Image of Steampunk Freddy outfit featured on Daily Mail online. Copyright Daily Mail
I’d like to introduce my character that I dressed as at Whitby this October/November. His name is Sir Frederick Charles Krueger. I’ve been developing him for a few months and I’ve kept it pretty much under wraps aside from a few friends and family. I decided that the best time to debut the character was at Whitby Goth Weekend. If you saw me and took a photo, please post it here or on the Steampunk Freddy Facebook page.
Sir Frederick Charles Krueger is by no means an original idea. I’m not even going to try and hide that fact. I’ve taken ideas from multiple sources, so in this article I’d like to give nods to certain people in order to avoid any unnecessary upset.
Through the following articles, I will, unveil more about Krueger. I will discuss the costume, my ideas and where I found inspiration. Here, I start with the glove:
Steampunk Freddy. Copyright photofairground
The glove
Arguably the most symbolic weapon in cinema history along with the Lightsabre from Star Wars. Everybody knows what a Freddy glove looks like (even if they mention a knife on the thumb – which it doesn’t have). The idea for a steampunk Freddy Krueger is by no means new. Search “Steampunk Freddy” and there are lots of people, artwork and statues under the description.
An engineer glove was originally planned.
The idea for the glove came from a horror photographer called Clinton Lofthouse. He’s very good at his work and even had a glove made. Sadly, to this date I don’t recall seeing him publishing any pictures of a Steampunk Freddy shoot.
I loved the idea of the blades being Victorian cut throat razors; I felt they fit much better with the era. I managed to source actual Victorian cut throats and gave them to Dan Revitt. He’s the gentleman who made my cutlery goggles out of Sheffield made knives and forks.
Blades laid out in preparation
Side view of blades laid on the finalised glove.
When considering the actual glove that the blades would be attached to, I took into consideration the background of the character. Small details such as this need to have a rich back story for you to refer to and the character’s background will be covered in the next article. I decided to go for a smart black leather glove over a worn out industrial glove seen in the modern day equivalent.
After a few months of work, the glove was completed. The razors have been blunted so that it’s safe for me to walk around without fear of cutting anyone. The welding and riveting are deliciously rough shod. Some of the metal is starting to rust, so I think I will lacquer it to trap the rust and keep the effect. I painted the glove bronze for Whitby, but I’ve changed my mind. It looks too bright. The character has an upper class upbringing, but I want to have an air of grime about him. Having the glove look as though it was made at home in a workshop is ideal.
Filed under: Articles - Steampunk Tagged: Art, Arts, Arts and Entertainment, England, Freddy Krueger, Goggle, H. G. Wells, Invention, Jules Verne, Performing arts, Recreation, sci-fi, science fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Steam engine, Steampunk, steampunk freddy, victorian, Victorian era, victorian science fiction, victoriana, Visual Arts, Whitby
