The Costumer

Want a popular 2009 Halloween costume but on a tight budget due to the economy? Consider one of the below — 10 hottest (most inexpensive) Halloween costumes of the year.

Links at the beginning go to other entries on this blog and typically instruct you on how to create the costumes or where to buy them.

1) Sookie Stackhouse of HBO’s True Blood. This perky, psychic, vampire-adoring waitress has captivated audiences since the series’ debut last year. As the show gains popularity with its immensely successful viral marketing, so does our take-no-garbage protagonist Sookie. A strong Southern adult, Sookie holds her own in an environment populated by powerful, supernatural beings.

Other True Blood costumes such as Maryann the Maenad and Lafayette Reynolds are pretty popular this year.

Check out my previous blog entry on how to make a vampire costume on a low budget!

2) Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Politicians having two faces…well, that’s been all the rage for a while, and it continues to get worse with the ongoing debates about healthcare. Opt for a more creative/less controversial costume by going with Harvey Dent from Batman. The costume is also inexpensive and easy to sew together using existing clothing.

3) Twilight Costumes. Fans of Bella and Edward? ‘Twilighting’ is very popular this year due to the book series and films. Kelly at Convention Fans alerted me to the fact that Hot Topic is selling Edward Cullen costumes!

4) Ladies and Gentlemen…The Beatles! Their music is re-mastered and they even have their own RockBand game. Now people of all ages want to emulate The Beatles.  While Sgt. Pepper may go “in and out of style,” The Beatles don’t, but they’ve made a particularly strong comeback in 2009.

5) Dysfunctional Celebrities: Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears. The costumes are cheap and easy. Plus, they might look funny on a class clown kinda guy. (more…)

Maybe you’ve seen adult women wearing cat costumes before–cute ears, black leotard, tail…after a while, they all look the same.

One of my favorite costumers took it to the next level. When I first met Grace at a LARP, I noticed that she was not afraid to select makeup or costume-intensive races.

She designed this original costume (left, below) for a LARP. Such a costume is also worthy of other events and celebrations such as Halloween.

I asked Grace some questions about her amazing cat costume and her involvement in LARP (live action role playing).

Q: How did you get the idea for this costume?

A: Over the years I’ve seen the quality of costuming for the LARP community dwindle. I’m originally from Georgia and started LARPing when I was only 16. I wanted to recreate some of the awesome artistic creations that I remembered from my first days of LARPing and to also show people that it was possible with just a little effort to make something that really sets a scene. I’m all about immersion.

Q: How long did it take to make?

A: The Scale breastplate took me about a two weeks, admittedly I didn’t have a job at the time and the scale can be tedious; it takes patience to accomplish.The costume itself was completed in a matter of hours spread over a few weeks to allow for drying and time constraints.

Q: Where did you get the materials?

A: Scale: www.theringlord.com
Bodysuit: amazon.com
Paints: a local arts store
Mask: www.northfur.ca

Q: Did you use any ‘how to’ resources when trying to figure out how to make your vision?

A: I did not. Everything I did I had in my mind and I simply made it look the way I wanted, though I still have few changes that I want to make to my end design.

Q: What’s your favorite part about the costume?

A: I really like what the costume does for me. It allows me to put it on and really feel like my character. As I said previously, I’m really into character immersion. (more…)

It seems to me that men and boys usually harbor a not-so-secret desire to play at being a ninja. Perhaps it’s their stealthy, predatory behavior that’s so appealing, or maybe it’s the mystery behind the mask (or face-covering fabric, as the case may be).

Regardless of the reason, the ninja costume has always been popular at LARPs and during Halloween. Many moms and dads also appreciate the ease of the ninja costume for this reason—during Halloween and other potentially cold times, it’s easy for a child to stay warm in a long-sleeved, pant-length black garment.

For the kid that just can’t let go of his or her costume, some ninja costumes (without the stars, of course) can be comfortable to sleep in after a post-Halloween wash.For safety, all Halloween ninjas should make sure to walk with an adult and wear some sort of reflective material. I know it defeats the ultimate ninja purpose, but it will also help drivers to avoid hitting mini-ninjas!

There is a ninja expert with an online presence. He’s called The Ninja, because ninjas don’t reveal their true identities! He is located at AskANinja.com and has some videos on YouTube. Ninja discussed his ninja disguise in one segment of his “Ask a Ninja” series.

I’m a strong proponent of speaking to the source when it comes to costuming. Ninjas make for fun costuming because of the historical purpose involved with the garb and tools, so be sure to throw in some real research at the library if you have a child interested in being a Ninja for Halloween.

I’ll throw it out there. Call me fat if you want, but I’m a size 10. I’m a bit chubby since I’m short, but not too bad. My point is that I’m a size 10. I’m a bit on the hourglass side, but not enough to be noticed for it. However, due to my dress size and measurements, I’ve discovered one thing when it comes to purchasing pre-made Halloween costumes: I’m a plus.

This strikes me as a bit odd considering I have never been a plus size in anything before–even in juniors sizes, I can sneak into a size 13 or 14 whenever appropriate.  But for most Halloween costumes? I’m a plus!

I’m not the only one discouraged by this sizing issue. GeekDad over at Wired found a major gender discrepancy when he attempted to order some Star Trek uniforms. This is a lot like the issue my friend Katy pointed out to me–remember the Ghostbusters uniforms? Baggy for the men, Slutoween-ready for the ladies?

While I’m pretty sure this represents the ridiculous double standard of the geek community…you know, the one that says guys can be fat lazy bastards who live in their parents’ basements, but all women must look like that Betty Page wannabe on CSI or the chick who gets dumber every season on MythBusters.

I understand what sells. Ridiculous misogynistic movies like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It’s sad that, despite the oddly large proportion of geek men to geek women, there are so many trollish geek guys that fall for this crap. And I don’t just mean troll…I mean so trollish that the cave troll in Lord of hte Rings looks like a hot item.

Perhaps if they’d get their head out of Megan Fox’s cleavage for two seconds, they’d realize that ladies are in fact attainable (though rare) in the geek community.

(I do understand that there are non-stereotypical geek guys out there who may or may not have ridiculous standards. And hey, I married one of the ones that doesn’t!)

That said, there are some fine resources out there for those looking for plus size costume options this Halloween (whether or not you ARE even plus sized to begin with). It’s important to always note the measurements on these costumes rather than just pick your size–as you may have guessed, almost all Halloween costumes run very very small!

Here are some resources: (more…)

Tweet for costumes!

We live in an instant gratification society. Why should getting the costume you want be any different? Several readers have written me in the past few weeks asking for advice on Halloween costumes. While I respond promptly, sometimes advice-seekers don’t wait for a reply due to the lore of instant gratification. Why wait when you can buy it now on eBay?

If you really want Halloween costume advice without buyer’s remorse, look to Twitter. On Twitter, you can find costumes, win contests, and more!

• CostumePop for costume contests
• halloweenstyles for phenomonenal ideas
• VGXPO for a place to wear your costume
• cosplaycostumes …versatile for conventions and Halloween
• CompareCostumes - weigh your options
• DizguiseCostumes for upscale items 
• swcostumes if Star Wars is your thing
• 911costumes for all your Michael Jackson needs (maybe not all…)
• And, as always: @irishtara to follow The Costumer

Still looking for an inexpensive Halloween costume? If you’re low on money but have a fair amount of time and creativity, Harvey Dent/Two-Face is an excellent costume idea. Even if others don’t know about Two-Face (i.e., they were under a rock when Dark Knight came out), the costume is still an awesome effect. This is also a great idea if you are looking for a group costume idea and want to go as characters from Batman.

Here are the necessary elements:

Double-sided clothing. Acquire two used or unwanted suits–they should look strikingly different. Cut everything down the middle to split in half, then sew together. Guys should pay careful attention to the crotch of the pants for comfortability. I recommend using pants a size too big to make sure there’s enough space after you sew the pants together. Be sure to include a tie. A dress shirt is pretty easy to make–sew the shirts together at the back. Make sure you include one shirt with buttons and one with button holes so you do not have to worry about sewing the front together. Shoes and socks are simple. Try wearing one black dress shoe and another brown. Coordinate socks to match. (more…)

Han Solo–he’s sexy and he makes the ladies swoon. Plus, he’s sarcastic and great with a blaster rifle. If you’re a guy looking for an inexpensive, easy costume (or if you’re just looking to get laid), consider being Star Wars sensation Han Solo (played by Harrison Ford). This is also a great costume idea if your female partner wants to go as Princess Leia. This is a no-hassle costume.

Han is not only a heartthrob,  he’s also very practical. His outfit consists of:

• Black boots
• Black pants
• 70s style cream colored shirt (second hand stores usually carry these en masse)
• Simple black vest
• Attache belt and weapons holster, complete with blaster rifle (more…)

The Beatles are still immensely popular, and this year they are making a comeback (as though their popularity ever went away). With the release of their digitally remastered complete collection and Beatles Rock Band (I am taking the day off of work to play it), fans are certainly planning their Beatles Halloween costumes.

Check out the links below for some looks to suit any Beatles era!

Lafayette Reynolds is stylish, flamboyant, and emotional. In True Blood, he has a sensitively dark aura which only adds to the intrigue of his background and future.

Lafayette’s wardrobe is extremely important. While we all dress according to our moods, Lafayette is very expressive. After difficult and dark events, he tends to wear black. When in a carefree mood, he is seen wearing tie dye.

To dress as Lafayette for Halloween (or perhaps a character party), consider being part of a True Blood costume group for full effect.

Here’s how to rock the costume: (more…)

Maenads have become a hot topic in the world of costume and mythology thanks to the appearance of one on the HBO series True Blood. (Check out Merry Meet if you want to know more about maenads.)

Mythological costumes are always fun because they are based on old/legendary descriptions and images, allowing freedom for the costumer’s imagination.

The Traditional Maenad

Mythological maenads are female followers of Dionysus. They enjoy nature and are characterized by a vine-covered wooden stick known as a thrysus. To dress as a maenad of mythology, consider the following costume elements:

• Greek toga-style garment (tied securely for modesty)
• Thrysus constructed of a smoothed stick. Wrap with fake vines from a craft store and use a hot glue gun to attach a pine cone.
• Tousled hair
• Bottle of wine (non-alcoholic option: apple or grape juice in a wine bottle)
• Leafy crown
• Crude looking (fake) exotic animal skins or pelts

Maryann Forrester - True Blood’s Maenad (more…)

Ghostbusters Halloween costumes–sounds like a great idea, right? They even have separate costumes for men and women. As a female, I love that idea–store-bought men’s costumes never seem to fit properly, so it’s usually beneficial to have another option.

As a child of the 80s, I love the Ghostbusters. It sparked my early (if comedic) interest in the paranormal which is now socially acceptable enough to mention on a public forum.

Furthermore, what a great group and/or couples costume this would be! The Ghostbusters always go out in a team, so it would work well. I’m sure you could conjure up a Slimer costume for any accompanying children, as well.

After thinking this idea was great, I checked out the costumes:

(more…)