Costuming for Nerds, Part 20
Nov. 7th, 2022 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilHey! It's time for that once-a-year feature, wherein I elaborate upon our family's Halloween costumes. Is anyone surprised that we went Big again this year? Our daughter is -- eep! -- a senior in high school, and so we let her choose the theme.
We had long wanted to attempt costumes from the 90s cartoon Gargoyles, and with Emma's decision we went ahead and made it happen. Sometimes the components require lots of DIY and sometimes they cost a lot. This was....both.
Ryan was a little less than enthusiastic about doing a full, elaborate Gargoyle costume, so we suggested Puck, the mischievous imp who plays a twisty role in the series. It was a fairly simple matter of visiting a thrift store and modifying two t-shirts with some cutting and some trimming. Plus, the pointy ears.
Luke also needs simple costumes, for his and our sanity, so we went with Macbeth. Yes, that Macbeth. Except he's quite a different character on the show. Anyway, he wears a long coat with dark clothes and has a beard. We already owned all of those components.
(We told him to shake his fist angrily)
That was all taken care of in the last week before Halloween. We had spent more than a month planning the harder costumes. Body suits would definitely be easier than body paint, so we bought those online, plus some wigs, horns and some tiny little wimpy dragon wings. After a trip to the fabric store, I sewed much bigger wings atop the originals, so we could still have the nifty full-wingspan effect by pulling the strings. It involved a whole lot of hand-stitching, but I think it paid off. I also sewed tails and fastened them to the body suits with snaps, and put together the simple loincloth/dresses. I used gold construction paper to make the bracelets and crown. Top it off with makeup for the face, and here we have the finished products:
Demona, one of the all-time greatest villains ever created. Seriously, she's complex and tragic and terrifying.
Goliath and his long-lost daughter Angela. And yes, you can guess who her mother is, Goliath's estranged "angel of the night."
You can find pictures of the original characters pretty easily with an image search. Our costumes were pretty reasonable facsimiles, all things considered. Those few people who knew the show recognized us immediately, and everyone else was still impressed. That's all I need to consider it a success.
We had long wanted to attempt costumes from the 90s cartoon Gargoyles, and with Emma's decision we went ahead and made it happen. Sometimes the components require lots of DIY and sometimes they cost a lot. This was....both.
Ryan was a little less than enthusiastic about doing a full, elaborate Gargoyle costume, so we suggested Puck, the mischievous imp who plays a twisty role in the series. It was a fairly simple matter of visiting a thrift store and modifying two t-shirts with some cutting and some trimming. Plus, the pointy ears.
Luke also needs simple costumes, for his and our sanity, so we went with Macbeth. Yes, that Macbeth. Except he's quite a different character on the show. Anyway, he wears a long coat with dark clothes and has a beard. We already owned all of those components.
(We told him to shake his fist angrily)
That was all taken care of in the last week before Halloween. We had spent more than a month planning the harder costumes. Body suits would definitely be easier than body paint, so we bought those online, plus some wigs, horns and some tiny little wimpy dragon wings. After a trip to the fabric store, I sewed much bigger wings atop the originals, so we could still have the nifty full-wingspan effect by pulling the strings. It involved a whole lot of hand-stitching, but I think it paid off. I also sewed tails and fastened them to the body suits with snaps, and put together the simple loincloth/dresses. I used gold construction paper to make the bracelets and crown. Top it off with makeup for the face, and here we have the finished products:
Demona, one of the all-time greatest villains ever created. Seriously, she's complex and tragic and terrifying.
Goliath and his long-lost daughter Angela. And yes, you can guess who her mother is, Goliath's estranged "angel of the night."
You can find pictures of the original characters pretty easily with an image search. Our costumes were pretty reasonable facsimiles, all things considered. Those few people who knew the show recognized us immediately, and everyone else was still impressed. That's all I need to consider it a success.
