The Raven Costume

This is me in the picture. I wanted to be the raven from Edgar Allen Poe's poem. It's mostly out of satin with lots of lace trim, rooster feathers, and leather. I was going for a little historical accuracy so I tried to add as much lace as I could.

The skirt was gathered up in five places with a detachable bustle added on top (so I could ride in a car without crushing the tulle). The detachable bustle has even more lace, tulle, and leather feathers added to it to really give the silhouette some "oomph".

The most fun part of the costume were the leather feathers. I cut the shapes out of leather and then used a process called hot molding where you boil the leather for a few seconds, then while it's still hot you can twist and mold the leather into a shape it will hold when it cools and dries. The mask was based on an Italian plague doctor's mask and was formed the same way with the beak being molded over a mason jar.

My favorite part is the shoulder piece with the chains. It was important to balance the chains to make sure the feathers wouldn't be slipping off my shoulder all night. I was inspired by a painting of a valkyrie for that piece, and it's definitely something I wish I could wear on a daily basis.

This costume cost me maybe $200 and 2 solid weeks of my life. But I'm super proud of it!