The various things that Jareth does with the crystal balls (rolling them around his arms and in his hands and so forth) are not camera tricks or any other kind of special effect. They are actually done by choreographer Michael Moschen, who is an accomplished juggler. Moschen was actually crouched behind Bowie with his arm(s) replacing Bowie’s. Unlike a typical Muppet performance, however, he had no video screen to view his performance. In other words, his manipulations were performed completely blind.─ IMDB Trivia
DAVID BOWIE as “Jareth, King of The Goblins” in Labyrinth (1986) MICHAEL MOSCHEN ─ Choreographed and performed with crystal balls as David Bowie’s hands
[i started this initially as a warm up painting, a study in lighting and texture, but then it took on a life of it’s own so here is my tribute to king of the goblins]
Happy Birthday to the incomparable David Bowie! David Bowie has always been an inspiration to me and I’m so glad I could honor him through my art. Based on his role as Jareth in Labyrinth from The Jim Henson Company.
Jareth x fem!reader. More of a setup for the second part, which will be explicit. Reader wishes away her college roommate and meets Jareth.
Rating: T
Word Count: 2,900
Warnings: kidnapping, fey shenanigans, unsettling vibes, one dubcon kiss
Normally, you didn’t dream.
You were told it was normal. Most adults stopped having dreams vivid enough to remember after they reached a certain age, usually adolescence. You were probably still dreaming, your therapist had told you when you asked about it, but you didn’t remember them after you woke up. She assured you that it was perfectly normal and that it didn’t mean something was wrong.
It was odd, though - you remembered having incredibly vivid dreams all through your teenage years and into your early 20s. Sometimes, it had felt like living a second life… and then The Incident had happened.
The doctors said it had been a mental break due to an overload of stress, anxiety, fatigue, and poor eating habits. You had been found unresponsive in your dorm room. Not dead, clearly. No, you had been sitting up, breathing easily and fully conscious, but you hadn’t responded to anyone when they spoke to you or asked you questions. You had come out of it without trouble, but it had been enough to cause concerns, especially from Rachel, your roommate at the time.
You hadn’t been close with her before The Incident, but it had been a bonding experience. Afterward, you two were inseparable, and she was still one of your closest friends, long after you had graduated and parted ways.
You were the only one who seemed to know that you two had viciously fought that night. It was over something stupid, something you didn’t even remember anymore. What you did remember is the fiery rage that had risen in you when Rachel had stomped into the bathroom attached to your shared dorm room, slamming the door behind her.
Drawing from your childhood, you had told her in a venomous whisper, “I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!”
I had so much fun with this piece. Labyrinth is my favorite movie, and the songs . Especially “as the world falls down”. It tells of the highs and lows of life and love, and meeting them together.
Sorry I haven’t been posting a lot, an unexpected wedding, summer fun, and a horrible (non-covid) cold have been keeping me on my toes. Hopefully I’ll get back on track, but we’ve got a few other things going on, so I can’t make any promises.
This Jareth the Goblin King’s dark armor has been created in 1:3 scale for a 70cm BJD. I hope the tutorial below is helpful to those who wish to recreate the outfit for their doll or themselves.
PREFACE
When approaching Jareth’s costume design, it’s essential to understand that he is a monster. He steals human infants. He probably eats them too, which should explain all the human bones present in his garment. Also, goblin craftsmanship is not the most elegant, there always will be a degree of crudeness to his look. That said, Jareth is a fey of royal standing, so he will have luxurious elements to his outfit, with especial attention to armor.
REFERENCE
Since in the movie Jareth changes clothes more often than a Bollywood star, I started by choosing the outfit. I’ll admit, I hoped to cheat by using the action figure as a reference, expecting it to be an authentic replica. I was wrong. The figurine, although very well made, has some principal inaccuracies in the design of the chest piece and the cape. Since Jareth’s cuirass is the centerpiece of the outfit, I believe it’s very important not to follow the initially incorrect design of the action figure, like many cosplayers do, but rather refer to the film itself.
The problem is, the scene of Jareth appearing to Sarah in his regal armor is very dark, so the costume is hardly visible even in the HD version of the film. The only other scene displaying this outfit is the “You have 13 Hours…” dialogue before Sarah enters the Labyrinth. The lighting is much better there, but, again, there is no clear full body shot. I was lucky to find some promotional photographs from the press kit which features both characters in focus, with enough details to use for reference.
After examining the reference images, it becomes clear that the diamond-shaped cuirass is worn on top of the leather doublet, the bottom of the doublet showing from underneath the armor. I outlined the armor and mirrored the image to create a template, which I used to figure out the proper size for the doll.
CUIRASS
The cuirass was sculpted out of pewter Sculpey, but any polymer clay will do, because it has to be painted black for the final look anyway. I painted it with acrylics, adding some blue and purple shimmer to the edges for definition. I specifically tried to achieve an organic look and feel to the armor, as if the goblins crafted it out of some monstrous insect shell.
This chest piece is sized to fit a Dollshe DSAM, but it fits a Hound as well.
CLOAK
In the film, the cape consists of two pieces of fabric: the inner shimmery blue material and the outer dark ripped material. For the inner part, I used a royal blue lamé, which I crinkled by hand to add texture. For the outer part, I wanted a fabric with an organic, uneven texture, but I couldn’t find exactly the right kind, so I had to resort to making one myself. I found a triple-layered Italian silk chiffon in warm off-black, where top and bottom layers are hammered, and the middle layer is plain, and carefully cut holes in the top layer, fraying the edges of the holes. Then I applied streaks of metallic cobalt paint, which added color and dimension to already complex texture of the cape.
The shoulder piece and the collar are made of black and dark-brown leather of different textures. To keep the shape of the collar, I inserted a piece of steel wire into a woven ribbon, and glued it to the back of the collar with Aileen’s fabric glue. Same ribbons decorate the front of the collar.
The bones were sculpted out of Sculpey, and gently aged with acrylic paint. Please follow the manufacturer’s instructions when baking your polymer clay!
DOUBLET
The doublet is sewn out of glove-quality leather (a recycled skirt), bottom edge folded and trimmed using Aileen’s fabric glue for structure. The closure is a self-adhesive black Velcro strip. Cuff trim is painted with metallic acrylic.
Theleggings are store-bought, any tight leather-like black pants will do.
Theboots are regular store-bought riding boots with some leather trim I added to replicate the style of Jareth’s boots. With a slight modification, any black boots will do. His are much more elegant, but I’m fine with these boots because they add stability to a doll when standing on his own (also, I was too lazy to make boots from scratch ;) ).
I hope this was helpful, and best of luck with your own project!
“Everything that you wanted I have done. You asked that the child be taken. I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have reordered time. I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you! I am exhausted from living up to your expectations. Isn’t that generous?”
