Voldo

Source: Soul Calibur III

Worn to:  MCM London Expo October 2008,  Minamicon 15

Awards: 2nd Place Best costume at London Expo October 2008

Inspiration for this costume

Me and Matt decided that we wanted to do these, mainly because I can do the creepy crab Voldo, and he loves Yoshimitsu.

I decided on player 2 Voldo because I really loved the idea of two masks, and it would be so fantastically creepy.

Making Details

The main two fabrics are from a curtain place because I wanted them to look old. The gold stripes on the costume are made with Duchess satin (The only satin I will ever allow near me…). The main outfit pattern all had to be drafted by me. I hate brought patterns though so I was so happy. I made the main chest pieces, then had to figure out how to sew them together so all the lines of gold would sit right across the blue. Each section of the sleeve had to be made, then all the cuffs bound with bias binding which I made. The sets of cuffs also had to be lined so the inside wouldn’t show, which means the sleeves are really heavy, and the seams in the arms were really hard to sew on my machine.

The front collar-y bits and the purple chiffron stuff was then added, and all the edges were covered with binding. There are buttons on the back which you can just about make out in the game, so I added them on too. They had to be flat though so I could roll about properly.

The trousers were made in pretty much the same way, though they required a lot of ironing to get the stripes to lay flat.

I realised at this point that I needed an undersuit for the costume because when I crabed you could see my stomach. I made it from Velour, turned inside out so it doesn’t look like velvet. I used that because I HATE spandex with a passion. It’s pretty much like a pair of tights with a vest attached, and then a hood over the top so my face would be less visible. Oh, and it’s totally sexy.

The mask is made out of Latex because I needed it to be flexible enough for me to roll about. I got a friend to do a head cast of me, then I sculpted all the mask over the top. Then I covered it with lots of layers of latex (about 8). Then painted it, then spent some intense minutes peeling it off very slowly.

The crotch is made in the same way, and it packed with foam to keep it nice and bulky. I loves my cod piece.

The shoes are just a pair of cotton pump like slipper things that I covered with the gold satin and glued down. They survived surprisingly well considering. Though they really hurt my toes.

The “claws” are just cut out of MDF, with carboard stuck to them for the designs and then painted.

Final Thoughts

One of my favourite costumes actually! I loved the sewn details, it was great to wear and fun to be creepy.

Here’s a video of me being creepy in it: