Costume_Victoria

All right, I was going to do a Rumpleteazer costume in the beginning, but I decided not to. I instead, did a Victoria costume. Her costume is the easiest to make. A warning to you guys that are making your first costume.
1. Plan to spend a long time working on this. Depending on what cat you do, it can take up to 6 months I think. Mine took a good chunk of the summer to make.
2. Depending on if you're dyeing your costume, it's messy.
3. It's expensive!!! Mine came to $113.27.

Collar- Vicky has this fancy, jeweled collar. I didn't like it. You can pick up a collar at places like Hot Topic, The Underground, or if you don't have that much money, you can do what I did, Go to the pet department of Wal-Mart! (Yes, I really did this. Luckily, I don't care about what people think of me.) For $2.98 I got a black leather collar with round silver studs. (I wanted to get spikes, but the one with spikes was too big for me.) You can also check the local pet store. If anyone gives you a strange look, tell 'em it's for a costume. Also, look in feed stores. (if you don't know, feed stores are places were you can get food for horses, etc. You can also buy other stuff there too.) I got a spiked red leather collar there for about $8.00.
Or, if you know how, you can make one. Or you can have Spazzy Kitty make you one.

Tail- I went and bought my tail. I didn't want to make one. So I went back to Wal-Mart and bought a white feather boa for $8.89. If your going to make a tail, this is how I might do it. To make it easy, get white rope, and color code the rope. Spazzy makes tails too.
Example- If your tail is red at the top, orange and black mixed in the middle, and white at the end, take red, orange, and black markers, and color the top red, the middle orange and black, and leave the bottom white.
How I might make a tail.
1. Get the color's you need. I suggest Wal-Mart, Michael's, a arts and craft shop, anywhere you can get lots of yarn in different colors. If it's in diffrent colors, I suggest you get white for the "tail bone." and color code it. EX- Your tail is red, orange, and black. Take markers of the same colors and color one part red, one black, and the other orange. It will help you keep track of how much of what color your using.
2. Cut off some strings about 3 or 4, the lenght you want your tail. (from above your butt to somewhere between your knees and ankles.)
3. Braid the yarn into a rope. Tie the ends so they don't unravel.
4. Loop one end. Use a needle and thread. Becarefull with the needle and have the thread be the same color as or a color the blends in with the yarn. This is the end you will loop though the belt at your waist.
5. Cut and tie yarn onto your rope untill you have a tail you like.

Okay, this was sent to me by Jemimadudet for tail making.
1. If you were making a Victoria costume you would buy white yarn. (This works for other cast too.)
2. Pull out a piece of thread and wrap it around your waist. Tie it 2 times.
3. Pull the string to however long you want your tail to be, I made mine to a little below my knees. Cut.
4. Tie a knot at the very bottom of the yarn.
5. Cut out a piece of yarn about 3 inches long. Do this over and over again. Cut the yarn out of the different colors that you want your tail to be.
6. Tie the small yarn pieces onto the long string hanging from your waist. Put all your yarn pieces on the string in the order that you want them to be in.
7. When you are done it will look awesome and very professional. Take a string of yarn about 10 inches long and chose a part of the tail to "Wrap". Just take the string and wrap it around the tail until you run out of string to tie it on. This makes the tail look more alley cattish, like in the musical.

Belt- Take some yarn and braid it. This is what I did. What I did was I took some clothes line rope we had, which is thin, and braided it. Since it is nylon, I burned the ends, so it would hold. I think you can get rope of that sort at Hobby Lobby. After you're done braiding the nylon, have an adult help you with this part. You really want an adult's help with this next part, it's a little tricky.
Grab a small candle, a lighter, and a pair of pliers. Light the candle. Take the pliers and one end of the rope. Slip the end of the rope into the pliers, so they have a good grip on the rope. Hold that end of the rope in the candle flame, until it melts. You have now sealed one end of the rope, repeat with the other end AND BE CAREFUL!! After your done burning the ends, and they have cooled, you can paint the ends and hide them under your tail.

Shoes- I bought a pair of white Keds for $11 or $12 dollars. If you want to that bad, you can do dance shoes. You can get dance shoes at ADA Dance. But your feet will thank you for in if you get regular shoes. Dance shoes aren't made for walking in them very long. They come in black with white, black, and white. (to order.)

Unitard- I got my unitard from ADA. It was a Mock-Turtle Cotton/Lycra unitard.
You want to get the Nylon/Lycra unitard. They come in black, white, and sun tan.
All other colors are by request. DON'T screw up and get the Cotton/Lycra one, like I did. The real CATS costumes are made of Nylon/Lycra unitards.
Cotton/Lycra works, but doesn't look as good. The Nylon/Lycra blend is opaque, the Cotton/Lycra one isn't. The unitard is $ 35.95.

Stuff that goes under the unitard- Depending on which unitard you get, you�ll need something under it.
For the women, if you get the Cotton/Lycra blend you'll want to get a body tight to go under it. A body tight goes under the unitard. It keeps your skin color from showing. If you get the Nylon/Cotton blend you don't need it, but if you want you can get it. The body tight from ADA is $11.95.
For the men, you'll want to get a dance belt. A dance belt is like a jock strap. It keeps everything in place and smoothes everything out. (You're wearing a tight costume, guys.) If your wearing a dark costume, you can get it in black or another dark color. If you're wearing a light colored costume, or you wanna make sure it doesn't show up, get a light colored one.
Both body tights and dance belts can be found at ADA, but you guys may have to be men and go and try one on to see what fits. GET EVERYTHING THAT GOES UNDER YOUR UNITARD IN FLESH TONE OR AS CLOSE TO YOUR SKIN TONE AS YOU CAN. That's your bra, your underwear, dance belts, etc.

Wigs- ADA has a CATS kit for $18.65. It comes with the Rubies CATS hood, and a pair of mitts. Ditch the mitts or use them for shoulder fuzz. Or you can use what you cut off the wig for shoulder fuzz. Now I've heard that the Rubies wig is kinda skimpy on fur, I got an idea. Use cotton balls.

1. Get as many white cotton balls as you need.
2. If you need to color them, color them with markers BEFORE you put them on the wig. Dye will make them clump up.
3 Glue them where you need them on the wig. When they have dried, gently pull them away. Color them again if you need to.

TA-DA! Instant fur. Jeneta, a girl on the costume board I go to, did this trick. She said it did great on the lion's wig she made for school. If you don't want to get the Rubies wig, you can get the Japanese Beast Wig. I've heard they take a lot of work to look like a CATS wig. But from what I've seen, some of them look good. If you're gonna go with the Rubies CATS wig, look under Accessories, which has a section called "Costume Kits." at ADA. Spazzy also does wigs.

Trimming the wig- I definitely recommend going to Marzi's site for this. She has a section on how to turn the Rubies wig into a CATS wig. It works . I did what she said, and I now have a very nice Victoria wig. When you're sewing in the seam though, you want to reinforce it at least three times. That way, you know it'll stay together. If you're not going to cut off the ears, be careful when you're painting them. USE ACRYLIC PAINT!!! That's the only kind I know of, that will stick to and dry nicely on vinyl. (That's what the ears are made of.) But other then that, everything's cool. You'll want to paint the ears at least three times, that way the original color of the ears, doesn't show though. I recommend using Apple Barrel Colors. The big bottles, which are 8 fl oz are $2.96 at Wal-Mart. The little bottles, which are 2 fl oz are $ .97 cents. It's a water-based paint, which means it comes off with soap and water, fast drying, and permanent. When you're done painting the ears, and they have dried, take the wig outside, and CAREFULLY spray the ears with clear acrylic spray paint. If you mess up, it'll coat the wig fur and petrify into a solid mass, sort of like hair spray, but permanent. I'd recommend either Krylon clear acrylic spray paint or Craft's Etc clear acrylic matte coating. Krylon is cheap, about $2.00 a can, but tends to dry shiny. A matte spray acrylic is more expensive, but when it dries, it's like it's not there. It's still protecting the paint job though. After you are done painting and spraying the ears, don't bend them. It'll make the paint crack.

Leg/Arm warmers- I ordered mine from ADA. Four 18-inch white legwarmers for $4.85 a pair. They come in lots of colors. If you want warmers in a color they do not have, get them in white, and dye them. They come in 18 inch, 21 inch, and 27 inch. On the warmers you're wearing on your legs, sew some elastic on the bottoms, so you can slip them over your feet or shoes. On the leg warmers you're wearing on your arms. See that space between your thumb and index finger? Sew some elastic there, or you can cut a hole near the bottom of the warmer and slip your thumb though. Look under Knitwear, click on Raindance at ADA. Or you can make them out of socks or a pair of panty hose. Just cut it out at the foot so you can slip your hand though. Spazzy does leg and arm warmers.

Dyes- I don't have to dye my costume, but you probably do, so I'll help you as best I can. Plan a day or weekend where you can do this. This is gonna take awhile. Have an adult help you, it'll make the job go faster, and you'll have someone to talk to. Get some scrap fabric that is or is as close to the fabric that your unitard is made of. This is the fabric you will make practice marks on. Slip a cut out into your unitard. You can make it out of cardboard or I think you can buy it at an arts-n-crafts shop, OR stuff it with newspaper. This is so the dye won't soak though to the side you're not dying. Lay it on a flat surface with newspaper under it. Mix up the dye. (If you're using floral spray, the kind they use for plastic flowers, spray it outside and wash it when it dry.) Mark off where you want to dye with a pencil. Cover up the parts you don't want to dye. I've heard that RIT dye is good, and dries in about 30 minutes. It comes in powder and liquid form. If you're going to go with this dye, get the liquid form. It comes in a bottle, the powder comes in a box. It's a little more expensive then the powder, but you only need one bottle to get the color you want, as opposed to more then one box. Get some sponges with a rounded end. DO NOT GET SPONGES WITH CORNERS!! It'll leave marks. I recommend dying your unitard in stages. (the arms, then the torso, then the legs.) Dye your unitard, then let it dry. MAKE SURE IT IS 100% DRY BEFORE YOU ADD ANOTHER COAT!! If you need to, add another coat. Be sure that the side you just dyed is dry, before you flip it over and dye the other side.

Shoulder Fuzz- The shoulder fuzz is from about the back top of your arm to right above the chest. Unless you're doing a Misto costume. Then it's from the back top of your arm to your belly button in a v-shape. Now you can make shoulder fuzz out of the left over fur from your wig, or I've heard that it's been made out of yarn frayed at the edges, or you could try feathers. Or any other idea that comes to you. I used the left over fur from the Rubies wig. You'll want to velcro it to your costume. I went to Wal-Mart and bought some velcro strips for $2.64. I took what we cut off from the wig and cut it in half. I then decided where and how long I wanted it to be on my shoulders. Then using a needle and thread, ( white for me. But use whatever color thread your unitard is. EX- Red unitard, use red thread.) I sewed on the velcro onto my unitard and fur. I then put the fur on my shoulders, and there ya go, furry shoulders.

Make-Up- "Mars Crystal Power....Make-UP!!" Opps, sorry. That's Sailor Moon. :) ~giggles.~ Snazzaroo works nicely. Comes off with soap and water. Don't use the pink around your eyes in the U.S. , I think it'll irritate them. But it doesn't sat that very noticeably on the package. Greasepaint works nice too. (Well I think it does.) One year, I was a tiger for Halloween and we used greasepaint. We had to put it in the freezer, 'cause it kept wanting to melt a little. It won't freeze though. But it's cold when you put it on. It's smudge, budge, and sweat proof when dry. Comes off with soap and water, but you might want to hop in the shower to make sure you get it all off. I got Zauder's Face Colours cream make-up. I got 3 tubes for $.99 cents each at Hobby Lobby. (In red, white and brown.) The white is a little runny at the top, but it gets thicker as you work your way down the tube. It blends nicely, dries quickly, and comes off with soap and water. And you don't need any powder to set it. When you're putting on your make-up, do it carefully and put it on evenly, you don't want part of your make-up to be thin and part of it to be thick. Wait for each coat to dry if you are doing different colors. (The make-up for CATS takes each dancer 45 to 60 minutes to apply. So don't be afraid to take your time.) Before you put your make-up on, WASH YOUR FACE AND NECK. Take off any make up you are wearing, wash with some Seabreaze or whatever and get off all that old make-up, dirt, oil, sweat, and who knows what else out of your pores. Your make-up will go on nicer. When taking it off, swab with some Seabreaze (Or whatever your astringent is.) until the cotton balls swab clean. When that happens, that means you've gotton all of the make-up off. Unless you are going straight to bed afterwards, you want to swab again before you go to bed, because your pores will release the make-up they sucked up over time.

This is just something I learned in Stage Make-Up class, if you want to get your eyebrows to stay down. This works with either soap or if you have a make-up kit and you got this in your kit, nose and scar wax.

The soap method- Get a bar of soap that DOES NOT have a lot of moisturizer in it. Get the edge of the bar wet. Using the edge, run it across your eyebrow. Wait for each layer to dry. Do this until you have a nice crust of soap on your eye brow, Be careful when you are putting on your make up, it'll want to eat through the soap. The soap comes off with water.

The nose and scar wax method- Take a little bit of the wax in your fingers. Rub it between your fingers to warm it to your body temperature. This will make it easier to apply. Don't use too much; a little bit goes a long way. Start at the top of your nose where your eyebrow starts. Put on the wax, smoothing out the bumps. Your eyebrows are now gone. (It looks strange having no eyebrows.) Apply your make up. I think this works better then the soap trick. The only bad thing about it, is when you're taking off your make up, you have to scrape the wax out of your eye brows with a eye brow comb.

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