Carbon Costume

Rusty Martin is a character from the 1964 film Viva Las Vegas and is played by Ann-Margret. Viva Las Vegas is a musical film following Lucky Jackson as he prepares for the first Las Vegas Grand Prix and needs an engine, but he loses his money after meeting Rusty and has to earn it back to make the race on time. This colorful film reflects the charm of both Vegas and Hollywood tropes in both the sets and costumes.

Rusty’s costumes are very bright and summery with with lots of red and yellow pieces. In her iconic dance class scene, she wears tights and a red shirt, which you can re-create by wearing a red mock neck top with sheer black tights and black spandex shorts over them. She has two different swimsuits, one being the bright all-yellow outfit with a yellow one piece, yellow cover-up and white pointed kitten heels. Another is a red one piece with buttons down the top. And finally when she goes out dancing with Lucky, she matches his yellow blazer by wearing a yellow sleeveless scoop neck dress.

Pearl Krabs is a character in SpongeBob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical. A stage adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon, the show premiered on Broadway at the Palace Theater in 2017. Pearl is the high-spirited yet overdramatic teenage daughter of Mr. Krabs. In the musical, she wants to become a rock band singer, not manager of the Krusty Krab like her father hopes. Jai’len Christine Li Josey portrayed Pearl in the Broadway production. You can stick with a cheerleader uniform, which is what her costume is based on, or go more accurate to the musical with a light pink tennis dress and iron on a “P” varsity letter. For added accuracy, use the black fabric paint to create the stripes on her jacket.

Old Man Jenkins is a minor character in Spongebob Squarepants: The Broadway Musical. A stage adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon, the show premiered on Broadway at the Palace Theater in 2017. Old Man Jenkins is an elderly, disgruntled fish. J.C. Schuster portrayed Old Man Jenkins in the Broadway production.

David Byrne’s American Utopia is a musical show that was on Broadway and released as a live recording in 2020 to HBO Max, directed by Spike Lee. In this show, Talking Heads’ David Byrne leads the way with international musicians as they put on a rock spectacle about art, openness and faith in humanity on a minimalist and bold background. Byrne performs songs you may be familiar with like Burning Down the House, Road to Nowhere, Glass, Concrete & Stone, and more.

David Byrne, like the rest of the artists on stage, wears an all-gray suit with a gray shirt-but loose enough to dance in. Pair this with a stage mic, prop brain, and leave the shoes out this time for this costume!

Mrs. Puff (played by Abby C. Smith) is a character from Spongebob the Musical.  She is a pufferfish.  As a teacher in Bikini Bottom, Mrs. Puff helps students like SpongeBob SquarePants learn to drive boats as a means of underwater transportation.  In the Broadway musical, Mrs. Puff wears a bright blue jacket with polka dots and a pillbox hat to match.  To recreate her appearance from the stage production, focus on finding a coat in your budget that has a bit of flare to the bottom.  Layer it over a red petticoat skirt and blue and green striped tights.  Mrs. Puff’s accessories include an oversized pearl necklace, teal gloves, and Mary Jane shoes.  Finish the look with blue eyeshadow and red lipstick.

Quiet up and listen down! There’s a new Willy Wonka in town, played by Timothee Chalamet in the new movie-musical Wonka. The original story is from the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. This new story follows a younger Wonka before he becomes who we know today from the two film adaptations where he is played by Gene Wilder and then Johnny Depp. In this new whimsical film we follow his journey into becoming a chocolatier.

Wonka’ s costume has elements that are reminiscent of both Roald Dahl’s original art and previous films. He still wears iconic pieces like the purple velvet coat, brown top hat, and walking stick. In this new costume we also see the designer playing with layering and unique patterns like the brown vest layered on top of a white pinstriped shirt, over that another blue and yellow vest, and then the coat. He also wears high waisted trousers and a patterned scarf tucked into the vest.

Miss Trunchbull in the 2022 adaptation of Matilda The Musical is played by Emma Thompson. Matilda was originally a book by Roald Dahl, then made into a film, and then a Broadway musical. The 2022 film is based on the musical. With all of these different versions of the classic story, Miss Trunchbull has always remained a pretty scary character!

Miss Trunchbull wears a very military inspired costume, showing her authority and seriousness for her job, being a terrible principal. Her costume hilariously fits her attitude and personality so well- from the army green trench coat, to the special belt attachment to hold her mallet. This would make a wonderfully fun and recognizable costume!

Cynthia Zdunowski (played by Ari Notartomaso) is one-fourth of the titular group at the heart of the prequel series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.  Cynthia has always dreamt of being a member of the T-birds, but isn’t allowed to join.  The Pink Ladies are born when Cynthia joins with friends Nancy, Olivia, and Jane.  Cynthia often wears trousers and favors more loose-fitting silhouettes than other members of the Pink Ladies.  Don’t be afraid to clash patterns as well, since Cynthia does so often.  The unique mustard-colored sweater with hood is difficult to find an exact match for, but several similar options exist so you can choose whichever you think looks closest.  Add Cynthia’s name to a Pink Ladies jacket with a black fabric marker.