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If you have the time and tools to make your own Halloween costume, all you need is a little inspiration to make it awesome, like these ten. Note: these are presented in no particular order. They all rank #1 in my book!
1. Big Daddy
Graphic designer Harrison Krix made a costume of the character Big Daddy from the video game Bioshock. This is a work of a serious propmaster. It took seven weeks of sculpting with foam, cardboard, and fiberglass. The finished product, complete with a working drill arm, is a work of art. The post includes many more pictures and a couple of videos of the drill arm in action.
2. Yip Yips
Sesame Street’s popular aliens, the Yip Yips always appear in twos, so this is a costume that should be worn with a buddy. It take two people to properly fit one according to this Instructable, so you may as well help each other out and into a great costume!
3. Optimus Prime
Instructables member dannyeurena turned cardboard, duct tape, and hot glue into a satisfyingly authentic Optimus Prime costume. According to the accompanying video, it was comfortable enough to dance in!
4. Death Becomes Her
Evan Booth’s costume for Halloween 2006 seemed to be a nondescript “dude in a wig” until you looked at the GAPING HOLE in his midsection! This was accomplished with a camera in the back of the shirt that recorded a background scene and fed it to a travel-size DVD player in the front that displayed the backdrop. In 2008, artist Nicole Magne used the idea for a costume recreating a scene from the movie Death Becomes Her where Goldie Hawn has a hole blown through her body. The creation process is detailed on her blog, and the Instructables version is available if you’d like to try this yourself.
5. Hovering Boba Fett
Linkfilter member Reapre had considered a Rocketeer costume when he hit on the idea of Boba Fett Hovering on a Column of Flame. He used a purchased Boba Fett costume and converted it using a homemade jetpack. The column of flame below hid his legs. Reapre wore platform shoes made from roller blades to make himself several inches taller.
6. Iron Man
Enrique made this Iron Man costume for his son Kalino, complete with LED and compressed air effects so he can demonstrate super powers as he demands treats! Also see a slideshow.
7. Helmet Cat
Flicker user Alida Saxon’s brother put this Helmet Cat costume together at the last minute. The helmet is a basketball painted green, and the fur was salvaged from a stuffed toy. Make your favorite internet meme into a Halloween costume and half the folks you encounter will laugh; the other half will scratch their heads and wonder. See also: keyboard cat.
8. The Wild Things
A group of five friends dressed as the monsters plus Max from the Maurice Sendak’s book Where The Wild Things Are for Halloween 2008. Craftster member sjeanette made papier mache heads of the monsters. The eyes glow in the dark! I can’t really tell how one would see while wearing these, but I assume they made a great impression.
9. Mega Man
Kevin made a Mega Man costume for his 3-year-old son last Halloween. What made this so awesome is the Mega Buster with working lights and the authentic helmet fashioned from a bike helmet. See more pictures of the finished product.
10. Paparazzi
Rob at Cockeyed.com is known for (among many other things) his 2004 Dr. Octopus costume. It was not his first project involving a costume that dominated the room. In 2000, he won a costume contest by showing up as the Paparazzi, meaning, all of them! He collected camera shells, soda bottles for the flashes, and masks from which to make the faces. The working flashes were wired to a switch he controlled, so there was no way to miss his entrance.
Bonus: Emoticon
Not exactly homemade, but worth a look! The Mask of Emotion hides your face but displays Asian-style emoticons instead. This helmet was created by the Digital Media Design Dept at Hongik University in Korea. What emoticon is shown is controlled by the wearer’s body actions. If you want to make your own, the original website has design specifications and video. It will help if you can read Korean.
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Comments (36)
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Mega Man is soooo cute!
posted by Ranger J on 10-15-2009 at 8:33 am
Hey great Speed Racer behind Boba Fett!
posted by Don on 10-15-2009 at 9:16 am
Every year I go as the same thing. I take a Black and Decker hat, tie leaves, to dental floss, then tape the leaves to the brim of the hat so they hang in front of my face.
When someone asks what I am I blow.
(leaf blower)
posted by Witty Nickname on 10-15-2009 at 9:27 am
Since everyone got their panties in a bunch when I said I didn’t visit this site for recycled content, I’ll say ‘thank you’ for a fun post with new content.
Your work is appreciated.
PS: Get well.
posted by Adam on 10-15-2009 at 10:32 am
That Big Daddy costume is the win. Yip Yips – I haven’t seen one of those in years. Feeling old…
posted by Christina on 10-15-2009 at 10:38 am
If I’d known it was this simple I’d have made my own. Thanx for the tips!
posted by duke on 10-15-2009 at 11:07 am
It blows my mind that people make these super complex costumes for their children – I mean, they’ll only get to wear it for a bit before they outgrow it. Seems kind of like a waste, although it would be an amazing memory.
posted by OkieMelissa on 10-15-2009 at 11:59 am
#4: When I started reading the details for this costume I was confused. Looking at the picture again I thought, “Doesn’t look like a ‘dude in a wig!’”
Then I finished reading the rest of the description…
posted by Nerak on 10-15-2009 at 12:20 pm
“It blows my mind that people make these super complex costumes for their children – I mean, they’ll only get to wear it for a bit before they outgrow it. Seems kind of like a waste, although it would be an amazing memory.”
An amazing memory and the admiration of your peers are all kids can really hope for so that would make it priceless for the kid. I bet those kids think their dad is a superhero, and that’s worth just as much……
posted by hockey zombie on 10-15-2009 at 12:22 pm
OkieMelissa, in this day and age, these projects will also get you a cool blog post that may be read for years afterward.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-15-2009 at 12:26 pm
@okiemelissa
I think they really make it for themselves. I mean, you can’t really outshine your kids on Halloween. I know when I someday have kids, I’m sure as heck gonna make theirs. I go all out on my costumes every year and there is no way my kids will be walking the neighborhoods in something cheap and store bought. Besides, if they take after me, it will go in their dress up box and they’ll wear it way more than just one night :)
posted by Hastings on 10-15-2009 at 12:27 pm
Um, the death becomes her one? It’s a woman, not ‘a dude in a wig,’ and there’s a hole through HER midsection. You got the pronouns right later in the article, not sure what happened?
posted by Bekka on 10-15-2009 at 12:33 pm
Evan Booth, the dude, did it in 2006. See the GAPING HOLE link for a picture. Nicole Magne (pictured) did it in 2008. I hope that makes things clear.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-15-2009 at 12:36 pm
OkieMelissa-
I have made epic costumes for my kids (metal suit of armor, Johnny Bravo sculpted from foam rubber, fiberglass shark monster with steel teeth), and they loved them, won contests with them, and still talk about them to this day. This year, my youngest (he’s 2) wants me to build him a robot costume. Time to break out the sheet metal…
posted by Anthony on 10-15-2009 at 12:41 pm
These costumes are great The Emoticon Mask was funny and cool. The Death Becomes Her costumes was neat and creepy.
posted by Kari on 10-15-2009 at 12:47 pm
When my friend asked her 2 year old what he wanted to be for Halloween, he said “Skateboard!” We’re still trying to figure out how to work that one out…
posted by Shash on 10-15-2009 at 1:06 pm
Is that…Meatloaf?
posted by Antinous on 10-15-2009 at 3:55 pm
Last year I made a wicked Isis costume. The wings and the necklace took me about 4 weeks to make, but it was worth it!
posted by Primmrose on 10-15-2009 at 3:56 pm
I recently saw pics of a Lego Boba Fett costume made by a guy for his son. That costume defeats all costumes past and present.
posted by Lee on 10-15-2009 at 4:35 pm
Thank you so much for featuring my masks (I made the Wild Things costumes in #8)! To answer your question – you can’t see them but there are eyeholes in the nostrils and in the mouths of all the Wild Things. Small but effective :)
posted by Sarah on 10-15-2009 at 4:51 pm
YIP YIPS!!! thanks for this post, mega-boy is frickin adorable! As for why to make kids costumes so great- when my boyfriend was 6 his mom (a talented costume/dress maker) made him an astronaut costume and he STILL talks about it to this day. (He’s 25) Memories like that are reason enough to me. Plus the parents have fun doing it!
posted by ac on 10-15-2009 at 5:01 pm
The YipYips made an appearance at GenCon, this year.
posted by SomeMel on 10-15-2009 at 6:05 pm
Great post; loved the Optimus Prime, Mega Man, and Big Daddy costumes. These put the costume I’m planning to shame… Bret Michaels. :D
posted by Steve from San Diego on 10-15-2009 at 6:08 pm
I wonder if Lady Gaga would copy that guy’s papparazzi costume.
posted by Karl on 10-16-2009 at 8:21 am
The First two are from dragon con.
posted by steve smith on 10-16-2009 at 10:20 am
Oh that Mega Man kid is so cute that my ovaries hurt,and i am a Dude.
posted by Snake on 10-16-2009 at 11:15 am
Thanks, Miss Cellania, for clearing up the Evan Booth/Nicole Magne thing. I was definitely thinking, That’s one heck of an attractive drag queen.
Amazing costumes….I LOVE the YipYips!
posted by Kate on 10-16-2009 at 2:12 pm
It’s called limecat, not helmet cat.
posted by Anonymous on 10-17-2009 at 2:11 am
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip… Sorry, my mind went blank after that one :-)
posted by MetFanMac on 10-18-2009 at 4:16 am
You should include this cool Rollercoaster costume.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/krossbow/sets/72157607587763901/
posted by Riptide on 10-19-2009 at 1:08 pm
It’s called limecat, not helmet cat.
Actually, that’s Melon Cat. Not ‘limecat’..
posted by FemAnon on 10-19-2009 at 7:10 pm
I’ve heard that picture called lime cat, melon cat, helmet cat, and grapefruit cat. For this post, I used the term that was used on the Flickr page where the original costume picture is linked.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-19-2009 at 8:56 pm
Just thought I would chime in…
A friend of mine goes out every year with really detailed costumes. He’s selling some past ones on ebay right now that are really amazing. I believe some have already sold. Check out the pictures at
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110445223593&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110443106760&ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110442834702&ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT
And I was confused about the Evan thing at first too, but then yeah, you keep reading.
Thanks, Kate
posted by Katie Leugers on 10-22-2009 at 1:30 am
My friend made a Master Chief (from Halo) costume from **paper** several years ago:
http://parallaxshift.com/~peep/carter_halo_paper_costume.jpg
posted by Philippe Chaintreuil on 10-22-2009 at 1:08 pm
awesome………………..:-)
posted by tayyabr on 10-22-2009 at 3:35 pm
I’ve always made my son’s costumes. He has been a hard-boiled egg, a cactus, a papier mâché Kirby (video game character), and an actual-sponge Spongebob. This year he shall be a cat. I’m a tad disappointed.
posted by Christine (: on 10-23-2009 at 1:25 pm