Making a Feather Headdress... All Out Cabaret!

Considering the scene I chose to inspire my Emcee design sees him hidden amongst the Kit Kat girls, I thought it would be best to style my model appropriately. Looking at the traditional feather headdresses worn by cabaret girls, I felt including an accessory like this would complete my look and link in to the original text as I didn't want Emcee to be unrecognisable as a Cabaret character.

When I looked into creating my own headdress I found that they are built on a frame that sits firmly on the head- this obviously allows for plenty of movement when dancing. I looked into purchasing the correct frame but found that having one delivered in time for the shoot would not have been possible and it would also have come at great expense. Considering this, but not wanting to give up on the idea, I decided to improvise! 

I purchased an Alice band, shoulder pads, jewellery wire, feathers and spray paint and set about creating my vision... A few hours and, dare I say it, quite a lot of expletives later, I had this:

I have to say, I'm quite impressed given that it was totally muddled together... I was half expecting it not to work but I'm glad I persevered as I love it! Obviously considering that this design I am creating is intended for TV and Film, the headdress should be made from a more suitable frame which allows for movement but as this was not possible, I felt that create the piece on an Alice band would suffice for photographs.