Warehouse 12 agent

Warehouse 12 agent

I already have a thread about building my steampunk/Victorian Tesla pistol; this is about the costume I built around it, and the story behind it.

During the building of my steampunk Tesla, I was beginning to imagine the Warehouse agent costume I would wear with it. I wanted it to have elements that fans of Warehouse 13 would find recognizable (the Tesla, purple gloves, etc.) even if they were Warehouse 12 equivalents.

(Let me pause for a second to explain that I scratch-build the vast majority of my costuming stuff. What I don't build, I modify. I understand that this is a little crazy. I prefer to spend my time rather than my money on creating a great costume. Your opinion may vary; that's cool.)

Now, back to the costume.

This was for AnomalyCon 2013, which is the Denver area steampunk con..

According to the show's backstory, Warehouse 12 was in Victorian London. I didn't want to go super-Victorian though; that would require too much new stuff. Most of the costume bits I already have fall into more of an American/western version of steampunk.

While building the Tesla, this is the story I dreamed up:
An agent of the US Secret Service Division stationed in Denver was sent on a special assignment which began with picking up a crate of experimental equipment from the laboratory of Nikola Tesla in Colorado Springs. While there, Tesla gifted the agent with one of his prototypes for a new kind of electric sidearm, in order to better protect the equipment he was to courier. After safely delivering the crate to British agents Cataranga and Wells at Warehouse 12 in London, he became the first American Warehouse agent.


Ok, now really back to the costume.

Some of the components have photos, but not all. I'll try get a few more later.


Generic steampunk costume parts that I re-used from previous steampunk costumes:

-a plain white shirt with a banded collar
(I bought this at a thrift store and modified the collar, cuffs, and buttons.)
whiteshirt_zpsccd591fc.jpg

-a wide leather belt that I hang pouches and a holster on
(Another thrift store find that I heavily modified.)
-pouches
(I made one pouch out of leather from an old purse, and another out of an old leather floppy disk zip-case)
beltandpouches_zps46eba1bd.jpg

-pocket watch and chain
(This is one of the few things I just bought.)
pocketwatch_zpsae5692a6.jpg

-pants with suspenders
(Yet another thrift store find. They have a higher waist more like the style of pants from late 1800's. I replaced the plastic buttons with brass, and made minor repairs.)
greypants_zpsdf9d3466.jpg

-a black frock coat
(I sewed this for Anomalycon 2011, based on patterns taken from an actual antique frock coat.)
200419_202208273140513_6290979_n.jpg


-a pair of tall engineer boots
(I built these summer 2012 to wear with my steampunk costume to an Abney Park concert.)
528624_488592931168711_1867966613_n.jpg




New steampunk stuff:

-top hat
I have a bowler hat and a flat-cap that I've worn for steampunk before, but I wanted a low-crown top hat. I'll admit that this was shamelessly copied from the one Kevin Corcoran wears in "Copper". This is hard to see in the pictures, but it's made from leather. The leather was another thrift store find. I worked out a pattern, cut it out, and sewed together. There's a wire sewn into the trim at the edge of the brim because the leather wouldn't hold the shape by itself.
johnbulltopper_zps6eb030d5.jpg


-vest
I have a cool leather vest that I made for the con last year, but it looks weird under the frock coat. My other cloth vest was wearing out, so I made a new one. I used a pattern from a previous vest and modified it slightly. I had to do some internet research on how to make the pockets. I had just barely enough fabric to make it so that the paisley pattern is symmetrical on the two halves of the front.
316928_567451623282841_115634683_n.jpg





New Warehouse 12 agent stuff

-Tesla pistol
WIP thread here:
http://www.therpf.com/f9/victorian-steampunk-tesla-pistol-170595/
394964_555701811124489_2019645362_n.jpg


-holster
On the show you never see a holster for the Tesla. I had to just invent something that would carry it, but still show it off. My solution was a curved wood base with a groove that the frame of the Tesla would sit in - with a leather strap to hold it in place.
teslaholster1_zpsbd25b104.jpg

teslaholster2_zpse157299d.jpg

teslaholster3_zps9eb21dd5.jpg

teslaholster4_zps313e07be.jpg


-purple leather gloves
I found some women's leather gardening gloves on ebay. I trimmed the cuffs down, covered the brand logo, and added some straps and buckles.
purplesteampunkgloves_zps732169cd.jpg


-purple sunglasses
Another ebay find. When they arrived, the frames were super shiny chrome. I sanded, sharpied, and steel-wooled them to make them look distressed and tarnished.
purplesunglasses_zps7edf9741.jpg


-leather briefcase
I dug around on ebay for a long time to find a briefcase that looked enough like Artie's. I did minor repairs to some stitching that was coming apart, but that was about it. It was already beat-up and distressed looking when I bought it.
(Sorry, no photo)


-Secret Service badge.
This is based on images I found online of actual antique badges from the time period. I hand-cut the letters into contact paper and then acid etched to engrave them.
wh12badge_preview_zps551a4a4a.jpg





Here are some photos from the con.

65392_605097406184929_841385647_n.jpg


483578_605097449518258_1950065295_n.jpg


164267_477344875664499_1558185016_n.jpg


216786_605097512851585_601144445_n.jpg
 
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My socks are officially flying cross country right now due to the visual exposure of this! Love the WH13 series, and its superb that you've taken on the project. I've seen the prices they're charging for replicas and its just insane. Bravo, and you've even got the right facial structure to pull it off!
 
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