Evil Circus Roustabout Costume Help

October 24, 2014 1:26 PM

We are going to a Halloween party where the theme is "sinister circus." My husband wants to go as a wicked roustabout. He's all set with a belt full of rope and carabiners, old-fashioned, tattered clothes and oil smudges on his face. He even made up a batch of blue rock candy (which if you're a Breaking Bad fan you'll get.) Problem is...

... how do we identify him as a circus roustabout, and not just any old immoral stage hand? Can you think of any little circus-y touches that might help? Note that we are somewhere between intermediate and advanced sewers and crafters, so if your idea takes a little DIY, that's totally cool! Thanks!

posted by Fenriss to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (12 answers total)

Hat / vest / jacket / patch identifying the circus he works for?
posted by erst at 1:34 PM on October 24, 2014 [2 favorites]

Straw.

And get the swagger right, slouchy, tough, seedy.
posted by sammyo at 1:34 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Maybe just a touch of clown makeup?
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:45 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

You could go as a grown up (down and out?) version of Circus Boy. Or at least the belt buckle and fabric badge on the sleeve.
posted by cabingirl at 1:45 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Sledge hammer?
posted by JimN2TAW at 2:06 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Not so much a sledge hammer as a wooden maul, tho a prop rather than something authentic-ish, as the real ones are heavy - colorfully painted and then scuffed up and/or splattered with blood.
posted by Slap*Happy at 3:11 PM on October 24, 2014 [4 favorites]

Carry a bag of circus peanut candies?

Wear a red and white striped tank peeking out? Sometimes that's enough to suggest Big Top.

Have a roll of tickets?

That's all I've got.
posted by vitabellosi at 3:30 PM on October 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

To those at the party who confuse him for a stagehand: "Wha?? Circuses don't have stage hands. He's obviously a roustabout. Duh."
posted by mudpuppie at 6:06 PM on October 24, 2014

Could he wear an old fashioned name tag with Roustabout and his name? Or Maybe a tattoo with a circus tent or something else circusy and ROUSTABOUT in script around it. I've seen diy instructions for temp tattoos on pinterest...sorry, I'm on my phone so I can't link. Or, if its too cold for a tattoo, he could just scrawl ROUSTABOUT on his forehead...maybe in the blood of his last victim, the one who asked him what he was supposed to be.
posted by BoscosMom at 11:40 PM on October 24, 2014

Make sure his boots and pants legs are covered in a mixture of mud, straw, and less identifiable substances. Stagehands work in relatively dry environments; roustabouts don't.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:31 AM on October 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Stripes.
posted by apostrophe at 11:48 PM on October 25, 2014

I've been giving this some more thought. We're already in the context of a "sinister circus" theme, so we don't have to go all-out with explicit circus details. That said, my mental image of an untrustworthy roustabout goes as follows:

Heavy work boots
Heavyweight work trousers
A (formerly) white undershirt
Old-fashioned, narrow, X-back suspenders, black
A flat cap, black
A wooden maul (preferably a lightweight prop replica)

Grow or paint on several days' worth of stubble. Paint crude tattoos on the exposed arms, chest and neck. Liberally stain all over with grease, sweat and grime, with special attention to mud and straw below the knees, as I mentioned earlier. Optionally add a nasty hand-rolled cigarette.

Et voilà: roustabout.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:10 AM on October 26, 2014