Padme Amidala Padme Purple Dress - Loyalist Committee

Kay Dee - woohooo you finished!!!

WOW! What an utterly incredibly fantastic piece of workmanship!!!!

Please post more close up pics!!! I hope you will be wearing this one at DCon, because I would love to see it in person!!!



ecila

 

beautiful beautiful job kay dee

 

Bravo, kay_dee!

 

Kay-dee I have been watching the progress from the sidelines. You've done such a wonderful dress. It truly is a great costume replication. I would say that you hit the nail on the head and did a wonderful job. Now wear it as much as possible because you worked very hard.

 

Kay_Dee, I had to say something to you on behalve of my boyfriend. I showed him your costume this evening: He says your dress is just absolutely gorgeous, and was totally confused because he thought it was just another picture of Padme in her Purlpe Dress.
Just to show you again how stunning your dress turned out . Amazing.

 

Thanks so much for the compliments everyone! It means a lot to me Tenyon - wow, I wish I could pass for a Padme double If only I had the *face* to go with my costumes (I envy the look-a-likes out there!)

Moriah - you were not rude at all! I was happy to have someone to chat with during lunch (hanging out alone at a con isn't a boat load of fun) and you were a huge help in running to get those napkins!

I'm almost finished processing my photos from the convention. I'll post a the web page soon, but for now here are the few photos of my costume some people were nice enough to take with my camera.

PADME ACTION FIGURE (one of my favorites)

[image=http://kay-dee.net/comiccon-05/costumes/padme_actionfig.jpg]

HUSBAND AND WIFE

[image=http://kay-dee.net/comiccon-05/costumes/vader_padme2.jpg]
[image=http://kay-dee.net/comiccon-05/costumes/vader_padme.jpg]

These were taken by Caitlin

[image=http://kay-dee.net/comiccon-05/costumes/padme_purple.jpg]
[image=http://kay-dee.net/comiccon-05/costumes/padme_back.jpg]

We finally borrowed lighting equipment from our friend, so in a few days my husband and I will take some better detailed photos of the costume.

- Kay Dee

 

Oh... my... God!!! kay_dee, I'm tearing up!! Seriously! OMG, I've NEVER seen a costume recreation that's made me cry before! That's so amazingly beautiful!!! Huge hugs and congratulations!! I feel like I've (and so many people here) run a marathon with you while you've created this masterpiece. And it was SO WORTH IT!!! Congratulations again!!

I cannot wait to see this at Dragon*Con!!!!

 

Wow, kay_dee! This costume is absolutely amazing! I cannot believe how similar this looks to the real one! You did a fantastic job; like always! If I didn't know any better, I'd think Trisha did it! lol

Great job, once again, kay_dee! Keep up the good work!

~Spacelady

 

OMG, I'm speechless! Kathy that dress is AMAZING - I hope I get a chance to see it in person

 

kay-dee What else can I say that hasn't already been said? You look gorgeous! The costume is beyond stunning! Heartfelt congratulations on such an achievement!

Regards,
M.

 

Thanks again for the compliments everyone Well, I finally got around to taking photos of my costume at home yesterday - but I was a bit miffed to find out that my husband only borrowed backdrop stands and not the lighting equipment (he thought he could cheat it with the flash on the camera but it wasn't working out well). I'm going to have to get into the entire get-up all over again once our friend gets back in town if we want to do it right before the costume gets more wear and tear at D*Con *sigh*.

A pretty scary thing happened during the entire photo session deal - I started to faint! A combination of a tight corset, the heat, and all those layers of polyester and velvet while I stood still for over half an hour was not a good thing. The room suddenly went black and I fell to the ground yelling 'get this stuff off me quick!' My husband said, "And you are going to wear this in Atlanta?"

Anyway, I revamped my Purple Senate Dress Web Pages. Various photos are scatterd througout.


- Kay Dee

 

Oh dear! When I wore my old one at D*Con a couple years ago, I didn't really have any issues with heat (I mostly stayed indoors and avoided large crowds). I wish I could offer you more advice than just losen the corset a bit. -=shrugs=- Stay healthy, hun. You're far more important than the costume.

 

I bet if you keep moving, rather than standing completely still for a long time, you'll be fine. I seem to remember hearing something about soldiers standing for long periods of time and fainting.

Gosh, your dress is so pretty.

Caitlin

 

Kathy please be careful, the costume is gorgeous, but your health is more important. Remember, hoops skirts are great air conditioning as well

How do you sit in that gorgeous gown anyway, I'd be afraid of crushing it

 

Kathy, I think those are some of the prettiest pictures of you that I've ever seen. This costume looks so beautiful on you!

As for almost passing out...doesn't sound like fun. But I bet it was partly due to standing still for so long. I suspect you'll be fine at D*Con.

 

I'm sorry to hear about you fainting! I have never done well with heat and I worry about overheating in costumes too. I was planning on going to the SW costume contest but not being in it, so maybe I can stick with you and make sure you're ok. The ballrooms have water urns usually, so I can always make sure you're hydrated too!

That being said - wow! I think the pictures came out really well - you look great and the costume looks so impressive and so like the original! You should be very proud! Great job!

 

Thanks for the concern - I've never fainted from wearing a costume before so it was pretty scary feeling when it happened. The last time I fainted was about 5 years ago in Montana when I was smelling/watching cattle branding and castration... a combo of dehydration and pure disgust. I thought it only happened to people who wore the full on body and mask costumes. I remember Obi-Dawn was afraid of what might happen in her Janice costume last year. I don't remember the hotels being too hot, so I'll just keep moving around and try to stay hydrated a bit... although going to the bathroom means I have to run up to my hotel room and disrobe so that's no picnic either! LOL! If everything works out for the MOTF contest I'll just try to explain to whoever's handling it that I can't stand still in the line-up that long on the back wall and I'll need to walk from time to time to keep the blood circulating. I seriously don't know how people handle the more elaborate Amidala costumes! I'm just a weakling

As for sitting, I take my velvet coat off so as not to crush it and I sit on the edge of a chair. But when I ate lunch at Comic-Con it was just easier for me to stand at a table.

- Kay Dee

 

Oh kay-dee, the revamp of your "how-to" site looks GREAT!! And you look lovely in the pictures!

And, yeah, like everyone else here has said, take care of yourself while in the costume! Definitely keep hydrated, and maybe loosen the corset just a tiny bit (every millimeter of room helps in those things). And if it ever gets to the point that you can't stand wearing it any longer, DEFINITELY excuse yourself to go change. No one here wants you to get sick in the costume, or find yourself passing out again. And take someone with you to make sure that people don't stop you for photos while you're on your way. Other than that, it looks wonderful!!

 

You know, as I was thinking about it after my last post, I remembered how long I had to stand around in the MOTF contest a few years back. I think your plan of letting the people in charge know that you will need to walk around every once in a while througout the waiting time is a really good idea. And having a friend around who can have water available to you is great too!

Wow, I do recall being really worried that I would faint last year in my Janice costume because of the heat. But luckily the adrenaline kicked into overdrive and I never felt faint once that entire night. So maybe the fun and excitement of being at the con and in the contest will keep you going a bit longer too.

I think the changes to your website look fantastic!

 

kay_dee, your new pictures look so beautiful!

Sorry to hear you were fainting! I didn't find it too hot indoors last year in the layers of velvet etc., it was just hard standing waiting for that long. Once you've been on the stage and are just waiting for the rest of the contestants to take their turns and the judges to complete, you should be able to grab a nearby chair (maybe Maggie can save one at the back row for you) and take your coat off until the end of the contest is approaching, and sit down. Maybe they can let you go near the beginning, so you can sit most of the time.

 

Kay-Dee: Having vast experience in wearing velvets, stays and hoops in extremely hot conditions, I can definitely agree with the suggestions given to you. Be sure that your corset is not too tight over your kidneys. If you can feel pressure at that point, tell whoever is lacing you to loosen it just a smidge.

As for staying hydrated, drink small amounts of water but frequently. And get to know your inner body. You can get to a point where you can tell that any more fluids will require a visit to the privies, so that is when you should stop drinking for a short while. I was able to go from 9:30 am until 7pm without ever visiting the restroom but stayed hydrated even during days with temps above
90 F.

By the way, that is a very pretty dress and it should definitely be seen by as many people as possible.

Stay well!

 

Kay_dee-- I just had to say that I think your dress is absolutely breathtaking, and you should be so proud of your amazing accomplishment. It does seem like a lot of us have been on a long journey with this costume, and it is so neat to see you finally come across the finish line. I cannot wait to see it in person--hopefully I'll see you at Dragon Con.

BTW--Kudos on the amazing pictures. The details photographed beautifully. I love that you recreated the poses.

 

Thanks for the addtional hydrating tips SWCostumer I paced myself pretty well at Comic-con so I hope I can do the same at D*con.

Ferd! Yes, I'm sure we'll run into eachother at D*Con! You know it's the adorable recreation you made for Sydney that made me think "Hey, I'd like to give this one a try." It's often seeing what others have done that makes me think "Ok, this is possible." You know, I tried to recreate the pose from the back and the pose with the arm showing the embroidery. The rest of the stuff was just random, and I couldn't get a good serious one from the front because I just looked angry. No big deal though, it's OK for Padme to smile in this costume

- Kay Dee

 

I just got back from FIDM and here are a few additional observations on this costume. Note, it was in the back row and I did my best to look at details with binoculars, but I would have had a better look if it was in the front row.

1) Embroidery - It looked like cording with fine flecks of metallic bits in it - almost like glitter. It diddn't seem to be pure metallic though. I've never seen cording with metallic flecks in it, so I suppose couching a satin cord with a mettllic thread is the next best thing (And there is still a slight chance that's how the real thing was done, but I lean toward it being a cord with metallic flecks worked in).

2) The fabric was not as shiny as a typical taffeta. This was more matte and with the binoculars you could see there was a slight texture to the weave. Perhaps it was a matte taffeta. It was not a smooth and satiny looking as charmeuse.

I tried to eyeball a close pantone color on the skirt and bodice fabric. One of these days I'll make a trip to the hardware store to give people a corresponding paint chip color.

- Kay Dee

 

Ah, I finally cracked open my Dressing a Galaxy book and there is a nice close up of the embroidery. It looks similar to some of the emroidery that was on the touchy feely wall of the exhibit. A very tight satin stitching done over a cord base to kind of raise it up and give it more texture. It almost seems like they satin stitched over a thick cord (maybe silvery metallic in tone), and where there are gaps in the satin stitching you get glimpses of the metallic cord underneath? It's just a theory, the book didn't seem to have any notes on the exact technique used.

Another more likely theory is that they somehow were able to work in flecks of glitter and get them stuck into the embroidery. I believe there are flosses with flecks of glitter worked into them. Perhaps something like this glitter floss.

The book also mentions that the headdress is made of gold circular coils over a cage base. Bit it's not clear to me if if it is solid metal pattern wire strips or if it is a synthetic material (such as styrene used on another headdress) plated in gold. I guess I'll never know?

- Kay Dee