i have a creative block. help me come up with a costume!

October 9, 2008 9:38 AM

i need help coming up with a unique halloween costume. preferably a character from a movie...

i really would like to be a character from a movie this year. i do not want to be something generic. i am having creative difficulties and would really like some suggestions so i can get to making/assembling a costume that rocks (i will be the host for the party!)

here are some things i have thought of/insight into my thought process:
i have very short hair (a la Jean Seaberg in A Bout de Souffle) and i am quite tall and skinny, so i thought maybe i could be Mia Farrow from Rosemary's Baby. Or even Jean from Breathless.

wigs are fun, too!

any more suggestions are GREATLY appreciated.
i have access to a sewing machine and i have about 50 dollars i am willing to spend to make an AWESOME costume.

posted by slograffiti to clothing, beauty, & fashion (26 comments total)

Have you considered Audrey Hepburn in... any of the movies wherein she has short hair? How about Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction?
posted by alpha_betty at 9:58 AM on October 9, 2008

Hagged-out Kate Moss.
posted by rhizome at 10:04 AM on October 9, 2008

Sounds like you would be a natural for Janet Leigh in Psycho!

Please use chocolate syrup for blood!

You could wear a towel covered with fake blood (with a tube top and shorts on underneath in case anything slips, if you are worried about your hosting duties).
posted by misha at 10:05 AM on October 9, 2008

Also! Columbia from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
posted by alpha_betty at 10:06 AM on October 9, 2008

There's a new Amelia Earhart movie coming out next year. She'll be played by Hillary Swank.
posted by nitsuj at 10:08 AM on October 9, 2008

Hah, speaking of Hilary, how about a zombie Million Dollar Baby?
posted by rhizome at 10:17 AM on October 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

One of my wife's friends once dressed up as "the shower scene" from Psycho. She attached a pole to her back that suspended a hula hoop over her head from which she strung a shower curtain. She would close the curtain, start up a tape with the music playing, and then her husband (playing Norman) would pull the curtain open and go to work on her.

I think it could still be pulled off without the husband, but if you have a partner to work with that'd be better.
posted by bondcliff at 10:17 AM on October 9, 2008

I've always wanted to see someone dress as Ruby Rod from The Fifth Element. I'd imagine it could be done pretty cheaply.
posted by JaredSeth at 10:20 AM on October 9, 2008

Leave it to me to miss the gender (not that I think a female Ruby Rod wouldn't work).
posted by JaredSeth at 10:38 AM on October 9, 2008

Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas?

You have tall and skinny working for you, but a really solid make-up job would make you better than the model for the costume.
posted by milqman at 10:48 AM on October 9, 2008

Cruella De Vil? Fur coat, cigarette holder, get your hair black and white somehow, and carry around a Dalmatian puppy plush toy.
posted by XMLicious at 10:56 AM on October 9, 2008

The Legend of Billie Jean
posted by jammy at 11:05 AM on October 9, 2008

Clearly, no one is paying attention to your stipulation that the character be from a 2008 film. I'm thinking "Sweeney Todd". Helena Bonham Carter's character would make for an awesome costume.
posted by AlliKat75 at 11:18 AM on October 9, 2008

i worded the question oddly. it does not need to be from a movie this year. i meant to say "this year, i would like to be a character from a movie." so much for my english language degree...
posted by slograffiti at 11:23 AM on October 9, 2008

Lola?

Just make sure there's enough room for you to be constantly running.
posted by Lucinda at 12:24 PM on October 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

i am quite tall and skinny

Lara Croft!

FemBot!

Elastigirl!
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:25 PM on October 9, 2008

Okay, you definitely need to do what I did a few years ago:

Get a wig and and a wire hanger and go as Mommie Dearest.
posted by triggerfinger at 12:29 PM on October 9, 2008

Acid Burn from Hackers!
posted by quatsch at 12:31 PM on October 9, 2008

Penny Priddy from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. A fringe dress (I think red, though won't swear to it) and some badly smudged eye makeup would probably be all you'd really need.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:00 PM on October 9, 2008

Not from a movie, but I've always wanted to do this...

Get a simple name tag and write 'Jack' on it.

Get a pot with a small bean plant on it, preferably supported by a few sticks.

Cut out a cartoon style speech bubble and write something on it, then attach it so that it looks like the pant is speaking.

When someone asks you what you are, say "I'm Jack, and the Beans talk".
posted by twirlypen at 3:29 PM on October 9, 2008 [1 favorite]

The Bride from Kill Bill. Have no idea how you'd remake or find the costume. This might be too prosaic.

Seconding Lola, from Run, Lola Run.

Red Sonja? If you were mimicking the film version (with the pre-boobjob Brigitte Neilsen) and dont have zeppelins on your chest -- or for that matter Xena, or Sandahl Bergman as Valeria in Conan.
posted by elendil71 at 4:24 PM on October 9, 2008

Leeloo from the Fifth element? a little white t-shirt, a black belt and boots, tan tights with the seams drawn on in marker, an orange wig and a strappy thingy cut out of some stretchy orange stuff, and you're good to go
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 5:20 PM on October 9, 2008

Tank Girl
David Bowie from Labyrinth
The Jesus from Big Lebowski
Ursa from Superman 2
Amelie
Darryl Hannah from Blade Runner
"Madonna Pap Smear" from Slacker
posted by 23skidoo at 6:37 AM on October 10, 2008

Just popping in to request that you let us know what you choose. Pics of your costume, please!

I don't want this to be deleted, so I will add another answer to my Psycho recommendation and suggest, um...Wednesday from the Addams Family movies!
posted by misha at 10:50 AM on October 10, 2008

Darryl Hannah from Blade Runner
posted by oddman at 2:18 PM on October 12, 2008

psycho it is. the boyfriend is going to be norman. this will be fun!!
posted by slograffiti at 12:37 PM on October 18, 2008 [1 favorite]