Tips & Tricks Star Wars FIDM exhibit

STAR WARS RUNWAY SHOW UPDATE

Ok, I just got off the phone with my wife.
The requirements for filling the costume have
changed slighty. Slightyly enough to make it
probably impossible to fill the costume.

The required height is not 6'6"
IT IS 6'9"!!!

Apparently they found the person who is in the costume
in the movie wandering on the street in AUSTRALIA!!!

They were doing fittings today, and I asked her to
take photos if she can. I've asked her to get shots
of undergarments IF SHE CAN. But I can't promise that
she will be able to as this is an incredibly busy
time for them. I requested Anakin shots, and whatever
Padme etc, shots she can get. I don't know that she will
be able to get detailed close ups. If she gets any at all
I'll be surprised.

That said, she will try.

 

6'9"!!!! THATS HUGE! So they found Bruce Spencer wandering around Australia....wow thats ironic

-Tony

 

I asked if it was him!!! Nope not him. As I recall he is only 6'5" or so.

Yeah the measurments are freakish!!

If they were 6'6", I was thinking they could just shrink wrap me
to get the fit right!!!

But I think my shoulders are to wide.

 

Darth Manos, if your wife is hands on with the Padme Golden Meadow Picnic gown can she check on these details:

1) How many layers are there to the skirt (Is it a golden overlay and just an off-white opaque underlayer or another golden layer under the top layer? - Is there a 3rd off-white slip layer?)

2) are there hooks and eyes used to keep the shawl in place around the shoulders and back of the picnic dress?

I hope your wife has fun!

If she can suggest Ep III costumes for the 2006 FIDM movie exhibit perhaps the Padme Water Gown and coffin positioned so we can actually see it (the photos I've seen look like it's not positioned lengthwise as you walk along, but the head is positioned to the back of the wall and it will probably be hard to see any details at all).

- Kay Dee

 

I'll show her this when she gets back, but for now, back to work. I'll be checking in again around 2pm PST.

Later all.

 

For all of you who live in the LA area, where is the best place to stay that is safe and convenient to FIDM? I am trying to plan a trip out to see the exhibit so having some 'local' input would be great!

THANKS!

 

Thanks for all your input Manos. It's awfully nice of your wife to try and take pictures at the fashion show.

 

Leia214, FIDM is a beautiful school and has a great campus, but it is in a shady part of town. It's adjacent to the Garment district which attracts some unsavory characters. Shop owners close up as soon as the sun starts to go down because no one wants to be caught on the streets after sundown. The stores are all closed up on Sundays and only a few are open on Saturdays. I know a bit about it as I make a fabric trip there at least once a year, and I've been planning to move there to go to fashion school. (Those of you going- you NEED TO CHECK OUT THE FABRIC STORES WHEN YOU ARE THERE. There are some amazing fabrics that can be purchased dirt cheap. I found the smocked blue velvet that's a dead ringer for the Naboo nightgown there last year for $5 a yard. I bought the bolt!)

Anyway, when we go, we always rent a motel room in Van Nuyes and drive in. Trust me, we feel a lot safer doing it that way.

Also, I asked a page back if anyone knew how long you can hang out once inside the exhibit? I plan to stay as long as it takes to study everything. I might go for 2 or 3 days as well.

 

Ok since im NEVER going to get near this exhibit i was wondering if someone who is going could pay some detailed attention to two outfits im making
the ep3 'sleepless nights' gown and the ep 2 fireside corset gown.
photos would be great..questions i have are

sleepless nights - the colour of the satin- bluegrey? slate? lavendery grey...i cant tell!
how many sections in the front? (the bits that are seperated by the fagging)
if you can see how low the back is as its normally covered by her hair
the shoes if you can see, what are they like
the barrett hair piece -photos if possible

fireside - the skirt i know is lace over another material. is the under material satin or something else..and what colour is it - silver or white/cream?
the hairband how it fixes to the hair? is it a full circlet or a half circlet?
does the back of the corset lace fully together at the back or does it have a leather insert?
again shoes if possible?

Thanks to anybody who can answer these questions for me!!

 

darth manos-your wife has the best job! what is it called exactly-does it just involve fun stuff like this?
great idea about focusing on the costumes, but if people are going to do it,make sure you organise it. and please do get detail shots and try and see angles of costumes we dont normally see. i.e. around the wedding gown and stuff. i know its limited but im sure everyone will be so grateful.

 

So, maybe we should make a new thread with an index of costumes in the exhibit, questions pertaining to each and the person tasked with researching that costume?

I'm probably not going to make it to the exhibit, but I'd be willing to kind of keep track of who's asking what and studying what, if you'd like. The only tricky part would be keeping the index updated since posts can only be edited for 90 minutes.

If someone else wants to tackle this, that won't hurt my feelings in the least!

Regards,
M.

 

Sakara, I would be happy to get those details of the Sleepless Knight gown for you as that is one of the gowns that fascinates me as well. The black corset gown I will try to detail as well. However, as far as the corset is concerned, I'm afraid we won't be able to see much of it as the feather caplet is covering it up.

I will be taking my DMC floss kit with me for color matching. I will color match as many as I can, but I'll be focusing mainly on Padme, Anakin and Obi Wan costumes.

 

hm, as far as the hairpiece in for the sleepless knights gown, last I saw the movie it was the only thing I looked at - to me it looks like a little tiara. Hopefully someone can be asked about it.
I'm curious as to what reasoning was used to decided which costumes would Not be in the exhibit. I was really looking forward to seeing pictures of the pastel dress..., it just seems odd to me that they have a few costumes that were cut from movies instead of some that aren't at the exhibit that were in the movies. =\

In general, shoes are probably something to ask about for each costume, as most of the shoes worn aren't ever seen.

 

I am bummed that the "Kissy" dress is not there. I am very interested to know what kind of fabric was used for the lace overlay, and the lace on the shawl. The color of that gown has always left me wondering as well. I wouldn't mind seeing the blue georgette gown from ROTS either. It's very possible that some of these will turn up in later events and exhibits. I have a feeling we may never see the green burnout gown from ROTS because it was damaged in a paint accident on the set during pickups.

 

Sakura, for the corset gown, I think that the overlay is really a burnout velvet. When looking at a high res picture, the 'lace' had a pile to it. I also saw a few back shots that looked like a hook and eye closure might be in the front under the necklace thing. When I saw back shots, it looked seamless in the middle (where a closure might be). I hide the closure on mine under the necklace, plus it makes getting it on by yourself much easier



Yes, please get good color matches on the nightgown, sometimes its one color, and others its another. A really sharp shot of the brooch and hairpeice would be great too

Can someone get some good notes (and pictures) on Breha and Bail's costumes (from the end of the movie)? I want to do those for my fiance and myself. I'd also be interested in the Purple Handmaden costumes (the two velvet ones).


A little tip for getting good still shots - use someone's head! I use my fiance's head (or shoulder) to steady the camera - it works great! Just make sure they stand realllllly still (no sneezing ).

 

Her green cloak looks to be there! You can see it in the background of one of Mara_Jade_Fan's pictures.

Image #52

We'll all have to scruntinize it for the damaged area.

 

I agree with you, BQ, I think it is a burnout, or maybe a flocked taffeta, though I suppose we'll know more once people have researched it more. Using your fiancee's head. . .LOL! At the Cincinatti pops concert over Labor Day, the Vader who was out was using his friend's Biker Scout armor as a surface upon which to sign autographs, and at one point, I passed and he was using the top of his helmet. I laughed, but couldn't get to my camera in time. . .bummer

 

Holy cow! The green velvet gown is there! I am very curious as to the damage to it though.

In picture 52 in the portfolio, what is the gown behind Motee's senate gown?

Edit: Is that the blue georgette gown behind the packing dress or am I seeing things?

here: http://lafanforce.com/Gallery/album33/62_G

 

yes that does appear to be the aqua georgette gown! you can kind of see the embroidery and where the overly splits down the center front of the dress, the color also seems to be about right, how interesting =)

looking at some of the shots with multiple Padme dresses, you can kind of see some of the back drapes as well.

 

This is an excellent idea! Seems a lot better than throwing out requests that can easily be lost in this thread.

 

My wife works for the Costume Museum at FIDM. She used to photocatalog
items for F.I.T. in NYC. She also photographed the entire costume collection,
and set up the photo inventory for the Metropolitan Opera. She has worked as a
stylists assistant, stylist, and most importantly as a fashion designer. You
definately know some of her designs, but probably have never heard of her name.
Lets just say that one conservative fashion critic down in San Diego made it
sound like my wife was responsible for the down fall of western civilisation.
Or her designs were, as the critic was attacking the person wearing the
designs. Because, again, no one really knows my wifes name as a designer.

That said, she really enjoyed helping to put this show together. This one and
the Lord of The Rings Show!

EDIT

Some more photos

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d732b3127cce945e475c3c7800000015108AZtm7Nm5Ytj
Got Fett?

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d732b3127cce945e46d7fd5b00000016108AZtm7Nm5Ytj
Closer view

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d732b3127cce945e5f5bbd4300000015108AZtm7Nm5Ytj

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d732b3127cce945e5e887c3800000015108AZtm7Nm5Ytj

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d732b3127cce945e47103c3400000015108AZtm7Nm5Ytj
Chewie

 

You rock! Any light shed on any of these parts would be simply awesome and answer ALOT of questions! I'm still hoping to bribe someone to let me buy teh swatches from them from their book But I hope I can get as much info as I can otherwise.

Too bad I couldn't model the actual costume for them, I am roughly Haydens size

 

The info posted above about FIDM's downtown LA area is correct. It's really not the safest part of LA. In fact, LA as a whole is very spread out so safe and convenient don't really go together for FIDM. My mother-in-law lived in Santa Monica and by LA standards had an easy commute to downtown LA. After checking out many many options, it turns out Santa Monica will give you a direct shot via freeway to downtown LA on the 10 freeway, so it is one suggestion as a more tourist friendly town to stay in. I strongly suggest a rental car, as public transprotation in LA is spotty. There are other towns like Burbank you could commute from too.

Even though it might seem close, I'd stay away from South Central LA/Downey (not really known as the safest area).

Another idea is resarching the Metro Rail which has a stop 2 blocks from FIDM http://www.mta.net/default.asp and perhaps finding a hotel located along the route in a safer area than downtown LA. I personally would not walk in downtown LA at night, and in the day just hold onto your purse and don't stop to talk those unsavory types

- Kay Dee

 

Here's the gown that you're wondering about. It's not the best picture, but it's the only one I have of that costume.

I didn't realize my gallery would be so popular! I've added some more photos to the collection. I just wanted to give everyone an overview of what you can expect to see. But it seems everyone wants DETAILS!! Well, I didn't take too many detail photos, sorry. I'm glad everyone's enjoying the photos though!

 

Downtown LA's not like a warzone. I have friends who live down there. It's not that bad if you are careful and not an idiot. But as far as some place I would recomend a tourist, probably looking to relax and see nice sites and whatnot, Downtown is not that place. Santa Monica is super nice. On your non-SW days you can walk on the pier or the beach or cruise the 3rd Street Promenade and go shopping. I don't know if I would ever call freeways in LA a straight-shot like kay-dee but it would be fairly easy to get downtown.

I live in Burbank and it's a nice quiet town. There's a mall and a nice downtown section with shops and an "easy" drive to Hollywood to see the sites there.

I'm guessing that Burbank might be cheaper to stay in than Santa Monica. But Burbank would be a more complicated drive to downtown. There is however a Metro stop near downtown Burbank. In walking distance from the downtown Burbank Holiday Inn.