Jareth Ball ensemble: A costume study, pt. 1.5

Well!  I spent many, many hours searching for something: video showing Jareth without his ball coat on.  After I posted the costume study part 1, TWO people commented with it!  Like the Sarah study 2.5, this one isn’t a full study in its own, but rather an addition that is substantial enough to be a new post, but not enough to be a full part.

Angela is to thank for the gif to the right, and Glass Spider found the video below, which shows the gif starting a few seconds before it and going to a few seconds afterward.

So the cummerbund-vest thing is a cummerbund that closes in the back with suspenders.  The second photo shows that the front is a good few inches higher than the back.

These vides and photos confirm that the shirt closes in the front.  They also show some sleeve detail, such as the very narrow cuff at his wrist, and slight gathering at the top of the sleeve.  This next photo shows the top the best.  They stumbled down some stairs, and were laughing.

Thank you to Angela and Glass Spider!

Laura brought up a bit she found in a book that I actually have ordered, but is back-ordered until next week.  Since I had more time than anticipated after an appointment today, I managed to get to a bookstore in Portland that has it.  (On the best of days, it can take 20 minutes to find parking, but then add in a bunch of construction…yet I managed to find immediate parking and got around the construction.).  That book is called David Bowie: A Life, and it’s a book made up almost entirely of what those who have worked with him or who knew him had to say, as well as passages from David himself.

Said Brian Henson, son of the esteemed Jim Henson:

My dad was a little worried about the sexual connotations of the relationship between Jareth and Jennifer Connelly, but then that’s what the movie’s really about. I do know that David’s codpiece had to be reduced as it was far too large originally. The whole movie is about the aggressive phallus, as Jareth represents male sexuality.

Despite not being the review I read, this confirms the slight enhancement.

The next passage was by Steve Whitmire, a puppeteer on the film.

…I know there is some kind of online cult surrounding his “package,” and my understanding is that David as not altogether happy with his costume choice.  Regardless of whether or not he wanted to play a seductive character, I don’t think he was crazy about his leotard.  There are a couple of shots in the film that really focus on his groin, but they’re actually focusing on characters next to him, and it just looks that way.  They just happen to be only waist tall.

And, though this isn’t related to costuming, I thought it was interesting anyway.  It is all by Whitmire.

I know that his son, Duncan, wore in the creature department on that film, as a puppet builder.  He was there for a few years.

I had no idea that David Bowie’s son was into puppetry!  Toby Froud, son of costume designer Brian Froud and Toby, as in the babe whose got the power, is into puppetry and special effects, and is actually local to me now.  He works as LAIKA, which has produced films such as Coraline.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but Labyrinth makes me want to go into puppetry. My daughter and I having puppets who ensemble muppets doesn’t help matters. 🙂

Would anyone be interested in a pattern to make Ludo?  The original Ludo toy was at the exhibit, and I’ve been toying with the idea of making that as a pattern.

So long until next time!  I’ve got my work cut out for me in trying to convince my husband to let me make him into a Jareth model.

9 thoughts on “Jareth Ball ensemble: A costume study, pt. 1.5

    • aria

      OMG a full-size Ludo cosplay would be AMAZING!! I’m definitely going to be making a Ludo plush, and will have it be lopsided like the original. I’m very likely going to offer a pattern. It’s such a cute thing.

      If your husband does a Ludo cosplay, please share!!

  1. Natasha Bieberfeld

    Great photos! I have to start making the cummerbund soon. I just returned from overseas and I got signed up on your Patreon so I’m all set. Eagerly awaiting info on how to make that cravat because I am super confused about it. I’m about 70% finished working on the coat. 🙂

    • aria

      Thanks you!! I’m still figuring out Patreon. The cravat is not a separate piece. It’s sewn onto the shirt. I’ve got silk ordered for the one I’ll be doing, and will be working on this ASAP, though other sewing things have absolute deadlines. So much to do. 🙂

      I’d love to see pics of your work. 🙂

      • natasha bieberfeld

        I’m going to make the shirt front/cravat thing into a bib that ties around the back. I think it’s just going to be too hot as a full satin shirt under that coat in the heat of Atlanta during Dragon Con. I’m taking a little pity on my husband since he’s been kind enough to wear this creation. I have to upload more updated photos on my facebook page but I will do that soon. It’s facebook.com/sewcialistrevolution. Pretty much everything I’ve done to create this coat has been with my own liberties taken since all of the reference photos out there are terrible quality. But I’m happy with it so far.

  2. Slip

    Thank you for this Labyrinth series! I watched the film last night, for the first time since getting into costume, and was really struck by how beautiful the costume design was.

    I’m a shirts person, so I spent most of the film trying to catch the style lines on Sarah’s pirate shirt and Jareth’s Magic Dance shirt. I’ve made something similar for me in the past, so it really stood out that both the fabric choice and exact design were something special & thoughtfully done, the way they moved and draped is so beautiful and matches the dreaminess of the film – especislly when Sarah is running or falling through the air, the fluttering. Sigh!

    Cheers once again! Am very much enjoying a closer look at some of the design & techniques used by the costume department, and looking forward to diving into your archive and reading the rest of the blog x

    • aria

      There are new photos up on Jareth’s ball ensemble, and more scheduled to auto-post this week. 🙂

      This movie was an experiment in concepts. That’s really why it was made, just to see if they could. Could they convey this feeling? Could they do such a massive scene with so many puppets? Could the do a scene that was needlessly CGI’d? Could they make M.C. Escher’s seemingly-impossibly “Relativity” seemingly possible? They really didn’t overlook anything, and the closer you look, the more you find. It’s like Where’s Waldo like that. You can keep looking, and still find things you didn’t see before that were right in front of your face. Sarah’s poet blouse (some have jabots in the front, some don’t, just as some had ruffles on the cuffs and some didn’t) was popular at the time, and echo’d Jareth’s clothing choices. He had the jabot and ruffled cuffs. She had the billowing sleeves. Together, their elements made a full-package poet blouse, and a lot of the elements of the story were poetic. I don’t know how much was intentional, how much is stuff we’re seeing now that wasn’t intentional, and how much is a blend of both.

      I miss David Bowie. My heart is still pained that he’s gone.

    • aria

      I didn’t get notification of this reply. 🙁 It’s a woven-backed velvet with metallic fibers. I’ve only found it in one small shop in France so far.

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