First Wearing 12/6/15

The library were I work always enters a float in the city’s annual Christmas parade. This year, the theme was Hogwarts’ Yule Ball, so of course I participated as Dolores Umbridge!

Because it was cold out (and to add a little padding to the costume) I wore a wool sweater underneath, along with fleece tights, and a heavy knit skirt. It did a pretty good job of giving me a slightly more Umbridge-shape.  These are terrible pics, it was after the parade, when my wig was all windblown, and I was cold, and not in the mood to pose.

Shoes were all the wrong color, but I like the shape of them, so I think I might strip them down and re-dye them. I did that before with my River Song steampunk boots, and it worked a charm. I also want to do more work with the wig.

And here are some pics from the parade itself. I think our wizardly magic was interferring with muggle photography, because virtually every shot anyone took was kinda blurry. These were the best of a pretty bad lot!

I added winter gloves and a scarf to my costume…because it was VERY windy. So windy, in fact, that we couldn’t use the whomping willow and flying dragon that were supposed to be part of this float.

And we won first place for our float!  Yay! And thanks to Betsy R. who built the castle walls, and was the lady in charge of the whole float. I wish I had a shot of her…she was Bellatrix, and mingled through the crowd cursing everyone and causing all manner of havok.

Dress 11/5/2015

After procrastinating on making an Umbridge outfit for way too long, I decided to use up some pink fabrics and finally get this one together. Also, I’ll be in the Mount Vernon City Library’s Harry Potter themed parade float in December, so this is perfect timing.

Since the  fabric I have matching this dress of hers most closely, I’ve made it.

Also a contributing factor, was my recent visit to London, and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, where I was able to see this costume in person and take pictures of it.

All of my photos I took at the Studios are here, if you want to take a look.

I didn’t want to make a pattern from scratch, so I used New Look # 6909.

The shape through the body was pretty much spot-on…although I did lengthen the sleeves, add the pleated section around the hem, and change the collar.  In the process of changing the collar, I managed to make it considerably lower than Umbridge’s actual dress. Oh well. Close enough, I’m happy with it.

Here’s a pic of me wearing it. I’m not in hair and makeup yet, and I don’t have proper shoes. Also, I made it a bit loose, because I might try padding myself out a little to make myself closer to her body shape. I don’t know how that will work yet.

I also think I’ll make her cape, as I have some fabric that I want to use up that’s a pretty close match.

Dolores Umbridge

See this blog post for my feelings on this character!

 

This is the outfit of hers I want to do:

If anyone sees anything like those shoes, please let me know!  Semi-dowdy but sweet shoes are tough to find….

 

I have this fabric:

And I also have a pink plaid similar to this (I think – it’s been in storage for years, so I need to dig it out and see how similar it really is.)

Hopefully it will be close enough for me to be happy!

Kitten/cat ring:

 

Kitten/cat brooch: