What comes to your mind when you hear about sergeant pepper jackets? Beatles! The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album was launched back in 1967, where the essence of independence and the standard of creativity was all set to flourish the love for summers.
The idea of putting over those costumes turned amazingly well at that time and they are still counted as an inflated staple. For the album cover, the mop-tops gathered in the military uniform – standing surrounded by the dozens of celebrities of that time including Dr. Livingstons, Dylan Thomas, Allan Poe, Tom Mix, and Fred Astaire.
To pay tribute to the lead stars of the albums and their costumes, they have been recreated widely and worn at special events not only in different countries – but at the film scenes as well. If you like to don a Sergeant Pepper Jacket and flaunt your style the way they did – then you can stitch an outfit for yourself easily. All you need is to read on.
The famous pattern – what you need to know
According to the website ‘The Customer Guide to Movie Costumes’ – you should follow the patterns from McCall’s military uniform 4745 while making the Sergeant Pepper Jacket, but avoid using the center back layer, opening on the skirt from the back, or the central buttons section on the front. The famous jackets remain open from the front center and use hooks to fasten the two parts of the jacket.
The Beatles’ original patterns were bought in 2011 at an auction in London by M. Berman for $5,963. These patterns were made for Paul, John, Ringo, and George (the artists from the band).
The suits containing those patterns were diversified in their appearance – as in if you’re after crafting a Ringo suit then make sure to keep the collars higher – giving it a slightly different look from the rest of the suits.
It also depends on whom you are creating the suit for i.e. for an adult or for a child. To make a costume for the children, the website suggests that you should review the pattern 4944 – which can also be used as a pirate costume because of the high collar sizes.
Fabric and sewing of the costume
You must have seen and may have worn the Satin fabric. It is not something that one can sew and cut easily. You need to be more careful while cutting the Satin fabric as a simple mistake can spoil your fabric. Satin should be clipped gently for marking using the dressmaker’s chalk first before cutting – it is recommended to use chalk instead of marking with a fabric pen as it can bleed and damage the fabric. Use sharp-bladed scissors for a clean and one slide cut.
For the sewing part, use the lightweight needle size to not make big holes. If the lightweight needle still pulls the thread, then opt for a lighter-weight microprint needle. Sew with small stitches to lessen the chances of thread being pulled by the needle. If you’re adding polyester with the Satin Fabric as a liner – sew and stretch the fabric at the same time and make sure that the medium stitch size is being used throughout.
The pants and the sleeves of the uniform have white lines, while the rest of the suit lines are colored as per the jacket’s color.
What accessories would you need?
Customers are more attracted to the accessories that military uniform has – such as medals, stars, and buttons – and they want accuracy in recreating the costume. That is where the skills come in handy as it gets tricky. Ringo’s and John’s buttons have gold-colored tones while George’s and Paul’s were in silver.
Shoulder epaulets, Satin stripes, chevrons, and ribbon trim are some of the necessary accessories you would need to put on the Sergeant Pepper Jackets. As for the medals (can’t get the original ones of course) go for the cheap and the closest replicas available online. But make sure that it is similar to the one worn by George and Paul. But the medals that John wore were borrowed from the mother of Beatles drummer Pete Best. Other than the medals John had daisies on each of his shoulders. If you’re wondering to be like Ringo, the drumhead he wore was designed by the famous Joe Ephgrave, whose replicas are on sale on different websites including Etsy and Amazon.
What options to consider next?
If you don’t want to get into the hustle of making the costume from scratch and doing all the hectic stuff, then many costumes for commercial use are available at different sites and stores. For the Sergeant Pepper costumes, you can get them for as low as $30 or $700 depending on the size, quality, and the place you are buying from. You can always have them for your makeover parties and other character parade parties with all the gears, medals and stuff. Dying your military uniform jacket may not come out well if you want to change yours from Paul’s to George’s because you will be going from darker to a lighter shade and that might ruin everything.
If you want a custom costume, many boutiques offer them for rentals as well. You just have to pay 2=$25 or more per hour. As the guide suggests – you have everything you want – it can be cheap, can be quick, or can be premium – but all three? Probably impossible.
So, what are you planning to wear this time for your next costume party? Would you try sewing and get all that replica stuff or get the ready-made one? Whatever you opt for – it will add style and jazz to your outfit and revive the retro Beatles theme again. Don’t forget to get those big mustaches and long hair wigs with the Sergeant Pepper’s Jackets or with the suit, because without them, you may look like another you – rather than the Retro Beatles Boys!
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I am shocked at the items I overlooked before I read this post. Thanks for the good information.