TDK WONDERLAND

The Alice in Wonderland costume requirements was quite a challenge for our costume department, creating a new set of costumes to allow the performers easy movement whilst still having strong, eccentric aesthetics. 

In terms of performance requirements the client had suggested they were interested in a few unusual and visually exciting acts and a few walkabout character driven performers. The plan was for a team of six performers to each be providing a unique skill. 

Alice – of course Alice is famous for being too small or too tall a number of times in the films and so we designed our Alice to perform two walkabout sets on the ground; playing flamingo croquet with guests and constantly searching for the other characters. Her other two sets were to be on stilts creating the ‘tall Alice’ variation and allowing guests to take photos where they look tiny next to her. 

White Rabbit – the White Rabbit costume was probably the most time consuming costume ever made at Oddle. It took our amazing handicraft specialist approximately 200 hours of hand embroidery on the lapels, cuffs and centre back of the blue jacket in over 35 metres of white cotton! At the same time the costume department was creating a pattern for two part trousers in the most luxurious white faux fur; The base trousers for ground level interaction and some bounce stilt covers so the White Rabbit could hop around on bouncy stilts. The ears were made by carefully cutting placement holes in the performers hat- this way should the White Rabbit bounce a lot the hat and ears would stay on his head! Additional styling was to include furry eyebrows and a synthetic nose. And of course- no White Rabbit mould be complete without an oversized pocket watch which the props team carefully aged and restyled. 

Mad March Hare – sticking with bouncing stilts, the Mad March Hare was to be a hyperactive back flipping bounce performer, so this costume was designed specifically for that. The brown furry trousers are patterned specifically for wearing power stilts allowing the wearer to jump up and down and hide the stilts within the costume. The hat and ears were made the same as the White Rabbit only to give the Mad March Hare a gently scruffy appearance to match the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland style, the team gently aged his bowler hat to give it an old worn feel. To create the eccentric ‘madness’ of the character his tweed jacket was covered in various pin brooches. Additional styling was to include eyebrows and nose prosthetics. 

The Cheshire Cat – the Cheshire Cat was to be one of the pop up show performers providing small stage spots as opposed to continuous walkabout. Contemporary contortion is perfect for the Cheshire Cat character as he frequently seems to twist his body into unusual positions or just allowing certain body parts to be visible at any one time. Sticking with the darker Alice in Wonderland vein we opted for the black and blue modern Cheshire Cat over the original cartoon pink striped version. This costume required a lot of thought to ensure the performer would be warm enough to perform outdoors but also without being cumbersome. We made some black and blue furry leg warmers, cuffs and tail and added a leather mask with hand painted details to bring the Cheshire Cat to life. This worked perfectly over a plain black leotard as during performance the Cheshire Cat seemed to appearing and disappearing in sections as the contortions feet and arms moved around and her body blended into the dark. 

Absolem The Caterpillar – Absolem was a creative suggestion which the client loved straight away as the performer was going to be a bubbleologist. Creating a caterpillar costume that looked good and was practical to perform in is not an easy challenge, we decided to focus on the aura of the character and channel the transitional phase he goes through in the film from caterpillar to butterfly. The costume created was middle eastern inspired in relation to Absolem’s smoking the water pipe on the mushroom. A billowing blue belly dancer’s skirt with heavy decorative beading similar to the pretty markings on a caterpillar. Arm drapes gave the illusion of large mystical sleeves (or other arms depending on how you look at it) and blue butterlfy wings were worn as a cape. To help transform the performer from human to insect like a jewelled turban was worn on the head covering all the hair and the face painted to draw attention away from the facial features. This character provided pop up shows throughout the evening- sitting on a mushroom and blowing smoke filled bubbles, square bubbles, chains of bubbles and more. This was a fun and difficult challenge but was a huge success.

Last but not least, The Mad Hatter – Every Alice in Wonderland themed event needs a Mad Hatter and this one was no different …only it was …our Mad Hatter was also a sword swallower! The Mad Hatter costume was created for ground level performance at this event with a high level of quirky detail. We made a brown tail coat from scratch complete with mustard coloured trim to match an extra tall extravagant top hat. We added a cross body sash of multi coloured sewing threads on bobbins, odd socks, bowtie and fingerless gloves, and of course a tape measure for hatting the guests! Extra styling included Tim Burton style make up and of course the signature fluffy hair and eyebrows – completing our sword swallowing Mad Hatter look.