Kali costume!

Hopefully Zara doesn’t mind me putting this here, but I’ve taken on the daunting task of playing Kali in One Night in Heaven at Chimera this year - and I need costuming advice!
I’ve figured out the multiple arms thing - it’s going to be stuffing foam/paper into old (or new) tights, with gloves sewn on the ends. Hopefully I can just sew them onto my bra/top.
Similar for the skirt of severed arms. Plastic skulls from trademe for the skull necklace, giant black wig for hair.
But how do I do the crown!! It’s not like any kind of crown I’ve seen to buy (they’re all usually european-style).
indhistory.com/img/hindu-gods-kali.jpg <- kind of what I’m going for.
Second: blue or black skin? Either is appropriate. Blue would be awesome, but opaque black tights are much easier to find. I tried to search for a blue bodystocking, but all I got were weird sex sites… :blush:
Thirdly: props - does anyone (or NZLARPS) posses a curved dagger or severed head I could borrow?

Re the headdress, I think you could make it out of foam and then decorate it to look quite ornate. Look at this one:

flickr.com/photos/k_rao/4531 … otostream/

If you look at it it appears to be a base piece covered in decorations.

You can buy pretty much any coloured stickings from farmers, its what I did for Morgana at teonn istead of painting my arms blue. You just cut a hole in the crotch to put over you head.

That’s what the orcs did too, wasn’t it? Such a good idea, especially if you’re in a hurry. Painting your arms takes quite a bit of time. Also, stockings would be warmer in August. :smiley:

I’ve picked up 3 pairs of identical black gloves for the arms, but the stocking thing sounds like a really good idea!
I think I’m going to go with black - it’s just easier to find stuff in black, and I don’t have to worry so much about making sure the blues are all the same.

Any tips on how to attach four arms to my back so they remain upright and postured?
They are made of pool noodles, and I’m trying to keep them as light as possible but they’re too heavy to just sew on to clothing.
Suggestions?

Could put a heavy wire through them - coathanger wire might do it.

This person’s costume is fantastic:

instructables.com/id/Six-arm … p4/Outfit/

They effectively make “pockets” on the back of their bodysuit that the arms can slide into - so you’d want to make each set of arms from a single pool noodle so it can slide in.

The arms are further held in place by velcro. I’d probably hot-glue them into place too.

If you have a super-long black wig it’ll cover your back, and, thus, the “pockets”.

Yeah - I’ve been using that as a guide. Problem is, I’m probably not going to have a body suit, more like a tightish top or even singlet. Not sure if it can hold the arms without stretching/drooping. I might have to experiment with some sort of harness.
Giant wig is definitely going to hide it all though :slight_smile: