Putting together a Kaylee outfit by UHNETTEC

HELP A FIREFLY FAN

Putting together a Kaylee outfit

POSTED BY: UHNETTEC
UPDATED: Saturday, July 26, 2014 12:12
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Friday, July 25, 2014 4:32 PM

Hello. I'm new so I'm sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place. This site is pretty huge and I'm trying to go over everything.

I'm putting together a costume to go as Kaylee for halloween. I bought a green jumpsuit that should be coming in the mail soon. I will need to doctor it up a bit. I need some suggestions on how to dirty it up and make it look worn.

I bought a cigar box that I was going to use to put some strawberries in. I need to figure out how to weather that some as well.

I have the black boots and am in the process of getting an umbrella as well. Is there any other things I can get to make it look authentic? I'm into detail so any would be helpful. Maybe an accessory I'm forgetting about? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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Friday, July 25, 2014 5:02 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN

To dirty up coveralls like an engine mechanic? Most mechanic grime appears on the belly/front of hips area, and the knees, maybe butt or upper back from sitting or laying on the back underneath said engines, while torquing with arms/wrenches. And the back of the shoulders. Not sure exactly which of these locations Kaylee has dirtied. Take your outfit and find a blackish, or greasy/oily spot or area on a garage floor, and rub the above mentioned sections of the outfit on it, or just wear the thing and rub your butt, front of hips, back of the shoulders, knees into the oil, grime, dirt, etc.
Then wash like you're trying to clean it.
Repeating until it's dirty enough will allow several washes to fade things a bit for realistic wear.
If Kaylee has some random spurts appearing, then ask a mechanic for a grease gun or oil squirt gun (oil can), and aim a practice shot or squirt so you see the arc, then squirt an arc across the front of the outfit, or across the leg front or inside calf - these things happen while working in front or under the spot being greased, or while sitting/laying down and the oil accidentally spurts or drips on the leg or torso front.
Hope that helps.
Also, get a greasy/oily rag and shove it in and pull out of the pockets - maybe all 4 or at least a couple - some mechanics reserve one pocket for non-oily activity. Make the pocket edge look kinda dirty, but remember to wash.

If you only want it to APPEAR to be oily/greasy, I don't know if I can help. Maybe ink. Some inks are heavy and can't really be diluted for different effects, but normally shoe polish can be diluted with water a bit for shades of density.

Did you get that little bear thing she has on the front of her coveralls?

Sometimes she had like a tri-corder type gadget, but I don't remember if she was always next to some gizmo with those (engine, engine room assembly, the port/arrival registration screens at the docks, winch control in Train Job) that it was connected to, or if she sometimes had any remote control which was hand-held.

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Saturday, July 26, 2014 12:12 PM

STILLFLYIN2

What you need to do to age your overalls will be determined by the fabric content. I wound up buying two different overalls since one was so hard to get the new off of.

My suggestions: Wash your overalls before you start. Locate a really good picture of Kaylee in her outfit. Look at it really close to decide where you want to apply "dirt/grease/wear". I wanted mine to wash and keep the same look. I used thinned acrylic paint and some thinned fabric dye for the dirt/grease look in brown, blue, black, and yellow - often mixing them or thinning them more or less. Might have a touch of orange and red. I used some really thinned white to enhance the worn spots. I pretty much used my whole basic palette. Less paint amounts can have more paint added while it is really hard to get too much removed.

Sandpaper and kitchen graters do a nice job on making it look worn. Look closely at your own clothes for places that wear and at your picture. Collar tips, pocket corners, where hands go into pickets, where tools would rub against the fabric. Since you are probably going to tuck the legs into your boots, you don't need to worry with that part of the legs. Like the paint, start light on distressing the fabric and ease into harder worn places.

Don't forget the fuzzy bear and the embroidered heart and blue flower, depending on which version of her overalls you are portraying. I don't remember if it is the flower or heart that appeared to cover the bullet hole. I went ahead and put both because I like them both.

She had some Chinese lettering but I chose not to use it since I can't read it and don't want to accidentally say something I don't intend.

Have fun and enjoy your costume!

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