Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1531371
inside out, right side out, narrow and wide, etc. Then I used all sorts of linear trim: enormous zipper tape, knoed shoe lacing, leather cording threaded into horsehair, Ethafoam, weatherstripping, etc. I manipulated some further with sewing techniques and whatever I could think of to look like what our production designer Dave Blass had created on the set." When creating the Vox costume, designer Michael Crow told Dorothy that the costume should look like an homage to Locutus (Sir Patrick Stewart's Borg-assimilated Capt. Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation). "I paern-draed the base of the bit and it works like a blueprint, leaving wiggle room for ideas to riff on later. Especially for a piece like this, I'm inspired by what our Elise brings back from her 'foraging.' Lots of electronic 'kluge' as we call it. I let it tell me where it wants to live. Then it's all about creating texture, playing with different leathers, beveling foams. Michael Crow instructed me to update and improve for Vox, kind of making him the 'Bugai of Borg.' The larger cables are actually horsehair braid tubing that I inserted with Ethafoam to keep them light and pliable. I utilized rubber watch bands for interest, rubber gaskets, electronic 'kluge,' and lots of various rivets. Again, everything is paern-draed, using foam and leather (no molding of large parts which would be too stiff and heavy in urethane anyway). This keeps things light, comfortable, and most importantly, alterable. The takeaway from all the armor bits is that when you see any concentric armor, know that there needs to be adjustability. So, they're secured to the unitard base, but the 'circle' opens up to easily get into the costume, but then there's a Velcro system to cinch it securely. That's the beauty of paerning everything from the inception, from soup to nuts; you can plot your plan of aack to aach the armor bits, and analyze and pre-sew in your boring- but-necessary closures." Discussing the biggest challenge of working in specialty, Dorothy says, "It's frustrating when I'm not hired at the beginning of the costume process, especially with a superhero or a creature. It used to be that they would have the sculptors sculpt the bits, they would mold it, and they have the bits. And then they'd think about hiring me. Then I'd have to figure out how to put these things together. The way to do it is to hire me at the very beginning of the project so I'm able to paern the bodysuit, figure out the non-glamorous things of how are we aaching these things and have them ready to receive these pieces, but then I'm also deciding how big these shapes should be and approximately what size and shape to then give to the sculptors and say, 'these are your parameters.' So, they can work on it at the same time that I'm working on it, and that saves a lot of time and money. And you get a beer-looking costume. "I would say what drives me crazy is when I get a sketch and it denies that the human being bends. Everybody pays aention in a superhero costume to the strong points like the chest, the shoulder, the elbows, the knees. What should really be addressed is the unglamorous points like the inside of the elbow, the back of the knees, the underneath the arms, and I think the number one area especially with the superhero costume is the abdomen because there's nothing that negates the hero-iness of a costume than seeing a big wedge of fabric folded right in the abdomen. The solution is not to make things tighter, it's actually an opportunity to innovate for those areas to maybe have something like a telescope or to have an intentional crush." Now that she is retired from the industry, Dorothy is enjoying her retirement with her husband in Portugal, where she designs knitwear. For a look at the samples and techniques she discussed, more stories of how her costumes came to be, and for her beautiful kniing designs based on the costumes she built in her film career, follow Dorothy's Instagram page @syzygy_designs. MOTIONPICTUREC O S T U M E R S .O R G 27 Dorothy working on the placement of gack on Worf's costume for Star Trek: Picard; with the Worf costume on display at CDG 2023 panel.