Feature – “Salem” Witch Dress

How to make a
witches costume out
of of human hair….
On season two of the period fantasy series
Salem, Costume Designer Joseph Porro and
his team create a dress for Lucy Lawless out
of silk and human hair. Not a simple
task….probably a television first and here’s
how they did it.
The Inspiration: Joseph was amazed when he
found this human hair necklace by Kerry
Howley of London online. He bought it and
two matching cuffs for the character Countess
Marburg played by Lucy Lawless. The
necklace inspired him to
design a dress out of
human hair that would
go from Lucy’s scalp to
the floor.
Kerry Howley necklace
Original Hair Dress concept design for Countess Marburg
The original design was drawn before Joseph
met Lucy. As he dressed her for the season he
rethought the cut of the dress. The script
required Lucy to pull a sword from inside her
cape. There was no cape in the original design,
also Lucy is tall and voluptuous and Joseph
didn’t want the hair to add weight to her frame.
So he decided on going with a period dress with
a Watteau inspired cape which would help hide
the sword and would be more flattering with all
that bulky hair.
Because of the huge expense of creating
such a complicated costume, it was
strategically used for the season finale. Work
began only five days before the dress was
needed for camera. No one was sure they
could pull this off on such a short timeframe so
everyone proceeded at a frantic pace! Fabric
was ordered, twelve yards of Thai ivory silk and
another ten yards of an unusual Italian fabric
with woven holes that you could weave the hair
through.
Joseph had met with the head of the hair
department Daniel Curet and talked about the
strategy. This was truly a team effort between
both departments. Daniel was excited to be
involved and ordered human hair wefts to make
a dozen wigs in Lucy’s color from an Asian
source. Getting it long enough to trail down the
whole dress was impossible so the decision
was made to weave it in and out of the dress in
a way that would hide the gaps from view.
Construction begins on the dress. It is a complicated pattern and takes two days to
construct. A rare 100 year old pinking machine grinds out the trim.
The basic dress is ready for the first fitting. Italian fabric is used for the cape on the
left and on the sleeves and corset on the right. Sheared self trim of Thai silk gradates
from the top of the overskirt. Silk chiffon layers are used for the underskirt.
Cutter Fitter Maggie McFarlan oversees the first fitting with Lucy. Adjustments are
made. The workroom assembles the sheared silk trim for the overskirt.
Terry Howley’s hand made cuffs sewn to the gloves and string ties are added to the
necklace the Countess will wear. Human hair Momento Mori earrings from the 1880’s
are used to finish off the accessories .
Lucy is called in for a second fitting to check the alterations. Hair is pinned to
the dress so Joseph can to check proportions. Maggie marks the cape for
length.
Left: Sheared and pinked silk trim is used to control the human hair tresses
and keep them from getting snarled on the over skirt. Right: Crochet hooks
are used to weave the hair in and out of the fabric and stabilize it.
Jesse Trevino, head of Salem’s aging and dyeing department takes the lead and
airbrushes the dress creating shadows that gives it a dark and sinister feeling.
A peplum is added to the overskirt to hide the ends of the hair tresses. Hair is
crocheted into the bodice top and the ends are left as fringe.
Left: Large wefts of hair are sewn under the peplum and woven through the overskirt.
Right: Hair is woven meticulously into a sleeve in the workroom.
Several of Salem’s workroom staff spend hours and hours weaving the back of the
cape and hiding the raw edges. Notice the thickness at the top where Lucy’s own hair
and a partial wig will be woven and blended into the cape.
Day 4: Adam Simon, Salem Producer/Head Writer visits our workroom. After more
airbrushing to darken the garment, hair is sewn to the upper bodice in an organic
pattern. The pace is frantic. Everyone tries to finish the dress for the next morning.
Daniel the Hairstylist brings in more staff to help with the connecting pieces to the wig.
More hair is added to the underskirt after airbrushing the dress another shade
darker. A rosette is made and added to the front bodice closure.
Day 5: Final fitting before going to camera! Daniel Curet supervises his team as he
styles Lucy’s hair and adds the extensions from the cape and sleeves into her
hairline. Wardrobe staff do final tweeks. Lucy studies her lines as Joseph looks on.
Daniel blends the wig pieces into the cape
and assistant designer Betsey Potter adjusts
the rosette closure. Notice the stylized
crimped hair bows on the sleeves and skirt!
Lucy Lawless and Joseph
Porro on set after rehearsal.
The crew and other actors
were amazed at the sight of
this costume. It turned into a
photo frenzy! A thank you to
Lucy, who was truly a good
sport about all the time it
took out of her busy
schedule. The dress was
featured in the season finale
and later displayed at the
FIDM Emmy exhibit in July.