Aladdin Costumes: Iago the Parrot

       

                              

This Iago costume was probably one of my favorite of the whole show. This was one of the costumes I got to have a little fun with and use my imagination. Our production's Iago was casted as a girl so I decided to create a little parrot dress for her. I was inspired by this children's I found on Pinterest.

                                   

     

I recreated the bustle and found the perfect little red dress. A few feathers later, it was complete!

                           

                           

                           

For Iago's makeup, we started with a normal stage makeup foundation base and translucent powder. For the eyes, first put down an eye primer then start with red eyeshadow in the inner corner and make a rainbow as you go across the eyelid. When we got the outer part of the eyelid, we feathered the eyeshadow to look like the feathers on a parrot. We lined the eyes with black eyeliner and made the wing go all the way out to the end of the eyeshadow. Lastly, we added red and gold jewels around the eyes and completed the look with red lipstick.

                           

                                  

To make the bustle tail, I got four different colors of tulle, measuring four different lengths.

Blue tulle- 1/4 yard

Yellow tulle- 1/2 yard

Green tulle- 3/4 yard

Red tulle- 1 yard

I stacked the layers of tulle on top of each other with the shortest on top.

I then sewed them together using a zig-zag stitch and then put my sewing machine of the longest stitch setting to sew a stitch for gathering.

I found this red dress at Plato's closet and thought it would be the perfect dress for Iago and would look great with a bustle.

Gathering the bustle, I then pinned it and hand-stitched it to the dress while it was still on the mannequin so the dress would hold its form.

Fluff the tulle a bit to get the perfect look. If you want the dress to look more like a parrot, you can add feathers along the shoulders and top of the bustle. I used hot glue to attach the feathers.

I created this headband using a red headband I bought at the dollar store and feathers and a jewel I found at the craft store.

Aladdin Makeup & Hair

Aladdin Jr.was the first production where I was actually able to do elaborate makeup instead of a natural look. After researching some Arabian makeup styles, I discovered that some of the signature looks are colorful eyeshadow and thick black eyeliner with wings.

I used this pictures I found on Pinterest as inspiration:

                     

Here's us working in the makeup room:

      

Here's on of our masterpieces:

                                 

For hair, we did a lot of braids and twists and of course, Hair Jewels!

These are our narrators from Aladdin Jr. For Prince Ali, I dressed them all in different white outfits with a little sparkle and statement necklaces I found that worked perfectly as hairpieces.

A few booby pins and a lot of hairspray later, these are our results!

                                  

For this hairstyle, we curled Hayley's hair and teased the back of her hair for a half ponytail. We then wrapped the end of the necklace around the half ponytail and pinned it in.

                           

Elizabeth has really long hair so I decided to do a long braid down her back with small fishtail braids coming into it.

                           

For Rachel's hair, we did a French braid into a side ponytail which we curled before pinning on a necklace as a headpiece.

                                  

                           

Emily's hair was braided and pinned back wrapping around the back of her head. The necklace we used for her hangs on her forehead and down the back of her hair.

                                  

Ellie's hair was super cute and we braided it into two French braided ponytails before pinning a dangling chain necklace into her hair.

Aladdin Jr. Costumes

This spring, my high school decided to put on a production of Aladdin Jr. I was placed in charge of costumes and makeup. It was a lot of hard work and seeing it all come together in the end was really exciting and fulfilling. With the show over now, I thought it would be nice to share some of the costume and how I created them.

For Razoul and the guards, I chose beaded sweaters. Razoul wears a red one to distinguish him and the others wear black with gold beads. They are all wearing black harem pants and gold sashes to hold their swords. I also put black turbans on them and decorated Razoul's with red feathers and a gold medallion.

In Aladdin Jr. the Palace Girls replace Jasmine's tiger. They are her friends and confidante. these costumes were rented but I did get to have a lot of fun with their makeup and hair. Some hairstyles I picked up were a boho hairstyle rolled into headband, a high ponytail divided into sections like Jasmine's, and a braided back half ponytail. For their makeup, I created a smoky eye to match the color of their dresses. I topped it off with thick winged black eyeliner and a gold sparkle eyeliner on top of the black.

The narrator costumes were also rented for the show. We rented jewel-tone traditional Arabian dresses. In the script, the narrators overlook the story. Since they weren't really supposed to be seen by the characters, I created a corner of the stage for them. Covering crates with a jewel-tone colored quilt and sparkly pillows created sort of a lounge for them. To decorate, I added a folding screen covered with beads and tassels along with a beautiful chandelier.

Friend Like Me is a fun song based around the Genie. In the movie, Aladdin, during the song a bunch of versions of Genie appear. To recreate this on stage, I dressed everyone in blue. I kept the characters divided into their groups by dressing them in different types of blue outfits. The palace girls wore blue gowns, the narrators wore short blue dresses with sparkling sheer along the bottom and leggings, the boys were dressed in white with red bowties and blue sequin fedoras, and lastly, the chorus girls were dressed as waiters with red sashes and blue hats.

For the song, Prince Ali, I dressed  everyone in white. Everyone wore something different in white that fit their characters personality.


The first thing I did was to do some research on Arabian styles and clothing. Watching the movie Aladdin also helped with my research and ideas although not all ideas could be recreated in reality.
Some of the major styles I created for many of the characters were:

• Harem pants
• These were simple pants to create that could work for both guys and girls. I did not create them from scratch though, I merely found normal pants that fit all the characters and put elastic in the hem to create a balloon look on the pants.
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• Sashes
• A distinguishing characteristic of Arabian style is that most of the time there is a sash to gather the otherwise flowy outfit and define the waist. For the sashes, I measured the characters waists and cut a rectangle of that length and about 6 inches wide. To fasten the sashes, I sewed Velcro in the back.
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• Scarves
• Scarves are often wore around the head or the waist. I found a bunch of silk scarves at the thrift store to use for this production.
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• Tunics
• Long tunics are often wore over the harem pants for the guys. For the tunics, I simply found dresses and cut them a little bit shorter.
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• Vests
• Another popular thing for the boys were vests. To make these, I simply sewed two pieces of fabric together and cut out a neck, armholes, and up the center front for an opening.
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What to Pack for Europe

This spring break, I will be going to going on a school trip to Europe for 10 days. We are going to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England. Our trip includes bus tours, walking tours, and sightseeing and hopefully many other adventures. I'm super excited yet I don't know what to pack. After some searching on Pinterest and a little bit of weather watching, I finally decided what to bring. Packing for 10 days is really hard while trying to save space for souvenirs. After much thought, I dwindled my packing list down by combining basic clothing items with many outfits.

These are the basic things that I packed for the trip to match several outifts. 

These include: 

Dark skinny jeans

Black skinny jeans

Black cardigan

Black leggings

White tank top

White knit beanie

Tan knit beanie

Belt

2 infinity scarves

Although we are going to be doing a lot of watching, I did not bring tennis shoes. I brought black lace up boots, tall brown boots, and white Converse.

Day One: This is my travel outift for the airplane.
Dark blue sweater, light grey joggers, scarf, and white Converse.

Day Two: This is the extra outfit that I packed in my carry-on and changed into it at the airport after my long day of travel.
Dark skinny jeans, white and grey striped sweater, black lace up boots.

Day Three: This day includes a lot of sightseeing and walking around as well as traveling on a bus. Dark skinny jeans, bejeweled grey sweater, black lace up boots, infinity scarf, belt.

Day Four: This day included long bus rides across the Ireland countryside with getting off with for stops and sightseeing.
Grey and white striped sweater dress, black leggings, tall brown boots, black cardigan.

 

Day Five: This day we are taking a walking tour around Dublin so I decided to wear a comfortable outfit.
Denim button down, black skinny jeans, black lace up boots, belt, infinity scarf.

Day Six: On this day, we begin by taking a ferry ride across the Irish Sea. Once we make it to port, we will tour a Welsh castle and take a bus tour through Snowdonia National Park to Northern Wales.

Navy dress, white tank top, black leggings, tall brown boots, infinity scarf.

Day Seven: Day seven included lots of bus travel through the Lake District on to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Dark skinny jeans, cream sweater, infinity scarf, belt, lace up boots.

Day Eight: This is my cute outfit for our first day in London. It is small and will fit perfectly in my backpack for our travel on the night train.
White and blue dress, black cardigan, black leggings, infinity scarf, tall brown boots.

Day Nine: I decided to wear another dress for our train ride and tour around Oxford.

Tribal print dress, black cardigan, black leggings, tall brown boots.

Day Ten: This is my outift to travel back home in; comfy and perfect for the long plane ride back home.
Sweatpants, grey knit sweater, white tank top.

DIY Tulle Skirt Tutorial

                              

                                      

As my friend and I were wondering though the mall, we came across the store Windsor. In the display window outside the store, the mannequins were wearing the cutest tulle skirts with crop tops and sweaters. Going into the store, my friend and I were super excited to find a multitude of colors. I really wanted a tulle skirt but I was confused as to where I would wear such a dramatic piece. My friend on the other hand, had been wanting one every since she saw The Carrie Diaries. After a debate, I decided that I could try and recreate one of these tulle skirts for her.

Carrie Diaries Inspiration:

Windsor Tulle Skirt



I looked up many tutorials on how to make tulle skirts and some used the circle skirt method while others just worked with gathers. I have had experience with gathering tulle from making tutus and knew it was a pain and a lot of tulle. On the other hand, I didn't know if a circle skirt would create the shape I wanted. In the end, I decided to combine both methods to create less hassle for myself with the tulle and still get the correct shape.


Supplies:
5-8 yards of tulle depending on how big you want your skirt to be (I used white shiny tulle to give the skirt a little pizazz)
1.5 yards of a fabric to go underneath, usually the same color as the tulle
Zipper
Sewing pins
Sewing machine
Cutting board or flat surface to cut on
2 poster board papers


1. Create a pattern for your circle skirt because you cannot draw very effectively on the tulle. Depending on how big your poster board is (I just bought some from Kmart) you may want to use one or two. I taped two together to make a big enough paper for the pattern of the skirt. Check out my tutorial here on how to make a circle skirt. When I was making the pattern, I first made a pattern piece that would fit my waist for the fabric underneath. When making a pattern for the tulle pieces, I made the waist bigger so I would have to gather it to fit my friend's waist.

2. Cut one piece of the fabric that is going to be underneath everything and 3-4 pieces of tulle.

3. Gather each piece of tulle individual to add more volume to your shirt.

4. Once all the tulle is gathered, stay-stitch all the fabric together so it's easier to manage.

5. Cut a rectangle of fabric to use as a band along the top. Double the width because it will be folded over. Iron the rectangle in half and iron down 1/2 inch seams down the edges. (I forgot to take a picture of this step so I borrowed a picture from my circle skirt tutorial).

6. Fold the rectangle over the top of the skirt and sew it together. 

7. Cut a slit in the fabric along the back and put the zipper in.

8. Hem the underneath fabric.

All done! Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

                                    

Pictures taken by Caity Martin at the Nelson-Atkins Museum.