Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with costume

How can I make space suits for a low-budget film?

thesmallmachine — Tue, 07 May 2013 22:05:08 -0800

I have signed on to provide costumes for a microbudget film. I've done this before, but all I did was thrifting and light modification; this time, we need space suits. It's far-future sci-fi, set on a gritty rebel ship. We need five suits -- three with a patchy, clunky, much-used look, two more with a sleeker futuristic one. There's no way to re-use the suits across characters, as both of these groups of characters appear onscreen together.

I am the only person they can find -- the local film community is not large -- but this is far beyond my powers. I can do a craft I'm taught, but I've never made anything on this scale before, and I am not a designer. I can sew, minimally, with help.

I'm looking for advice on materials and techniques I could use to make the suits. My feeling is that, between my technical skills and our budget (not finalized, but assumed to be as low as it can possibly be), what we'll want to do is modify existing items -- but I need to think much further outside the box than "motorcycle gear painted silver," since the things need to stand up to much more than a Halloween level of scrutiny.

Halloween Questions are less boring in April, right?

Juliet Banana — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:11:07 -0800

I am going to a "Halloween" party in a couple weeks. I own this nurse dress and this nurse cap. In them I look like a realistic, traditional, matronly nurse. I would like to look like a ______, ______, and/or _______ nurse. How do I weird this costume up? It's in a DIY space / gallery and will likely be attended by artists, promoters, drag queens, hipsters, art school students, tumblr celebrities, queerz, club kids, and other assorted riff raff. Not exactly some sort of James St. James underground orgy of in-over-our-heads hedonism, but not a fancy dress party in someone's living room, either.

I am extremely broke right now, but can afford/borrow/mop basic craft supplies. I have a friend who can do basic alterations for me. The dress is a little big/loose on me.

I'm not interested in a cliche; "Sexy Nurse" or "Zombie Nurse" is out. I need an idea like Civil War Nurse, or School Nurse at Satan's School for Girls, and ideas for how I'd pull that off. My current best idea of "Nurse Ratchet" (a play on the modern slang definition of ratchet and the character Nurse Ratched), bedecked in neon fishnet and mile long fake nails, but I am a little uncomfortable with it due to the weird racial overtones.

I'm a petite Latina who wears glasses (I have black catseye glasses that work for vintage looks plus a million other colorful pairs of oversized Ray Ban knockoffs). I have zero shyness about my body (and this is one one of those safe-for-all-gender-expressions kind of parties, not some gross Spring Break mess where I'm going to get groped by bros) so the "No Sexy Nurse" ban is about avoiding lameness, not preserving modesty. My personal wardrobe is generally either "hyperactive supergirly girl hopped up on candy and Sailor Moon" or "crusty bike punk soaked in black metal occultism and genderqueer androgyny."

Favorite fairy tales - steampunk costume insppiration

needlegrrl — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 14:53:36 -0800

So the local steampunk group is having a fairy tale steampunk event this fall, and I'm super excited. I used to read all the color title fairy tale books when I was younger, but it's been a while. What fairy tales would you recommend for me to read, for costume inspiration? I'd love to do a matched male and female costume, but I'm open to either/or, as well. They're calling it the Grimm Gear Gala, but if you have non-Grimm fairy tales, that's also good.

The steampunk costumes I see seem to mostly be white European based (okay, Victorian England), but I love the idea of other cultures & steampunk, so if you have a good fairy tale that is from another culture, that's also good.

I can sew, up to and including making my own corset, so the options are open - I do not need to find a pre-bought outfit for this. (also why I'd like to start early!)

Need help figuring out a steampunk-y-ish sorta costume thing.

shiu mai baby — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 18:36:13 -0800

I am not at all into the steampunk scene. But for the fun of it, I'm going to this in a couple of months. A friend of mine has been to it regularly, and has persuaded me to join her for the evening. So I need to figure out a costume. I'd like to keep total spend under $100-$150, if at all possible. Here are the important things about me:

1. I'm a girl. Terrific rack, but kind of a rectangle overall. So I usually go for stuff that defines my waist, and definitely prefer open-necked, v-necked tops. In other words, a giant NO to turtle necks or crew necks.
2. Dress size is between 18 and a 22, depending on manufacturer.
3. I'm ok with heels, better if they're boots.
4. I'm fairly comfortable with my body, so moderately saucy is fine, but skanky / trashy / trying too hard is not.
5. Fairly pale complexion, dark hair, medium length, blue-green eyes.
6. I live in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. Going down to Philadelphia is fine; I may be going to NY in a month, so that might be doable for resources as well.

There are some lovely things and a specific section over at Hips And Curves, but I feel like everything is mostly for behind-closed-doors adventures or gorgeous but expensive steel-boned corsets. I get the general feel of steampunk, but the thought of doing it up, and doing it well so I don't look like a complete n00b, is a bit overwhelming, especially since I need larger sizes. Style me, Metafilter!

Biff’s green tracksuit.

Start with Dessert — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 21:44:41 -0800

I'm looking for Biff Tannen’s green Adidas tracksuit. So my brother has red hair and will often set this image of Biff as his facebook profile picture. His wife hates it but I thought I would try to make his dream a reality!

More higher quality pics:1 2

I don't have a problem finding green vintage Adidas tracksuits but often don’t have the right hue of green and never have the white bar across the chest. Unfortunately, as I'm in New Zealand, the likelihood of finding one in a thrift store here is very slim and I've had no luck so far. Online searching has similarly been futile. Help!

Honey, You Look Cold

DWRoelands — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 05:44:30 -0800

I'm years late to the party but I have just started playing Dragon Age: Origins. I am having a problem with Morrigan. She's too damn naked. I've been playing video games a long time and have encountered quite a lot of stupid gratuitous T&A. However, Morrigan's costume is SO stupid and SO gratuitous that it's actually distracting. I'm all into the story and the dialog and then Morrigan appears and I'm cringing. I'm sure that I will find better armor for her at some point. I would like to be able to get to that point without having my enjoyment of the story ruined.

My question: Is there a mod for Dragon Age:Origins that will change Morrigan's default costume to something more modest?

While a larger conversation about the sad state of female characters in video games would be interesting, it's not specifically relevant to my question. :) Thanks!

Help me find this officer's uniform from the 1955 movie "French Cancan"?

steinwald — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 07:18:41 -0800

There's a character in the 1955 movie "French Cancan" who wears a very fancy uniform. He wears a light blue double-breasted jacket with white braid and bright red pants with stripes on the sides. I think it is some kind of old fashioned military dress uniform. You can see the outfit 0.26 seconds into the trailer (warning:there are 26 seconds of cancan dancing first). My question is: (1) What sort of uniform was this? Or is it just a costume they made up for the movie? (2) Where/how could a modern person most affordably get a similar outfit of sufficiently good quality to wear around town at fancy occasions that are not Halloween?

Help me get started with costuming!

gchucky — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:05:50 -0800

I know nothing about costuming or sewing, and I don't have a lot of space to do it. Help me get set up and learning how to put together basic clothing/costumes in my apartment! Backstory: my girlfriend has a LOTR dress that she and her mother made when the first movies came out, and she wanted to dress up for The Hobbit as well. I don't have a costume to match hers, and for all my searches, I couldn't find anyone selling anything. I'd like to have something for next year.

So basically it seems like knowing how to put together a costume would be a good skill to have, and one that I could put to use fairly easily. I've tried to piece some knowledge together about patterns and all that, but it's all fairly overwhelming and I don't really have a place to start. Do I need a sewing machine, and if so, which one? I'd rather not burn through a bunch of cash right off the bat. How do I learn technique? What are the best places to get fabric? What if we want to make something that doesn't have a pattern? Where do you even start with that sort of thing? All those sorts of questions.

Compounded with this is that we live in a relatively small apartment. I've seen pictures of people with rooms filled with sewing equipment, and we just don't have space for that. Does anyone have advice on how to sew/assemble clothing in small spaces?

And if there really is no point to this and it would just be easier to hire someone to put a piece of clothing together, is there a reliable directory of seamstresses or something?

PS, apologies if this post is all over the place.

Theory of style

Jason and Laszlo — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:31:32 -0800

Seeking scholarly and otherwise fascinating essays on costume history, especially ideas that made you re-think your understanding of fashion design, department store display, shopping, tailoring, the representation of clothes in history painting, material culture, theory of style, couture, etc I have access to JStor, NY Times archive, and New Yorker archive. Online articles and essays preferred over books. Thanks!

We three costumes

Acheman — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 12:24:05 -0800

Please give me ideas for a fancy dress costume for 3 adults. A 60-year-old (but look/act decades younger) couple and their late-20s child. They need to be WARM as they will be worn outdoors on New Year's Eve in a Cornish seaside town, but it also needs to be possible to eat a restaurant meal in them. Me and my mum and dad need costumes for New Years Eve, as we will be in a town where pretty much if you are out of doors on NYE, you are in fancy dress. Last year we went in full 18th century clothes and wigs rented from a theatrical costumier, but this year my dad says he doesn't want to have to drive the costumes back to the rental place (I can't drive, so only he or my mum could return them). We are in nicely descending heights, so I wanted us to be Gandalf, Aragorn and Frodo, but it's looking increasingly unlikely we will be able to assemble anything that complicated this year, and my 5'1" mother is concerned about wearing short trousers/hobbit feet in the cold. She wants us to be the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but we are having trouble convincing my dad to be the wardrobe, and it is difficult to see how a wardrobe sits down in a fancy restaurant and eats dinner. Please suggest alternative fun trio costume ideas. Note: I will be dressing as a male or neuter thing unless the costume idea requiring otherwise is utterly mindblowingly fucking brilliant. So probably assume I will be a male or neuter thing.

Dress me up for the end of the world!

superlibby — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 08:46:00 -0800

Help me dress like the end of the world! This weekend, a friend is hosting an end of the world party. We are encouraged to dress up as something related to the end of the world -- e.g. apocalyptic events, survivalists, etc. I need a witty costume that's pretty easy (<2 hours) and inexpensive (<$15) to make by this Saturday. Comfortable is crucial, too. Please, Metafilter, help me celebrate the end of the world in style.

Sweet and Sour Couture

dinosaurprincess — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 06:30:43 -0800

How do I dress up as a Chinese Takeaway? I have this halloween party coming up where I have been given the costume chinese takeaway!! I am already chinese (conveniently) but what should my costume consist of? A box? Some chopsticks? HELPPP!!

Pale red head seeks halloween costume ideas...

two lights above the sea — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 17:50:12 -0800

I'm tall, thin, pale, and short dark red hair. I have a great wardrobe and a floor-length black hooded cape. What can I be for Halloween? V1.36(million) with some limitations... I can't do any heavy full-face makeup due to time constraints. Heavy eye makeup is fine, but that's it really. Props are an issue as well because of time (i.e. no time to grab them), and I can't carry a ton of stuff with me as my day is packed (class, work, then class again and then RIGHT to the party). I can drop things off though, so I wouldn't say I'm limited to carrying NOTHING. I've already thought of Columbia from RHPS, but I don't have time to grab the hat or find shorts that work. :(

I think that's it. Again, I have a pretty great wardrobe, but I just can't think of much right now. I need ideas, STAT! (My original Halloween costume failed at the last minute... I swear I'm not just being lazy here!)

What costume can I base around white super-high-heel boots?

sixswitch — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:20:36 -0800

I'm looking for Halloween costume ideas (for a man) based around an awesome pair of white, patent leather, lace-up, knee-high boots with about a seven-inch heel. Thought of this but Emma Frost is already not a super-well-known character, so I feel like it'll fall flat. But that's the vibe: cross-dressy / gender-bent or straight-boy-drag, rather than full drag.

Costume ideas for the creatively challenged

missix — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:07:57 -0800

It's been over a decade since I had to dress up for Halloween and I am not very creative. Is there anything I can reasonably do using this flowy green 1930's style dress? It's very form fitting up top and loose and layered on the bottom. My criteria are:

1. Not tacky or offensive (ghoulish/gory is OK!)

2. Obvious or simple enough to be explained to strangers at parties/bars, if they ask.

3. Not necessary, but if there's a way to incorporate some kind of jacket or long sleeves, that would be awesome because I do not live in warm climate.

The best I can think of is "socialite", which seems kind of vague and bland. Any ideas?

Help Me Become The Cat Lady from the Uncanny Valley

aecorwin — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:34:01 -0800

Halloween CostumeFilter: My idea this year is to dress up as a literal incarnation of a Cat Lady: e.g., regular human clothing in conjunction with as hyper-realistic a cat head/mask as I can come up with. Difficulty: must be finished by this coming Wednesday morning so I can wear it to work! Now, I fully realize I may have bitten off more than I'm actually capable of chewing here, and if it turns out this just isn't going to work...well, there's always next year.

That aside, I'm still up for attempting to meet the challenge of actually producing something usable within the next 2 days. Problem is that I've been able to find precious little in the way of online tutorials geared toward the creation of realistic cat masks.

I don't want some flimsy paper thing, nor do I want something large, cartoonish, and mascot-y. I want something that looks like an actual (domestic) cat head, but for whatever reason, this seems to be very tricky to find.

I'm going to mess around a bit more tonight with cardboard, tape, papier-mache, fake fur, and leather, but it'd be awesome to not have to reinvent the (cat-shaped) wheel at the last minute. So if anyone has links to step-by-step "how to make your head look like a cat head" instructions, prefereably with photos, that'd be awesome. I can't imagine I am actually the first person to want to do this, but my search-fu is failing.

As far as tools and materials go: I already have the aforementioned papier-mache, fake fur, cardboard, etc., at home, in addition to a sewing machine, various types of glue/adhesives, various paper scraps in varying colors/weights, etc. I am also willing/able to purchase additional materals and components as long as I can buy them locally, as there's really no time to wait for stuff to ship. Thanks!

Baron Samedi and Maman Brigitte. Yea or Nay?

Urban Winter — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 08:49:43 -0800

My friend says my Halloween idea might be racist. This took me completely by surprise. I was skeptical, but after stewing over it I'm now looking for a second opinion. I don't have much money to spend on a costume this year, and when that happens I go for a character dressed in formal wear (because I don't get to wear my formal-best often enough). This year, I am in possession of a walking stick with three stacked skulls on top, and have a black tailcoat. My plan is to do Baron Samedi, and ask the woman I've been seeing (who is black) if she wants to do Maman Brigitte.

However, one of my friends suggested that this (me playing the Baron) might be racist/possibly blackface/otherwise offensive (though the Maman costume was fine). It had never occurred to me that that might be the case; I'm not trying to hide my (super-white, Scandinavian ancestry) skin color. I'd be applying some black and white paint exclusively to the front "plane" of my face to achieve the skull look. Black hair dye might be included (mostly to match the rest of the stark black/white costume; my hair is light brown, some have said blonde) - or I might do white hair if I can pull it off.

So, is this potentially offensive? Like I said, I never thought of it before, but now that it's been mentioned I'm slightly concerned. My intent certainly isn't to attempt blackface or anything like that. I think the Baron/Maman concept would be a very cool set of costumes, not like the usual cutesy "couples" costumes.

Putting this into human relations since it's not a search for advice on how to do a costume/what to do, but rather whether it would be questionable or acceptable.

what do you call 2 girls in prom dresses and pumpkin-heads?

andreapandrea — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:34:27 -0800

halloween question: we're 2 ladies wearing these ridiculous orange sparkly pouffy prom dresses, and we're thinking of putting pumpkins on our heads. what clever thing could we be? how could we make our costumes super awesome? we're thinking "pump-queens" or something. can you be more creative than that? something clever or punny would be fantastic! thank you!

Who's got two thumbs and separates the heavens from the earth? This sky!

psoas — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 06:55:51 -0800

Piggybacking off this question, my original Halloween costume idea fell through BUT I just obtained some cloud pajamas and I'm trying to think of a way to build a costume around them. I'm a grown-ass man. Ideas? The only thing I could think of, and I'd rather not go this route, was Ally McBeal.

(Also could do "the sky," but I'm not sure what would make that apparent. Maybe a hat that looks like the sun?)

Wabbit Twacks

to sir with millipedes — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:19:43 -0800

I need an Elmer Fudd hat for a halloween costume. Where can I find something like this in New York? I have been shocked by how many hats show up in google image searches that look absolutely nothing like Elmer Fudd's. It seems like you have to be Bill Murray to get a legit looking Elmer Fudd hat.

The closes I've found has been this hat on eBay, but since we're short on time, I'm hoping to find a hat like this in New York City. Any ideas?

Ladies need male or androgynous costumes to look hot in

jetsetlag — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:07:54 -0800

Gender bending costume ideas for a formal-ish occasion for two ladies: one on the tallish and thinnish side, one on the shortish and curvyish. Parameters:
- Costumes do not need to match or be part of a duo, we'd like ideas for each of us!
- Would prefer to be comfortable so nothing too unwieldy, bulky, or constricting, no props.
- It's a somewhat dressy occasion so lumberjacks and such are out.
- More important to look attractive than to pass as male - we'd rather look like women in men's clothing than obscure our figures too much or glue on facial hair.
- Would also prefer archetypes rather than recognizable pop culture characters.

Thank you!

what are good halloween costumes for black vinyl catsuits?

lia — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 08:47:26 -0800

i have a black vinyl catsuit (from when i was the baroness a few halloweens ago) that i'd like to use in this year's costume, except that i don't know what this year's costume is going to be yet, and i'm trying not to be lazy and just do the baroness again. please hope me, ask metafilter! n.b. comic book, tv, and movie characters preferred. i have long, black hair but am not opposed to wearing a wig. i'd rather not irrevocably alter the catsuit so i can use it again at some point, but i'd consider it for the right costume.

Incorporating a Red Union Suit into Fancy Dress!

_superconductor — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 04:40:04 -0800

Costume ideas revolving around a red union suit? Hey Mefites,
So I was recently gifted an oversized red cotton onesie, but have never had any opportunity to put it to use until this Halloween.
I would really love for this onesie to be the key part of my costume, but am having trouble coming up with ideas since I'm currently living in the UK, and dressing up like a moonshiner or prospector isn't easily recognizable.
Could anyone think of any costume ideas involving this thing?

Snowflake details:

- I'm a gangly, masculine-presenting queer lady, with short dark hair and freckles.
- My past Halloween costumes have been: Log Lady, a Mormon missionary, and this Otto Dix painting.
- Any topical/dark humor references to pop culture or art history would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks so much everyone, and Happy Halloween!

What are the must-hit events for a San Francisco Halloween?

anonymisc — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 15:26:12 -0800

Please help us experience an American-style Halloween in the San Francisco Bay Area (ages 20s-30s). For us I think this means finding the most highly recommend of: 1). A big event crammed with people in their best arty / sexy outfits (like SEAF Seduction, or Decompression if it were reinvented as a Halloween event), 2) An amazing haunted house, 3) Maybe a corn maze or similar? What are your strongest recommendations? For the costume event, I'm looking for the sort of thing that while not mainstream, is still big (ie much bigger than a nightclub, multiple dance areas, hopefully including a broad range of music (not just a repetitive beat that assumes you're on E)), everyone in amazing costumes, plenty of sexy, plenty of effort, lots of happy.

I don't really know what to look for (or where) in haunted houses, so I'm hoping for some recommendations!

Any other "must" events? Or locally-famous annual things?

(For all events, northern San Francisco (or Marin) would be better than south San Francisco or San Mateo, but if it's amazing enough, we can probably find a way there.)

Thank you all!

How to look like something you can't see?

pompelmo — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:45:19 -0800

How do I dress as a black hole for Halloween? My plan is to wear all black clothing, and maybe black face paint. Can you think of any other cues to indicate that I'm a black hole (besides a "Hello My Name Is ... Black Hole" sticker?). Thanks!