I have many skills…
Some people may think it’s cheesy, but the inspiration for this concept comes from the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. I find this show great for many reasons. Progression in both story line and character development over the seasons are just a few of those reasons.
I decided to pay tribute to these ideas and characters with a photo shoot. It just so happens Sam loved the concept too. The amount of detail we put into this was more so than any other concept I’ve constructed so far. Every element was made from what we had around the house.
Sam not only took charge of the photo shoot but did 98% of my styling. And while I would have preferred the styling to happen AFTER I had done my hair and makeup, it all turned out beyond what I had imagined we could create.
Creating the look
To start with, we actually created my coat first by wrapping me in a blanket. We realized I would need more clothes to create an outfit after already placing the blanket. So we held it in place with a corset. But the corset looked too “elegant”, so we covered it with another top.
I don’t mean I actually wore the top like a normal shirt though. We literally covered the corset with it. Moving around was interesting seeing as the blanket had to be tucked into the corset to stay put.
We also added another layer around the waist to give the “skirt” more texture. To create this, we tied a shirt and knotted the sleeves around the back, and added a belt to hold both the sword and a satchel.
But that’s not all folks! Sam managed to fold and tie my boots in such a way that they didn’t even look like the same pair of boots when she was done. A pair of leg warmers helped finish the look, as well as keeping my legs warm while wading through snow.
The last creation we made was my “knife”, probably the most dangerous part of my costume. It wasn’t sheathed and was only attached to my leg by tying a fishnet legging around my thigh. For aesthetic purposes, we wrapped the handle in fabric and thread.
Worth it
The hardest part was navigating our way through all the snow during the shoot. There was literally 3 to 4 feet of snow depending on what part of the woods we were in. While it wasn’t as cold out as it has been lately, being outdoors during Winter wearing mostly nothing is uncomfortable. But in the end, seeing the final shot made everything worth it.
Doing this shoot has inspired me to create more concepts with as much detail and care. I can’t wait for the slightly warmer weather to go exploring and see what else will inspire more photo shoots!
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