Silent Hill Nurse Costume 2011

This is my first Instructable so please be easy on me :) First off I want to give major Kudos to HAAAARICA on her Instructable that I based mine ... https://www.instructables.com/id/Silent-Hill-Nurse-Costume/

I could not find any good costumes wherever I looked for this idea (minus said link above).. youtube videos of ppl at Comic Con.. horrible. All I could think of is.. "You're at Comic Con... and THATS the BEST you could do? Go shoot yourself." Lol.. Im sorry but if I was able to go to Comic Con Id be DAMN sure my costume was epic. Not a epic fail.

So I followed HAAAARICA's step by step while tweaking it a bit.. so here is my step by step..

I started in early Sept to give time for mishaps... but alas.. I had none.
It was also nice to take my time and not rush.

These two pictures is what I used to inspire my costume.. whenever working on it I had these up on my laptop screen

You will need:
-Shirt Dress pattern (McCalls M4769)
-White or Off-White linen ( I sent the info to my Aunt who did the sewing so I cant tell u how much you will need but dont forget bout that hat!
-Plaster Strips
-A Plastic Bag
-Scissors
-Tea (Black Tea)
-Clear spray paint (Optional)
-Acrylic Paints (beige, light brown)
-Fake blood (Also optional, I did NOT use it on the costume, just for detail vein painting on my legs an chest)
-White high heels or flats
-Paintbrushes & Newspaper
-Plain Napkins
-Flour

Follow the instructions for your size as far as the dress is concerned.
My Aunt left the dress long and un-hemmed as well as the sleeves since I would be trimming them myself to my desired length.
Once complete with the dress, put it on, and mark how short you'd like it to be.
Then cut away.. no need for perfection.. the look you're going for is a disheveled torn look anyway

For the hat I gave her this link..
http://sewing.about.com/library/nnurse.htm

Boil a big pit of water, and put about six teabags in it. I used Lipton's Black Tea, it couldn't have been more perfect.
I first followed the instructions for putting the dress and hat in there for 5 mins.. but a few days later I re-did it and soaked them in boiling water for about 30 mins lol.. and was quite pleased. Both times I put the dress in the dryer afterwards to "set" the stain. Plus is gives the part you cut off a great look.
The hat I pinned to a manikin head I had from cosmetology school to help keep its shape.
After it was dry I took the lighter of my paints.. rubbed it over over my hands then wiped them smearing and smudging all over the dress and hat. grabbing it in clumps.. wringing it.. etc.. I wanted that Ive been in this run down asylum for many years look :)

Most time costuming step. I recommend doing what I did.. working on it a lil here an a lil there. DO NOT RUSH THIS.
I followed her steps but added a few of my own...
Put a plastic bag over your head, and quickly mark with a sharpie where your eyes and mouth are. Remove the bag, and cut out small enough holes so you can see and breathe. I then had my bestfriend wrap plaster strips around my face, making sure we went over the top of my head, but not so far back that I couldn't be able to get it off in one piece. Make it so you still have the eye and mouth holes open, shaping them differently. Once dried a lil bit so it holds its shape, carefully remove the mask.
before it was completely dry I cut out the eyes and mouth a bit more to my desire.

Once dry, instead of hitting the painting right away as instructed I came up w the idea to do some paper mache detailing.
For the water I used to make the paper mache I used 6 more tea bags so the water would be a dingy colour as well.
I then used plain napkins from Arbys lol. So there was no print on them an I could "mush" it around a bit. You WILL get messy here lol. Though it gives you a great base colour to work with.
The after it had dried a little bit I went back to puting some more details on one side using toilet paper.. I placed the TP on then used my fingers to lay on the paper mache.. I did that as well w the napkins since it wants to fall apart dipping it into the pot.

Once completely dry.. I waited a few days..  I used the paints I bought. Looking at some pictures of the mask from the movie I tried to give it a similar look. I wasnt too thrilled with just the painted look so I made more of the same mache an kinda just randomly painted it on w/out the paper. I also ended up busting out some hair colour (which is optional) to make the dark darker an more stained looking. Worked beautifully. I used Redken's Shades EQ 6N (Im a stylist and had this on hand)  Making it darker by the eyes and mouth helps give that visual creepy look :)

I chose NOT to glue pantyhose to the inside of the mask to conceal the eyes.. A) I'll be in a bar or on a dark street and need to see and B) I already feels like your going to smother lol

Lastly, go over the entire thing (inside and out) with the clear spray paint a few times.

Its Oct 10 and alas I have not found any shoes I want.
Ill be getting white/off white heels.. scuffing the crap outta them.. maybe w some sandpaper then doing some detailed painting
Sorry I have not done this yet.. Im being VERY picky about this costume :) oh.. and cheap!

I will post pics asap when I do find them and make them :)

*UPDATE 10/18/11*
Ive found shoes!!
And I played with them tonight!
First I spray painted them a off-white satin colour (like 5 coats lol))
Then I got some more plaster strips out (since they will dry hard) and used tea water again (so it didnt look so bright white)
Let that dry a little.. then smeared the light and dark brown paint I used to smear on the costume..
Then went back over it again w some plaster strips hanging a few loose strips and scrunching some other pieces.. I wanted a old dirty gauze-y Ive been stuck creeping in a asylum look

I bought fake blood, the paint on kind in a tube an the spray kind, I DO NOT plan on spraying my costume since I heard it can some out pink. I just plan on painting the vein detailing on my legs arms an chest them maybe using the spray on my hand an going up my arms a little. I will post a pic of my final look after Halloween. Sorry it wont be sooner but I dont want to waste any product. I will be having a friend photograph us getting ready and all done up. Another friend is now going to go as Pyramid Head (I will post pics of both of us)
I also plan on taking as much photos of his as we go as well.. though he will be starting this Monday and I will not be back in the state for another two weeks.

*These two photos of the full costume are my first mock run, I will post the finale result Nov 1st! Thanks for viewing!*

Looking at all the costumes.. I felt the mask needed to be more "gauze-y"
So like the shoes... I soaked more plaster strips in black tea water.. laying them down gently so it keeps the gauze effect.