50+ Years of "Doctor Who" Costuming

by Jean Martin and Christopher Erickson. Published in the June/July 2015 issue of Finery.

“Doctor Who” is a classic, long-running British science fiction show that began in 1963 about a timetraveling alien who regenerates, has adventures, saves the universe and has an affection for the human race. “Doctor Who” has become even more popular since its re-launch in 2005, and you can see fans in costumes from its 50 plus-year run at numerous conventions and events.

With more than five decades of characters and episodes to choose from, fans have a wealth of costume inspirations from the 12 Doctors (so far) who mostly wear suits that are either based on various time periods or are whimsical creations. As for the Doctors’ companions, who are mostly female, their costumes generally reflect the time period when their episodes were filmed. Since some of the Doctors’ and most of the companions’ costumes are based on regular clothing, they are fairly easy to put together using existing patterns if you sew, new items from online or brick-and-mortar stores or vintage items from thrift stores. Sometimes, though, even a deceptively simple ensemble can be difficult to recreate as the exact pieces or patterns are hard to find. But the important thing to remember is that as long as you achieve the overall look and your costume is recognizable as the character you are trying to portray, that is more than good enough.

With a GBACG “Doctor Who” event coming up, we are highlighting the costumes of each of the 12 Doctors and one female companion per Doctor below. For the companions, we’ve picked some for their more iconic looks and some who wore something unique and memorable in particular episodes.

Doctors:

• First (William Hartnell) – The First Doctor wore a basic outfit with a vest, ribbon tie and frock coat, which reflected his cantankerous and grandfatherly nature

• Second (Patrick Troughton) – The Second Doctor’s rumpled mourning coat, baggy pants and a bow tie pinned askew is generally referred to as the “space hobo” and complemented his buffoonish behavior

• Third (John Pertwee) – This Doctor had a preference for dramatic short capes, velvet smoking jackets, colorful frilled shirts and ostentatious bow ties, enhancing his dapper playboy sense of style and James Bond-like orientation toward action

• Fourth (Tom Baker) – A floppy fedora hat, an impossibly long multi-colored scarf, argyle-sweaters and overcoats were the fashion choices of the Bohemian-like Fourth Doctor

• Fifth (Peter Davison) – An Edwardian cricketer’s outfit with a celery stalk on his jacket lapel brought out the sensitive and kind nature of this Doctor

• Sixth (Colin Baker) – A patchwork coat of bright colors and tartan patterns, polka-dot cravat tie, green shoes with orange spats and yellow pants with blue pinstriping matched the bombast and loud selfconfidence of this incarnation of the Doctor

• Seventh (Sylvester McCoy) – A colonial-style Panama hat, patterned yellow sweater vest, white or brown sport coat, two-tone shoes and bamboo umbrella (which later became orange, question mark-shaped) showed off this Doctor’s affability and underlying dark nature

• Eighth (Paul McGann) – The dark green Victorian velvet frock coat and embroidered vest reflected the childlike enthusiasm and love of life displayed by this incarnation

• Ninth (Christopher Eccleston) – The battered leather jacket and v-neck sweaters mirrored the extreme sadness and “live-for-the-moment” nature of this Doctor

• Tenth (David Tennant) – A brown trench coat, pinstripe suit (brown or blue) and canvas high-top sneakers outlined the light-hearted tendencies but serious nature of this version

• Eleventh (Matt Smith) – Bowties, suspenders and tweed jackets with elbow patches enhanced the youthful exuberance and wistful sadness shown by this Doctor.

• Twelfth (Peter Capaldi) – A sharp, stylish grownup punk look exemplifies this Doctor who sports a navy Crombie coat with a red lining and black brogue boots.

Companions:

• Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) – Barbara wore a vibrant orange and yellow feather tribal outfit for the episode “The Aztecs” where she was mistaken as a goddess

• Zoe Heriot (Wendy Padbury) – Zoe wore a fantastic one-piece, figure-hugging silver spacesuit in the episode “The Wheel in Space”

• Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) – Sarah Jane was epitome of the career girl from the 70s with her large lapel shirt, knitted vest, blazer and bellbottom pants

• Romana I (Mary Tamm) – Romana wore some lovely white flowing ensembles that looked like they came from either Princess Leia’s or Abba’s closets

• Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) – Nyssa wore costumes that were a cross between a fairy and a Renaissance princess with rich velvets and colors and a delicate tiara

• Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant) – the first American companion, Peri wore neon- and pastelcolored shirts and shorts that were ubiquitous during the 80s

• Ace (Sophie Aldred) – tomboy teenager Ace sported a distinctive black bomber jacket with patches of real space flights

• Grace Holloway (Daphne Ashbrook) – another American, Daphne made a splash in a blue opera ball gown with a corset top and wide skirt

• Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) – One of Rose’s memorable costumes is the one she wore in the two-part episode “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances” where she has a Union Jack shirt underneath a black leather motorcycle and paired with regular jeans

• Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) – Donna made a grand entrance into the “Doctor Who” universe as the “Runaway Bride” in a traditional white wedding dress complete with a tiara and veil.

• Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) – Amy is a typical young British girl with trendy jackets, sweaters, scarves, shorts, tights and boots

• Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman)– Clara is a smart, no-nonsense teacher who loves to wear dresses with a stylish blazer or coat and up-to-the minute ankle boots

Of course, there are women who want to dress up as female versions of the Doctor or straight-up male versions of the character. There are also popular male companions such as Jamie McCrimmon, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Captain Jack Harkness and Rory Williams.

If you want to go elegant, you can do Gallifreyan Time Lords; if you want to be rugged you can do UNIT soldiers. Villains are also popular choices such as the Master (or in his/her current incarnation as Missy). Guest historical figures like Winston Churchill, Queen Victoria, Nefertiti and Vincent Van Gogh are attention-getters.

One major trend these past couple of years has been costuming as the TARDIS; either as the time travel vehicle itself, as Idris (the female personification of the TARDIS) or in TARDIS dresses. Dalek dresses have become popular as well.

For those seeking more of a challenge, you can do robots and alien creatures. For instance, there are the Cybermen, the Daleks, the Ood, the Weeping Angels and the Silurians. The robots and aliens require knowledge of materials construction, special effects makeup and sculpting. If you find people in your area who have done these costumes, you can ask them how to make these or there are also classes at various conventions.

Here are some links to websites where you can find photos for reference, links to tutorials and sources for patterns, props and accessories:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/gallery/ – official gallery of photos from episodes for the First through the Ninth Doctors and their companions

http://www.shillpages.com/dw/dwia.htm – screen caps of characters from the classic and new series of “Doctor Who”

http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/doctorwho/characters/companions/ – all the official companions including the unforgettable River Song

http://www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/doctorwho/characters/aliens/ – comprehensive list of monsters and aliens

http://dw-cosplay.livejournal.com/ – LJ community that’s been around for a while with lots of tips and resources by people who’ve done costumes in the “Doctor Who” universe

http://tardis-wardrobe.livejournal.com/ – more recent LJ community with details of items worn, with photos, from the new “Doctor Who”

http://doctor-who-cosplay.com/ – tutorials and also has a board that you can join to discuss “Doctor Who” costuming

http://doctorwhocosplayfinder.tumblr.com/ – this site is where you can find out the actual pieces worn by characters in recent episodes (these are usually from the U.K. but available sometimes in the U.S. and on eBay but sell out quickly)

http://www.doctorwhoprops.com/home.php – prop collector, trader and authenticator, whose site you can use to see what props and costume parts look like in detail

http://doctorwhocosparty.blogspot.com/p/costume-reference-sites.html – this list has numerous reference sites including costume breakdowns of most of the Doctors, some companions and even Daleks, Cybermen and Weeping Angels

Etsy.com, eBay.com, ThinkGeek.com, Hot Topic.com and Alien Entertainment’s DoctorWhoStore.com are great places to get props such as sonic screwdrivers, coats, etc. I even found a jeweler on Etsy who made a Clara Oswald necklace from a particular episode. On Amazon.com, you can find an out-of-print book called “Doctor Who Pattern Book,” which has patterns for Tom Baker’s scarf, Peter Davison’s cricket jumper, Nyssa’s jacket; Romana’s t-shirt and sailor top, Adric’s tunic and anorak, etc.

“Doctor Who” costuming has gone on for more than 50 years and seems likely to go on for years to come. Everyone is eagerly anticipating the ninth season coming out in the fall of 2015.