Costume wedding help, difficulty level medium
January 10, 2019 3:47 PM Subscribe
I just got an invitation to my favorite kind of wedding - two very lovely people who belong together having a fancy costume party. There is an added theme of "birds/space." They have left it open as to whether costumes should involve just birds, just space, or both. This couple never half-asses anything, and I'd like to have a costume worthy of the event.
Right now my brain is kind of stuck on Duck Dodgers, which might be fine, but can you help un-stick my brain with some other possibilities? I prefer not to do a pre-existing pop culture character (like DD) but won't rule it out.
Right now my brain is kind of stuck on Duck Dodgers, which might be fine, but can you help un-stick my brain with some other possibilities? I prefer not to do a pre-existing pop culture character (like DD) but won't rule it out.
Night sky costumes (black or blue clothes, with white or yellow stars...if you want to be extra fancy, the stars are battery-power christmas lights!) are always extra awesome, and a raven mask or black feather collar would match it well just in terms of color scheme.
posted by zinful at 4:02 PM on January 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by zinful at 4:02 PM on January 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Damn, I need cooler friends.
Does "space" have to mean "outer space" or could it mean a space for birds, or a space filled with birds, or the space between birds?
posted by mccxxiii at 4:04 PM on January 10, 2019
Does "space" have to mean "outer space" or could it mean a space for birds, or a space filled with birds, or the space between birds?
posted by mccxxiii at 4:04 PM on January 10, 2019
Best answer: What immediately springs to mind when I think of birds and space is a meteor and dinosaurs.
posted by barchan at 4:07 PM on January 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by barchan at 4:07 PM on January 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
Best answer: I would do something with the Esca from Cat Valente's Space Opera.
They're an alien race described as an ultramarine half flamingo, half angler fish. I feel like a vivid blue dress and a luminous fascinator could be awesome.
posted by the primroses were over at 4:11 PM on January 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
They're an alien race described as an ultramarine half flamingo, half angler fish. I feel like a vivid blue dress and a luminous fascinator could be awesome.
posted by the primroses were over at 4:11 PM on January 10, 2019 [6 favorites]
I don't think I could resist the temptation to have an utterly frothy confection of a hat with flowers and birds, including small birds on flexible transparent struts apparently "hovering" around my hat. Maybe fuchsias on the hat and hummingbirds hovering? And then a leafy, floral motif on the rest of the clothing.
posted by Lexica at 4:13 PM on January 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Lexica at 4:13 PM on January 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
What immediately sprang to mind was to do something like a kind of space-bird, like a rough bird costume (more a suggestion than something exacting), with wings made out of a light, galaxy-patterned fabric. Maybe a dress of fabric feathers?
I am also obsessed with the Angel from the recent revival of Angels in America; that might spark something?
(Ugh, if I was the bride I would definitely have puppeteers working my wings your friends are so cool!)
posted by kalimac at 4:16 PM on January 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
I am also obsessed with the Angel from the recent revival of Angels in America; that might spark something?
(Ugh, if I was the bride I would definitely have puppeteers working my wings your friends are so cool!)
posted by kalimac at 4:16 PM on January 10, 2019 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Or (not to abuse the edit window) maybe choose a bird species you like and come up with an outfit that evokes them? This recent Birdnote episode about hooded Mergansers got me thinking about outfits, although I don't know if I'd want to do the backbend-and-froggy-croak thing for verisimilitude.
Maybe check out Dr. Lisa Buckley's #BirdGlamour hashtag on Twitter?
posted by Lexica at 4:19 PM on January 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
Maybe check out Dr. Lisa Buckley's #BirdGlamour hashtag on Twitter?
posted by Lexica at 4:19 PM on January 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Go as Constantin Brâncuși?
posted by kickingtheground at 4:23 PM on January 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by kickingtheground at 4:23 PM on January 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
Best answer: My mind also went first to Brancusi’s Bird in Space. Can you do an homage with something sleek and columnar?
posted by kittydelsol at 4:37 PM on January 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by kittydelsol at 4:37 PM on January 10, 2019 [7 favorites]
If you type Bird Costume into the search feature on Pinterest there are some wonderful things. I'm on my phone and Pinterest is not letting me link.
posted by BoscosMom at 4:52 PM on January 10, 2019
posted by BoscosMom at 4:52 PM on January 10, 2019
Best answer: I can imagine someone who wears dresses replacing the bodysuit in this Björk swan dress tutorial with something dark enough to be embellished on the back with stars in a Cygnus pattern.
posted by Wobbuffet at 5:15 PM on January 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Wobbuffet at 5:15 PM on January 10, 2019 [4 favorites]
...it is a serious risk. You know, we hit a bird one 114. We also immolated two other birds. We talk about a quarter pound of foam being catastrophic to the vehicle. These are four to six-plus pound birds.
Vultures and space launches discussed here.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:46 PM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Vultures and space launches discussed here.
posted by SaltySalticid at 5:46 PM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
If I really wanted to be a harbinger of doom at someone's wedding, I'd show up in one of these (or similar).
posted by praemunire at 6:54 PM on January 10, 2019
posted by praemunire at 6:54 PM on January 10, 2019
Is there any way to put the Eagle Nebula on a dress, cape, or other custume object?
posted by twoplussix at 7:02 PM on January 10, 2019
posted by twoplussix at 7:02 PM on January 10, 2019
Or at least some combination of colors and LED lights that evokes that famous image?
posted by twoplussix at 7:04 PM on January 10, 2019
posted by twoplussix at 7:04 PM on January 10, 2019
Bird Person from Rick and Morty?
posted by sexyrobot at 7:52 PM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by sexyrobot at 7:52 PM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
Vintage bird and space: Chicken Little, "The Skylab is falling," from 1979
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:58 PM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:58 PM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
There is a Swan constellation. Do you dance? Could you make/borrow a Swan ballet costume and maybe outline the constellation in sequins or rhinestones on the skirt?
Note: If there is alcohol at the party, eschew pointe shoes. You don't want to do the dying swan.
posted by Cranberry at 12:53 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
Note: If there is alcohol at the party, eschew pointe shoes. You don't want to do the dying swan.
posted by Cranberry at 12:53 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
The chicken lady from Kids in the Hall.
posted by Enid Lareg at 5:40 AM on January 11, 2019
posted by Enid Lareg at 5:40 AM on January 11, 2019
I know they're pre-existing pop culture characters, but birds and space just screams for the space cop versions of Hawkman and Hawkwoman/Hawkgirl.
posted by sardonyx at 9:11 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by sardonyx at 9:11 AM on January 11, 2019 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Enormous space wings? The short story "Menace From Earth" takes place on the Moon and a major part of it is the residents flying around in a huge chamber wearing wings. Googling the name brings up a picture. They look pretty spacey even without context.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 3:55 PM on January 10, 2019 [2 favorites]