The Ten Amongst These Threes: Creating My Katherine Howard SIX the Musical Costume
Monday, November 9, 2020
Like most everything in 2020, Halloween was definitely different. Having Halloween and costume parties wasn't a good idea, and trick-or-treating was iffy. But it was pretty much the same for me since I don't anything to celebrate besides eat candy and dress up for work or just for fun. This year I dressed up as Katherine Howard from Six the Musical, which is a musical about Henry VIII's six wives. (It was actually supposed to open on Broadway the day Broadway shut down.)
Ever since I first saw the costumes from the show earlier this year, I admired and adored them and thought they were so cool and unique. They're edgy, sophisticated, and modern yet have touches of regal Tudor era attire. Each queen has her own color, and of course I like the pink one best, which is Katherine Howard's!
The costume was unlike anything I'd seen before, and I just wanted to have one to feel and look as amazing, cool, and badass as them. Eventually I looked up the costumes and did some research after seeing a lot of people make their own cosplay versions and decided to take on the daunting project.
For some fun reading music (and/or to understand my subheads), press play to listen to Katherine Howard's solo from the musical!
Also, big shoutout to six.costumes on Instagram for all of the costume photos and resources on her page! (Scroll down to the end for a TikTok of my costume in the making and the final look!)
The typical way to go about making a costume or constructing anything from fabric would be sewing. I don't have a sewing machine and realized how expensive a good one is, and I was not up for hand stitching an entire costume when my sewing ability is only okay. So I had to come up with another way to make this costume.
I also didn't love the idea of buying a bunch of fabric and putting it together completely from scratch. I'd never done anything like this before and don't know much about patterns and whatnot, so I didn't want to make it too difficult for myself. I wondered if I could use already-existing pieces of clothes and then add fabric and embellishments to make it easier. So I did some shopping and scouring.
First I looked for a top that would work well for the sleeves, which are supposed to be a mesh striped fabric. Finding a long sleeve black crop top with mesh sleeves wasn't hard, but I really wanted to have the stripes to elevate it and get closer to the actual costume design. I found a few options online at actual retailers but found the perfect bodysuit on Poshmark!
Poshmark was actually very helpful and is where I ended up getting most of the base of my costume from. The bodysuit is black velvet and mesh striped and even had the stripes on the chest like the actual K. Howard costume does! So that detail sold it for me. It does have a higher neckline, so I'd have to do away with the criss-cross detail on the front, but that was alright with me since I had to make it more work appropriate. However, the back had a very low and open back and the bodice was pretty sheer and see-through. So I had to cover those up.
The other things I bought from Poshmark to complete my outfit were a pair of heeled combat boots and a studded leather bracelet. The queens wear similar boots in the show (albeit bedazzled), and Katherine Howard wears her hair in a super high ponytail a la Ariana Grande, complete with a studded leather cuff. I initially bought a skirt from Poshmark as well, but the seller never shipped it, so I had to resort to Amazon.
To do the top, I bought fabric from Amazon and prayed it matched the color of the skirt well enough. And luckily, it did! I didn't quite know where to start with the top, though, so I started with the skirt, which seemed much easier.
All of the Six costumes have a lot of studded trim. I did find studded trim that had round silver studs, but it was quite expensive considering I'd need so much. So instead I bought 50 yards of black ribbon and 1000 round silver studs. (I originally bought 500 but realized while making the skirt that it would definitely not be enough!)
The costumes also all have this black quilted fabric that goes in between a lot of the studded trim. Finding something to replicate that was tricky as most of the options I found were either expensive or from sites I wasn't sure about. Eventually I found these black leather sheets with a diamond pattern on Etsy that were inexpensive and replicated the square quilted pattern well. I actually bought too many of those sheets, but oh well!
All you wanna glue, all you wanna glue
The first several hours of working on my costume consisted of me attaching the many many studs to lots and lots of strips of ribbon. I roughly measured all of the places on the skirt I'd need ribbon and then got to working. To help save my fingers from being stabbed to push down the prongs of the studs and secure them, I used a metal nail file, which was very helpful. Once I finished attaching the studs, I glued another piece of ribbon to the back to secure the backs of the studs and give myself a smooth surface to glue the skirt to.
After the studded trim was all done for the skirt, I had to cut strips of the leather sheets to create a grid pattern to go in between the trim at the hem and the panels around the skirt. I used an X-ACTO knife to cut the sheets. Then I glued it all to the skirt using fabric glue.
For the top two trims that go on the waistband of the skirt, I didn't take into account that the ribbon would not stretch with the waistband, so I had to figure out a solution that would get them to stay but also fit the skirt when I wear it. So I bought velcro dots and placed them all around the skirt and on the ribbon accordingly, which worked well! I just didn't attach the trim until I had it on.
It isn't easy
I'm not sure if saving the hardest part for last was the best way to go, but that's what I did. The first thing I did for the bodysuit was glue the fabric for the front. Since I'd be gluing everything on, I wanted to be as clean as possible with cuts and use as few pieces of fabric as possible. Ideally, I would have cut one piece of fabric for the back, the straps, and the front bodice
so I would have only one piece to glue on and there would be no visible seams or lack thereof. That was too complicated for me, though, since I didn't have any patterns or a measuring tape. So I just cut them all out separately. Luckily it didn't look too bad and you couldn't see the fabric overlaps unless you were up close.
Since I didn't have a pattern, template, or fabric to help me create one, I used some spare cardboard to help. I arranged pieces of cardboard into the right shape, taped it, and then used chalk to trace it on the back of my metallic pink fabric, and cut it out.
I should have started with lining the inside of the bodysuit before gluing anything to the outside, but I didn't think about that until after I had already glued to the front. But I made sure to do the lining before adding any of the studded trim to the bodysuit. It was definitely difficult trying to cut and measure and glue to the inside of the bodysuit. I could only flip the garment inside out so much. Plus, I had to be careful of the glue. I didn't want to accidentally glue an arm shut or something. Luckily, that didn't happen, and the lining turned out fine.
I then moved onto covering the back and making the straps. Those were pretty much just rectangles, so that wasn't hard. But then it was time for more studded trim and leather strips.
My original plan was to pretty much replicate the design for the top, but since the actual costume is a crop top, and mine is not, the measurements and proportions no longer matched up. So instead of having the grid pattern on the front in three places, it would only be on the front in the center.
So the trim and leather sheet strips were glued to the front, and then I glued studded trim to the back. But then I was kind of stuck.
Tried me on and I was like 'Bye'
There was still studded trim left to glue to the front on the chest to create that bustier/corset kind of look and the bottom of the pink fabric. But after having tried on the bodysuit before gluing any trim, I knew there were places the bodysuit needed to be able to stretch in order for me to put it on. So I was in a similar situation as with the waistband of the skirt. I did have more velcro dots, but I wasn't sure if I had enough or if they would work as well.
I could have tried the bodysuit on again and figured everything out that way, but adding a back and lining to it made it quite difficult to put on and take off. So I wanted to limit the amount of times I put the bodysuit on. I know now there's definitely a reason the actual costume uses a zipper for the top and skirt. I just wish I had considered that before.
So I just estimated and made the studded trim a bit longer than necessary for the chest and bottom of the top. luckily, I did have enough velcro dots for those pieces. I finished with a few days to spare before the day before Halloween, which was they day I was going to wear my costume to work. It was time to let it rest, finally relax and give my hands a break, and hope and pray it would all fit and work out.
I think we can all agree I'm the ten amongst these threes
Not only did a lot go into making the costume, but a lot went into the entire look. Normally when I get ready for work, I put my outfit on and then spend maybe 10-15 minutes on my hair and makeup as I normally just wear eyeliner and do my eyebrows. Unless I'm curling my hair, I spend no more than 5 minutes on it, whether that's just brushing it, combing flyaways, or putting it up in a ponytail or bun.
But I actually began prep for this costume's entire look the night before since Katherine Howard usually has hot pink in the bottom half of her hair while it's up in a super high pony. I actually bought temporary pink hair dye before I officially decided to make this costume. It wasn't hot pink, but it was pink, so it would do. I'd never colored my hair at all before, so I was a bit nervous. Plus, I wasn't sure how well this color spray would show up on my very dark, black hair.
First I straightened my hair and put it in a high pony as per the instructions (style hair first). Then I separated my hair into sections, and my sister sprayed it on for me. I used nearly the entire can on one half. Luckily, the set came with a glitter color spray that was close enough in color for the rest of my hair.
It turned out okay, but all of the spray blowing on my hair actually caused my hair to tangle a bit. After waiting maybe 10 minutes for it to set (it said to wait 5), I tried gently combing it so it looked like less of a mess. Of course, some of the color started to come out. Maybe 30% of it lasted after I got my ponytail to not look like a tangled mess? Then I went to sleep with my dyed hair on a towel on my chest and hoped it wouldn't all rub off.
When I woke up (about half an hour earlier than normal) and started getting ready, my hair looked about the same as it did when I went to bed, so that was good. After putting my striped tights on, I began with my eye makeup because I didn't want it to get on my costume. I used hot pink eyeshadow on my lid and shiny pink for my inner eye and did my signature black winged eyeliner. For my eyebrows, I used ColourPop's brow boss pencil and gel (both in soft black). I saved my lipstick for later after I ate breakfast.
Then when I went to put my bodysuit on, I realized that maybe I should have done my eye makeup after, because it was a struggle to put on, thanks to all of the fabric I added (especially to the back) that made it less stretchy and gave me a smaller hole to stick my head through. But I managed to get it on without ruining my makeup. My ponytail, however, needed to be redone, so I fixed that and some color came off, but whatever. At that point, I just wanted to make sure I could get my costume and all of its embellishments on.
Then it was time for my skirt and all of the studded trim that would attach by velcro. The skirt and its trim were easy. Then I realized I glued part of the trim that went on the top's inner strap and down to my chest at the back when I did the trim on the back, but that was alright.
However, getting the trim to line up with the pink fabric on the front at my chest wasn't happening. I couldn't get it to look right, and it wasn't long enough. So I decided to cut it and have it just be for the straps and shoulders, and it looked fine.
Also, the trim I made for the bottom of the top was pointless because it was covered by my skirt. Oh well. I just didn't use it. But I was relieved the adjustments I had to make for the top looked alright.
I had long fake nails on to go with my outfit, which made putting my hoop earrings on difficult. Thanks to my sister Ashley for helping with that. I could have worn a black choker like K. Howard does in the show but decided to forego it since my top was pretty high anyway and to not restrict my neck any more.
Once I was done with breakfast, I put my boots on (which are basically Lara Jean's combat boots from the To All the Boys movie ― I bought mine from Poshmark but linked similar ones here), did my lipstick using my favorite, and headed to work!
I made a mask to match but ended up not using it, because every time I breathed in through my nose, it was like a suction tube and the fabric stuck to my nose.
I have a very similar bodysuit to the one I used for the top but in pink.
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