STAR
WARS EPISODE II
ATTACK OF THE CLONES
PADME'S
HEADDRESS
WORN WITH PURPLE SENATE DRESS COSTUME
My Headdress (above)
compared to
Real Head Dress (below)
Photo taken by Maggie at the Padawan's
Guide
My Headdress (above)
compared to
Real Headdress (below)
MESH WIRE FRAME
MATERIALS USED
To make this headdress, I chose to create a wire frame to lay my hair on top of. I think this should help give it a defined shape while keeping the headdress light because it is hollow on the inside. The diamond aluminum mesh is very light weight and I used 16 gauge wire for the 4 circular structures. 24 gauge wire was used to connect the wire to the mesh. I found the book Craft Workshop: Wire by Mary Maguire to be helpful in creating this design.
FLEECE COVERED FRAME
MATERIALS USED
I covered the wire frame with a light weight pellon fusible fleece. Initially, the fleece was washed and dyed with RIT using the stove top method. 1pt Cocoa Brown to 2pt Tan. The dye did not take well, so after covering the frame with the pellon fleece I painted it brown with Jacquard Textile Color (103 Orange and 111 Sky Blue were mixed to make brown). At this point I can put the headdress on my head and hold it in place with 2 bobby pins It's very light and comfortable.
COVERING THE MESH FRAME WITH HAIR
Above - A work in progress, sewing on the braids.
MATERIALS USED
The real headdress used in the movie appears to use microbraided hair wefts in a brunette color. My hair is a medium ash blonde, so I was not able to use the pre-braided brunette hair wefts that can be found at some beauty supplies. I instead purchased American Silky hair wefts in colors close to my own hair. After dyeing some of the hair wefts to remove the reddish cast, the hair was braided into two stranded twists (this took about 4 days). The braids were then sewn on to the pellon covered wire frame with invisible thread (this took about 8 days).
COMPLETED OUTER FRAMEWORK
 |
 |
| My Headdress (above) |
Real Head Dress
Photo taken by Maggie at the Padawan's Guide |
MATERIALS USED
The outer part of the metal headdress used in the movie appears to be made from pattern wire strips (the decorative details on the metal can be seen in some photos). Unfortunately, the 1/2 inch copper pattern wire I found was much too thick a gauge (14) to use and would make the head dress too heavy (not to mention it's almost impossible to shape). The 1/4" pattern wire I found was thin enough and light weight to use for the vertical strips - but I've decided to use plain yellow brass strips instead. I think the real head dress looks like it's made from gold or red brass (which imitates the look of gold) Regular yellow brass seems too yellow, and copper is a little too red. It's also a possibility that the real headdress isn't covered with metal, but with plastic strips painted to look like metal.
All of the rivets used on my headdress are decorative only. They were simply inserted and glued into holes that were drilled. I lacked the ability to actually forge my metal into the shapes needed for the headdress, but I did my best to cut and bend the metal into place. The weak link in this design is that it relies on super glue to hold it together (Only the 3 main large rings are held in a circular shape with screws). This makes the outer structure very fragile and some joints tend to pop if it's not handled delicately. Perhaps if I had used thinner metal (like foil for embossing) this would not be an issue. Also, foil would have been more pliable and easier to bend into some of the shapes needed.
-Kathy S.
COSTUME
FABRICS |TABARD EMBROIDERY | HEAD
DRESS | NECKLACE | BROOCH
CORDING DYE NOTES | VELVET
DYE NOTES | PURPLE CORSET | FARTHINGALE
| SKIRT | SKIRT
MOCKUP | BODICE
| VELVET
COAT
