I've had this costume in mind for years, just waiting for the perfect time, when I'm ready to cut my hair and have assembled the pieces, and the Halloween of the The Fourth Doctor: Tom Baker is at hand!
It's a fairly simple costume, and as it happens I started collecting its pieces before I even realized it. I got the coat before I even watched Doctor Who, let alone knew about the Fourth Doctor. I got my coat from a friend I spent a summer with. It's a beautiful burnt umber velveteen sort of late 18th century overcoat. It's wonderful.
The plaid pants I bought randomly years ago. I haven't actually worn them for probably over a year, but I still have them and they'll come out for Halloween!
A white shirt can easily be gotten, but I don't have a button up at the moment. I could wear one of the Oxford cloth variety that I do have, it wouldn't matter. We're going for the look of the thing, not a replica.
Cravat is easy enough, and he doesn't always wear one, so that's just fine.
I have three choices for shoes: wingtips, riding boots and Wellingtons (which he wears in the Key to Time episodes)
The Hat, it's very important for this Doctor. It's a crumpled old Stetson and is really rather lovely. And wouldn't you know it?! I took a millinery class my senior year and
made a Tom Baker hat at J.W. Hats in Salt Lake City for the price of the unblocked felt hat. The workers thought I was crazy because I insisted on making it
just like the hat in the picture. He's crumpled his from use etc, but I just shaped my brim to be all wonky. Mine's rabbit and beaver and is just so delicious!
I mean, come on, it's pretty darn marvelous, and I made it all!!!!
And now what I don't have, the waistcoat, the hair, and the sarf, easily fixed.
Above we can see both a plaid wool waistcoat and an argyle knitted version. Of course I'm tempted to make a vest. I'll have plenty of time this summer during the day before I dress my shows and I have lots of fun wool that I could piece together into a fun variation of the original.
The hair's a piece of cake. I chopped my hair off about a year before I got into Doctor Who, and a year after that I got it into my head to put this costume together. Between that time I decided to grow my hair out to donate. Well, it's been 5 years since I chopped it off and I'll be ready to donate right before Halloween. Don't worry, I won't be getting the Tom Baker cut, that'd be ridiculous. I will be getting a bob, somewhere between chin and mid neck, and wouldn't you know my hair's basically just like Tom Baker's in texture and almost in color. It would look just like his if I had his haircut, but with a bob it'll take just a little coaxing to get it curly rather than wavy.
My old hairs when I was ninteen, close to what I'll have again, pretty darn close right? And this was straight out of the towel, no product. Imagine what I can do!
AAAAAnd the scarf, you HAVE to have the scarf.
I read that the costume designer intended the Fourth Doctor to have a scarf so they gave a bunch of yarn and a set of needles to a technician and told them to make a scarf. The knitter used all the yarn, which wasn't the designer's intention, but BOOM, history.
Of course through the wonderful world of Pinterest I found a pattern for the original scarf, the
source of which is an
excellent resource for the measurements, yard colors, needle size, etc. It's pretty great.
I haven't decided if I want to make an exact replica, or just buy some yarn and go at it like the original. I'll have lots of time, like I said once I start dressing, and could even knit during the shows. I have a scarf I started nine years ago and still haven't finished...but I'm sure I'd do better on this one. And at the end of the day I can finish it when I need to as long as it's a rather long scarf.
Are you excited for Halloween?! Because I am!
