W Bill - Ray Hammett interview

As you’ve probably read in my blog, the original Tweed fabrics used to make The Eleventh Doctor’s jackets came from W Bill, a long established fabric merchant close to London’s Savile Row.

I’ve always dealt with a great chap there called Ray, who’s been with the company for well over 60 years.

Well, I’ve just come across an interview Ray gave to a blog about tailoring called PutThisOn.

It’s nothing earth shattering, and he doesn’t mention Doctor Who, but you might like to see who sold THE fabric to the BBC and see inside the company offices.

PTO Place: W. Bill from Put This On on Vimeo.

The Ultimate Crossplay

From time to time I get asked if I can make a coat or tweed jacket for girls as well as guys. It’s not something I often do, but it’s not unknown.

Well a photo has reached me this weekend of one of my tweed jackets being modelled by a very special young lady.

None other than THE Karen Gillan!

Karen is currently in America completing post-production dubbing on a new horror film called Oculus.


Written and directed by Mike Flanagan, it is a full length feature film expanded from a previous award winning short film.

Without giving too much away, the film is about a woman trying to exonerate her brother, who was convicted of murder, by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon.

I had made a tweed jacket for Mike a couple of years ago, so I was surprised to hear Karen attached to a project directed by one of my clients.

He suggested getting Karen to pose in the jacket at some point, and true to his word he finally snapped her in a break between dubs.

It looks like Karen’s been enjoying her time in the US, and I’m looking foreword to seeing the film when it’s released next year.

My thanks to Mike Flanagan for arranging the photo and to Karen Gillan for being such a sport and posing for me

Bow ties are cool!

I’m often asked where to get the bow ties Matt Smith wears as The Doctor.

When he started in the role a lot of his costume was shop sourced, such as the All Saints boots; TopMan jeans; Paul Smith shirt.

However, the bow ties were always hand-made and unique, so I’m afraid you can’t find the exact ones in any shops or online.

That said, the early bow ties were just burgundy or navy silk, so fairly easy to find a next-best.

All that changed with series seven, where we now have a series of patterned fabric bow ties, all of which are quite distinctive so not as easy for the casual cosplayer to match.

So where can you find a next-best version?
Well one of my readers has put me onto a website called mrsbowtie.com, who seems to have the answer!

They make a range of novelty bow ties and include a number of Matt Smith styled options.

Here’s what they offer:

Burgundy Dr Who Tribute

Chevron - Dr Who Tribute

Loop Hole - Dr Who Tribute

Thyme Lord - Dr Who Tribute

I’m giong to get a set on order and report back with what I think of them, so check back soon.

The Crimson Horror - one-off costume

This week’s episode, The Crimson Horror doesn’t seem to have any separate costume portraits of The Doctor, although there is a composite publicity still that seems to use one.

If we had this image on its own we’d have a great source of detail for the costume.

The costume mainly consists of a three-piece set comprising a slightly shortened frock coat, waistcoat and trousers.

He wears the brown brogue boots first worn in The Snowmen over Christmas.

As a substitute I thought I’d take a look back over some on-set pictures taken during filming, which show the costume off quite well.

This shot has a nice view of the back, showing the jacket to be in a frock coat style, heavily adapted.

Hide - costume portrait

Today sees the release of the promotional stills for the next episode, Hide.

This was the first episode to be filmed with Jenna-Louise Colman back in June last year, and at the time we got the first official glimpse of The Doctor’s new costume.

Now the new stills are have a much better look at this combination.

He is wearing the brown bow tie he first wore in The Rings Of Akhaten.

The shirt is new - and is in a blueish grey stripe.

The now favourite grey waistcoat is on show again, and like The Rings Of Akhaten, is without the double fob chain.

Same old G-Star RAW black jeans again, with the new purple brogue boots.

As an aside I’m not too impressed with this photo. It has been crudely cut out and I swear part of his right boot is missing - if it isn’t, it looks bloody odd!

Also released with this image is a picture of Matt in the full Tenth Doctor’s pumpkin orange space suit, though from what I can see the SB6 patches are not present and there are no scars from their removal. It appears to be a recreated costume rather than a re-ue of an existing, unless anyone can think of where this version was seen before.

The Doctor through the looking glasses

It would appear that new companion means new wardrobe for The Doctor.

But despite this there are few things which are hanging over from his previous life-chapter.

He still continues to wear the same black G-Star RAW jeans; eagle-eyed readers will notice him wearing his old black boots again in Cold War this week; and last week in The Rings Of Akhaten he was flashing around his glasses.

The glasses were originally worn by Amy in The Angels Take Manhattan, and were pinched by The Doctor, since when he seems to have adopted them as his own.

It’s like he’s clinging on to them as a perpetual reminder of the companion he lost.

They are quite distinctive, with large circular lenses; frames in a tortoise shell effect; and if you look closely, two front facing screw-heads where the bars join the frames.

I’ve had a number of emails this past week, asking where the glasses can be found, and thanks to one of my readers we now have a possible suggestion of a good match.

Amy Pond Glasses | Roope Vintage Blog

The blog suggests two similar brands - the Black Eyewear Chico or the Anglo American 400.

Now, I’m not entirely convinced these are the exact same glasses, but they certainly tick a lot of boxes.

Both have the circular lenses for sure CHECK

The frames are in a tortoise shell effect, though overall they seem lighter than the screen-worn version TICK

There are two front facing screw-heads where the bars join the frames CHECK

My feeling is the hinge on the side of the frames appears to be a bit heavier than screen-worn.
The frames read as being thicker and a lot lighter, but the shame and details do feel right.

What do you think?
Do you think they are THE glasses, or just a very good second best?

If you’ve spotted a better pair, or found the precise correct screen-worn version, let me know.

50th Anniversary episode - The Doctor’s costume

From today’s filming in London’s Trafalgar Square, here are my best shots of The Doctor in costume.

Enjoy.

50th Anniversary episode - Trafalgar Square filming

So today’s been beyond amazing.

Was just picking up some emails first thing, when I noticed a Facebook comment about filming for the Anniversary Special taking place in Trafalgar Square. Assuming it was a hit and run filming before the world woke up I sorta was only half interested.

Then I noticed a link above saying watch it LIVE on webcam!

Clicking the link only showed some cars stuck in traffic, then the camera suddenly swung around - low and behold the blue box! It was true - and STILL there!

So I grabbed my bag, camera and phone and within the hour I was arriving at Trafalgar Square. It was nearly lunchtime, so I wondered if I had missed everything, but the TARDIS was still there and filming still underway.

I snapped a load of shots, and shot a video of the filming.



I can report The Doctor is wearing another new shirt, waistcoat and bow tie. The cashmere frock coat, black jeans and boots remain the same.

After the brief set-up I watched them film, it was time for the crew to clear the Square ready for a wide shot. While this was happening Matt Smith and Jenna Louise Coleman went along the whole line of waiting adoring fans, signing anything put in front of them.

Jenna even signed someone’s model TARDIS!

But it was Matt everyone wanted, and he was more than happy to do his best and sign as many as he could.

I have great respect for the guy - he’s in the middle of shooting what is likely to be his most scrutinised episode; got to worry about his performance in the next shot; his every move is being watched by hundreds of eyes - and cameras; but he finds time to give a little back to the fans who have been waiting for hours in the cold and London drizzle. Matt proves he is THE man!

While he was signing he passed very close to me and I was all eyes over his costume.

The waistcoat is a very dark charcoal grey Prince Of Wales check, with a laid-in collar, black buttons with white dots around the edge and four pockets.

His shirt is a plain sky blue and his bow tie is a very deep purple with a light grid of dots.

I’ve got some more photos to share, so check back soon to see.


The filming aroused the interest of the press, where you can see some more, slightly spoiler photos.

The Mirror - Doctor Who lands the TARDIS in Trafalgar Square

The Sun - Doctor Who stars film in Trafalgar Square

Cold War - costume portrait

The next episode is coming soon, and the BBC official publicity stills are out.

Again there is a really great full length portrait of Matt Smith in costume.

The Doctor has ANOTHER new bow tie, from what must be a very full drawer in the TARDIS wardrobe.
This time its brown with a grid of cream coloured circles.

There is a new shirt, with light blue and pink stripes on a blue background.

Again he is wearing his favourite G-Star RAW black jeans and grey waistcoat, like in The Rings Of Akhaten wearing it without the fob chain.

But the one thing that is a surprise is that he is wearing his old black boots from series six - and if you look very closely you can see they are worn with extraordinary long laces which wrap around the ankle several times before tying in a rough bow on the inside of the ankle. Interesting.

Motorbike accessories - IDENTIFICATION: POSITIVE!

With thanks to an anonymous reader of my blog (thank you, whoever you are!) we now have a POSITIVE identification on the motorbike accessories worn by Matt and Louise in The Bells Of Saint John!

Yeah? I hear you say - how can we be sure? - cos the manufacturers are bragging about it on their website!

Davida News - Classic Helmet as Worn By Doctor Who and Clara

According to the new story, here are the items used.

HELMET

From what I can see you need to get the Davida Classic Helmet in Standard Black, which has the product code 60104.

The branded logo needs to be removed.

Helmets come in three sizes: small 54-58cm; medium 58-61cm; Large 61-64cm

based closely on original 1950s racing helmets, they have a leather interior with a cotton webbed harness and a quilted leather neck curtain.

They sell for around £240.

Davida Helmets - Classic Standard Black

GOGGLES

The goggles are their Aviator Pilot T1 design, in Chrome, product code 670732.
Again the logo has been removed.

Made from black goats leather they have curved lenses for wide vision.

These sell for in the region of £100.

Davida Goggles - Aviator_Pilot T1

Sadly this doesn’t extend to the gloves, which do not match anything on Davida’s website.

The website lists dealers throughout the world, though you can apparently buy direct from the manufacturer.

Best of luck!

Behold: the shoes of Rassilon

Now the first episodes of the new series are out, I think it’s time to reveal a trade secret in The Doctor’s latest attire that would otherwise go completely unnoticed, and give a bit of credit where credit’s due.

If you’ve watched any of the old Doctor Who Confidential episodes, or the documentaries on the DVDs you’ll have picked up that a lot of crew working on the series are themselves long time fans.
They often sneak in secret in jokes or spend bit more time than the usual to make the episodes have hidden depths.

When the boot makers were asked to prepare new footwear for series seven, part of the brief was to make the boots more ornate and intricate.

Their response was to decorate all edges of the leather with a hand-punched design.

This detailing extends to the toes of the boot, over which is a scrolled pattern.

Rather than just do some random design, the cutter at the boot makers said “Let’s have some fun”.
He looked on the internet and downloaded an image of the Seal Of Rassilon, first used as the symbol of the Time Lords during The Deadly Assassin in 1976.

Passing it to his cutter, the boot maker said “Use this, but make it different”.


As a result he came up with the design on the purple boots which has a mirror symmetry rather than rotational as seen on the Rassilon Seal.

A second pair of boots in brown were also made to the same pattern, but these have a nondescript design on the toe and aren't used as prolifically as the purple version.

You can see here the finished toe of the boots, with the card pattern used to make the hole punches.
The figure-eight design of the Rassilon seal is clearly evident, now you know what it is supposed to represent.


How cool is that? And how subtle so no-one really knows - until now!

The Rings of Akhaten - costume portraits

Today see the BBC release some nice publicity images from The Rings of Akhaten.

Amongst the images are a couple of full length portrait shots of Matt in costume.

He’s wearing the same grey wasitcoat worn in The Bells Of St John, though this time without the gold watch chain.

We get a nice view of the new purple boots.

The Doctor continues to wear the glasses which first appeared in The Angels take Manhattan.

There’s another new bow tie. This time in a deep burgundy with a light block pattern.

The trousers seem to be the G-Star RAW jeans, worn since series six.

The Bells of Saint John - more promo pics

Today the BBC have release two new promotional pictures for The Bells Of Saint John.

It’s a bit more of a serene image compared to the last ones!

As ever it shows some nice details of The Doctor’s new costume, giving us a little flash of the lining inside the Frock Coat.

Thank heavens, given the cost of the cashmere fabric the bulk of the coat is made from, this lining looks to be a nice and simple plain purple colour.

I’d love to track down those black leather gloves.
Not necessarily for cosplay, but it would be cool to wear the same gloves as The Doctor.

Personally I’m not convinced we’ll find a 100% match for the crash helmets. To me they look to be adapted from some form of basic helmet.

If you look at the picture below, you can see there is a ring of gaffer tape around the base of the dome!