TDKR Catwoman build/costume study ( pic heavy )

Hi Biandi,
Are you asking me? hehe.
Aelynn,
May I ask what happened with the craft foam mask idea? I saw the leather look tutorial and I was completely convinced to go with this method. Before seeing that though, I considered using a similar method to this video: How to Make a Superhero Eye Mask Tutorial - YouTube

For some reason, I am craft foam impaired. I can never mold it right and I tested some via leather look tutorial and wasn't pleased with the results...I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or missing something...but it just wasn't satisfactory for me. Also concerned with how I'd attach the band around the back with enough pressure to keep it against my face, but without stressing the craft foam to where it would tear at the sides.
 
After heating the craft foam did you try applying it to a mannequin's face? or maybe your own if you're pretty bold and can take some pain. I figured after the foam cools back down you could then cut out the shaping of her mask. Or maybe cut out the shaping first and then heat and press to a face shape. I never figured out really the detailing though.

And ironing by itself probably wouldn't be enough consistent heat to melt it thoroughly to be molded like in the video. Do you think the heat n bond padding would help prevent tearing any? Being that it would thicken the foam? Maybe you could glue the straps on, sew over them for extra security and then glue a small square piece of fabric or foam over that to hide the stitching. Maybe that would be overdoing it though. Then again you could extend the arms of the mask further around your head like in the pic below. I dunno if that would help much with tension.

There's no doubt from me though that those goggles would be the hardest part...at least for us. I really don't want to settle with them. Hehe. They're my favorite part. This picture has the perfect shaping of the goggles, even though they're sitting a little too high, the framework seems identical to the movie version.
the-dark-knight-rises-hot-toys-catwoman-selina-kyle.jpg

The goggles are supposed to sit at the back of the head and angled slightly forward anyways...like in these 2 shots:
catwoman-gun-the-dark-knight-rises-01-625x940.jpg
anne-hathaway-catwoman-promo-pic.jpg

And I guess that hides the middle part of the goggles and all you see from the front are 2 points (ears), one on each side.
Anne-Hathaway-is-Catwoman.jpg


anne-hathaway-catwoman.jpg

Wow...Just look at that suit. :love :behave
 
Oh my gosh... that ebay catsuit... I thought it was sequins at first!!

It's too shiny for my liking...but that aside, there is no way...ever... that I would wear a catsuit with a crotch to butt zipper... that's just... no. Not for me. But it IS a good price for a base suit. >_>

OK - we received this suit today and my wife threw it on to see how it looked. I think for $23 it ain't half bad (plus a little for expedited shipping, elsewise it's a 2-3 week wait): It's not as shiny as it may look in the ad - see attached pic with flash, albeit from a phone cam. The pattern is a tone-on-tone check, so it's not the fancy hex and it's definitely not raised or anything. It's also one-size-fits-most; they claim 'up to a US 10', but my wife is a sz 10 and it fits so well I don't know how a tiny thing like a sz 4 would fare in it.

PLEASE NOTE: My wife demanded for me to put up a couple of bulletin points here with the attached pic. :$
- She's not wearing any makeup
- She's wearing the wrong boots (suede ones; the leather ones haven't arrived yet)
- She saw the comment about the zipper and she announced, "no no! it's a THROAT-to-butt zipper; it's all one continuous!"

We're on a SUPER-tight budget this year, and I am pleased with what we've found for her Catwoman! Qupid boots $36, this bodysuit for $23, gloves for $12 I think, and all I have to do is make her mask and belt? Sweet.

Nothing can detract from the uber-awesome scratch builds here, but on a budget you could do far worse than that Chinese one.
 
I think the suit looks great! definitely worth the price!!

I am in my own Catwoman sweat shop these days! Good thing I love the character, its like groundhog day!

I was able to adjust the suit pattern a bit as well!



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OK - we received this suit today and my wife threw it on to see how it looked. I think for $23 it ain't half bad (plus a little for expedited shipping, elsewise it's a 2-3 week wait): It's not as shiny as it may look in the ad - see attached pic with flash, albeit from a phone cam. The pattern is a tone-on-tone check, so it's not the fancy hex and it's definitely not raised or anything. It's also one-size-fits-most; they claim 'up to a US 10', but my wife is a sz 10 and it fits so well I don't know how a tiny thing like a sz 4 would fare in it.

Wow! For the price, that is a GREAT starting point! I'd actually probably buy one myself and replace/sew up the zipper if I weren't a sz 2. But since I can make things...I usually feel very blah in a costume if I buy it.

How fast did it get there, though? ... You know. JUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuust in case.
 
Wow! For the price, that is a GREAT starting point! I'd actually probably buy one myself and replace/sew up the zipper if I weren't a sz 2. But since I can make things...I usually feel very blah in a costume if I buy it.

How fast did it get there, though? ... You know. JUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuust in case.

Oh, trust me, we would much rather build than buy anyday - feels like cheating to us! We just don't quite have the sewing skills to do, say, a form-fitting stretch bodysuit. I'm going to be adding some of the bias-tape-looking details, like the bit that goes under the breast and down, at least, to add a little bit of accuracy.

OK, so we ordered the suit from the seller called "sexylingerie" something, and there was initially a slight issue with the shipping - HK post sent it back to them or something like that. I upgraded the shipping (from free to $14, which isn't bad from HK to the US) just to be safe, and had them re-send on the 12th, and it arrived today, so, 6 days using upgraded "EMS" (their word) shipping, which on our end at least was UPS. Communication with them was slow, though, due to the time zone difference, so there was a couple days of email back and forth before that could happen.

EDIT: yeah, I just noticed you said you're a size 2, so there would likely need to be alterations. Wife says it would probably be loose on a very thin girl. Might negate some of the value proposition on the price, then, I suppose, but you've got the option!
 
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Wow! The suit looks great! I ordered a shiny lycra spandex suit from ebay once and it wasn't as reflective as I thought either. I do know, Aelynn, that mine was supposed to be a front zip that stopped at the waist line. But I asked for one that went all the way to the rear end. It isn't even that visible unless I bend over LOL...at least from the back.

And it actually does come in handy if you plan on being in it for a while and end up having to go to the bathroom. With my other suit, I have to zip it as far as it'll go (to my waistline) and nearly take the whole thing off to go and relieve myself. Tiresome. Hehe. Just a thought.
 
The only issue I'd have with that suit is it appears to be very slightly see-through. Primo, do tell your wife she looks fantastic in it though, regardless of the bullet points!
 
I should have mentioned the slight transparency! You can see the white bra in my wife's pic, yeah. With a powerful camera flash it might have been worse - she's going to go for black underneath for sure. Thanks Firefly, I'll tell her! (She's so self-conscious I was happy when she approved that pic for internet consumption)
 
I should have mentioned the slight transparency! You can see the white bra in my wife's pic, yeah. With a powerful camera flash it might have been worse - she's going to go for black underneath for sure. Thanks Firefly, I'll tell her! (She's so self-conscious I was happy when she approved that pic for internet consumption)

Primo, my fabric is slightly transparent when stretched, too. I'm going to layer it with a shiny under-layer to fix that, but for your wife, if she's really self conscious, I'd recommend for her to look into simply getting a black body stocking and that should make a fair bit of difference. :)
 
Primo, my fabric is slightly transparent when stretched, too. I'm going to layer it with a shiny under-layer to fix that, but for your wife, if she's really self conscious, I'd recommend for her to look into simply getting a black body stocking and that should make a fair bit of difference. :)

Oh, she's not self-conscious about the transparency itself! Just sometimes she doesn't feel as hot as she is. :facepalm
 
Progress!

Sort of.

I bought stretch fabric to line my suit with since the athletic textured stuff is kinda sheer when stretched. Bought a metre of PUL ( which I SO debated just making the whole suit out of...but more on that later ) for the collar and gloves. Invisible zipper, zipper pulley, and all the ribbon. They didn't have the kind I wanted so I just grabbed a grosgrain which is...eh. But I think it'll look good all together.

I debated on the PUL for the whole suit since that's what hers was reported to be...or at least has a layer of it. But I just couldn't imagine the whole thing flat and with the collar blending in. I think the texture of the athletic fabric will really make it look different than others as well as give a neat look with the PUL collar and leather gloves/boots.

The PUL I got has a soft shine...it's just SO soft to the touch, really amazing! Feels like real leather! But when I look back at reference pictures, there's really a difference between her boots+gloves in comparison to the actual suit and again, I felt like having a flat leather suit would make the whole thing look too uniform.

Now...I have a few days to work on it. So progress pictures should be flying in this week. I GOTTA GET THIS DONE. :|
 
Whatever. I just know it's gonna look great! Lol...based from your other costumes that is. I can't wait to see how your goggles turn out.
 
How in the world do those leggings work with only one seam on the inside??? Anyone have an idea for a pattern? I can't even imagine how to make those fit.
If this helps, Kwik Sew makes some bike spandex patterns that are just one piece, with the seam on the inside, plus the one that attaches the left leg to the right. Maybe try that? I use that one all the time.
 
Got my goggle set today!!

Oh my goodness. I LOVE IT! For $18, this is DEFINITELY workable! I love how clean the plastic molds are and the shape is a fantastic starting point.

The first few things I noticed are that the mask needs a slit in the front and to tighten the elastic...these two things almost immediately resolve the fit issue with it lifting off the nose.

A lot of the detail is molded right in which gives a perfect blueprint for the carbon fiber decals and metal bits to be added. Some of the detail lines are a little TOO thick, almost looking like double lines as opposed to a single seam but I may try to sculpt over that to tidy it up.

Another small thing worth mentioning is that the eye cutouts are the wrong shape. Trimming those up should make it look a bit more real as well as opposed to the stereotypical 'cat eye' shape holes.

The molded rivets on the side of the solid, headband goggles are actually functioning. I popped the plastic mold off the headband and they spin around on the arms just as they should. Definitely using these plastic arms to build off of for more of a solid support than the rubber ones on the wearable goggles. AND a great thing to point out is that the arms on the wearable goggles are actually separate pieces, so they pulled off with no problem and will be incredibly easily altered.

And get this...ANOTHER great thing to point out is that on the wearable goggle piece, the molded scopes on the sides are hollow!!! How perfect is that for inserting LED's?!

ANOTHER thing I'm really happy with is the size of the mask. It's nice and slim! I don't know if the mannequin head is just really small, but comparing it to gvmaraio's mask on the photo above, I feel like that set would take up a LOT of my face whereas this one is the perfect size for me! ( I'm not saying his mask is too big as it looks amazing on the people-wearing-them photos...just a comparison with this one and the size of my own face! )

Honestly, though, it's like this set was MADE to be modded. I don't know if I just have a very deconstructive and creatively modifying eye, grouped with a strong sense of optimism ( :lol ) or if I magically received a different set than you guys above...but this is like gold to me! :lol

For a <$20 halloween costume accessory set, I wouldn't think twice about recommending it to someone on a budget. I'm so glad I ordered it online, too...'cause NO STORES in Canada have received it to date. Well... at least not in Southern Ontario...

Off to a Rapunzel party and then starting on Catwoman! This was totally the motivation I needed! *0*
 
i know, its amazing what a small mannequin head will do to the porportions of the mask, here is a more accurate representation on a real human being, lol! The lovely kimberly!



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Full disclosure, this is only my mask/goggles, i did not do the full suit on this one.

So glad you are moving ahead with your build and cant wait to see the results.
 
I was putting together a costume for one of the girls and found this site on EBAY, the seller is :
redchilly2010
Just got the costume in and it apppears to be well made for the price.
 
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