This costume is based on the Red Spider from Cirque du Soleil’s OVO. It’s one of my favorite Cirque shows (saw it three times live), and she was such a fantastic character, I just had to do it!
Everything except for the shoes was made by me from scratch. I studied the actual costume, and let me tell you, finding good photos of this one was difficult! But I did manage to find some. From there I drafted my own patterns and made the base bodysuit using two layers of lycra for each piece. I then satin stitched the black designs on, which took quite a bit of time and maneuvering, considering I had to seam rip the arm and leg seams after each fitting. The fur trim was also satin stitched on. The headdress is made from Wonderflex (to support the back structure), faux fur (which was actually two layers put together to get the red tipped effect), PVC (the tiny squares), feathers, and Crayola Model Magic (for the horn). I painted the jazz shoes red using fabric paint.
The makeup techniques I used were based on the ones Cirque uses. I used Ben Nye white clown makeup cream and powder, then the black squares are actually sewn onto pieces of netting which I attached to my cheeks using Spirit Gum.
This costume was so much fun to make and to wear, I just love Cirque!
