Carbon Costume

A new TV series has been going viral online for its spot-on live action adaptation of the video game franchise Fallout that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. This series depicts the aftermath of The Great War of 2077, where survivors take refuge in fallout shelters or Vaults, which are actually all created as different experiments on the people who live in them. It follows a woman named Lucy who leaves Vault 33 to find her father in the dangerous wasteland of what is left of Los Angeles. She runs into a Ghoul bounty hunter, originally named Cooper Howard. He was a film actor before the war. In this guide I’ll be covering his daughter, Janey Howard’s cowboy costume in Episode 1, where she matches her dad.

Although this costume looks complicated to make, this guide is doable for an artist of any level. Starting with the iconic blue and gold western shirt, use a kids size blue western dress shirt, like the boys shirt linked below (which works for boys and girls) as the base to build off of. For the gold/ cream section on the top portion of the shirt and the sleeve cuffs, cut either a jacquard patterned or brushed twill fabric to the shape of the top of the shirt and either glue it down (the edges will be covered by the fringe trim but iron and fold edges for a cleaner look) or sew the fabric on top. If you’re skilled in sewing and want to take it even further, seam rip the top section from the collar and sleeves and use the removed blue piece as a pattern for the gold fabric, adding seam allowance to sew back in place. You can also add cream piping/ bias tape along the collar and front button panels.

Next, along the edge of the gold fabric you added, either sew or glue on gold fringe trim, following the edge across the front, over the shoulder, and to the back.

Now for the details on the gold fabric: if you choose a printed jacquard fabric, you can keep as is. It gives the same effect of having variety to the surface. However if you have more time to add detail, choose the solid brushed twill fabric and paint and/or embroider a similar pattern of line drawings of scorpions similar to the photos. Doing a combination of both flat painted and 3-D embroidered icons gives it the same variety as the one from the series. You can also paint or embroider (or both) the icons on the collar.

For the rest of the costume, wear brown pants (I’ve linked both girls and boys sizes). Bootcut works better to cover cowboy boots like the ones linked below. On top of those, wear a brown cowboy holster belt. More accessories to complete the look include a cream cowboy hat, a sheriff’s badge and a gold neck scarf. To be even more screen-accurate for the scarf, take a solid cream or white bandana, and tie-dye it yellow.

To go as a parent-kid duo just like in the first episode, follow my guide for Janey’s dad: Cooper Howard. Even further, I’ve also created one for Janey’s mother, and Cooper’s wife Barb Howard.

In Brokeback Mountain, Lureen Newsome Twist (played by Anne Hathaway) is a rodeo performer and the unsuspecting wife of Jack Twist.  Lureen’s father is a successful businessman and she eventually leaves the rodeo to work for him in pursuit of greater wealth.  Lureen’s most memorable costume in the film is her red and white rodeo outfit.