I've started getting together the components for a costume of Ace, companion to the Seventh Doctor in "Doctor Who."

To be quite honest, this entire project is mainly an excuse for me to make that jacket. I've wanted to make one for myself since I was 12 or so.

Given that I'm a male in my early 30s who is not interested in trying to portray a girl half my age, if I do ever actually use this costume for anything publicly, I shall present a decidedly alternative take on the character. And why not? There are certainly more than enough girl!Doctors running around the "Who" costume scene to balance out the presence of a guy!Ace.

So far I'm mostly sewing patches and collecting badges for the jacket. I'm also replicating many of the costume's rare, out-of-production, and impossible-to-find badges and patches from scratch as a graphic design project. I'll be posting that artwork to the Internet for free, so anyone else who wants to make Ace's jacket can get their own replicas made without spending ridiculous amounts of money and time tracking down rare antiques. More on that project as it develops.

I'll be using the costume journal on this page to, erm, journal the costume. Have a look at that for more details on how I'm going about things. Questions and comments are always welcome!