums a while back), we started thinking about "our" take on it (looking back, we did do a set of photos themed around a Steampunk Pirate earlier in the year).

We return to the fact that high altitudes are really quite cold and whilst we can justify the wearing of loose coats and more abbreviated clothing with technology that compensates it seems worth more than a moment to explore the idea (the classic being spacious heated cabins, boiler room temperatures or you can just handwave it altogether; Disney's Treasure Planet pretty much went this route with its aesthetics and happily did it handwave why its frock-coat-wearing characters were sailing through space on galleon-esque vessels. Very pretty, by the way, if completely silly).

So, the Designer and I looked at what early pilots wore. Fleece-lined bomber jackets are certainly very iconic. Some seemed to be simply wearing electric blankets plugged into the engines (and strapped to themselves). It's really very cold up in high altitudes. We looked at photos (much like this fighter pilot), read articles (particularly found Flight Clothing for High Altitudes useful) and had a look at the Anime Last Exile at the recommendation of a friend.

And here are the results.

The basic premise revolves around the materials and textures of a aviator jacket and the shape of the Georgian frock coats. We wanted the collar to be very reminiscent of a bomber jacket, but with more buttons and buckles instead of zips (old trick, we know). We were also vaguely trying to cut back on the number of pockets and pouches (not trying to seem too much like a one trick pony when it comes to designs) but they snuck in anyway.

The shorter sleeves with the long leather gloves were supposed to bring a touch of practicality (allowing for interesting detail but keeping them out of the way). The Designer felt that the harness with the d-rings could possibly be used in conjunction with rigging or seatbelts of some kind. We tried to incorporate classic pirate accessories (like the tricorn, the sabre and a cravat), but also insignia badges, flying scarves and aviator caps.

The results straddle classic steampunk and dieselpunk, but I'm reasonably happy with the pictures though it some of it still looks a little disjointed. What do you think?

Oh, and fleece is annoying to draw.

(For what it's worth, the Proprietor is using some of this concept art to illustrate Haslanti League in his Exalted game.)

Commission: Reversible Clockpunk Frock Coat

This commission was based around a character concept I won't delve too deeply into, but the short of it is a discreet messenger with a mild steampunk/clockpunk vibe. The Designer and I kicked around a lot of ideas, most of them circling hidden pockets and pouches of rolled papers. The upshot appears to be us taking elements of the steampunk coat and fusing it with a frock coat.

The most interesting feature of the Clockpunk* Frock Coatis that it's reversible (though it does make any shaping rather difficult, thus resulting in a loose, flared coat). It has a "fancy" side (purple faux silk damask) and a "practical" side (Tyrian purple faux suede) with all the various pockets. The various pockets (including ones under the cuff) and the cuffs themselves are in a dark brown faux suede. The documents glimpsed in the pockets are, as some readers may recognise, the New World Chronicle (of the larp, Maelstrom).

The cuffs fold both ways and the effort of reversing them does make quick costume changes difficult. The buttons go all around the sleeve, making for a nice effect, but they do occasionally catch.

There was briefly the intention of having different buttons on the two sides of the coat, but that was complication involving that and in the end, it never really came about.

The concept art to the left of the coat, of course, showing the two sides of it being worn. Originally, before the coat was shortened to mid-thigh, we toyed with the idea of adding utterly giant pockets to the practical side.

The camera ran out of battery during the shoot and we had to do some pick-up shots in my back garden the next week (bonus shot of the sniffly Mercenary bundled in an overcoat with bucket cuffs).

The beautiful pistols are again from Makai Larp and the dagger from Character Kit. The shirt and waistcoat are both from the Mercenary. The white is a steampunk shirt (though it is rather too big on the model)l. A black twin of the green waistcoat can be seen on the Victoriental Traveller. She is also wearing the ever-useful Beer Googles and has around her neck one of the lovely globe watches.

To commission a similar coat from the Mercenary would cost in the region of £120-130.

More photos of the Reversible Clockpunk Frock Coat (including early design sketches) under the cut.

--

* The term clockpunk is used here largely because the coat and its character concept are vaguely intended for live roleplay setting which centres around clockwork and magic rather than steam engines, placing it - for those pedantically inclined - more in the realms of clockpunk than steam.

But really, who is the Mercenary kidding? I'm also hoping to crawl up the google search results as well.

Leaves of Lothlorian and some Elven Sketches

Things are quieting down over here with the Costume Mercenary, or rather, we're moving towards a different sort of busy (a somewhat less frantic sort) since production has paused for a couple of months and Foreign Fields (probably a post about the adventure that was soon enough) is behind us. This is when the more languid, (allegedly) creative designing takes place, amid the intermittent photography and trading. I've even got Mandarin Squares: Mandarins and their Insignia on my reading list for the steampunk magistrate commission, so things won't be quite as languid as perhaps I could hope.

Sorting through the big box of button samples (the contents of which has made it into button splurge posts) I've found some nice gold (very matte and yellow gold, actually, the photo doesn't really do it justice) leaf buttons, ivy leaves to be specific. I think they were probably bought meant to go with something elven, especially given the fact that the basic elven trim we use on the Forest Cloak is green with gold ivy leaves.

The design on the red-headed elf (you can tell due to the pointy ears) on the right is a hooded variant of our elven coat, probably in a soft black suede lined with forest green. It's drawn with green knot-buttons and leaf shaped sleeves much like the elven coat. It's worn over a sap green elven tunic and trousers. It's painted for a commission of (funnily enough) a hooded variant of the elven coat.

The colours of the sketches often don't have anything to do with the eventual prototype, but I'm still vaguely trying to keep to the "mossy greens, tree-bark browns, autumn scarlets" of the palette used in Lord of the Rings. Ngila Dickson, the designer who "forged" the elven costumes "from Indian silk brocade", notes that they are meant to "invoke their environment [...] and they're very light on the earth, so we searched for very, very fine layers of fabrics for them."

The design on the left is heavily oriental, influenced by all the elven costumes in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (mostly Nuala's). The colours are meant to be of twilight (somewhat like the silver and lilac robes), but I'm not overly convinced I'm managed to actually convey that with the watercolours. I'm not exactly good enough to convey a vast number of layers, but it would be nice to have more if and when it comes into being.

Perhaps due to the fact that elves are rather androgynous in nature in their elegance and beauty, most sets of elven robes would work on both male and female elves, though the exact cutting can differ somewhat and clothes cut for a feminine shape would work significantly less well on a male body.


In Other News: Finally gotten around to updating the Character Kit website with the tool rolls (£6) and globe watches (£20), last pictured together this post.

Am contemplating combing through Lord of the Rings for first hand quotes on elven clothing. (Of course, LotR elves are not the only elves and certainly not the definitive elves, but they can sometimes seem the Ur-elves of fantasy literature.)

Empire Line Dresses, Pride and Prejudice and Some Sketches

The Regency is certainly not alone in it's love of high-waisted "empire-line" dresses (it crops up in the fifteenth century as well) and the Mercenary has spent long hours lamenting the ubiquitousness of its modern incarnation in fashion magazines with the Designer and the Heroine. So here are some of the results of the musings.

Starting with a potted history (incidentally, Seitou's Fashion Timeline is utterly beautiful), the long, clinging muslin skirts of the empire silhouette were thought to have developed from Marie Antoinette's infamous chemise dresses (via the more structured robe de gaulle).* The themes and pretensions towards the classical can be found throughout the period and it's always been tempting for fashion historians to draw comparisons between garments and events: 

"The aristocratic stiffness of the old regime in France is completely mirrored in the brocaded gowns of the eighteenth century. The republican licentious notions of the Directoire find their echo in the plain transparent dresses of the time."

James Laver, Taste and Fashion (1945), p. 198  

And it doesn't take much research to say it's a bit more complicated than that.

Returning to the empire silhouette, Joe Wright, the director of the "muddy hems" version of Pride and Prejudice is commonly quoted as saying that it made women "look like marshmallows"*. It was allegedly his main motivation for setting it as early as possible, to bring down the lofty waistlines.

Of course, there are those like this article which is built around the bold assertion that "the empire shape is one of the most flattering known to women." A claim that the very cruel, if apt, Following the Fashion cartoon quickly brings into question. 

High-waisted dresses aren't universally flattering, which is hardly a revolutionary statement. The ideal figure is tall, moderately busty and willowy, which is fairly elusive as figures go unless you're looking at period fashion plates.* The idea that all manner of "sins" can be hidden under the skirts is perhaps overly optimistic, especially as the bulk of the skirts can end up adding rather than obscuring.

That all said, I've had fun drawing some Regency era dresses on stupidly willowy fashion figures.

-

* The terms chemise a la reine and robe de gaulle seem to be used interchangeably. The famous portrait of Marie Antoinette can be found with either in its title. I'm inclined to agree with the Dreamstress here and use the term chemise for the giant unshaped dresses that are sashed in and use the gaulle for the more structured dresses with a waist seam (as well as sometimes panelling in the back, etc). It's a frustrating world trying to bring concrete definitions to fashions and shapes. 

* There's plenty of very fine virtual ink spilt on the subject of the costumes from this particular incarnation of Pride and Prejudice: Art of Clothes' has some very insightful and illustrated Notes; this Telegraph interview with the costume designer; Pride and Prejudice Costumes; the woefully abandoned Fashionably Bennet; this Times article on muddy hems. Not to mention Elizabeth Bennet's Jumper Dress and the Teal Almost Empire Line Dress on this blog.

* I am greatly indebted to the Regency Fashion Page and Jessamyn's Regency Costume Companion for inspiration, both excellent sources of period plates.

Oriental Costume Concept Sketches and Inspirations

Zhang Renyuan's

Back Home in Dream:
 Bedroom of Girl

I was in Beijing and feeling the urge to sketch something topical (and not mope about the fact that I wasn't not at Odyssey), I embarked upon a Quest for a book on Chinese historical costume. Several book stores (including one that was eight solid floors of books) later, I ended up buying several fairly cheap artbooks full of portraits (and postcards of old photographs). There seems to be a trend in modern Chinese art to paint women in historical (or pseudo-historical) clothing looking soulfully into the distance. It's really rather prevalent and whilst the artistry is certainly exquisite in many of them, I do wonder what it says about us.

One way or another, I had my designing binge and here are some of the results. My watercolours didn't seem to be cooperating and the colours seem to be coming out more luminous than I intend them to.

Somewhere along the line I started wondering if all oriental steampunk costume has to be Victoriental in some way. The Buckle Cheongsam certainly wan't, but it really does go back to the fact that trying to communicate the technology level of your world setting in clothes is a problematic conceit. The shorthand for steampunk is well established and the ease of incorporating Victorian elements to create oriental steampunk is, in part, because one's tapping into those recognisable visual cues. When it comes to oriental steampunk, one almost has to establish one's own lexicon.

But those are design notes for another day's concept art. Today we're in the realms of knot buttons, long elegant robes and inadequate representations of brocade (one day, I'll work out how to approximate it well with watercolours). I'm spanning quite a few centuries with these designs and amalgamating quite a few ideas into a jumble of oriental-esque imagery. I vaguely had that wuxia thread in mind but much of this does deviate somewhat from "standard" wuxia fare (if there is such a thing).

Only women in this post, partly due to the overwhelming number of women in the research material (see above), but more sketches to follow. I may have to resort to looking at costuming from tv serials and those blurry photos I took from the Hong Kong culture museum.

More sketches under the cut.

Water Palace and other Places: Oriental Steampunk Inspiration

the incomplete and really rather steampunk Hall of Water

The Hall of Water was started in 1909 and was never finished. It's hidden in the less visited wings of the Forbidden City in Beijing and it's utterly gorgeous. The original intention was to have glass panes put it (hence it's other name of "Crystal Palace") and it reminded me greatly of Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace, which is probably the most steampunk building to have every actually existed.

The Costume Mercenary is back from her stay in Beijing (long story, involves helping a lady with her Tofel) and much as I don't want to turn this into My Week in Beijing, I did come back with something of a high in terms of oriental steampunk inspiration (mostly jade cogs and geomantically-powered machinery). Perhaps it's the stepping into what appears to be a world that compulsively and ornately decorates and regulates everything.

I loved the attitudes and the splendour of the China's ancien regime and whilst I'll add that I am wary of overly romanticisming it, I don't see it as any more of a problem as the one general steampunk has with its periods of inspiration.

I learnt several things about ancient China, and the rule of thumb I keep coming back to is: however big you think it is, it's probably bigger. I was wandering out of the Palace Museum's front gate (the heart of the Imperial City, what was the Forbidden City, that is now a museum), handing in my audio guide and twenty minutes later I finally arrive at where the original gate of the Imperial City would actually have been (see map).

some of the consequent
costume sketches

As seemingly no post is complete without the Costume Mercenary in silly clothes, here's a photo of me in borrowed garb Summer Palace's Suzhou Market Street, some three hundred meters of shops and alleys (mimicking that of Suzhou city - hence the name). It's no longer populated by merchants and pedestrians imported from Suzhou, but it's still rather remarkable. It was apparently recreated in half a year for the Emperor Qianlong's homesick (ex-nun) concubine. This isn't the only recreation and there seemed to be this desire (and ability) to recreate beautiful landscapes and areas in not-very-small-at-all miniature in the palace (not unlike Marie Antoinette's Hamlet).

So, just quickly, under the cut, an illustrated steampunk ramble from Beijing. The costume sketches will probably be in another post.

Odyssey Concept Sketches: Persia II

More sketches from the fantastical classical world of Odyssey. We seem to be covering Persia again, which is perhaps unsurprising given our shared affinity to purple and silly hats.

When watching the excessively long Alexander Revisits: The Final Unrated Cut with the Designer, I became rather taken with the dancing outfit Roxana (or to give her her Persian name, Rauxnaka, "little star") wore. It was beautifully swishy, but due to the nature of the scene, she was rarely still in it and only after taking some screencaptures and squinting at them excessively was I able to draw the purple version of it seen to the left. It's a little strange since the garment is drawn in motion and the figure seems stationary, but I think the concept of the dancing coat is conveyed.

The giant winged amulet of the Persian priest to the right is rather excessive, but it seemed, like many things, a good idea at the time. He is wearing a short tunic and the "trademark voluminous trousers" of Persia.

The metallic gold and silver details haven't come out quite right in the scans (incidentally, Pilot's Gold Marker is superior to Bic's Metallic Gel pens, though if one must use a metallic gel pen, Hybrid's flows better and has a slightly better sheen.)

Looking back, we've covered Egypt, Carthage, Greece and Persia (again). It does seem Rome is getting insufficient love, so I may well be attempting to scribble in that direction shortly.

For other Odyssey costuming inspiration: Silver Screen Modiste has a lovely collection of concept sketches from films about classical Rome and Egypt. and Clothes on Film have several articles on the costumes in the recent Prince of Persia film.

Those Waterhouse Sketches

Rather a step away from this blog's usual fare of elves and steampunk (which seems to suggest the only logical left is the dubious realm of elfpunk, but I digress). These series of sketches were first started beck when I was wandering around the City of Dreaming Spires and was encountering the thousand and one references to their denizen, William Morris. His wife used to baffle neighbours by swanning about their home in long, flowing pseudo-medieval dresses, casting aside their fashions of complex and constricting corsetry, a thought that still makes me smile. It's probably because in some small, but very pretentious way, I like to think I'm continuing their work.

Morris was rather ridiculously prolific and I strongly suspect he just didn't sleep. He said once "If a chap cannot compose an epic poem while he is weaving tapestry, he had better shut up."

It's quite a step to start at Morris and end up sketching dresses from Waterhouse, but the former did rather famously write on the back of a canvas to his wife I love you but I cannot paint you. 


There didn't seem much point to try and draw dresses that were little more than indecently draped fabric - see Hylas and the Nymphs and Lamia (by the pond) - attractive as they are in paintings. I've mostly just dabbled with ideas, trying to replicate the shapes and shades. Whilst mimicry is fine flattery, but I can't help but feel a little sheepish since I'm not sure my art could even slightly compare.

The dress above is from Waterhouse's Miranda, from Shakespeare's Tempest. The dress to the right is from A Tale from the Decameron, though I confess to have been rather lazy with the gold detailing.

I'm not really convinced that Pre-Raphaelite dresses hang right on the distended fashion figures, but whilst I've been vowing to start using more proportional figures for quite a while now and haven't managed to kick the habit.

What do you think? Would you be interested in being the proud owner of one such dress?

Commission: Trickster's Tattercoat

The Trickster's Tattercoat was a commission, envisioned by the customer as a "sort of ragged, tattered version of the technicolour dreamcoat" that has been "deliberately made frombright rags, complete with lots of pieces of loose, trailing cloth".

The base coat is made of a dark red linen with black linen accents. In terms of textures and materials, the tatters are made mostly of cotton and linen from an utter rainbow of colours but with a preference for red. The tatters aren't edged and are left to fray, in time to be more ragged than it is now. The coat also has a silver stretch silk lining.

The buttons are mismatched. Each is different in design, covering a range of metals (gunmetal grey to brass to copper). The "bright, flamboyant, theatrical-looking" character this is intended for has something of a magpie mind, so the wide range of shinies bedecking the coat seemed a good idea.

It's made to fit rather a larger man than the model in question, but due to it needing to reach its new owner as soon as possible, this good gentleman was the best we could find. The new owner has kindly promised me pictures from the live roleplay event, which I hope to repost here with permission when I get them.

To commission a similar coat from the Mercenary would cost in the region of £140-50. Email her for more details.

As usual, more photos under the cut, including one of the rejected sketches (with a different collar and a more blue colour scheme) and a close-up of the many mismatched buttons.

Odyssey Concept Sketches: Persia

Again, the sifting through the archives for the purposes of index-creation has lead to the discovery that I hadn't posted all the Odyssey costume concept sketches I had done.

Once more for the readers that don't follow the UK live roleplay scene, Profound Decisions is starting up a new fest system this August. It's setting is a fantastical mirror of the Classical world.

The sketch to the left was drawn shortly after watching the film A Night with the King, set in biblical Persia. The rather over the top trim along the collar seems to make some think of Egypt, but the drape at the waist is quite decidedly decorated with the Tree of Life. It is also very, very purple, which is also the especially favoured colour of Persias.

The costume of the warleader to the right features tasselled fringing along its paisley-pattered surcoat, bright colours, volumous trousers and an exotic hat. I was rather dubious about the hat, but the Designer insisted at all his research apparently indicated a great passion for strange hats in the distant lands of Persia.* The warleader pictured is also wearing armour made of leather plates and leather vambraces.

It is also around this point that I notice I hadn't drawn any Persian women, so perhaps I'll be able to find time after Nerd East to scribble something.

--

* Our opinion on Persia hats is not at all influenced by the fact that once upon a time there was a character named Hatef with a demonic hat at the Durham-run event about the Immortal God-King of Persia.

Dagon and Various Odyssey Concept Sketches

The Mercenary confesses to have been neglecting the blog of late, for the most part due to taking Elder Carrie around Mordor (read: Hong Kong and Macau).

The above is a banner she picked out in our travels together as a phys-rep for the upcoming live roleplay event, Odyssey. It's suppose to be the centerpiece of an alter to the Carthaginian god Dagon, The Hungry Abyss: 

Those who make the sea their living must pay a tithe to Dagon of one third of their cargo or one third of their crew, the Leviathan cares not which.

The market seller informed me that the batik wall-hanging is made by Chinese farmers during years when the harvests are sub-standard for a bit of extra money and that good years (like this one) meant that there's something of a shortage. He's branched into selling incredibly tacky sunglasses instead.

I needn't reiterate the differences between Odyssey's Carthage and the historical one, especially with regards to dress. A lot of hearsay and colourful conjecture comes to life and is taken to its most compelling extreme.

The Carthaginian man to the left is a wearing quite a simple costume, with a black tunic, a sleeveless fur vest (or if you're the Designer, "a crop top") and blue trousers. The symbol of Astrate decorate his tunic and he has the tails of various beasts at his waist.

Elder Carrie has been introducing me to De Dea Syria, a text by (probably) Lucian of Samosata, as inspiration for Carthaginian religion. In its rambling, witty way, the text describes vividly cock-shaped idols, ritual prostitution, cross-dressing priests, temples built over abysses, miracles of severed heads and infant sacrifice.

I will tell you why this story seems worthy of credence. A human head comes every year from Egypt to Byblos, floating on its seven days' journey thence: the winds, by some divine instinct, waft it on its way: it never varies from its course but goes straight to Byblos. The whole occurance is miraculous. It occurs every year, and it came to pass while I was myself in Byblos, and I saw the head in that city.

To the right is yet another Carthaginian man (this time with half an animal strapped to his back). I like the asymmetry of the armour on his arms, but I wonder if it would be rather irritating in real life. I admit, they are rather similar (most of the Durham live roleplayers are going as Carthage so I was persuaded to attempt a few more Carthaginian sketches) and I should probably throw some more sky blue in there. It just seems rather difficult to say crazy cultist with light blue.

Steampunk Designs Poll

The Mercenary and the Designer have been playing around with various designers for some time now and we've been debating which ones should go into prototype. We're excited about many of these ideas and it's unlikely that we'll have time to realise all of them.

This being the world of tomorrow and instant communications, a poll seems to be an obvious answer to such dilemmas. Therefore please click onwards, dear reader!

Which of the Steampunk Sketches should we make a prototype of?

Buckle Dress with Triangle CutoutsBuckle CorsetMesh SkirtMilitary Coat with LacingDouble-Breasted Riding CoatDress with Eyelets and Lacing

pollcode.com free polls

See under the cut for further descriptions and pictures.

Also, if you're interested in commissioning these designs or version of these designs, do email the Costume Mercenary and ask for a quote.

I'd love to hear any feedback and discussion on the designs. The ideas are still largely in flux and the sketches don't necessarily reflect design choices that would be made further along the line between now and cutting the fabric.

Update: When I said late next week, what I meant was mid-June, it seems. But the first glimpse of the Steampunk Buckle Dress (more snazzy name needed) can be seen in the Ambush Valley photoshoot preview.

Odyssey Concept Sketches: Egypt

As the Proprietor said the other day, the main problem with Egypt is that whilst real Egyptians probably had warm garments of one sort or another for their nippy winter nights, but very little of it seems to have imprinted on our cultural imagination which is more made up of the infamously expensive Cleopatra film (staring Elizabeth Taylor in the titular role) and the Mummy films than anything else. Anak-su-namun in the the opening sequence of The Mummy was wearing little more than jewellery and body paint.

Melting perfume cones seem somewhat out of the question (though points for anyone who's trying) and Odyssey's Egypt favour greens in particular (rather than blue, which I presume is in part due to other nations also having blue high on their list).

The Egyptian priestess to the left is wearing a cream-coloured dress and cape, beaded collar and matching snake headdress with beaded veil. She also wearing gold-plated vambraces with a red gem. Her decorative apron (for a lack of a better word) has on it the Djed symbol and hieroglyphs that can be roughly translated as "All life protection" (I'm sure people who know better will correct me in the comments).

We refrained from drawing any circular capes which were worn by the historical Egyptians to keep warm mostly because they're very dull to draw (being a giant circle of cloth with a hole cut in the middle for the head).

The Designer and myself came to an agreement that we would be trying to push for less naked torsos in these Egyptian concept sketches and then he went off and drew the architect to the right with the dubious abs, shirtlessness and exposed knees. After the exceptionally ornate woman (above) he wanted to draw a more low status man, possibly an attendant.

The Mercenary confesses to have been the least inspired by Odyssey's Egypt in terms of costume (which is why two of the three sketches here are done by the Designer - you could probably tell by his much more meticulous attitude to detail, my sketches tend to be much blobbier) and the woman in the brown leather armour (below) was only made Egyptian during the inking process when the Designer, hovering behind me (as usual) pointed out that the armour seems to fit the description of "leather bands on the torso".

This was, of course, Egyptian cultural armour and hence I added in the Eye of Horus and the eyeliner. But now I'm not quite as sure about its Eyptian status upon rereading the costume guidelines since it does also imply that the bands should either be in the shape of a rough harness or a complex overlapping arrangement. Still, she does serve for an example as to how the details make an outfit and tip it from culture to another. I like that she wears a darker shade than the Designer's more traditionally cream and pastel wearing Egyptians (he gave me rather detailed instructions in the margins about the colours for sketches after realising my Purple habit).