How to achieve Calvin's hair with much longer hair

October 25, 2014 1:11 PM

For Halloween this year, my 11 year old son is being Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes. We've sorted out his costume, but I am having a hard time figuring out what to do with his hair. My son's hair, (seen here) is much longer than Calvin's. How can we style his hair, which he has no desire to cut, into a style that still evokes Calvin?
posted by Nimmie Amee to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

Best answer: Would one of these options work?
posted by the twistinside at 1:32 PM on October 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Can he wear Calvin' winter hat?

You could spike a few of his bangs out the front and tuck the rest up under the hat.
posted by The Noble Goofy Elk at 1:33 PM on October 25, 2014 [5 favorites]

Best answer: You can make little "cones" out of handfuls of his hair and spray the ever-loving crap out of them with Aqua Net. It'll stand up pretty high, but for a cartoon character costume, it won't be terrible.

You'll have to wash him like crazy that night, and he'll be sticky, but it should work.
posted by xingcat at 1:34 PM on October 25, 2014

Best answer: Not being any sort of hair stylist, I would definitely make the front part spiky as much as you can (in a Calvin way) and just not worry about the rest (or slick it back as much as you can). As long as it's close enough, it's probably not worth fussing over too much. That's the fun part about Halloween costumes in my opinion -- close enough often works.

Awesome costume idea and good luck.
posted by darksong at 1:35 PM on October 25, 2014

Best answer: A wig?

When I was in my punk rock days I would use plain gelatin and put it in a small amount of boiling water. You can make dangerously hard spikes of hair that just wash out with hot water.
posted by cjorgensen at 1:43 PM on October 25, 2014 [2 favorites]

I think as long as you have the outfit, and Hobbes doll facsimile, people will get it right away as long as the hair is just adequately spiky. Maybe carry around a red wagon to drive it home more.

It's kinda weird how punk a Calvin 'do must look in real life.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 3:53 PM on October 25, 2014

Best answer: Speaking as a former punk rocker: egg whites

How-to:
1. Whip those egg whites. Whip them good.
2. Slap it on yr head and make spiky bits. It will dry and remain that way for hours.

(Easy enough to wash out in the shower later for all you poseurs.)
posted by jammy at 4:12 PM on October 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

I think color is more important for recognition than style, and your kid has that naturally. But really his hair isn't all that long, if you slap high hold mousse on the roots, backcomb it to make it into a huge 80s fluff, hairspray it and then pick out spikes with wax, it'll probably shorten up very fast.

That sounds like a hassle though; since Calvin is a great go-to costume with plenty of easy variations, why not buy a wig and then it'll get reused often?
posted by Mizu at 5:23 PM on October 25, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! He really liked the hat idea.
posted by Nimmie Amee at 6:10 PM on October 25, 2014 [1 favorite]