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Death Eater, Harry Potter series, 2008

Here is an exceptionally elaborate costume that started with a simple observation, which was this: Jason Isaacs is sexy.

I am a big Harry Potter nerd, and of course a big costume nerd, and I think that actor Jason Isaacs is sexy. All of which meant that when the Death Eaters showed up with their new improved costumes in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” I took notice—but not too much notice, until I saw a featurette on the OotP costumes that included a closer look at not only Jason Isaacs’ costume as Lucius Malfoy, but some of the other Death Eaters’ costumes- the ones worn by the extras. I was amazed to see how much detail there is in these costumes, almost all of which was completely lost on screen (the art of movie costuming- sigh). There was elaborate embroidery, couching, leatherwork, you name it- so I decided to make myself an original Death Eater costume.

I took Lucius’ costume as an inspiration/model. It is a soft and relatively loose-fitting leather jerkin, heavily embellished with raised designs in what looks like quilting or more probably trapunto. I decided I wanted something like a female version of that, so I designed a leather Elizabethan-style doublet bodice, worn over a corset, with separate sleeves (the sleeves of the original were also separate; if you don’t do this, the whole thing rides up when you raise your arms, which is not sexy), and then finished up the design with the obligatory hooded cloak, over pants for practicality and a four-paneled skirt for style. The designs on Lucius’ costume looked similar to Celtic knotwork to me, so I took that as an additional inspiration, bought a side of leather from ebay and some black batting, and went to work.

Quilting the designs into the sleeves took a week or two each, one motif at a time, and I was certain it would make me blind. It took me several tries to find a way of transferring the design successfully, and with the method I ended up with, each motif took 2-6 hours to complete from start to finish. I began with the sleeves, knowing they would probably be the most complex and take the most time, but would also need the least fitting. Once I completed the quilting on the sleeves, I bound the top and stitched lacing rings to the lining. The doublet bodice went together the same way, though I only quilted the front panel. Once the doublet was done, the rest was relatively simple.

Photos courtesy of Ayakasan and various kind bystanders..

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