Yet again, I had the pleasure of having a fantastically spooky photoshoot with the incomparable Neil Nez Kendall! I just LOVE his Halloween sets and as soon as I heard that he had a Bride of Frankenstein wig for hire this time, I leapt at the chance. Bethany Jane Davies yet again did an outstanding job on my makeup and I always know I can count on her for vintage vamp fabulousness!
I have always had a huge love and fascination of the Bride of Frankenstein. She is such an iconic figure, yet only appeared in the movie for 3 minutes! Elsa Lanchester played the part so beautifully and had more than her lines to concentrate on… Her bandages were so tight that she could not move her fingers and arms properly, so someone had to feed and water her when required. Elsa was also required to walk on stilts, making her 7 feet tall! Of course, there was also her fantastic hair (inspired by Nefertiti’s headdress), which had a wire cage construction in order to gain the height needed! Lanchester always said that her own hair was used for the movie, yet if this really was the case, the original Bride of Frankenstein wig displayed in exhibitions may have possibly been worn by her body double. I personally doubt that she had her hair done every day of shooting.
Apparently Lanchester’s body double found the costume so claustrophobic, she became incredibly distressed with her role, where as Elsa took it all in her stride!
So I hope you enjoy what Neil and I have created. He is fantastic at classic Hollywood lighting techniques as you can see. I decided on 2 looks and created some stitches using my trusty hot glue gun! I love how the corseted images came out as everything was literally thrown together. The textures work so well against each other and it shows of me glue gun stitches (sewn onto tights) beautifully! The second look was more classic with a long cotton nightdress to give a more romantic, vintage look. Im absolutely thrilled with the end results.
1940's Pin-Up Entertainer Kitten von Mew 