How To - Dress As A Vulcan from Star Trek.

Qa'pla!

Wait... wrong costume...

Greetings.

Step 1: Background
You'll need to know at least some background on Star Trek and Vulcans in particular. I suppose you don't need to achieve Kolinahr, but knowing that Vulcan's are actually violent and emotionally turmoiled as a species before Surak managed to get them to become cold-hearted green-blooded hobgoblins is basic knowledge.

Oh yeah, and make sure you read up on pon farr - you'll be getting that joke quite often if you're dressed as a Vulcan female. ;)

Step 2: The Hand Sign Thing
You DO NOT shake people's hands as a Vulcan. Remember that Vulcans are touch telepaths - so touching a human with an untrained mind is an unpleasant experience. You need to do that hand sign thing (like the pic above). Practice it as much as possible. It's all about the interossei!

If you can't do it... you should really reconsider doing a Romulan instead... Then again, there's that whole thing about ch'Rihan to read - maybe not the best idea...

Step 3: Eyebrows

After a layer of liquid foundation, I use a mix of Benefit's Erase Paste and Boi-Ing to conceal the outer  eyebrows. I then use Benefit's Brow-Zings to draw the upswept eyebrows, using the hard-angle brush to outline it first.

The rules I use:

1. The eyebrow continues at the same angle after the arch (which is the highest part of the eyebrow)
2. The thickness of the drawn eyebrow becomes gradually narrower (for that elegant look)
3. At the end of the eyebrow, I make the angle a bit more vertical, so that the eyebrows are not a straight line, but appear upswept at the end (look at the pic, it's seen in the right eyebrow)

Of course, I suppose that there is a role for using a gluestick first if your brows are really thick, but I don't cause mine are rather sparse.

Step 4: Ears

I use Rubie's Co. Spock Ears which are dirt cheap. It's supposed to to fit kids to adults, so I suppose that it may not fit a fully grown caucasian man. My Asian ears aren't that large, so they fit nicely. Even without adhesive, they don't fall off - but if you are going to a convention, better to put some adhesive like tape or It Stays just to be sure.

The colour doesn't match but I've heard of people using make-up to blend it in a bit more. I'll be doing that when I use these ears for a convention or something, but not now because the make-up will likely not stay on the ears and will probably rub off everywhere.

Step 5: Uniform

The uniform is the standard Rubie's Co. Uhura Uniform which I have previously reviewed on Amazon. You can likely make your own uniform, but the big selling point here is that the recurring patterned texture on the uniform fabric actually consists of Starfleet chevrons!

Be warned, the dress is a 'bag-dress', which means that there is no elastic and no zip - which means that the narrowest part (the waist) needs to be wide enough to fit through your body's widest part (shoulders / chest). That being said, the dress has a flattering cut (from the front) and can probably be modified with some elastic to nip in the waist at the back - haven't tried that yet though.

Then again, I supposed you could always try the life support belt! :D

One more thing. The dress if friggin' short. If you want to sit, you'd better be careful. :P

Step 5: Boots

I bought a pair of Pleasers to go with the outfit. The problem with being male (among other things) is that the typical male foot is larger and longer than the typical female foot. Thus, I need a women's size 11 - which is not carried by many other brands. (On a side note, I think I own about 5 pairs of Pleaser shoes...)

Being tall for an Asian - I'm 5'7" - adding the extra 4" heels seem like a bad idea. But here's the catch - when you wear heels, the foot becomes visually shorter because it is at an angle and looks more petite, as opposed to wearing shoes with zero heels. So pon farr me if I'm taller than Spock - it looks better in a photograph. :)

Step 6: Attitude

Remember that you're supposed to be a Starfleet officer - so you need to be ready to do some action shots, preferably with a phaser set to stun. Only then will you be stunning. Stun. Stunning. Get it?

Sigh...

As somebody once commented, "How cool can you be with a tricorder?"

That being said, better to work on some stances and looks so that you know that you are not exposing your undies (pic above, right) in your action shots. :P (It's a pair of boyshorts, by the way!)

Here's one thing that Vulcans don't do. They don't smile. They do not express emotion. It looks terrible. Like a Romulan holding a disruptor to your head.

Unless, of course, you're Spock in "The Cage". (A glass of Saurian Brandy for whoever understands this!)

And be careful if you decide to try to do any form of benediction while dressed as a Vulcam female. You may be sending the wrong signals...

The End