Sunday, February 23, 2014

Electrified Bride in the News


Hey!  I made the paper.  Photo by Erin O. Smith in the TimesFreePress and on line.  When you get to old to pull off a princess, you have to be more creative in your costuming.  The Electrified Bride is my cross over (mash up) Classic monster / Steam Punk.  It's always quite surprising how many people love this idea. 

Jeff and I are always looking for inspiration for new costumes.  Sometimes, it comes from the most unusual places.  Last year, I was working on school play costumes at Beauty & the Beast while watching the Saturday morning movie on TBS.  I didn't notice it was the 2004 Van Helsing movie when it came on, but I got all excited about the black and white close up of a Frankenstein's monster in thick boots with gears and hard wear on them.  It hit me, STEAM PUNK MONSTERS! 

The Bride of Frankenstein was my obvious choice for a number of reasons.   First off, she is pretty much the only iconic female monster.  After a bad car wreck when I was 16 years old, I went through my Senior year of high school with so many scars on my face and neck that I was frequently compared to the Bride.  Also, now that I'm getting older, I suffer from joint issues in my lower body which causes stiffness and limping.... PERFECT!  Finally, this was a costume that would allow most of my physical issues to enhance the characterization, instead of being a hindrance.

Since Dr. Frankenstein captured electricity from lightning to reanimate corpses, the Electrified Bride is 'powered' by her Tony Stark knock off chest implant.  Leg and arm braces help her move.  Electrodes moved to the temples store up power in the high hair, helping to circulate blood flow through implants in the forehead. 

Jeff Stringer jumped on the idea saying that he would love to do a Steam Punk Leatherface.  The chainsaw would be a perfect prop.  He chose a more classic, Victorian Adventurer steam punk look.

Steam Powered Sawyer, (Leather Face's sir name) sports his iconic mask made of patchwork human faces with enhancement monocle.  His chainsaw is powered by a small boiler on his back pack.  Leatherface protects his dapper clothing with a human skin apron and face knee pads.  Several trophies, including his 'Lovie' adorn his attire.

Christopher Fugate, being a huge Freddy Kruger fan, knew instantly which part he would play.  Freddy's iconic hat and the fact that he is known to change 'costume' from time to time, but always keeps the red and green stripes somewhere on his attire, Chris decided to go with a Western flair.

Clock Work Kruger sports a wider brimmed fedora and duster styled coat over his classic colored vest suggesting his familiar sweater.  All of his buttons have been replaced with gears.  His claw hand now extends all the way up to the shoulder with wind up clockwork motion.  Just in case his prey moves out of claw range, he now has a wild west revolver as a side arm.



2 comments:

  1. Fascinating and creative as ever, Mrs. Stringer. I don't know if you saw the poster, but there will be an upcoming Dteampunk / Gothic Exposition at the Choo Choo on August 8-10. Looks like something begging for your unique clockwork touch.

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  2. I did not see the poster. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I'll have to look into it.

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