Carbon Costume

Almost everyone celebrates a holiday over the winter months. And each holiday has its own set of traditions. But there […]

“Hold onto your butts!” John Raymond Arnold was a scientist working at Jurassic Park when its catastrophic, pre-opening day massacre happened. With the park’s T-rex and velociraptors on the loose, Arnold was quick (perhaps a little too quick) to lend a hand (well, more like a whole arm) in restoring as much order as possible to the disaster.

David (played by Kiefer Sutherland) is the leader of the vampire gang menacing Santa Cruz, California in the ’80s vampire hit The Lost Boys. At least, that’s what it looks like at first. But there is always someone bigger and badder out there. Even if you’re an undead gang leader who sleeps all day and parties all night.

You might not gain David’s immortality but you can definitely copy his style. One of the most iconic – and unfortunate by modern standards – pieces of David’s look is his bleach blonde mullet. A wig will give you the same style or you can bleach your hair and style it however you want. The rest of the outfit will make it clear who you’re cosplaying!

The next thing you’ll need is a costume goatee. You may have to lighten it with makeup. Or, if you prefer, you can create a goatee using this tutorial and makeup. You will also need a pair of vampire fangs and a few fake earrings.

The rest of David’s look comes down to clothes. David is a classic ’80s tough guy in a whole lot of black leather. His gloves, motorcycle boots, and pants are all black leather. He does wear a black cotton shirt and black wool pea coat. But between the pea coat and his shirt is something with a leather collar that he layers over the collar of his coat. It is most likely a motorcycle vest left open to reveal the shirt underneath.

At this point you’ve got a great David cosplay. But you can go one step beyond by making the wine bottle used in the vampire ritual too! All you need is  a wine bottle, some copper-colored clay, fake rubies, and a glue gun. Form the clay pieces according to a screenshot of the bottle (don’t forget to bend them to fit the bottle too!). Press in the rubies to create indents for them, then then pull them out and create place fillers out of tin foil. Bake the clay according to direction When they’re done, use the glue gun to apply the rubies and then glue the clay to the outside of the bottle. Voila! You have yourself your own spoofy vampire ritual bottle!

Mr. Pringles is the long-time mascot for the chip in a can. While his old-timey hair and mustache have long been featured on the packaging, his body is something of a mystery. Or it was, until the HBO talk show host John Oliver issued a challenge on Twitter and wondered “Is he tall or short? Does he have a lot of body hair or is he completely smooth? When will he be able to tell me what his nipples look like?” While the public drew their own fan art, giving Mr. P a sexy physique or dapper tuxedo, the actual body reveal was more toned down, with the mascot dressing for comfort.

The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) is a Canadian singer and record producer. His main genres include R&B, pop, and alternative. His electronic sound and falsetto voice has inspired modern R&B. His hit single “Blinding Lights” appears on his latest album, After Hours. It’s a music video full of fast cars, sick reverb, – and you guessed it, blinding lights — with nearly 285 million views on Youtube.

Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler) is the perpetually optimistic and highly-driven civil servant who anchors her co-workers and friends on Parks and Recreation.  Leslie’s dedication to her job inspires others, even her Libertarian co-worker and friend Ron Swanson, to do their best for their community.  Leslie aspires to be President one day and typically wears sensible pants suits while working at the parks department in Pawnee, IN.  For a true Leslie Knope look, you’ll also need a relentlessly positive go-getter attitude and a binder full of ideas (or maybe just Leslie’s thoroughly researched book “Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America”).

Beat (ビート, Biito) is the game’s mascot and the main playable character in the Sega series Jet Set Radio. He’s a teenager who, together with his gang GG, enjoys skating around Tokyo, marking his territory with graffiti, and causing mischief that sets off the police captain and SWAT team.

Lila Pitts (Ritu Arya) is a character in season two of Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy. First introduced as Diego’s fellow psychiatric patient, Lila has a secret behind her witty comebacks and street smarts. She is actually the adopted daughter of The Handler — peep the red boots — and possesses the power of mimicry. She helps carry out her plan to track down Number Five, who supposedly killed her parents. She uses her powers to maim the Hargreeves siblings, but her love for Diego prompts her to turn on her adoptive mother. Emulate her spunky sixties style with choppy hair and smudged eyeshadow.

Baron Helmut Zemo is a classic Marvel villain. He was brought to life in Captain America: Civil War by Daniel Bruhl. And though his character is not quite so evil in the movie as in the comics, his impact is just as strong. After all, who can’t relate to the desire to stop those we blame for our family’s deaths?

Zemo’s costume in the movie is much simpler than in the comics. He wants to blend in and so he wears clothes that are easy to ignore. A grey sports coat and matching dress pants. A black button down, black leather belt, and black leather shoes. He has a little bit of stubble growing in but nothing noteworthy. And his brown hair is styled with a simple side-sweep.

His only visible accessory is a brown leather shoulder bag. But the bag isn’t as important as what’s inside. To really complete a Zemo costume you need the red notebook that contains the code words that give you control of the Winter Soldier. You can also get a copy of Mission Report: December 16th 1991 if you want to add a bit more to the bag.

Of course this costume also makes it easy to pay Zemo’s comic origins a little homage. A purple ski mask and a golden circlet crown is an easy – if a bit cheeky – addition to the costume.

Oz is the yellow playable character in the visual novel game Monster Prom.  Oz is established as non-binary with masculine pronouns by default (though these pronouns can be changed in-game).  Oz is made entirely of fear, which accounts for his appearance as being made of dark matter.  His school clothes include a golden yellow cardigan and dark grey pants, with a gold watch.  To create Oz’s look, you can use a black body suit and add his white eyes and eyebrows with fabric pens.  If you’re feeling particularly creative, you could craft the small black creatures (who represent individual phobias) that attach to him by using black felt, a little stuffing, and the same white fabric pens.