Give me some beta!
October 12, 2015 7:45 AM   Subscribe

There's a Halloween-themed bouldering/costume competition coming up, and I need MeFi's costume ideas.

I'm a slim late-twenties white woman. My hair is short, brown, and pretty masculine. Costumes for men or women are both okay.

The event is at the university I work at, so I don't want to go sexy, but tights or exposed shoulders/back like you'd generally see at a climbing gym would be perfectly fine. I'm not a very good boulderer yet, but I want to actually climb while wearing the costume, so nothing too restrictive or pointy. I'd prefer not to buy any costume pieces, but would be willing to buy some new regular clothes/make some stuff out of cardboard and tape/wear makeup.

My current wardrobe skews fairly black and is either stretchy tight technical fabric or loose, gender-neutral natural fibers, so I have a lot of stuff already that could at least be the base of a costume and still climb-in-able. Most of my other clothes are solids of other colors, and I have a couple skirts/dresses I could wear over tights and be okay.

I am willing to do a stupid groaner of a pun costume. Thanks in advance!
posted by hollyholly to Grab Bag (11 answers total)
 
Best answer: You could do Lady Mary Crawley from Downton Abbey - especially season 5 or 6. It's the 20s so very androgynous, loose fitting clothing, short bobbed hair and hats. IMDb has some good photos from this season to give a frame of reference.

You could do Demi Moore from Ghost - and just start talking to empty spaces around you and carry some pottery for effect.

Pin your hair back, throw on a bunch of black eye makeup and go as Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max. Suspenders, white tank, dark pants.
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 8:01 AM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]


How about someone who wouldn't look out of place climbing a mountain, like Lara Croft?

It would also be pretty funny to disguise yourself as the university's actual climbing wall. Put a big sheet of cardboard on your back, painted to match, with (real or fake) climbing holds attached to it.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:05 AM on October 12, 2015 [2 favorites]


You could go as a tiger or leopard. I just made a long, simple vest out of tiger striped material and I'm belting it, made a tail out of same material, painting my face and wearing a hat with ears that I bought on amazon. There are lots of face-painting instructions on Pinterest. (My complication is that I'm wearing it on my scooter for a costumed ride, so I'm just wearing black shirt, jeans, and boots under it, you could substitute your climbing stuff.) But if you don't want to make the vest, there are tons of animal print tops at the thrift stores. Cheetah looks to be much easier to get, fyi. Or black cat would also work.
posted by raisingsand at 8:42 AM on October 12, 2015


Best answer: Be a mountain goat. Off-white sweats, headband with horns, and felt coverings for hoofs on your hands and feet. Plus they can climb like nobody's business.
posted by nat at 9:47 AM on October 12, 2015 [3 favorites]


Or if you like their music, and depending on your haircut, maybe you could be one of this kind of Mountain Goat instead.
posted by nat at 9:48 AM on October 12, 2015


Go as a rock.
posted by Oyéah at 9:49 AM on October 12, 2015


You could be a plant that climbs, like a Climbing Rose, or some sort of Climbing Vine. To add a punny layer to the costume- you could be a climbing Rose Tyler, Ruby Rose, or Rosé (maybe not the best examples of Roses for identifiable costumes, depending on your crowd, but you get the idea). If you're a climbing vine, you could be, you know, a Vine (looping video).
posted by Secretariat at 10:13 AM on October 12, 2015


Response by poster: I am totally going to be a mountain goat, on the dual strengths of cute idea and relation to climbing. (Furiosa was mighty tempting, though.)

Thanks nat!
posted by hollyholly at 11:50 AM on October 12, 2015


Could you get some fake glasses, hot glue a cheap fake wig to the bottom of a plastic flower pot, tie it on as a hat, and go as Hairy Pottery?
Bonus points for a Gryffendor scarf!
posted by antiquated at 1:17 PM on October 12, 2015


Best answer: The best climbing costume I've ever seen was The Man in Black. It sounds like it would work pretty well with your existing wardrobe too. Do you have a big, beefy friend who could go as Fezzik?
posted by natabat at 3:00 PM on October 12, 2015


Pirate. Flexible clothes. Already torn.
posted by jander03 at 12:51 AM on October 13, 2015


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