Harry Potter Costumes

[Ani-Chay Pinn]

I've been pondering some Harry Potter hall costumes for future conventions but have been trying to think of something distinctive.

I've debated making a movie school uniform, but that's not really my look. I'd want to do Hufflepuff, but I look awful in yellow, I'm a bit old for a student and I don't want to wear a tie. Perhaps I could do something as a Hogwarts Alumnist - HAG - Hogwarts Alumni Gathering?

From the descriptions in the books it's pretty clear that the robes are pull-over, one-piece things, perhaps with a floor length robe that opens in the front over that since wizard and witches 'robes' are always plural for any single person. I think the only reason they call them 'robes' is because the boys would rebel at the word 'dress' though that's what they really are.

I've been re-reading the books and catching all those little detail that I didn't know about until the last book came out, and I came across this in 'Order of the Phoenix' for the St. Mungo's healers (pg 484):

Witches and wizards in lime green robes were walking up and down the rows, asking questions and making notes on clipboards like Umbridge's. Harry noticed the emblem embroidered on their chests: a want and bone, crossed.

That sounds like a pretty distinctive costume, good for a hall costume. But I haven't seen 'Order of the Phoenix' yet and the DVD doesn't come out until next month. So, I don't know what they looked like in the movie. Were the St. Mungo's staff very close to what was in the book?

The only person in the books that I physically resemble is Narcissa Malfoy - until the last book came out I wasn't all that motivated, but maybe....I'll see what she looks like in the next movie. I'm short and she's supposed to be tall, that details like that have never stopped anyone making a costume.

Kai is the only person here I know who's done Harry Potter (nice McGonagall Has anyone else done any HP?

[JediKai]

Unfortunately, they did not show any St. Mungo's scenes. Many of us were quite disappointed. I'm sending you a graphic of the Mungo arms I found somewhere.

Another option is to generic professor/witch.

public.fotki.com/Kait/other_costuming/orycon_2004/profwanda.html My friend, Wanda. It's a way to do Hufflepuff without too much yellow.

public.fotki.com/Kait/other_costuming/wells--spells-1/urania1.html She's wearing the black robe I made as the muslin for the Mcgonagall Yule Ball robe

public.fotki.com/Kait/other_costuming/lumos_sunday/7newtdivinia.html It's basically a houpeland and a witch's hat (she's in the SCA so had the houpeland from that).

Or make something up sort of from the book. These two were founders Helga H. and Rowena R.
public.fotki.com/Kait/other_costuming/wells--spells-1/snapefounders2.html

[Ani-Chay Pinn]

Aaaaah, thanks for the St. Mungo's graphic! Do you know where it came from?

The Hufflepuff costume still has more yellow than is good for me to wear (especially the hat) but the gold trim is very nice. Something to think about. The other costumes are very nice, too. And that's the tallest Snape I've ever seen. But I've been trying to think of something that is more distinctive.

Harry Potter costumes can be very generically magical and fantasy, and so, not distinctively HP costumes. LotR costumes can have the same problem, unless you do a specific style or face character from the movies. 'Angel' or 'Buffy' are even more problematic - though they're a popular universe, the costumes for those are just street clothes. Unless you can do a specific face character or heavy-duty makeup and contact lenses, no one would know you were wearing a costume at all. That's why I did Angel-Puppet -- distinctively Buffyverse, but not with the heavy make-up.

So, they did not do any St. Mungo's scenes in the last movie. That is disappointing, but since it's a given that they have to cut out a lot from such a fat book to fit it into a 2-hour movie, not unexpected.

Not having St. Mungo's in the last movie is both bad and good. Bad because those were great scenes and it would be nice to have a visual of what the healer's robes look like. But good because I'm not trying to imitate a style. And lime green wizards robes with the St. Mungo's emblem would be recognizably Harry Potter. Lime green isn't my best color, but not as ghastly as yellow. Thanks again for the insignia.

[JediKai]

Agreed. If it's too generically wizard-y, it isn't recognizable as HP. The book I made for Wanda has Hogwarts on it so when she carries it, it makes the connection.

No idea where I found the logo. Found more, though:

www.hp-lexicon.org/wizworld/places/mungos.html

What I learned in trying to find the source again is that there really is a St. Mungo and there are a lot of churches and other organizations named after him!

[Ani-Chay Pinn]

Haha! I found the same thing. It was such an odd name that I thought that St. Mungo was just a name that Rowling made up for the books.

Hmmmm, I think the first one, with the lime green background, would look better on a lime green robe.

I'm wondering about the wand..... on the cover of HBP, the wand Harry is holding is just a plain stick, but in the movies, the wands have handles. Do people just use both?

[JediKai]

Many people buy a wand....either reproduction from Noble Collection, or mass produced from Alivan's or custom. I have a friend here who does lovely turned custom wands.

[Ani-Chay Pinn]

Yeah, I found a nice one in a dealer's room. The wand is one of the easiest parts of the costume to find. I also made a simple one out of a dowel stick, wood stain and varnish. But Harry's is only 11 inches long which isn't very big at all. They look longer in the movies, but that might be necessary for dramatic effect.