Carbon Costume Movies
Harley Quinn from Joker: Folie À Deux
A new film in the Joker series is releasing October of this year, called Joker: Folie á Deux. This film is new in that it is actually a musical, and features singer Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn.
To dress as Harley Quinn in this film, start with the makeup. Her makeup uses black eyeshadow or black cream makeup that is smudged around the eyes in a clown-inspired shape. For lips, she wears a cool red lipstick that you can also smudge around the edges with your fingers. For the outfit, wear a black coat for an easier more low-effort version, or you can take on her red blazer one. For the red blazer, take a ruffled/ peplum red blazer as the base. Cut the sleeves to right above your elbow, leaving an extra inch 1/2 or more to turn under and attach the ruffled pleated fabric, which is two pieces at two different lengths. If you want to take on the diamond/ argyle pattern, use red piping or cording to sew or glue on in similar shapes. Even further, add light distressing at the edges and on some of the piping with watered-down paint and/ or sandpaper.
For the top, take a muslin or cream corset-style top as the base. Using black fabric paint, paint on the argyle pattern (Tip: use a pencil and tape or a cut out piece of paper as a stencil to make the edges clean). To mimic the pointed shape at the bottom of the corset, take muslin fabric and attach it underneath and fold it in the similar draped pleats as in the photo. Lay the fabric flat on the ground and run sandpaper across the edges to create the raw edge.
Wear these with a black leather mini-skirt, black argyle patterned tights, and any black shoes to finish off the look.
Maxime Le Mal from Despicable Me 4
Maxime Le Mal is a character from the new Despicable Me: 4 and voiced by Will Ferrell. Maxime is nicknamed the ‘insect man’ and was a student at a school for villains. He is part cockroach and is seeking revenge on Gru.
To dress like Maxime, take a long green puffer jacket and using gold paint markers, draw on a similar floral design all over as the pattern. Take a fur dotted collar from a kings’ cape costume piece and attach it to the green jacket. Pair this with a green shirt, gold bow tie, white gloves, and green circular framed sunglasses. This would make a fun duo costume with his girlfriend in the movie, Valentina.
Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a popular children’s film from 2007 that follows three musical chipmunks named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore who find a new home in Dave’s house, a singer songwriter that helps them gain popularity and show off their talents to the world.
To dress like Alvin, wear a red hoodie, a headband with ears, a chipmunk fuzzy tail, and a mic headset. To create the A on his sweatshirt, take yellow flocked iron-on material and draw an A to the size you want. Simply cut out the A and iron onto the sweatshirt. For pants and shoes, anything goes but khaki shorts or pants might fit best.
Poppy Prescott from Despicable Me 4
Poppy Prescott is a character from the new Despicable Me: 4 and voiced by Joey King. Poppy is a new character introduced in this movie, and is the new neighbor of Gru and his family. She has dreams of being a supervillain.
To dress like Poppy in her regular clothing, wear a pink jacket and a pink and white skirt, paired with white socks with pink stripes. For her ‘supervillain’ costume, wear a black and pink jacket, a black and pink skirt, white socks with pink stripes, pink sneakers, white fingerless long gloves, a black beanie and silver goggles over it. Also wear a costume utility belt, which you can paint white with paint such as acrylic paint to match.
Jared from Booksmart
Jared is a character from the movie Booksmart, and is played by Skyler Gisondo. The comedy film follows best friends Amy and Molly at the end of their senior year, where they attempt to experience things they haven’t in school like partying, but all in one night before graduation. Jared is an outgoing character in the film that we learn is a student just desperate for approval, but all in all we learn to find him endearing in the end.
To dress like Jared, either wear a pre-printed Jared shirt just like this hilarious one in the movie, or make one of yourself using a white blank tee and transfer printer paper. Under the white tee, wear a black collared striped shirt, and over the top wear a maroon bomber jacket. Pair with two sizes of gold chains and a red key clip on your jeans.
Genevieve Delacroix from Bridgerton
Genevieve is a character from the popular historical drama Netflix series Bridgerton, and is played by Kathryn Drysdale. Genevieve is a character we see many times throughout the seasons, as she is the local dressmaker for all the women we see in the series.
To dress like Genevieve, wear a deep navy regency-style dress, a navy flower hair clip, pearl teardrop shaped earrings, and to create her necklace: take a pearl necklace and attach a black charm or earring like the one linked to resemble her own.
Halley from The Florida Project
In The Florida Project, Halley (Bria Vinaite) is a single mother who lives in a budget motel with her young daughter Moonee. In the shadow of the Walt Disney World theme park, the unemployed mother desperately scrapes by to provide for her family, begging food and selling counterfeit perfume before turning to sex work.
Ennui from Inside Out 2
Ennui (voiced by Adèle Exarchopoulos) encapulates the boredom of Riley Andersen as she transitions into her teenage years in Inside Out 2. Ennui enjoys spending time on her phone and lounging on the couch. She is not a fan of Joy‘s use of nicknames or Envy‘s enthusiasm. To build your costume as Ennui, you’ll want to start with a comfy dark blue sweatsuit and grey socks. You can paint your face with blue-grey paint. Rather than paint your hands, you can choose a light grey pair of gloves. Complete your look using a long, dark blue wig with bangs.
Rachel Chu from Crazy Rich Asians
Rachel Chu is the main character in the iconic romantic-comedy Crazy Rich Asians and is played by Constance Wu. The film follows Rachel as she travels with her boyfriend Nick to his friend’s wedding in Singapore, only to learn that his family is extremely wealthy and she attempts to fit in with this crowd, including his disapproving mother.
There are a few notable looks you can recreate from the film to dress like Rachel, and the first is her casual look which is simply a denim jacket over a black and white striped shirt. Another is a pink and white floral dress and finally, a tulle blue dress with a floral bridal headband.
Vance Hopper from The Black Phone
Vance Hopper (Brady Hepner) aka Pinball is a character in the 2021 horror movie The Black Phone. He was a local punk and school bully from North Denver. In a flashback, Vance beats up a pair of kids who mess up his pinball game. After the police take him away, he sits in the back with Gwen, as she searches for her kidnapped brother, Finney. Ultimately he too ends up becoming a victim of The Grabber. His outfit represents 70s punk as per the movie’s era of 1977.
