The Santa Portrait

Happy Boxing Day to you all!

It takes quite a bit of work to transform into a jolly old man each Christmas season. Preparations take place throughout the year to make those few weeks very magical. Today, I've already washed and put away my yak beard sets and wigs, tidied up the closet, and removed the fur from my suit because it's time to wash everything!

Since 2019, before I pack everything away, I try to take an "official" portrait for the season. This can take place before, or after that year's season depending on when I have time to set up lights, a backdrop, and get all dressed up. I seem to have more time BEFORE the season, and so many of my portraits represent what I looked like the PRIOR season, and not the current one.

I was inspired, in style, by the victorian era portraits and those shown at the beginning of the film "Arthur Christmas." In this post I will share with you my journey to FINALLY getting a portrait in the style I've always wanted.

Some examples shown in the film "Arthur Christmas"

My First Year

The "first" portrait in 2016

Though not aimed to be an "official portrait," this photo from October 24th 2016 attempts to capture my idea, at the time, of who Santa was. 2016 marked my first season, and I had much to learn. I didn't want to start off with an awful beard, so I found ActOneCostumes.net and got a mustache from them and a human hair & synthetic blend lace backed white "Duck Dynasty" beard from eBay.

I wore costume glasses and a suit from Amazon. I couldn't afford anything grander than that. I ended up bleaching my hair and eyebrows as I also didn't have a wig to match.

My Second Year

I thought I had mastered the slightly curled look of Santa from The Polar Express animated film. I really liked the mustache style and had no intentions of changing that. a photographer and I began working together and we needed some promotional photos so she took some of me. I had found zennioptical.com and gotten a perscription pair of glasses that were quite "Santa-ish." The bleaching of my hair and eyebrows continued. This year I had real boots and a leather belt, but still a suit from Amazon.

Though not an "official portrait," the promo photos from November 22, 2017 provide the insight of what Santa Claus was starting to become in my eyes.

At the end of this season, I decided I needed to alter what I could fat-suit wise to make the suits fit me a bit better. The trousers and sleeves of the suits never got any longer, just wider, with the increase of sizes. This created a "stooped" appearance of my Santa portrayal because standing up straight would untuck the trousers from my boots/socks. I also decided to change my mustache.

My Third Year

Here I am on December 3, 2028 with my son, Wesley.

Though no "official portrait" exists of this year (and I've searched high and low for something of good quality), I did change out the mustache for a more comfortable style and only bleached the tips of my eyebrows that year (the last year I would bleach my eyebrows). I also moved the belt loops from the sides of the suit to be located on either side of the buckle.

I also wore a long-sleeved red shirt to cover my wrists and disguise how short the sleeves were on my arms. More seriously than ever before, I started closing in on fabric swatches for both fur and red fabric as I had plans to make suits the following year that would fit my body and fat suit much better.

I had also learned about keeping a beard together with hairspray towards the end of my previous season. This helped the whiskers not appear stringy or have a lot of parts in it.

My Fourth Year

2019 Portrait

2019 marked my first "official portrait," which I took in June after I ordered and styled a yak wig to match my beard. I had recently received a vest (which I bartered a logo design for) from Angie Landerman (yes, I designed the logo for Angie's Originals), and wanted to show it off. Having recently washed my beard, I hadn't put any curls in it, and rather preferred a "clean" and "bushy" look.

Having bleached my hair for the previous 3 seasons, I knew how to use blue/purple shampoo and care for hair. Now having a yak wig I was able to put these principles into practice.

This would be my final year wearing a human hair beard/stache, full-time, my first year wearing only clothes of my design, and my final year (to date) of being Santa Claus in Idaho. It was rather hard visiting everyone and knowing I wouldn't be seeing them the next season.

This was the final season of using my sleigh (we had to demolish it the following year before the move to Texas) This season was a large landmark, so I have included a few photos to show how my image of Santa Claus changed.

My Fifth Year

Knowing we would be moving to Texas, I still prepared in the off season. Good thing too. COVID-19 happened and I was able to devote more time to styling, learning more about video work and photography, and teaching others too.

See the shortfilm about my 2020 portrait here.

Having finally gotten a buckle I enjoyed, a larger leather belt, a suit of my own design, and a yak set I had restyled to fit my own needs, I really wanted a portrait that I could hang in my home.

Creating Something like this took a while. Just a week before COVID-19 hit I took this portrait. I had used the "oil paint" filter on my previous portrait to make it look less like a photograph and more like a painting. AI wasn't a thing yet, so all the touch-ups had to be done by me after I got a decent image in-camera.

For most of these photos I'm having to set a timer and pose, or use my hand and a camera remote to press the shutter button. There's nothing worse than thinking you got the shot (video or photo) and getting undressed to edit only to realize something was out of focus. Knowing I would also be in the heat, I wouldn't be able to comfortably wear a traditional suit. I had started sewing a Cola suit the previous year, and would have it finished by the upcoming season for the video visits I'd be doing. During the pandemic, and after the move to Texas, I undertook a personal project to make more videos about Santa for the YouTube channel. This year also marked the first (hopefully not the only) "Santa's Christmas Special." I was able to showcase my video skills and hopefully provide something for those who couldn't afford a fancy video call to watch online for free.

My Sixth Year

The Cola suit worked well, and now having done plenty of video work (still hot as the AC can't be running when you're using audio). I started developing a greater sense of awareness and how to apply my yak set. Mustaches weren't 2 dimensional any more. I learned how to curl the beard better and tame the wig.

2021 Portrait

I undertook a project this year to craft photos/portraits that represented my further developing image of Santa Claus. Though I didn't sit for one as my "official" portrait. I did take several headshots after doing a video or two, which I used on GigSalad.

I learned more about video work, lighting, and taught others how to do the same. I have included a few of the photos/portraits I created during 2021 below. This was the year I moved away from wearing perscription glasses, got some antique ones I found on Etsy, and got contacts.

My Seventh Year

2022 Portrait

2022 marked getting a full-time job as the pandemic winded down, much family hardship, and less time to create. I had plans to attend School of Santas and present, but was unable to. Instead I created a very long video "About Christmas" which contained what I would have loved to share in person.

My "official portrait" was taken in my new Santa's Tailor suit while filming a portion of that video. As you can see, not much care was given to lighting, camera placement/height. I think the styling of the yak set was left over from the previous season and I just threw it on out of the box.

Perhaps someday I'll make it to School of Santas and be honoured to present in person. I'll be sure to look a bit better than this photo, for sure! That coming December I did very few Santa Claus events, but I began to style and use some of the "backup" yak sets I'd purchased/been gifted from two years before.

My Eighth Year

I undertook making more episodes for The Santa Claus Workshop that summer and revisited my love for filmmaking and creating in general. On Christmas Day, I got dressed up as Santa and took my "official portrait" for 2023. This would be the last photo I took wearing this suit, as it just wasn't my style and seemed to swamp me. It is now in the possession of another Santa who will put many miles onto it. Even though I had invested quite a lot of money into this suit, I never felt like it was made for my body. It never fit right.

2023 Portrait

Using the same background from 2019 to try and get that "parchment-looking" background and using my photoshop skills to clean up the straggly hairs and improve the lighting a bit, I found this portrait to be one my best works (even if I don't like the suit).

I really like how the beard and mustache looked this season, but it was hard to keep together due to all the curls. I determined to return back to the Cola suit I had sewn, work on the fat suit some more, and develop the beard look.

I'm not the tallest guy, and making a fat suit and styling a beard that doesn't dwarf me has always been a challenge. Santa is supposed to be big. If I were to stuff myself to fit a regular sized Santa suit from a reputable retailer, my body would look just fine, but my head would look very small indeed (like a cherry on top of a giant pile of ice cream). A benefit of wearing a wig is that it also disguises how thing of a neck I have.

My Ninth Year

I decided to do something different for my portrait in 2024. A new background, with specifically layered lights and a Christmas tree, would be featured. I had used the remaining fabric from my Cola suit years ago to make another coat with my (current) favourite faux fur.

2024 Portrait

I was astonished how much the price of buttons had gone up from before the pandemic. I think I spent more on the buttons than I did on the fabric to make this coat! If anyone knows of a good velveteen distributor, I'm looking for one that does a deeper red than cherry red (my fabric distributor only offers a lighter and brighter red now).

I returned to my 3-inch wide belt with a smaller buckle from Etsy (all part of returning to a good-looking ratio for someone of my small height).

I added a holly pin to my hat which I made using a safety pin, hot glue gun, and a holly wreath pick from Hobby Lobby. Since I was a child I've loved holly and a little bit of green seems to go well with the trim.

This season, as this portrait was taken on Oct 23, 2024, I learned more about styling and recreating the lovely curls I'd had back in 2021. I started wearing my lighter beard model so I wasn't burning up, and my new fat suit design seemed to fit much better. I hope to top the look I had this season someday.

This is what I ended up looking like at the end of the season (left). This is from my busiest Saturday of 5 gigs performed at, over 300 miles driven, and over 15 hours of wearing the set.

I also ordered two mustaches and two sets of eyebrows from ZMHair on swiss film lace so that children wouldn't be able to see the lacing as easily.

The eyebrows came out very good, though after washing them styling has become a bit difficult. The mustaches were terrific and I ended up only using one after I washed, blued, and styled it (pictured). I will have to devote more time in the future to figuring out "mustachery" and what are the best sizes and shapes for my own face.

Though the season was warm, I was able to learn a lot about adhesive, styling, and how a proper fitting coat can help boost a performer's looks and confidence.

My Tenth Year

This year has been very long and much has happened in my professional and personal life which has prevented me from having adequate space to take photos/make videos. I was worried yesterday how on earth would I be able to take a portrait and if setting up all the kit before I cleaned and tidied up for the year would be worth it.

2025

I started out this year with a few new belt buckles and a hat designed to mimic Scott Calvin's in The Santa Claus. I've come to the conclusion that the hat style isn't currently for me with my beard and stache style, and that a four inch belt is perhaps a bit too wide for what I have currently going on. I'm playing around with the wig some more as it seems to have a mind of its own again.

Something I also attempted to alter this year was getting a pair of boots which would fit me BUT make my feet look fatter than they actually are. Unfortunately that endeavor didn't pan out well so I'll be selling those boots. I ended up wearing my smaller "combat" style Santa boots. This was due to comfort. They have lovely insoles and are easy on the shins when driving in the "stop-and-go" traffic of Houston. I also have been wearing wrist bells for the past few years and those are great EXCEPT when driving. They drive me mad, so they are the first thing to come off (but they're GREAT for when you're around kids or they're coming down the hallway and want to know who the "special visitor" is who is waiting for them).

For the majority of the season, I reverted to my original-style Cola hat and my new, much smaller, buckle inspired (to the size and style) of the one worn in The Santa Claus films. I much prefer this look and I am only holding onto my wider belts and buckles on a "just in case" basis.

So what about the portrait for this year? As a creator I am very much against AI replacing artistic talents. In my case the only person I'd ever hired to create a portrait of me was... well me. So as both the client and customer, I took a photo of myself and with some prompts arrived at a LOVELY version of a victorian-esque portrait of Santa which is very VERY clearly me. AI took as many liberties as a painter would do and I didn't have to bother the painter with rounds of revisions or a creative brief. For self use, I believe this is an appropriate project to use AI on. None of my advertisements will feature this portrait, and I won't be using it for my logo (which is an ACTUAL picture of me with a lot of photoshop effort to make it look like a painting).

I have ordered a canvas and frame for it, I'm looking forward to adding another portrait to the wall, and this one in the same style of the portraits from "Arthur Christmas" that inspired this whole journey.

As in all things, Happy Holidays. I hope you each take photos of your own progress each year and find happiness looking back on where you were and what you'd like to keep on doing and improving upon.

Yours as always,

Santa Stuart