Cockatoo Costume

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

worn by Cassie

Priscilla Queen of the Desert - Amateur theatre production September 2021.

Murray Bridge Players and Singers

Jo and Cassie - rehearsal photo by Jason McCullough

I started these costumes February 2021. In the final scene all actors come on stage in an Australian themed costume, the 3 Divas don a sulphur crested cockatoo costume. Off all the complicated costumes I made this was the easiest but also very time consuming.

I looked at many pictures of cockatoo's on Pinterest to get an idea for feather direction, size and concentration. I also looked at other companies cockatoo costumes for design ideas.

Charades-theatrical.com

My design allowed my actors to choose comfortable undergarment because it was not strapless.

Design done on Pret-a-template app.

I had to use the bridal design background so I could draw in white.

I started these costumes in February 2021, a journey begins with just one step, well a cockatoo costume begins with just one feather! I had bought 12 metres of white felt from spotlight in anticipation of making these costumes....turns out I ended up using 26 metres!

I cut 5 different sizes of feathers, extra large not shown

nose wire was sewn into the spine of feathers to support the shape

Bottom feather have no wire, top feathers have wire

In addition to felt I used buckram to stiffen the wings and thanks to Covid some face mask nose wires I had bought in bulk with an inkling they might come in handy. The feathers are all attached to a simple dress made of medium weight whit knit fabric.

WINGS

I liked the design lines of the wings used by the other companies so I drew my own version onto paper. I cut 2 from felt and then added buckram to the body and end to support the shape. I left 2 areas clear of buckram at the elbow and wrist so the actor could flap!

right side of wing

wrong side of wing

large feathers

I made a bunch of feathers in the sizes I would need for the wing then began pinning them and stitching in place. I followed the line of flight feathers but mostly went with what looked aesthetically pleasing to me.

Each feather is stitched at its base to the wing

The top of the wing is filled with a diagonal lines of circles

two panels make a wing

Cockatoo Dress

For the cockatoo dress I used a firm knit fabric. I draped it onto my dress model and cut the armhole and neckline out. It has a centre back zip for quick changes. The original production costume appeared to be a skirt with a very short front and long tail back and a corset style bodice. I wanted to make mine look like it was two seperate items but make it into one dress.

To achieve this I cut a v shaped overlay and attached it to the front of the dress at the waistline and sewed it into the side seams. The waist seam is covered by a row of circles.

The bodice is decorated by strips of circle shapes. I sewed these down the centre of the circles to attach them to the dress.

The skirt has a split up the front to allow movement and make it sexy. It is longer in the back but doesn't touch the floor. I cut extra large feathers for the back of the skirt to cover more area with less sewing.

The feathers covering the dress skirt were pinned in place then stitched in the same manner as the wings, I kept adding different sized feathers until I achieved the coverage I liked.

I bound the armholes and then faced the neckline. The final feather circle the neck like a ruff.

Jo in her costume

SULPHUR CREST HEADPIECE

Lastly I made 3 headpieces. I don't have the skill set for headpieces that my co-costumer Trent does so I kinda winged it....bomtish!

Anyway I used a pirate felt hat for the base. I bought these at Big W, they are actually a kids costume but at $7.50 each are a cheap way to get a hard felt scull cap base.

I used these hats as the base for headpieces for a number of costumes including the koalas, frill neck lizard and gum nut.

the pirate brim cut off the hat with a craft knife

This is the headpiece from Charades-theatricle.com and the one below were the bases for my design

Both of these designs work in foam which I didn't have access to or know how to work with. I had to use materials I knew and understood the properties of. I made a mock up in paper first to get the size scale right and the shapes I needed.

I used buckram for the crest and covered it with a felt.