ROB JAN'S "FANTASTIQUE" BADGE CLOAK #1 COSTUME PICTURE #1
G'day
There are certain items of clothing that have traditionally served to tag us as genre fans: 'message' T-Shirts ("Fans Are Slans!"), picture T-Shirts, and caps, vests or anoraks covered in badges that identify one's fannish 'tribe'. (Okay, then there's the propellor cap, but that's fallen out of unfashion!)
Now, I've 'badged' a couple of jackets in my time, probably the first one being a woodlands camo jacket that I wore under my Aliens Colonial Marine combat armour. Ten years ago, when I began doing my genre radio show (Zero-G, at rrr.org.au, in case y'don't know) , I realized that I now, by default, had a lot of 'tribes' whose colours I wouldn't mind wearing. Well, as a costumer I've always had a wee problem when it comes to being aware of my limitations, and my 'badge' wearable art/costume project would prove no exception to the rule.
I guess I must have had something like this in mind for a long time, since once I committed seriously (!) to the project I realized I had squirreled away over the years a lot of genre and general badge, logo and insignia references. Anyway, the concept kind of...evolved...as I realized that my genre image and text collection was an ideal and extensive database for creating a bloody silly garment that could potentially be completely covered with badges.
It wasn't difficult choosing a cloak design as I've a long history of Star Trek Klingon costuming, specializing in heavily armoured metal versions of their uniforms. (Yes, I'll put those online as time permits. Watch this site!) The cloak pattern I settled upon is a stripped down version of the ones worn by Klingon officers pretty much from Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock onwards. That is: sleeveless, with five large floor length flat panels. Sure, I could have added large flat sleeves for extra badge space, but ultimately decided that would be too cumbersome, and not be as neat looking as the Klingon style. Although, a Kimono style garment would certainly have a lot of room for badges, and would look wicked hanging on the wall! Well, I've got plenty more badges to go after this cloak, so we'll see....
I also enjoyed the idea that the cloak would have sinister connotations when worn over any of my Klingon costumes or indeed with my Predator (based on the Aliens Versus Predator graphic novels) armour. The word 'trophies' might possibly be implied...
As a piece of wearable art the cloak deserved a title. "Fantastique" sprang to mind; I like the play on "Fan" incorporated into the French word.
The research phase has, and continues to be, on going, as new movies, television shows, books, comics and other genre productions continue to add new graphics and potential concepts. Sure, there's only so much room for badges on the first cloak, but having done one I realized that there was nothing stopping me (least of all the risk of suddenly coming to my senses) from starting a second cloak....
Below, you'll find a list of the badges that are on the first cloak. Number #2 Cloak continues to be a work in progress, as, to some extent the first one is. Having made the first cloak, I discovered that it does require periodic maintenance, and the current pictures reflect one such bout of repair work which involves reattaching badges that have lifted, and replacing badges which have become torn, stained or faded. I've also unpicked the shoulder seams to work on some repairs to the lining.
I've included other notes as to construction techniques and so on beneath the separate pictures, so there's lot's more to read!
There's also a master list of the badges that I've incorporated, have fun spotting 'em if you can! That's broken up into alphabetical chunks so it can fit within the description blocks.
No violation of individual copyright is intended. This is a one-off, not for sale orginal artwork.
Rob Jan
The Goblin Forge
Australia
ROB JAN'S "FANTASTIQUE" BADGE CLOAK #1 COSTUME PICTURE #1
G'day
There are certain items of clothing that have traditionally served to tag us as genre fans: 'message' T-Shirts ("Fans Are Slans!"), picture T-Shirts, and caps, vests or anoraks covered in badges that identify one's fannish 'tribe'. (Okay, then there's the propellor cap, but that's fallen out of unfashion!)
Now, I've 'badged' a couple of jackets in my time, probably the first one being a woodlands camo jacket that I wore under my Aliens Colonial Marine combat armour. Ten years ago, when I began doing my genre radio show (Zero-G, at rrr.org.au, in case y'don't know) , I realized that I now, by default, had a lot of 'tribes' whose colours I wouldn't mind wearing. Well, as a costumer I've always had a wee problem when it comes to being aware of my limitations, and my 'badge' wearable art/costume project would prove no exception to the rule.
I guess I must have had something like this in mind for a long time, since once I committed seriously (!) to the project I realized I had squirreled away over the years a lot of genre and general badge, logo and insignia references. Anyway, the concept kind of...evolved...as I realized that my genre image and text collection was an ideal and extensive database for creating a bloody silly garment that could potentially be completely covered with badges.
It wasn't difficult choosing a cloak design as I've a long history of Star Trek Klingon costuming, specializing in heavily armoured metal versions of their uniforms. (Yes, I'll put those online as time permits. Watch this site!) The cloak pattern I settled upon is a stripped down version of the ones worn by Klingon officers pretty much from Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock onwards. That is: sleeveless, with five large floor length flat panels. Sure, I could have added large flat sleeves for extra badge space, but ultimately decided that would be too cumbersome, and not be as neat looking as the Klingon style. Although, a Kimono style garment would certainly have a lot of room for badges, and would look wicked hanging on the wall! Well, I've got plenty more badges to go after this cloak, so we'll see....
I also enjoyed the idea that the cloak would have sinister connotations when worn over any of my Klingon costumes or indeed with my Predator (based on the Aliens Versus Predator graphic novels) armour. The word 'trophies' might possibly be implied...
As a piece of wearable art the cloak deserved a title. "Fantastique" sprang to mind; I like the play on "Fan" incorporated into the French word.
The research phase has, and continues to be, on going, as new movies, television shows, books, comics and other genre productions continue to add new graphics and potential concepts. Sure, there's only so much room for badges on the first cloak, but having done one I realized that there was nothing stopping me (least of all the risk of suddenly coming to my senses) from starting a second cloak....
Below, you'll find a list of the badges that are on the first cloak. Number #2 Cloak continues to be a work in progress, as, to some extent the first one is. Having made the first cloak, I discovered that it does require periodic maintenance, and the current pictures reflect one such bout of repair work which involves reattaching badges that have lifted, and replacing badges which have become torn, stained or faded. I've also unpicked the shoulder seams to work on some repairs to the lining.
I've included other notes as to construction techniques and so on beneath the separate pictures, so there's lot's more to read!
There's also a master list of the badges that I've incorporated, have fun spotting 'em if you can! That's broken up into alphabetical chunks so it can fit within the description blocks.
No violation of individual copyright is intended. This is a one-off, not for sale orginal artwork.
Rob Jan
The Goblin Forge
Australia