Carbon Costume

Serleena (played by Lara Flynn Boyle) is the alien villain from the sci-fi comedy film Men in Black II.  Serleena’s true form looks like green vines or snakes, so when she comes to Earth to find the Light of Zartha, she takes on the appearance of a Victoria’s Secret model from a magazine.  Serleena wears two outfits primarily, her first being a lacy black lingerie set that she soon covers with clothing she takes off a biker whom she consumes for food.

Tyler (played by Shia LaBeouf) is a man on the run who befriends 22-year-old Zak in the movie The Peanut Butter Falcon.  Recently fired, Tyler agrees to help Zak travel to find the Saltwater Redneck in order to take wrestling lessons from him, and the two become fast friends during their travels.  Tyler’s costume consists mostly of denim cut offs, a dingy white t-shirt, and a faded red Outer Banks baseball cap.  He also uses a steel frame hiking backpack.

In Promising Young Woman, Cassandra “Cassie” Thomas (Carey Mulligan) is a med school dropout who now takes revenge on predatory men by pretending to be drunk at clubs and bars, letting men take her home, and revealing her sobriety when they try to take advantage of her. In her latest act of vengeance, Cassie poses as a stripper dressed in a nurse outfit to reach her target at his bachelor party.

The Men in Black is a mysterious organization. And few are more mysterious than their leader, Chief Zed. Played by the late Rip Torn, Zed is sardonic and sarcastic but never lets that get in the way of doing his job. Or trying to do right by his agents.

The Men in Black all have a standard uniform and Zed is no exception. They are the quintessential “G-men”. A black suit, black shoes, a black belt, and a black tie over a white button down shirt is their uniform. Black sunglasses, an MIB badge, a neuralyzer, and a Noisy Cricket help too. But for Zed there is one thing that has to be included or his costume won’t be complete: His goatee.

LarryBoy is the superhero alter ego of Larry the Cucumber (voiced by Mike Nawrocki). He uses every power in his control to be the best superhero he can be. Which, generally speaking, are his plunger ears. Those and his LarryMobile which is as close to all-terrain as it can get!

Cosplaying as LarryBoy means taking a few liberties with the look. Larry is, after all, a cucumber. He has no arms or legs. You, as a human, are going to have to improvise.

To that end, use a white long sleeve lace-up shirt as his  top and paint on a yellow vest and ties using fabric paint, reminiscent of Silver Age hero costumes. A pair of purple shorts worn over yellow running pants will give you the purple bottoms while still sticking to that Silver Age style. A back belt serves as a utility belt while yellow foam and silver paint can recreate his belt buckle. You can either hot glue this to your belt buckle or glue a magnet to the back of the foam, depending on how permanent you want the modification to be.

Larry’s hat is where it gets a little tricky. Plungers can be kind of heavy. But if you can find two lightweight ones, you can cut the posts down and glue them to either side of a purple mask. Purple foam and more hot glue gives you the crest of his mask while green face paint gives you the signature cucumber look. Then all you need is a pair of black hero boots to finish off your costume.

Eddie Blake is not what you would call a nice man. He’s done his fair share of hero work as The Comedian and the press loves his patriotic public persona. But behind closed doors he’s not what most people would call a hero. Jeffrey Dean Morgan manages to bring a certain charm to the character in Zack Snyder’s 2009 adaptation. But it’s up to the audience how long that charm holds out.

Blake is a military man and a good portion of his costume is inspired by the military. Black combat boots, black tactical pants, and his thigh holster with a (costume) pistol all stem from his interest in the military. His chest piece is pretty easy to recreate with a paintball vest and leather belts can be repurposed as the straps over his shoulders. His belt buckle can also be recreated using black foam painted with the same silver spray paint you’ll need to modify pre-made shoulder protectors so they have the red, blue, and silver colors Blake wears.

Add a mustache, mask, and smiley button as your finishing touches and you’re good to go. Just don’t forget the cosmetics glue to keep your mask in place!

Peeta Mellark is a central character in The Hunger Games literary and cinematic universe. He is a baker from District 12. At the Reaping, he gets selected to participate in the 74th annual Hunger Games alongside Katniss Everdeen.  She remembers Peeta giving her a loaf of burnt bread that saved her family from starvation. During training, Peeta proves to be a master of camouflage. Katniss and Peeta partake in a “star-crossed lovers” narrative, which results in favoritism and sponsorship from the Capitol. Peeta finds this difficult because he actually likes her, so he doubts whether she likes him back, or is just playing up for the camera. As the final tributes, they almost commit suicide together, but then they’re both declared the winners. Peeta returns to the Arena again with Katniss for the Quarter Quell. While Katniss gets rescued by the Rebellion, Peeta gets captured by the Capitol. They brainwash him into calling a cease fire and thinking Katniss is the enemy. The rebels save Peeta and he slowly regains control of his memory. In the epilogue, he resides in Victor’s Village, where he is married to Katniss and have two children together. Josh Hutcherson plays Peeta in the movie adaptations.

Betty Rubble stole the hearts of millions when she hit the air with the 1960 premier of The Flintstones. Her husband Barney and son Bamm-Bamm keep her busy most of the time. But when she gets a minute to herself you can probably find her with her best friend Wilma Flintstone.

Betty’s look is pretty iconic. Her dress is easily found as a ready-made costume that usually comes with a blue bow, though some dress tape might be handy for keeping the dress in the right spot. Once you have her dress all you’ll need is a black wig and a gorgeous plum lipstick to finish off her look.

If you plan on wearing the costume out, shoe can get tricky. Many people opt for black pumps given Betty is a bit of a prehistoric pinup. But there are other options such as skin-tone flats or “invisible shoes” like those in this tutorial.