Let’s talk inexpensive, yet uncommon, home-made costumes.

1. Logan’s Run. This one’s easy. All it requires is a monochrome costume. I’m basing this color break down on the movie, but you can use the book. If you’re over 24 wear red. You wear green from 16 to 23 and yellow or blue for children. Something lose in a tunic style is best. A Sandman needs black pants and a black shirt. Then pin or sew a 4 inch wide strip of gray across the chest.

The one costume item that cannot be leftout is the age jewel. Glue a small round rhinestone in the middle of your palm. Either school glue or spirit gum will work for this. If you’re past Lastday (30 years old), your jewel should be black.

2. Pushing Daisies. Ned, Chuck, Emerson and the gang. Ned the pie man needs a black tee, jeans, and a white apron. Maybe carry a toy pie for good measure. Chuck (Charlotte) should wear a retro dress, big glasses, and a head scarf. Check out thrift stores if you don’t have an old dress in the closet.

Emerson Cod, the knitting P.I., loves gaudy dress shirts with vests or jackets. Keep a pair of knitting needles in your pocket. There’s style for everyone in this show. Check out cast pictures for more ideas.

3. Homer Simpson. Not just the white shirt and blue jeans Homer, but Quiz Master Homer. For this you’ll need to wear a robe over your clothes. Purple would be ideal, but not necessary. Next up is the traffic cone hat. A few sheets of orange construction paper should do nicely. Make a cone and tape the edges. Then create the flat rim with a hole in the middle the size of the cone base. Tape the cone to the rim. Attach strips of paper to the inside to add stability. A white question mark is on the center of the cone. Draw, paint, or glue paper to the front center of the cone. Keep a pair of reading glasses in your pocket and an old quiz filled magazine in your hands and you’re done.

4. Masterpiece. Pick a painting with a main feature. This can be a person or a thing. If it’s a person, try to pick one that you can easily dress as. A black dress for Mona lisa, a black robe for Munch screamer, or an ear wrapped Van Gogh. Now you need a frame. Cut up a box and glue or tape it in the shape of a frame. Glue on decorations, like precut foamies, then add a coat of paint. You can choose gold, silver, black, whatever color you want your frame. Add a few coats to cover completely. Distress the look if you’d like. You can carry the frame, it should be rather light since it’s cardboard, or you can make a light harness from leftover cardboard, wire hangers, or scrap fabric.

Get creative by recreating a famous magazine cover or photograph. You can even branch into fantasy literature and interact with people like a magical painting from the Harry Potter stories.

Have fun raiding the closets and craft room for costume bits.

Coming soon: Pun Costumes

A few days ago, I read about the MET’s latest exhibition and wished I could experience it firsthand.

Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
May 7, 2008 - September 1, 2008
“Featuring movie costumes, avant-garde haute couture, and high-performance sportswear, it reveals how the superhero serves as the ultimate metaphor for fashion and its ability to empower and transform the human body. “

For some reason, reporters focus on the celebrity guests and not the exhibit. Why? This is an interesting and compelling display of colors, shapes, and designs. As you move through the gallery you can explore the differences between a functional costume and a concealing costume. I think it’s neat. The exhibit is divided into themes by types, focusing on one particular well-known costumed hero as the example. The theme then builds on the example and explores why it works, why it doesn’t work, and how it’s influenced fashion.

So much of the character of a hero is modeled in their costume. Batman’s dark cowl is for fear and concealment. His loaded utility belt keeps weapons and tools handy. His outfit is designed that way because he’s just a man. By looking at the dark figure we can guess he’s a man with money and deep vigilante issues. That’s a fair guess. The MET exhibit explores those kinds of motivations by using costumes and fashion to illustrate the development of trends.

Kinda fun I think. You can use the ideas to create your own hero costumes. There’s no law that says you have to wear a costume for a character some middle-aged man created 40 years ago. Peruse the Project Rooftop blog for excellent re-imaginings of hero gear. Like this redo of Power Girl by Joel Carroll.

So, go to it.