I found a couple lists of terrible costumes from the 1970’s and ’80s. You’ll probably have to be 35+ years old to remember these characters. Apparently you can still find this stuff on Ebay.
The list was started by retroCRUSH, and KinderTrauma followed with a list of their own. Check out their websites, they are hilarious!
Harry Potter characters continue to be a very popular choice this Halloween. But for people who want their costume to be extra awesome, I’ve found this tutorial on Instructables about how to make a wand that lights up at the tip! Everyone else with their plain-old-boring wands will be totally jealous!
The basic premise is that you build a wand with a LED in the tip, and a simple circuit connecting it to a battery and a switch. You can turn the light on and off whenever you need to–but be sure to say the spells Lumos and Nox when you do it! It’s simple and brilliant.
Today, ThatCostumeGirl sends a costume shout-out to…ME!! How cool! She knows I’m a big fan of The Greatest American Hero and The Middleman. How very thoughtful of her.
ThatCostumeGirl has several posts about her recent experiences at Dragon*Con. I especially enjoyed her Favorite Awards, where she lists and discusses the best costumes in a variety of categories.
She also added 300 photos of Dragon*Con 2008 to her Photo Gallery, be sure to check ‘em out!
Have you heard of the Wolfpack Elite? When it comes to costumes, conventions and cosplay, these guys are the best of the best. When they say Elite, they aren’t joking.
They are well known for throwing big costume parties at every major comic/sci fi convention in America, “because there’s nothing like throwing back a few shots with Batman on one side and a storm trooper on the other.”
Heh, I like the sound of that!
You can literally spend countless hours on their website, browsing through the photo gallery and forum. The forum is especially helpful for sharing ideas and costume-making tips, and just talking about costumes in general.
The members of Wolfpack Elite seem to be a very fun, welcoming group of people. If you love costumes, you should head on over there and say hello: www.wolfpackelite.com.
Check out welovefancydress.com - it’s a fun costume website that lets users upload their costume photos. Their motto is, “Your online dressing up box. Put ideas in, take ideas out….”
You can browse through the photos, and “tip” the ones you like. Tipping is basically voting, and you can see which photos are the most admired. Fun!
The website is run by Clementine & Rebecca. Great job, Ladies!
Portland, Oregon is definitely a great place for costume lovers. Meet the Alter Egos Society. From their website:
“The ALTER EGOS SOCIETY is a loose collection of artists and functional nerds who band together in times of crisis to create an opportunity for people to wear tights in public.”
Sounds fun! In association with DrunkenRampage.com, they recently put on a huge Alter Ego bash where Superheroes and Super Villains Heroes were given a chance to prove themselves through contests, games and, apparently, lots of drinking.
Looks like a great group of people. The Alter Ego Society also makes superhero short films and they donate to p:ear, a charity that helps the homeless and transitional youth.
We’re going to keep our eyes on these guys. Very impressive!
Since our last Steampunk article, we noticed some focus and attention. The Steampunk lovers are true to the spirit of DIY and costumes.
Now bloggers are uniting to bring them up to status with a recent Steampunk blog carnival. In essence, a blog carnival is when a chosen topic focuses on bringing all the blog posts on the subject into one place for a time. It also inspires people to get writing, creating, sharing, and motivating. This is perfect for the Steampunk community.
Walking the Berkshires hosts a great blog carnival every month or so called “Cabinet of Curiosities”. In this fifth edition, they are highlighting Steampunk in all of its clever details. In fact, it’s better than anything we’ve ever done on the topic, and we can admit it. It’s worth a look.
While there are some great links, we’re mostly interested in the Steampunk costumes and where to go to find out more about them. Here’s what we gathered from the carnival…
Aether Emporium has an excellent page on Steampunk fashion, where to find it, how to do it, and all the in betweens.
They also share The Heliograph, a blog with some great Steampunk fashion inspiration.
Here’s a great link with some full Steampunk costumes, showing the ensemble look.
If you’re having a hard time finding a place to get some Steampunk gear that you don’t have to make from scratch, Buysteampunk.com is a good start. Eventually, you’ll want to make it your own though.
Now I know what blog carnivals are good for. It’s nice to know that there’s enough people out there interested in Steampunk to participate in a gathering of good info like this. We’ll dive in more as time goes on, but hopefully that’s enough linking to keep you at your computer for awhile.
Instructables has always been a knock out for good DIY content. Without enough time to scour the pages frequently enough, I don’t see everything. Upon loading up the front page today, I came across this instructable on how to make an effective and convincing gunshot wound. It’s pretty sick looking, and not for the faint of heart, but if you’re making your own costumes it’s a must.
Since Instructables is always good for a step-by-step tutorial, you can check it out and plan out your costumes accordingly. Instructables user, Trumpetneel, seems to have a knack for these discusting flesh lacerations and wounds, so he’ll have more for you when you check it out. Now, to figure out how I’m going to manage breakfast…
It’s only fair you get a sweet recap of all the good stuff that graced your computer screen over the last week. Yeah, it sounds cocky I know. But hey, where else do you go for an all-costuming blog? Hmm?
The Famous Disguise - If you haven’t seen this video, you lose. Okay, maybe you don’t lose, but it’s incredible.
MyDisguises 2007 Winners and Losers - 2007 was huge, and there was a lot to see. We break down the best costumes and stories of the last year and reveal them to the readers.
Time’s Best Loved Film Costumes - The movies are a cultural phenomenon. Time Magazine helps us look at the iconic wardrobes that become almost as important as the actors behind them in their best loved costumes of all time.
An Intro to “Steampunk” - Steampunk is a culture that is ripe for the costume world. Most people who love steampunk have put some time into making their own stuff, and we take a quick look at what’s behind it all.
