Carbon Costume

Barbie is an American (and in many place, global) household name. And it’s not just a doll line. She long ago branched into movies. And some, like Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper have a huge fan following. For good reason, too! The songs (where Barbie is voiced by Melissa Lyons) are catchy and Barbie herself (voiced in speaking parts by Kelly Sheridan) is an inspiration.

If you want to channel your inner Barbie princess – and the good she tries to do – you’ll want to start with a pink ballgown. A few examples are included above since a princess rarely has only one dress. You’ll also need a long blonde wig, a gold tiara, a gold choker, and gold shoes. Gold ribbon can add bow details to your gown as well. And of course you’ll want a white cat just like the princess!

Hermione Granger (played by Emma Watson) is the brains of Hogwarts’ most notorious trio. At least the most notorious while she was in school there. Usually Hermione wasn’t one to stand out from the crowd except with her intellect. But when the Yule Ball rolled around the stole the show in her lilac dress, slick curls, and the school’s visiting heart throb as her date.

You might be hard-pressed to find your own Viktor Krum but you can certainly copy Hermione’s look. You’ll want to start with a long curly wig since one of the first things noticed about Hermione at the ball was her hair. You can achieve the same updo with hair pins and this YouTube Video. There are also video tutorials on how to copy her exact makeup look as well.

Once you have your wig set, add in a violet ballgown and some plum ribbon as a sash. Finding her exact dress is a little difficult (though there are patterns online if you are handy with a sewing machine) but there is one listed above. A few similar dresses are also included that may be a little more affordable. Once you have chosen your gown just add in some enamel flower earrings, silver heels, and Hermione’s wand. We might not have seen it at the ball but it’s not likely that she didn’t have it close at hand!

If you were a ’90s kid, Miss Trunchbull from Matilda was the stuff of nightmares. Played by Pam Ferris, she was the epitome of a horrible principal. Whether it was locking kids in the Chokey or tossing them out a window to land (safely, thankfully) in a rare patch of flowers near her school, she terrorized students and staff alike.

I wouldn’t recommend emulating her attitude but you can certainly get her severe style with a few key pieces. The most important pieces are a long green overcoat and a wig with a slicked-back bun. The overcoat pictured above is longer than Miss Trunchbull’s but this will allow you hem it (or tape it up) to the right length for you. If you want to cosplay her her school uniform you can wear a skirt and shirt under the overcoat, though they won’t e seen. Of course you’ll need the wig with its slicked back bun as well. Add in some tall Army green socks and leather shoes as well as a leather belt to complete the look.

For the clothes she wears at home you’ll need a grey pullover sweater, green sweat pants, white athletic socks, and sneakers. Using letter Transfer sheets add the words “1972 Olympics” to the front of the sweater.  Tuck a white towel in around the back of your neck with the bulk of it showing above the collar. Take the leather belt from her school outfit (or a weight lifting leather belt if you have one) and tighten it around your waste. Then add in green sweats, bunched athletic socks, and simple sneakers.

And, of course, Miss Trunchbull isn’t Miss Trunchbull without her coveted box of chocolates. You can make your own by taking the chocolates (still in their paper cups) out of a standard box of chocolates and putting them into an enamel hinge-top box. It’s a bit bulky for an accessory but every Matilda fan will know immediately why Miss Trunchbull would keep the box close!

Bendy is the mascot of Joey Drew Studios. The studio is in fact real but a fictional version is the setting of the incredible horror-puzzle-action game Bendy and the Ink Machine. In his original form, Bendy is a classic-style cartoon with a white face and white gloves. His hair, body, and shoes are all black.

To get Bendy’s look, you only need a few select pieces. Black dress shoes with large buckles, a black bodysuit, and large white gloves make up the majority of the costume. You can get Bendy’s hair style by using a short black wig and some wig styling gel. Mime makeup will recreate the rest of his look. You can even replicate Bendy’s cartoon-style eyes by painting your eyelids with black with a white wedge so you’ll look just like Bendy when you close your eyes.

Roy Batty (played by Rutger Hauer) is a replicant – an android – built for the sole purpose of fighting in places seen as too dangerous for humans, much like Pris, Zhora, and Rachael. Unfortunately for him, soldier replicants only have a four-year lifespan. It is this injustice that brings him back to Earth and pushes him to try any means necessary to extend his life. He’s one of sci-fi’s most enduring antiheroes and is almost more a fan favorite than the the movie’s hero, Deckard.

Roy’s costume is simple but pulling it off takes a little bit of work. There are two iconic parts to his look: his white blonde hair and the dove her carries. You can either bleach your hair or opt for a wig. And there are many prop doves on Amazon, one of which is listed above.

For the rest of his costume you will need a leather trench coat, grey t-shirt, black tactical pants, and  – as odd as it might sound – a pair of black and white sneakers. If you want to try and get some of the detailing on Roy’s coat you can use leather tubing and a hot glue gun to try and recreate the specific style.

It’s a simple costume with parts that can be repurposed for other cosplays. But it’s still a costume with an impact and a shelf life of a lot more than four years!

In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Isabelle is more or less the go-to person on every island when you need something done for its inhabitants. Anything other than construction, that is. She’s generally in a happy mood and, should news run thin, eager to share the latest and greatest news in television shows.

There are a few ways that you can achieve Isabelle’s look. The first way uses body paint to mimic the color of Isabelle’s fur. It can be applied to your face, neck, hands, arms, and legs. The other option is to use blush on your cheeks to mimic Isabelle’s blush but otherwise skip over her fur with the exception of yellow leggings. You can also add ears and a tail to both looks since Isabelle is a dog-type villager.

Regardless of which look you choose, you will want to use a blonde wig for the ponytail on top of her head, a pink button down, a white skirt, and black shoes. Isabelle’s shirt is a Nook Inc. branded shirt which might be hard to find. But a bleach pen and a little DIY can turn a basic pink button down into your very own Nook Inc. merchandise. It’ll be the last piece of the perfect Isabelle cosplay!

Glen Lantz (played by an early-career Johnny Depp) is one of the protagonists of the classic 80s slasher fic Nightmare on Elm Street. He is the boyfriend of Nancy, the films main hero and the one who ultimately finds out how to defeat Freddy Kreuger. Although Glen supports his girlfriend and believes her when  nobody else does, he ends up falling prey to Kreuger in one of the film’s most spectacular deaths.

Glen has several looks throughout the movie but the most iconic is the outfit he’s wearing right before he falls into Freddy’s clutches for the last time. A feathered brunette wig (or your own hair and some pomade) will give you his hairstyle. His top is a jersey-style sweatshirt that has been cut to bare his midriff, which you can easily recreate with a white pullover, blue fabric paint, and blue iron on numbers. All you have to do is paint stripes around the shoulders, iron on the number 10 and cut the sweater into a crop top.

Grey sweats, Nike socks, and white 80s-style trainers finish off the look. You can accessorize with a pair of large silver headphones. And, if you want to go for a post-Freddy Glen, you can add in some fake blood as well.

Liz Sherman (played to acclaim by Selma Blair) is the pyrotechnic female lead in Hellboy. She largely plays the role of Hellboy’s long-time love interest but her reach extends much further than that. Her abilities make her incredibly dangerous – dangerous enough to take out demi-demon monsters with a penchant for resurrection – but she herself is a peaceful and kind-hearted person.

Liz sports two looks throughout the movie. The first is an all-black look of boots, pants, a loose-fitting sweater, a peacoat, a scarf, and a beret. Accessories for this outfit can be an Americano (no cream or sugar) and a Polaroid camera. Her other look is a set of plain red scrubs seen after she is tricked into setting fire to her asylum by Rasputin’s magic. They are both very basic looks that are still classic Liz Sherman.