Boing Boing » costume

Luminous retro Cyberpunk costume

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 20:54:14 +0000

In the Boing Boing Flickr pool, Melissa Li shares some wonderful photo documentation of a cool costume she developed in multiple editions, over a period of years. Above, "Cyberpunk 2.0," the 2012 build:

Costume is an original design inspired by the 'cyberpunk'/fantasy genre work of artists including Masumune Shirow, Eric Canete, Joe Benitez, and various modern gaming concept art. The process was a lot of fun and took approximately 3 months of on-and-off planning and building. The assembly is made from over 60 parts designed in Solidworks and sewn/cut/glued/laser-cut/heat-formed using various techniques.
The costume includes color changing LEDs on the spine and front that are controlled by an Arduino microcontroller and onboard RGB controllers (respectively), and is powered by 16 AA batteries, 1 LiPo rechargeable battery, two 2032 coin cells, and one 9-volt battery. In total there's more than 70 LED's on the entire costume and over 60 parts.

And below, the 1.0 version she created for DragonCon 2011:

Design was based on actual spinal transverse sections and lit with ~40 LED's. Design and assembly of smaller accessory pieces for shoulders, chest, and arm were found pieces or designed in Solidworks. In total, ~46 pieces put together over a period of ~2 months.

Photo by Anna Fisher

Realistic Roswell space alien autopsy tableau

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:59:14 +0000

John Whalen says, "My brother, Dan, cooked up this little quasi-historical tableau for his wife, Rose, in San Francisco."

Sexy Hamburger Costume

David Pescovitz — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 19:23:00 +0000

It's $40 at Yandy. (Thanks, Jess Hemerly!)

Frankenthulu mask

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:48:32 +0000

~AfterlightRob's Frankenthulu mask makes me yearn for a whole series of Famous Monsters of Filmland/Cthulhu mask-mashups -- the mummy, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon... The same artist has a sweet Nosferatu mask.

Frankenthulhu mask (via JWZ)

Crocheted cyclops

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:01:04 +0000

Crochet costumer Veronica Knight has topped herself with this crocheted cyclops outfit. This puts the Z in ZOMG.

Crocheted Cyclops Costume

Crocheted Vulcan ears

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:48:26 +0000

Croshame's just posted a pattern for making your own crocheted Spock ears, which are both logical and very toasty-warm.

Well, Christmas has come and gone and you’ve already gotten all the fancy stun guns and tricorders and communicators your heart could desire, so why not try out some of that fabulous Star Trek fashion sense with my pattern for crocheted Spock Ears?

Wishing you a Very Logical New Year (via Craft)

HOWTO make a gory, exposed brain cap

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:58:21 +0000

Hallowe'en has come and gone, but it's always the right time for hats that make you look like your skull has been removed, exposing your brain!

It's best to study pictures of the human brain before tackling this project in order to best mimic the brain's convolution patterns when caulking the cap.
Weighing a little less than a pound and a half, this costume is still lighter than most professional bicycle and motorcycle helmets. Use a cap without an adjuster to ensure a perfect fit.

Project: Gory Brain Cap

Tesla coil hat: "a really bad idea"

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:06:33 +0000

MIT student Tyler Christensen created a musical Tesla coil hat for his Hallowe'en costume (it played the Mortal Kombat theme and the Harry Potter theme while discharging semi-tame lightning). While freely stipulating that this is "a really bad idea," Tyler is still generous enough to document his project for others who might follow in his bad footsteps.

Really, it’s just a DRSSTC. Nothing less, nothing more, nothing fancy. It was a bit tricky to make a bridge appropriately sized, and even harder to make a boost converter for it. In fact, the boost never truly worked. If I play a mid to high note for a few seconds, the boost can’t keep up and it fades away. I think this is due to saturation of my boost core, but I haven’t really taken the time to do much on this since now I’m back in the gate driver world and also have to throw together my 6.131 power electronics final project. I’ll fix hatcoil in February.

Hat Coil (via Engadget)

Green army man costume

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 05:33:33 +0000

Harrison Jones created this fabulous green army man costume (which included a coating of green latex paint on his skin, yowch, suffer for your art!), and worked a full shift at a grocery store while so attired:

Harrison started by picking out the perfect green tarp, then taking it to the hardware store and having them color match a quart of semi-gloss interior latex paint. He then painted the air soft helmet, boots, and gun with several coats of the green paint. Next, he cut out cardboard in an oval shape, painted it green, and used duct tape in a loop to stick to his boots.
As for the uniform, he picked out a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of pants he was willing to sacrifice, and cut them both along the seams. Harrison then spread the chopped shirt and pants out on the tarp, pinned them to the tarp, and cut around the fabric, leaving about a half inch of extra tarp (the sleeves were done separately). He used duct tape to “sew” the tarp back together, leaving half of the tape’s sticky side exposed and putting it on the inside of the seam, and then connecting the matching part of the tarp, adjusting to the right fit.

Rad Green Army Man Costume

Artoo Tutu: a droidy ballerina

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 06:12:18 +0000

Flickr user Leeloo's "Artoo Tutu" costume may be the single cutest thing I've seen this Hallowe'en.

Artoo Tutu (via Neatorama)

Adorable Minecraft creeper and candy

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:53:04 +0000

Brand sez, "My little girl (age 8) put together her costume this year based on her favorite video game creature: the Minecraft Creeper. I've seen a few creepers this year, but none as good as hers."

Sad Creeper has a candies (Thanks, Brand!)

Princess Vader: the cute is strong in this one

Cory Doctorow — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:30:20 +0000

Redditor JonXP made this wicked "Princess Vader" costume at his five year old daughter's request: "I painted the helmet, and sewed the cape (my first sewing project ever). It was fun to put together."

My 5yo daughter wanted to be a Princess Darth Vader for Halloween. So proud. (imgur.com)

HOWTO make a Frankenstein hat

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:57:46 +0000

Delia Creates made this awesome kids' Frankenstein's monster hat for her son, Owen. She started with an off the peg Frankenstein suit and then modded for great excellence.

(via Craftzine)

Hey Frankie! [deliacreates.blogspot.com]

Cute cosplay wings

Cory Doctorow — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 21:29:05 +0000

Seen at New York Comic-Con, which I'm presently attending: Yaya Han's hand-cut foam cosplay wings, which come in a variety of styles, including devil, fairy, angel, cherub and steampunk. They're darned cute, and I bought a set of batwing devil versions for my daughter.

Yaya's Original Cosplay Accessories [yayahan.bigcartel.com]

Head-sewn-on necklace

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:02:03 +0000

Etsy seller WeirdlyCute (an apt name!) makes these "Zombie Stitch" necklaces that make it appear that your head has been sewn on. Alice and I went as Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein last year, and this would have made a dandy addition to my Sugru neck-bolts.

(via Neatorama)

Halloween Zombie Stitch Necklace in All Sewn Up - Weirdly Cute Halloween Jewelry [etsy.com]

Old Superhero costumes

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:00:48 +0000

This small gallery of "original" superhero costumes have a nice tactility to them, looking like they've been crafted from naturally occurring fibers, a far cry from the seamless, shiny lycra aesthetic of contemporary superhero getups.

Original Superhero Costumes, 1960s / 1970s [howtobearetronaut.com]

Epic family zombie-slaying portrait shoot

Cory Doctorow — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:12:53 +0000

A crafty family decided to do a series of portraits while dressed in improvised body-armor from a notional post-zombpocalyptic world. I love this little girl's zombie-hunting outfit!

When your dear significant other asks you for a family portrait that includes Post Apocalypse zombie slaying, well of course you just smile, nod, and say yes!
ChainCrafts got lucky, his wife requested exactly that for her birthday. Jumping at the opportunity, he used his crafty skills to create armor for his family from upcycled hubcaps, railroad crossing sign, soda tabs, strips of stainless steel, various bits of sports equipment, jump rings, and aluminum from duct parts.

(via Craft)

(Photo: BAKAN photography)

Post Apocalypse Zombie Slaying Family Portrait [craftster.org]

Eyeliner skull transformation for Hallowe'en

Cory Doctorow — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:10:48 +0000

Redditor Fakeproject shows off his annual Hallowe'en costume, a skull drawn on with eyeliner -- bald guys get all the fun on Hallowe'en!

Let's share Halloween costumes. Every year, I draw a skull on my face with eyeliner pencil. (imgur.com)

(via Super Punch)

One-legged woman's Hallowe'en costume

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:20:24 +0000

An unnamed one-legged woman conceived of this terrific Christmas Story lamp costume for Hallowe'en.

My friend only has 1 leg. This is her Halloween costume. (a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net) [reddit.com]

Pac-Man ghost dresses

Cory Doctorow — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:15:55 +0000

Etsy seller Boobercakes made these Pac Man ghost Hallowe'en dresses (though, honestly, I don't understand why you couldn't wear them to the office or out at the shops). She'll make 'em to order, and do kids' sizes, too.

(via Craft)

Pacman Ghost Halloween Costume [etsy.com]

HOWTO be desaturated

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:09:45 +0000

From BrodyQat, whose infamous desaturated Santa outfit made her the toast of the Internet, advice on how to make yourself a monochrome costume:

You have to think in shades of gray, not black & white. And all your grays need to complement each other, which is freaking HARD. There’s blue-grays, red-grays, etc. Find neutral ones, use mainly those and accent with black & white. (Wearing all black & white is not the same as looking desaturated).
Once you’ve matched all your grays for your outfit, you then need to match a skin-tone gray body paint. By ‘skin tone’ I mean it looks like your particular shade of skin tone, but gray. I recommend only Kryolan brand aquacolor body paint, they have lots of shades and coverage is amazing. Match colors in person if you’re lucky enough to have a vendor near you. I wouldn’t chance it looking at shades online, honestly.
Line your eyes top and bottom with dark gray eyeliner BEFORE you paint your face & exposed skinparts. Then shade back in your eyebrows so you don’t look like Amanda Palmer before she breaks out the eyebrow Sharpie.

(via Super Punch)

(Image: Ben Zero)

It’s not easy being desaturated. [brodyqat.wordpress.com]

Facehugger-inspired leather mask

Cory Doctorow — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:07:17 +0000

From Ukrainian steampunk/fetish mask maker Bob Baset, the Hugger Head mask, "Slightly reinterpreted Giger monster. It now manages the object. Or maybe it’s a happy symbiosis?"

Hugger head Leather Mask

Creepy "goth mask" for Hallowe'en

Cory Doctorow — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:11:21 +0000

If there was ever a mask made to be worn by a creepy serial killer, it's Hallowe'en 31's grotendous "Goth Mask 4."

Goth Face Mask 4 (via JWZ)

UK Storm Trooper armourer can go on selling his gear; Brit copyright on Star Wars costumes has lapsed

Cory Doctorow — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 10:39:01 +0000

Andrew Ainsworth is a Londoner who designed the original Storm Trooper helmets for George Lucas's Star Wars. Ainsworth has been casting new armour from his original moulds for the past eight years, selling them to fans at up to £1,800 a throw. Lucas sued Ainsworth in a US court, which held that he had violated Lucas's copyright; but because Ainsworth has no US assets, Lucas had to bring suit in the UK to collect. However, UK law affords only limited copyright to costumes, and the UK Supreme Court held that costumes are not sculptures, and only get a 15 year term of copyright in the UK, meaning that Storm Trooper armour is now in the public domain in Britain. The court also found that Ainsworth had violated US copyright.

Mr Ainsworth sells his Stormtrooper costumes for up to £1,800
A prop designer who made the original Stormtrooper helmets for Star Wars has won his battle with director George Lucas over his right to sell replicas.
Andrew Ainsworth, 62, of south London, successfully argued the costumes were functional not artistic works, and so not subject to full copyright laws.

George Lucas loses Stormtrooper battle at Supreme Court (Thanks, @erichhugo!)