Feeling in a funny sort of mood this Halloween, I thought I’d do myself up with a sort of vaguely steampunk-Poirot motif, complete with pocket watch, blazer, corset, silver glitter (not showing up well in photos, but getting positively all over myself), ear fobs, and a stick moustache. The Remembrance Day poppy I’m wearing anyway due to time of year, but it seems sort of oddly appropriate in this context, too. That scarlet kimono in the background is also distinctly fitting. If only I had a cool hat…
A word about making the stick moustache (it surely goes without saying that any store-bought moustache would be infinitely inadequate for my purpose). It’s a bamboo skewer with a bit of silver paint, cardboard, and black Velvet Paper. This is a flocked paper that has a fuzzy texture, not unlike the moustaches on the cover of that new little quote book, Little Grey Cells. (I used the same type of paper, in red, to line the little walnut shelf made to house my collection of miniature painted Poirot books.) Velvet Paper has the added advantage of adding a richer color to the project due to its texture, and of course this moustache needed to be as black as possible… and so it is, more so than if ordinary black paper had been used.
If you look closely, you might notice that in spite of best efforts, the moustache is not really 100% perfectly symmetrical. (That ‘Tchah!’ sound you hear is not a sneezing cat, but Poirot in an alternate universe, refusing forever to forgive me for this slight.) I trimmed it and trimmed it with a small, sharp pair of scissors, and it dawned on me… this is why it takes Poirot such a blasted long time in grooming his own. Getting the thing symmetrical is a crazy tricky business!
Seven Storeys High 