I’m pleased that so many of you are using the shoutbox to ask questions about costumes. Today’s post is about answering some of those questions.

Last week I covered the question of Wendy Watson. Since then, I’ve been searching stores for the green vest and have failed to find anything other than charcoal or black. Perhaps you could find one of the black ones on clearance for less than $10 (similar price of a pattern). Take apart the vest and use it as a pattern for a green Wendy vest. Good luck.

On to the scrappy Laura Ingalls Wilder. I wore a calico dress when I was ten and played pioneer girl and young Annie Oakley. Here are a few nice patterns from Simplicity and McCall’s that can be used to make a Laura-style dress. You can keep it simple with just the dress or add a cotton pinafore. Look for calico patterns with small flowers. To play the Mrs. Wilder version, use a similar adult pattern or put together a conservative blouse with a cameo and skirt. Wear your hair in a period adult style like a braided bun. If sewing isn’t your thing, hit the western wear store nearest you and ask for suggestions on where to look for a prairie dress.

Looks like Jem is next in the tag. I found a commercial costume available. It’s not cartoon accurate, but it’ll work if you want ready-to-wear. CandyApple Costumes has some fun rocker wigs. Check out the cartoon wardrobe for costume ideas for Jem and the other characters. Jem’s memorable concert attire is a pink wrap dress. That should be an easy pattern to find and sew. Get your friends together to round out the Holograms, the Misfits, and the Stingers. Don’t forget to have a Rio. Nothing like a purple-haired man to up your 80s cool factor.

The human piñata is a great idea, Guest_3348. I’ve pondered this a bit. Party stores carry wigs that are made of paper or plastic strips. Usually they come in mascot colors like yellow, green, or blue and marketed on the sports fan aisle. Its a great example of wig possibilities. Pick up a cheap bald cap and glue strips of construction paper to it. I worry tissue paper is too weak to hold up for long periods of wear. As for the mask, I don’t recommend gluing paper, tissue or construction, to your face. Craft stores sell mask blanks. Use the blank as a base for the piñata mask. Since some piñatas are made of paper mache, the paper mache method would also work for a mask. Finish the paper mache mask with markers or paint.

Last up for today is another person in need of a Dr. Horrible costume. Before Dragon Con I posted a quick how-to. Queza7 wrote a detailed sewing how-to by modifying a Matrix jacket pattern. PJ Otaku left a helpful comment.

Keep the questions coming. I’m having fun and I hope you are too.

Tags: , costumes, Dr. Horrible, Jem, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Misfits, pinata, shoutbox questions

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Animation, Ideas, costumes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.