Category Archives: Uncategorized

Five great entries this week, and as always the decision is never as easy as it initially seems. Have gone back and forth on this one a few times, but I've got to give it to The Atomic Punk this week, although Calvary Red was a VERY close second. Good job everyone. Congratulations!

On a personal note, the next month is going to be very busy professionally as I am working on four shows simultaneously. As such I will not have time to post the Costume Blog for the next little while. I should be back up an running the first week in December to return to the blog and post the Pop Quiz on December 6th.

Your Pop Quiz Challenge for November is to create a sprite, fairy, nymph or any other creature for that matter, which resides in, and embodies the spirit of, the autumn forest.

You only get one entry so be creative, and above all else, have fun!

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine forums,ImageShack, PhotoBucket, or whatever);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• The image must be new and designed specifically for the Pop Quiz;
• No copyrighted characters please – they will be deleted.
• Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
• Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). See this post on how to get the direct link for most sites.

This contest will close at 9pm Eastern on Sunday, November 3rd.

Nominated for fifteen Academy Awards, charismatic costumer Irene Sharaff once declared "you can acquire chic and elegance, but style itself is a a rare thing”. During her long and distinguished career, Sharaff became known as much for her meticulous attention to detail and her sense of colour as for her versatility in adapting to many genres and periods. For this, she drew inspiration from a wide variety of sources, which included impressionist and post-impressionist painting.

Irene Sharaff received her training from the New York School of Fine and Applied Arts, the Arts Student League and at La Grande Chaumiere in Paris. Her first work in the world of fashion was as illustrator for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. She then served a two-year apprenticeship as assistant designer under Aline Bernstein at the Civic Repertory Theatre Company. Her first own creations appeared on Broadway in 1932. Her versatility also encompassed designing for the American Ballet Theater and the New York City Ballet. Her private time was spent sculpting and painting.

Sharaff eventually attracted the attention of Hollywood producers. However, she would only spend a total of four years under contract: at MGM, for the Arthur Freed unit, between 1943 and 1945; and at RKO from 1946 to 1948. The rest of her time in Hollywood was strictly free-lance. At MGM, her use of vibrant colours (she was fond of saying, that she saw everything "in blocks of colour"), became ideally suited to the new Technicolor process. An understanding of movement in the design of dresses also became a key element in her work on musicals. Sharaff did her best designs in the 1950's on Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), An American in Paris (1951), Guys and Dolls (1955) and The King and I (1956). For the latter, she created history twice: first, by convincing Yul Brynner to shave his head; secondly, for her prodigious use of Thai silk, which created such a stir in the world of high fashion that the product ended up becoming Thailand's number one export.

From the late 1950's, Sharaff often alternated work on the same production for both Broadway and Hollywood, notably West Side Story , Flower Drum Song and Funny Girl . She became a favorite costumer of Elizabeth Taylor, designing in starkly contrasting styles the bohemian/swinging sixties outfits she wore in The Sandpiper (1965), her flowing, ornate renaissance dress in The Taming of the Shrew (1967) and, in collaboration with Renié, her opulent costumes for Cleopatra(1963).

Personal Quotes: Yes, you may enter Miss Dunaway's dressing room, but first you must throw a raw steak in - to divert her attention.

Academy Awards

Due to me not feeling well, and being in a bit of pain ( Last weekend of work was busy, and I twisted my ankle ) I haven't been able to focus on my posts for today so I will be writing them later and posting them tomorrow ( Wednesday)  instead of today.

Today we bring you a guest post from Eunisse C. De Leon, a writer who’s interested in Asian culture and anything art and design-related. I hope you'll give her a warm HeroMachine welcome!

A typical superhero wears form-fitting clothes, a cape, and a mask to complete their image but characters are now tweaking their signature look. While most superheroes hide their identities under a mask, there are those who prefer to give a hint while still leaving an air of mystery.

This list welcomes the 10 protagonists from comic books, animated films and series, and the gaming world who opted to wear cool sunglasses instead of the usual mask that makes them look like burglars instead of someone who saved the day.

Continue reading →

Hello Folks, I am taking a short break, (this week and perhaps next week as well ) from writing the Poll Position post as I am beginning to have some trouble coming up with some compelling topics for them. I will use this time to either research some topics of come up with a new style of posts to replace the poll position with. I have just been laid off my job for the winter ( seasonal job ) so I have some time on my hands to put into figuring out my next step here!

Thanks to everyone who came out to play for this unscheduled Pop Quiz - Halloween Mashup! Some really great creations, some downright creepy and others done with tongue planted firmly in cheek. This was a very tough call simply because they all captured the theme so well. There were three, however, that kept me coming back again and again, finding little details I had not noticed before. They were Vampire/Nurse by David Antstiss, Leprechaun /Fairy by CantDraw, and Alien/Samurai by Calvary Red.

Since I have to choose a winner I am going with CantDraw's Leprechaun Fairy. Amazing attention to detail. Well done. Be sure to check out the Blog on Saturday, November 1st at 9am Eastern for the next Pop Quiz.

Your Special Pop Quiz Halloween challenge is to mash up two traditional Halloween characters/costumes into one terrifying new creation!

Maybe a Zombie/Ballerina tickles your fancy; or a Vampire/Clown hybrid perhaps; or maybe a good old fashioned Werewolf/Fireman. Mash up any two characters/costumes you want and scare your competition spitless!

You only get one entry so be creative, and above all else, have fun!

All entries must be in JPG or PNG form (BMPs are too big), posted to a publicly accessible website (like the HeroMachine forums,ImageShack, PhotoBucket, or whatever);

• Entries must be made as a comment or comments to this post, containing a link directly to the image and the character name;
• The image must be new and designed specifically for the Pop Quiz;
• No copyrighted characters please – they will be deleted.
• Please name your files as [your name]-[character name].[file extension] before you upload it. So DiCicatriz, for instance, would save his “Bayou Belle” character image as DiCicatriz-BayouBelle.png.
• Please make the link go directly to the image (like this) and not to a hosting jump page (like this). See this post on how to get the direct link for most sites.

This contest will close at 9pm Eastern on Sunday, October 27^th .

With Halloween just around the corner, I wanted to pay tribute to some Cosplayers who, in my opinion, got it right. Few Rogue's galleries in the canon of comics have inspired cosplayers more than Batman's. Whether they are paying tribute to the 1960's TV series or the more recent darker Dark Knight, the devotion to these iconic characters is evident in their astonishing creations.

Well I guess the body helps, but this version of the comic book Bane is dead on.

On the left a brilliant take on today's Catwoman - rocking the goggles and bat-kicking boots, and on the right a faithful recreation of Michelle Pfieffer's whip wielding femme fatale.

Two creative takes on Mr. Freeze. Love the LED illumination on the left.

A great Harley Quinn, and I think a tough costume to pull off due to the precision in construction and detail.

Three terrific Jokers. One classic comics version, an eerily accurate tribute to Ledger, and one using prosthetics to further animate the killer clown.

A Devito-esque Penguin and a stunning Riddler that evokes both Gorshin and Carey.

A couple of truly terrifying Scarecrows. If you check out the smile and eyes on the guy on the right, it may just be the same fellow rocking the classic Joker. If so, well done you!

And finally, with the help of some creative prosthetics and a gruesome paint job, a creepy and creative Two Face.

Due to a very busy week, there will no costume blog this week. I will try to get my "Schmidt" together and post as usual next Friday.