Carbon Costume

Lou Strickland (voiced by Rob Schneider in the U.S. version of the film) is the new police chief and main antagonist of Top Cat: The Movie. Lou pursues Top Cat after TC steals his Lazlo-Lazlo concert tickets. Lou has ginger colored hair and a noticeably hairy mole on the point of his chin. He wears a red bow tie, green blazer, and brown pants pulled up very high on his waist.

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!

“There cannot be peace without, first, a great suffering. The greater the suffering, the greater the peace,” is the core belief of August Walker (Henry Cavill), alias John Lark. Unbeknownst to Mission Impossible‘s hero, Ethan Hunt, Walker is instrumental in orchestrating nefarious plans to achieve a new world order. Who would suspect such a sharp-dressed, level-headed gentleman (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Superman)?

In Girl, Interrupted (based on Susanna Kaysen’s memoir), Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie) is a sociopathic patient at the psychiatric hospital where Susanna (Winona Ryder) has checked in. Lisa proves to be charismatic, manipulative, and ultimately, dangerous, although she is well-liked by the other patients and bonds with Susanna.

In Little Miss Sunshine, Richard Hoover (played by Greg Kinnear) is the son of Edwin, the husband of Sheryl, the father of Olive, and the step-father of Dwayne.  Richard is extremely Type A and hopes to become a professional motivational speaker and life coach.  Richard wears khakis that too long for him, bulky sneakers, and his cellphone clipped to his belt.

In the movie The Long Kiss Goodnight, Samantha Caine (Geena Davis) is a small town school teacher who suffers from amnesia living with her boyfriend and young daughter.  After she thwarts a would-be attacker in her own home, Samantha discovers she is actually a highly-trained CIA assassin named Charlene “Charly” Baltimore.  Her transformation into her true self becomes especially evident when Charly ditches her long, red locks for a short bleach blonde bob and she begins tracking down the bad guys responsible for kidnapping her daughter.

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!