Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Reading Room Spotlight-
"Star Trek The Motion Picture
Make-Your-Own Costume Book"
By Lynn Edelman Schnurnberger

This spotlight is a bit of a departure from the standard "Reading Room" version in that this really isn't a novel... but hey, it's still a book so it counts!

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When I saw this Star Trek TMP Make-Your-Own Costume Book, the first thought that popped in my head was "Man, they really did think that TMP was going to be as big as Star Wars, didn't they?". (Note- I actually prefer TMP to the original Star Wars) I mean take a look at that cover; Yep. That's a kid dressed in a homemade Zaranite costume. Did you ever see that in real life? I didn't think so.

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I'm pretty sure you can figure out the premise of this puppy: The book details how to make homemade versions of your favorite uniforms and costumes from TMP. There's a preface by Robert Fletcher (costume and jewelry designer from the film) followed by a section entitled "The Basics" that details the starting steps in costume-making. From there, you can choose to construct a variety of Starfleet and alien uniforms! Keen! The kids up there seem to love it.

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The center section of the book features some full color reference shots of various adornments used in the movie. At only 8 color pages, the selection is slim, but there are a couple of nice treats like the great shot of the Andorian seen above.

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Now what would a homemade costume be without good accessories? Crap, that's what. This is why the last section of the book is devoted to stencils of various accoutrements to really spice up your look. That's the Arcturian mask stencil above. No, I didn't draw it. That's the actual stencil. Awesome.

Yeah, so you can skip this one entirely, unless you are into the truly quirky Trek stuff. Then go ahead and buy it, make a costume, and send me a pic. Seriously. I'll post it.

-James

3 comments:

  1. There was something about the "kid" dressed as Spock that always gave me the creeps when I got this book as a child. Maybe the bouffant hair...or that he looked about 32 years old?

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  2. These didn't even make decent Hallwoeen costumes. I remember now why I skipped that book when it was out.

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  3. And, are all Andorians bow-legged like that one? :)

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