IM A MUMMY!

October 27, 2006 12:32 PM

I want to be a mummy for Halloween.

Im jumping on the costume posts bandwagon here. Its a pretty classic costume but all examples ive seen dont look like they are held together very well. And where that might be the point for some people, id like to know if anyone has ever been a mummy successfully? Tips? Materials? Adhesives? Im looking for form fitting. Less like toilet paper and more like gauze? Im a short girl who would not mind being swathed in spandex and masking tape if need be. Have you done this before?

posted by c to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (10 answers total)

Gauze is the only way to go, as toilet paper dissolves about 5 minutes after you put it on. Start with white long johns, then get the fattest rolls of guaze you can find, soak them in tea for a few hours to make them dingy, wrap them all over your body (in sections, like lower leg, upper leg, pelvis, chest, etc., to allow for movement and adjustment), tear them or leave bits hanging where necessary for effect, and either wrap up your whole face, or paint it to look dead. Voila!
posted by saladin at 12:39 PM on October 27, 2006 [1 favorite]

You will want to be able to go to the bathroom without unwrapping. I suggest wrapping your material around and onto a tight top and slacks. You can get glue for fabric at an arts and crafts store or use some double sided tape if you don't want to ruin the slacks and top. Careful with gauze as it is quite flammable.
posted by caddis at 12:39 PM on October 27, 2006

When I sewed a mummy-esque costume, we found the best thing that worked was sewing fabric like it had been wrapped - irregularly pleated - to something that already existed (in our case, tear-away gym pants; in yours, maybe leggings and a tight long-sleeved shirt.) You can probably wrap and glue or sew, depending on your skill-set.

Use any loosely woven white or off-white fabric you like, tear into strips, and sew-and-wrap. Give it some slack, though, since if it's form fitting it'll have to stretch a bit and you lose diameter and stretchiness with basic sewing techniques. If you have a machine, long zig-zag is your friend. (If you do it on something looser, like a pair of sweatpants, you'll have less to worry about.)

I do recommend sacrificing the undergarment, because that means it'll stay on better than any temporary fixes.
posted by cobaltnine at 2:31 PM on October 27, 2006

Not for you, but for others who read this: ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE TOILET PAPER. I know of someone (though, hey, maybe urban legend) who did this, walked by a candle, and went up like a match.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 4:55 PM on October 27, 2006

Cheese cloth. You can get yards of it at fabric shops. Call first they run out. You can get that great disintegrating effect with it. Tear it, rip it, wrap it aroud your arms and then push your fingers through it to hold it. Wrap and tuck, wrap and tuck. The more you damage it the better. Just play with it. Let some of it trail. If you want it to look dirty put a little black dye (or anything dirty looking) in a squirt bottle and spray it till you like the way it looks. Get lots, and lots of cheese cloth.
posted by BoscosMom at 6:15 PM on October 27, 2006

The fire danger is real. I know personally, not internet legend, of someone who made a costume using cotton balls (yes, likely much easier to ignite than gauze) and who was seriously burned when it caught fire. It was a nasty lawsuit against the cotton ball manufacturer. Now cotton balls bear a little warning about their flammability.
posted by caddis at 7:01 PM on October 27, 2006

Our very own Astro Zombie has this on his MetaProjects Monsters blog. More of a "make-up" approach than a "wrap" one, but, hey...
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 7:05 PM on October 27, 2006

ditto BoscosMom ... We used cheesecloth torn in strips (tearing gives better ragged edges than cutting), dyed with tea. Wound round and round, stuck on with a gluegun (don't burn yourself)... very mummified and quite horrible.
posted by anadem at 8:08 PM on October 27, 2006

I just realised that I read MeFi in UK English. I was imagining a totally different sort of problem.
posted by Joe in Australia at 2:23 AM on October 30, 2006

This is an excellent mummy costume that you can sew yourself.
posted by KathyK at 6:56 AM on October 23, 2007