Nina Dobrev plays Elena Gilbert, Katherine Pierce and Amara all at once. I'm always so amazed at Nina's acting because I forget that it's the same actress because her characters are so wildly different I feel like I'm watching three different people act. If you've seen the show, then you know what I mean. While watching her I just thought how cool it would be to be multiple characters or different versions of the same character. At the same time I thought of one of my favorite Instagram accounts @rachmartino. She does a lot of "cos-play" and graphic design work and one recent post she did was when she recreated Taylor Swift throughout the decades (click here to view). Rachel's post fresh in my mind mixed with my fascination with Nina Dobrev in that moment...something clicked. I want to re-create Nina Dobrev's characters in The Vampire Diaries. She plays like over five different characters and I wanted to be each one. I instantly texted Ana (those of you new here, Ana is my brother's wife, my sister-in-law, finally after a decade of them dating, mother of my soon-to-be niece and one of my best friends. Most people know who she is but given the multiple titles she's had through the years you may start seeing SIL by her name from now on) and told her my idea because 1. I would need her help and 2. This was going to be a project we worked on during our family Thanksgiving trip. Once she was excited about it too, I knew this would be possible once I got organized. So today I'm sharing how I organized this project, the pieces I had to buy and what it took (photography, fashion, beauty and graphic design wise) to make this project come to life.
The Characters
As I mentioned Nina Dobrev plays Elena Gilbert, Katherine Pierce, Amara and Tatia Petrova throughout the TVD series and spin-offs. Elena being her main character the name "The Elena Project" just sort of made sense. There's another character that Nina plays though and that's Vampire Elena. Human Elena and Vampire Elena are two completely different characters (Vampire Elena with her humanity off could be a whole other character of her own, but we'll keep it simple). So I knew that my five characters would include Human Elena, Vampire Elena, Katherine, Amara and Tatia. I made a quick word doc breaking down each character's styles with a few notes and I'm sharing that with you today! It's messy and imperfect and was basically my guidebook on how to style each character.
The Fashion
After I had the characters narrowed down I had to figure out what they all wear. Luckily, a lot of the clothes are pretty "plain" looking. I was actually surprise at how plain, but that made it easier for me so no complaints here. 90% of these items were thrifted. I spent about $60 at the thrift store and everything else I got on Amazon (and yes, after the photos were taken I did in fact return all but one item). Let's break down the fashion per character.
Human Elena; Human Elena had the easiest outfits to put together. I thrifted a basic long sleeve shirt, borrowed a pair of jeans from my mom and borrowed the shoes from my best friend Rocio. Then I purchased Elena's infamous Vervain necklace from Amazon.
Vampire Elena; Vampire Elena's style is a little more "girly" so to say. She's more confident and the seasonal differences in the show starts to show up too. So I took more direction from her college episodes and thrifted a shoulder cut out plain colored flowy shirt and this brown messenger bag. Then from my own closet I wore denim shorts and boots. From Amazon I got Elena's daylight ring and these pair of "ruby" studs from that kit.
Katherine Pierce; Katherine had to be one of my favorite outfits to put together. The girl is all about style and looking good. So for her it was simple, I drew inspiration from the season right before Katherine was a human and went with all black. Luckily I didn't have to buy anything. I borrowed the black crop faux-leather jacket from Ana, the pants, heels and tank top from my mom. From the same set on Amazon I had Katherine's necklace. I don't think this was her daylight necklace, but it was labeled as hers (I think from the last season) so I still paired it with her look. I also paired my favorite Jenny Bird bracelet for this look.
Amara; This was the simplest and yet HARDEST look of all. This dress is so simple and you can even tell the fabric isn't great quality but the color is so specific it made it nearly impossible to find anything like it. However, I thought I would have to PhotoShop a black dress to this fuchsia color, but luckily I found THIS dress at Gabe's for $5 just a few days before the trip. WOW! Talk about freaking luck!
Tatia Petrova; Hands down the most difficult and yet oddly rewarding look to put together. I don't know how cosplayers do it because trying to find specific items–especially for a look as specific as this–is freaking insane. I started to lose eyesight looking at a multitude of dresses online. So let's start with what I thrifted, the belts were the main thing. I thrifted this atrocious brown leather belt with a gold chain for $2, but instead of using the beaded side I flipped it over and used that part as the "fanny pack/side bag" that she has. I bought another belt identically the same color as the first belt to wrap around and let hang down my leg as she has it. I tried to thrift one more time before I had to pull the trigger and purchase the rest of the items, but basically, the dress, snake earrings and leather cuff are all from Amazon. She wears this long sleeve with a long pleated bottom that is the color of denim. Except you can't look up long sleeve denim dress because you'll get a ton of things with buttons and pockets and jean like ridges. I didn't need that. So I looked up blue long sleeve dresses and when I tell you I started to go crosseyed I mean it. Finally I found one that looked very similar to hers and the color wasn't too far off either. Adding the belts and leather pieces, plus a little PhotoShop, I could make it work. Next were her accessories, I already shared the belts, but I also got these silver drop snake earrings (not sure if they're snakes, but they kind of look like that no?) and a leather cuff that go on the edge of her dress. Somehow this outfit came together in just the knick of time and yes I returned most of these items after the photo was taken because when am I ever going to need a leather cuff again?
The Beauty
Asides from the fashion, the beauty was going to be the biggest struggle. I am no Nina Dobrev. No one can be a Nina Dobrev okay. The girl is freaking flawless. So what was the most obvious thing I needed to get? A wig. I'm blonde, she's brunette, we had to find something that worked. The wig is the only thing I did not return because I had to cut it and curl it and do a lot of other things to it I knew I would not be able to give it back after this. So the wig was the biggest investment at $28, not bad if I do say so myself. TVD used hair styles to tell a story and let viewers know which character is which and which decade we are watching. They tried to be slick about it, but if you're a true fan you knew. Human Elena had straight hair but Vampire Elena had curly hair. Katherine also had curly hair but Vampire Elena had a red streak in her hair. The minute Elena turned into a human again it was straight brown hair again. So let's talk about the beauty characteristics for each character.
Human Elena; As I mentioned, straight brown hair and little to no makeup. I mean obviously she wore makeup but Human Elena was in high school and didn't wear a lot of makeup. So yes, the wig and cut it a little bit because it was too long, then kept it straight. She also did this thing with the middle part and her hair tucked under the other hairs. I have no idea what I'm saying but like look at the picture and you'll get it. I wore brown mascara (my personal favorite, but also it looks more natural than black) and a little brown eyeshadow. I also wore a little bit of blush because it's Human Elena she's a alive with color in her cheeks yanno?
Vampire Elena; Vamp Elena kicked it up a notch with the whole "I'm so chill, I'm a vampire and naturally beautiful" vibe. The wig (again) but this time loose curls and that red streak. I bought a pack of 10 (5 of each) pick and red clip in hair pieces for $7. Another item I did not return because how do you return hair for real? Also, we used the pink ones for some of Ana's maternity photos so worth the money IMO. For the makeup we did a winged eyeliner, black mascara and more eyeshadow. I also opted out of the blush and more bronzer because it was "summer time" during those episodes.
Katherine Pierce; Ah, my favorite. I went full vamp-slutty (that's a compliment okay) for this look. The wig again with bigger tighter curls. I needed my head to look smaller so we went really big and really curly with this hair. Then the makeup was black mascara, black winged eyeliner and a smokey eye. Definitely amped up the bronze and highlighter and some red lipstick for this look.
Amara; This look was all about the hair. Amara's been in limbo for a two thousand years so she hasn't exactly seen the grand opening of Sephora okay. I went back to brown mascara and a little brown eyeshadow for her. I did use bronzer to create a "dirty" look almost too. Then the hair was back to straight with lots of braids. We tried very hard to replicate her exact hair style and the last thing to do was make it a little frizzy!
Tatia Petrova; This boss ass bitch had the simplest makeup (even simpler than Amara) and the most complicated hair. I kept the makeup almost identical to Amara except I did no eyeshadow at all. But I did use bronzer again just to look a little "dirty" and like I live in the woods type of thing. Her hair though, where to begin. Lots of braids and lots of teasing. I saved this look for last because of how complicated the hair was and once we were done I realized there was no way I could return this wig, let alone probably ever get those knots out 🤷🏼♀️.
The Poses
Another big part of this project was getting the photos–duh. But it wasn't just about me standing there and I don't have an album cover to replicate, I had to act. Nina is so talented and was able to bring multiple characters to life so I should be able to do it for a photo. I've watched TVD a million times, but this time I really studied each character to see how they move, how they hold their heads up, how they stand. I even practiced my facial expressions and poses in the mirror. That sounds crazy okay, but to me it was fun! I love acting (theatre kid duh) and getting to be Elena/Katherine/Amara/Tatia for a few minutes–even just for a photo–was really fun!
The Photo Shoot
As I mentioned before, I needed help. There was no way I was going to be able to do this on my own, so during our annual Thanksgiving Day trip to North Carolina Ana helped me set all of this up. I was able to get all the characters done in one day but it literally took all of my day! I organized it in terms of hair (whoever had the simplest hair goes first all the way to the most complicated hair style is last). She brought her backdrops that she uses for photos and YouTube videos and we used the white one (to make all the PhotoShop work easier) then we positioned where I should stand and marked it on the floor. That way I was centered in each photograph. Ana helped me take dozens of photos and after looking at them on the computer and after picking my favorite one (yes, just one) from each character I knew the hardest part was up next.
The Graphic Design Work
I told you that this project was going to take a lot of time and effort and that included working on my PhotoShop skills. I never pretend to be better at PhotoShop than I really am. I watch a lot of videos on YouTube and Google how to do things all the time. I knew that this was really going to push my boundaries and take the most of my time. I could have easily reached out to a couple of my graphic designer friends and ask for help, but I really wanted to do this on my own. Even if it wasn't perfect, I wanted it to be my work. So let's break this section down by the things I had to "PhotoShop."
The Fashion Details
For a couple of looks I had to include some minor fashion details to make the pieces really come together. With Tatia's leather accessories. I couldn't find a side bag like this, so I copied hers and put it on my thrifted belt. I also did the same thing with her 3-circled gold broach thing on her dress. This involved a lot of cutting and pasting, and even though it took a lot of time, it was the "easiest" of the PhotoShop stage. Here are the resources I used to complete this step:
1. How To Cut Out An Image YouTube Video
Putting All The Doppelgängers Together
Once I was pleased with each character photo, I had to cut them...well me...out of the white background. Very similar to the step above 👆🏼, but a lot more work. See I had to find out what size the blank canvas should be and I played around with this part a lot. I wanted to fit it all on one Instagram post, but also wanted to do close-ups, like Rachel Martino did in her post (click here for reference). Once I had the sizes right, I cut myself out of each photo (very carefully, this takes time, especially for an amateur on PhotoShop). Then I aligned all my doppelgängers up how I wanted them. This sounds a lot easier than it actually was, but it was hard work and took a lot of my time and quite frankly my patience because it had to be perfect. As I said though, it's not. I know it's not perfect but it's my work. Here are the resources I used for this step:
1. How To Cut Out An Image YouTube Video
2. How To Liquify On PhotoShop YouTube Video
The Finished Product
AHH. I am freaking out over this project results because I've never done anything like it. I've never spent $120 on one project (again, most of this was returned 😉) spent multiple days on one photo or spent that many hours on PhotoShop. But I am overfilled with joy and feeling very, very proud of myself. Even if you're not a fan of Vampire Diaries (which you should be by now) hopefully you can still appreciate how much hard work went into this project. Enjoy!
Everything I Used
Just incase you wanted to know what products I purchased or used during this project I'm linking everything down below!
Elena and Katherine Jewelry Set | Colored Hair Streak Clip-Ins | Faux Leather Leggings (Similar) | Jenny Bird Bracelet | Black Heels (Similar) | Converse Sneakers | White Backdrop | Dark Blue Jeans (Similar) | Nikon Camera | Mini Rubber Bands for Hair | Curling Iron & Hair Straightener | Apple MacBook Pro | Snake Earrings | Leather Cuff | Long Sleeve Blue Dress
xoxo, Michele
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