Costuming for Nerds, Part 2
Mar. 25th, 2016 11:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilIn October of 2002, we had our first Halloween as a married couple. Deciding on our costumes was, of course, a matter of utmost importance. ;) We contemplated using our handmaiden and Maul costumes yet again, but ultimately decided it was time for something new. And since I'd done that fandom two years in a row and he'd done it three, we figured we'd better try a different theme. True, our mutual obsession with Star Wars was basically the thing that brought us together at the start, but there was more to us than that - other geeky fandoms, even!
One of those fandoms was Mystery Science Theatre 3000, which my husband had introduced me to while we were dating. I was delighted to find a show where they did what I'd already been doing for years - talking back to movies and offering wry or goofy commentary. It occurred to Mark that he would enjoy putting together a Torgo costume, as it wouldn't be too tricky to find the requisite components, and his creepy weirdness was a running gag on the show.
If you haven't seen Manos: The Hands of Fate, arguably the worst film ever featured on MST3K, it's hard to convey its sheer awfulness, its beyond-cheap low quality, muddled plot, lousy dialog, loathsome characters...but Torgo is, if nothing else, memorable. His wavery voice, his jerky way of moving, his feeble but grotesque attempts at pawing the unfortunate woman he's taken a liking to, not the mention the bizarre theme that plays every time he walks. His odd knees imply that he's supposed to be some sort of goat-man, but other than that he's just a weirdo human.
So we'd need a brown suit, a hat and padded knees. Not too complicated. But what could I do? We briefly pondered making me a "Master" costume - he's the mustachioed, long-robed devilish villain who commands Torgo - but the robe has a very specific design that I didn't really have the means to create, and in any case I felt kind of tepid about that character. So what about someone else from MST3K's vast library of unsettling, oddball characters? I should mention that at this point I was pregnant with Luke, and far enough along that it would be perfectly visible in the right sort of costume. Knowing this, we realized we could add an extra layer of disturbing to the character of Mr. B Natural.
This one came from the same-titled short film, a glorified advertisement for musical instruments, in which Mr. B inspires a young man to take up trumpet playing with the assurance that it will wildly improve his confidence and popularity. However, one cannot help noticing the obvious fact that Mr. B is played by a woman. Apparently, they were taking the Mary Martin/Peter Pan approach. But it just comes across as unsettling and wrong. If I dressed as Mr. B while pregnant, well, that was just too much fun to resist.
Lacking a sewing machine, I looked for the costume parts at a thrift store. A few lucky finds later, I had a jacket, pants and boots. We also found the suit for Torgo there, and Mark borrowed a hat from his friend. Then it was just a matter of hand-sewing some pieces of felt to make the cap, and cutting out and applying a bunch of musical notes to the clothes.
I wish we'd taken more pictures, but this gives you the general idea. We also made a video of us acting the parts with giddy hamminess, though being from the ancient days of 2002, it's not in digital form. The one downside to wearing costumes from a relatively obscure source is that hardly anyone else appreciated them. However, Mark's old roommate - his friend who lent him the hat without knowing what it was for - recognized us immediately, and his laughter and delight was pretty much enough. It's awfully fun to be part of an in-joke.
One of those fandoms was Mystery Science Theatre 3000, which my husband had introduced me to while we were dating. I was delighted to find a show where they did what I'd already been doing for years - talking back to movies and offering wry or goofy commentary. It occurred to Mark that he would enjoy putting together a Torgo costume, as it wouldn't be too tricky to find the requisite components, and his creepy weirdness was a running gag on the show.
If you haven't seen Manos: The Hands of Fate, arguably the worst film ever featured on MST3K, it's hard to convey its sheer awfulness, its beyond-cheap low quality, muddled plot, lousy dialog, loathsome characters...but Torgo is, if nothing else, memorable. His wavery voice, his jerky way of moving, his feeble but grotesque attempts at pawing the unfortunate woman he's taken a liking to, not the mention the bizarre theme that plays every time he walks. His odd knees imply that he's supposed to be some sort of goat-man, but other than that he's just a weirdo human.
So we'd need a brown suit, a hat and padded knees. Not too complicated. But what could I do? We briefly pondered making me a "Master" costume - he's the mustachioed, long-robed devilish villain who commands Torgo - but the robe has a very specific design that I didn't really have the means to create, and in any case I felt kind of tepid about that character. So what about someone else from MST3K's vast library of unsettling, oddball characters? I should mention that at this point I was pregnant with Luke, and far enough along that it would be perfectly visible in the right sort of costume. Knowing this, we realized we could add an extra layer of disturbing to the character of Mr. B Natural.
This one came from the same-titled short film, a glorified advertisement for musical instruments, in which Mr. B inspires a young man to take up trumpet playing with the assurance that it will wildly improve his confidence and popularity. However, one cannot help noticing the obvious fact that Mr. B is played by a woman. Apparently, they were taking the Mary Martin/Peter Pan approach. But it just comes across as unsettling and wrong. If I dressed as Mr. B while pregnant, well, that was just too much fun to resist.
Lacking a sewing machine, I looked for the costume parts at a thrift store. A few lucky finds later, I had a jacket, pants and boots. We also found the suit for Torgo there, and Mark borrowed a hat from his friend. Then it was just a matter of hand-sewing some pieces of felt to make the cap, and cutting out and applying a bunch of musical notes to the clothes.
I wish we'd taken more pictures, but this gives you the general idea. We also made a video of us acting the parts with giddy hamminess, though being from the ancient days of 2002, it's not in digital form. The one downside to wearing costumes from a relatively obscure source is that hardly anyone else appreciated them. However, Mark's old roommate - his friend who lent him the hat without knowing what it was for - recognized us immediately, and his laughter and delight was pretty much enough. It's awfully fun to be part of an in-joke.
