This past weekend at DragonCon, I decided to tackle a costume that was both ambitious and deeply rooted in Doctor Who lore: a Weeping Angel. Inspired by the chilling episode “Blink,” I embarked on creating my own Weeping Angel costume, and despite the initial intimidation, it turned out to be a fantastic experience. This is a detailed breakdown of how I brought this stone-cold villain to life.
Close-up of a Weeping Angel statue, emphasizing its stone-like texture and menacing face.
(Credit needed for this image – please let me know if you recognize it!)
Crafting the Weeping Angel Dress
Materials: Polyester suiting fabric, acrylic/fabric-medium paint, hula hoop, velcro
The foundation of the costume is the dress, constructed with a dual-layer approach. An inner underdress provides the necessary structure and support for the draped overdress. This underdress is fitted to the body, featuring a back zipper for closure, and flares out into a cone shape towards the hem. For added rigidity and to maintain the statue-like silhouette, a hula hoop is sewn into the bottom hem.
I opted for a dark grey polyester suiting fabric sourced from a discount bin. Its smooth finish, free of woven texture, and substantial body make it ideal for holding the sculpted folds characteristic of a Weeping Angel. The overdress is fashioned from two full widths of fabric, sewn into a large tube that is then artfully draped over the underdress.
Detailed view of the dress construction, showing the layers and draped fabric before painting.
While the sturdy fabric is excellent for structure, it does present a challenge in draping. To achieve the signature Weeping Angel folds, dozens of individual stitches were required to hold each pleat and drape precisely in place.
A cleverly concealed panel at the back of the dress is designed to hide the central support structure for the wings, ensuring a seamless and statue-like appearance from all angles.
To achieve the stone effect essential for a Weeping Angel, paint is key. Basic acrylic craft paint, mixed with fabric medium for flexibility and washability, was used. I employed the classic technique of highlights and lowlights to create depth and the illusion of sculpted stone. The process began with a base coat of the darkest grey across the entire dress. Then, medium grey paint was applied to most areas, leaving the dark grey to define shadows and recesses. Finally, the lightest grey paint was used sparingly to catch the highlights and emphasize the contours.
The painted dress, showcasing the stone effect achieved through layering shades of grey acrylic paint.
The resulting effect was surprisingly convincing. Throughout DragonCon, people were drawn to touch the dress, often exclaiming in surprise that it wasn’t actual stone. To address the common question of flexibility, here’s a photo demonstrating how easily the dress can be folded and moved:
The dress folded and heaped, demonstrating its flexibility despite the stone-like appearance.
Practicality is also key to a good costume. Hidden pockets were incorporated into the dress lining – essential for carrying necessities like a wallet, phone, and even a water bottle, keeping them discreetly tucked away.
Inside view of the dress revealing hidden pockets sewn into the lining for practical storage during wear.
From the back, you can see how effectively the hidden wing panel blends into the overall dress design, maintaining the statue illusion even when the wings are not attached.
Adding a personal touch, I decided to incorporate graffiti onto the statue. After all, what public statue is complete without some form of defacement? This subtle detail adds a layer of realism and a bit of cheeky personality to the Weeping Angel.
Detail of the graffiti added to the dress, a personal touch enhancing the realism of the statue effect.
Constructing Realistic Weeping Angel Wings
Materials: Foamcore posterboard, craft foam, galvanized wire, foam, hot glue, acrylic paint, backpack strapping and buckles
Reference images were crucial in accurately capturing the Weeping Angel’s wing design. I meticulously studied stills from “Blink” to ensure the shape and feather arrangement were as faithful as possible.
Reference images used for wing construction, showing screen captures of Weeping Angel wings from Doctor Who.
Patterns were initially sketched on newspaper before being transferred to the foamcore wing base. Standard foamcore sheets weren’t large enough, so I utilized oversized display boards intended for science fairs. These boards have folds, but by layering two pieces of foamcore and aligning them so the folds opposed each other, they effectively canceled out, resulting in a sturdy, flat base.
Foamcore base for the wings, illustrating the use of layered foamcore to create a strong and stable structure.
Each wing is composed of two main pieces: a front and a back panel, providing depth and a more three-dimensional appearance.
Front and back pieces of the wing construction, showing the layered approach to creating wing volume and detail.
The feather pattern was broken down into individual segments on the pattern, adding extra length to each feather to allow for generous overlaps. Craft foam was then cut into feather shapes and glued onto the foamcore base, layering them to mimic realistic feather texture.
Close-up of the craft foam feathers being glued to the foamcore wing base, showing the layering and detail work.
The internal support structure for the wings runs between the front and back foamcore layers. The central panel connecting the wings was crafted from two layers of stiff upholstery foam. Galvanized wire was sewn between these foam layers and extended outwards on both sides, providing robust support and shape.
Internal wing support structure featuring galvanized wire sandwiched between layers of upholstery foam for strength and shape.
Fabric was draped over the entire wing structure and sewn securely, then the excess material was trimmed away. The fabric layer provides a better surface for the glue to adhere to, enhancing the overall durability of the wing construction.
Large amounts of hot glue were applied to the wing halves, sandwiching the wire supports firmly between them. A marble-topped coffee table proved to be the perfect weight for pressing the wing halves together while the glue dried, ensuring a strong bond.
Wing halves being glued together under weight, utilizing a marble table to apply even pressure for a strong bond.
Once fully assembled, extra fabric from the dress was draped around the base of each wing to seamlessly blend the wing base with the dress, enhancing the integrated look of the costume.
Wing base blended with dress fabric, creating a seamless transition and integrated costume appearance.
Painting the wings followed the same highlight and lowlight technique used for the dress, using the same acrylic paints but omitting the fabric medium since wings don’t require the same flexibility. Notches were cut into the foam feathers to further enhance their realism, mimicking the natural texture of bird feathers.
Painted wings with notched foam feathers, showing the realistic feather detailing and stone-like paint effect.
The finished wings, ready to complete the Weeping Angel transformation.
Completed Weeping Angel wings, showcasing the final painted and assembled product, ready for attachment to the costume.
The initial strap assembly for wearing the wings needed refinement. The goal is to redesign it for easier self-application, allowing the costume to be put on and taken off without assistance.
Initial strap assembly for the wings, highlighting areas for improvement to enhance ease of wear and independence.
Crafting the Petrifying Weeping Angel Mask
Materials: Paper-mache mask, paperclay, acrylic paint, Elmer’s glue, plastic gumball machine capsules, pantyhose
For the mask, pre-made paper mache masks served as the base. I then sculpted additional facial features using paperclay. As a first-time sculpting project, this presented a new and exciting challenge.
Paper-mache mask base with paperclay sculpting in progress, showing the initial stages of mask creation.
The eyes were created by cutting lenses from clear plastic gumball machine capsules. These lenses were covered with grey pantyhose and hot-glued into the mask openings. The interior of the mask was painted black to minimize light reflection and improve visibility.
