The earliest homemade Halloween costume I can remember wearing is a hand sewn and hand stuffed T-Rex outfit that my Mom made out of an old pair of red pj's. She made a tail out of red material and filled it with stuffing before sewing it onto my pajama bottoms. Then she used more red cloth to sew together a tyrannosaurus head that went over mine. I was able to peer out through the pointy, tooth filled mouth. I remember always bumping into things and people, (sometimes on purpose) my stuffed tail swinging behind me. I think it was that costume that started my love for creating homemade outfits every year. It's just exciting thinking about all of the different ways to create something unique out of items that can be found laying around the house. You can make a great outfit out of practically anything.
Don't believe me? Well here's a list of some of my favorite costumes from my past 20 years of Halloweening, thrown together mostly from things I found around my house (or from cheap items that are easy to buy).
1.) The Robot: This was one of my earliest costumes. I was a shiny metallic robot from the future. I think I even won first place at the school Halloween contest for it.
Materials needed: cardboard box (for the head), toilet paper rolls, flexible plastic tubing, sweatpants (the shiny kind), rubber gloves, can of silver spray paint (cover everything with this it instantly makes you look futuristic).
2.) The Two Headed Monster: This might be my favorite costume ever. For this my best friend and I went to the Salvation Army and found an enormous shirt, two gigantic pairs of pants, and two pairs of large shoes. Then we cut the two pants up and sewed them together to make a three legged bottom. After this we enlarged the neck-hole of the shirt and sewed the middle together. This completed the construction of the costume. My friend and I struggled into the three legged pants, with my left leg and his right leg both stuck into the middle pant-hole. We also had to fit both our feet into one of the huge shoes. After this, we became the two headed, three legged monster.
Materials needed: large shirt, 2 large pairs of pants, 2 large pairs of shoes.
3.) Neo (from the Matrix): This costume is pretty self explanatory (as long as you've seen The Matrix). The Matrix is one of my favorite movies so I was in love with this costume, plus it was very easy to make.
Materials needed: black overcoat (my Mother's but it worked), black boots/shoes, black sweatpants, black shirt, cool looking sunglasses. You don't have to have one but a fake pistol will really tie the outfit together. Then you can have staged gun battles and show off your "Matrix moves."
4) Evil Hag carrying a baby: This is definitely one of my more interesting costumes. For this I had to dress my face up like a baby's, and then I took the head off one of my sister's old baby dolls (it was practically falling off anyways) and I attached the dolls body to my back. I had to make it appear as if my head was attached to the dolls body. Then I hung a creepy, witch mask around my neck so it rested on my chest. After covering the rest of my body in a black cloak (any black or witchy material will do) it appeared that I was a humpbacked with carrying a baby on its back. It sounds a little confusing with out being able to see it, but it was a great costume. Everyone I saw that night did a double take when they first saw me out of confusion.
Materials needed: headless baby doll, some make up, witch mask, black witch-like clothes.
Well that's enough costumes for now, I wouldn't want everyone to take ALL my ideas just yet. If you hang around long enough maybe ill let you in on a few more next Halloween.
Oh man, I wish you would've posted a picture of that last costume. I'm trying to picture it and I can't. The robot one is probably as creative as I could get, although having a beard opens up a whole new world of possibilities. With a few minor changes, like dropping a few pounds or straightening my hair, I could very easily disguise myself as anything from Lincoln, to Manson, to even Jesus, or at least the American version of him.
ReplyDeleteI tried to find an image of that last costume online but I had no luck. Maybe when I go home I'll be able to dig up an old picture.
ReplyDeleteI laughed out loud when I saw Neo as one of your costumes. Looking at it, you make a really good Neo ha!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your descriptive style. I could picture the costumes along with the joy and excitement that goes along with the costuming and Halloween.
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