Carbon Costume

Chani Kynes (played by Zendaya) is a Fremen from the planet of Arrakis in the sci-fi movie Dune.  Chani’s people have lost their lands to colonizers in search of spice melenge, and she appears in visions had by Paul Atreides long before they meet.  Chani’s primary attire consists of a stillsuit, designed to help a person survive the difficult climate of Arrakis by recycling sweat and tears into drinking water.  You can make your own stillsuit using padded tactical pants and gloves, as well as a motorcycle or paintball jacket.  Your scarf can help strategically cover the parts of the jacket that don’t match the original as well.  In Paul’s visions, Chani often wears a long white robe or dress.  One of the Fremen’s defining features are their bright blue eyes, a side effect of long-term exposure to spice.  If you plan to wear blue contacts as part of your costume, it’s best to have yourself fitted by an eye doctor to make sure you have the right size and they don’t cause any damage.

Jame Dale (played by Jack Nicholson) is the ill-fated President of the United States when aliens invade Earth in the sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks!  President Dale believes the Martians to be rational and seeks to make first contact in a bid for peace, a plan which quickly goes awry.  President Dale dresses as most Presidents–in dark suits.  He wears several different ties throughout the movie, but you can’t go wrong with something vaguely patriotic or merely striped.  If you don’t quite have his distinguished hairline, an old man wig can do the trick.  Less noticeable than his widow’s peak, President Dale sports a wedding band, gold watch, and a signet ring.

Paul Atreides (played by Timothée Chalamet) is the main character of Dune.  Paul is heir to a powerful family, the son of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica.  Paul has visions of the future in his dreams, including many of Chani Kynes, a Fremen from the desert planet of Arrakis. On his home planet Caladan, Paul is often seen wearing dark military-style suits with band-style collars and knee-high boots.  When his family is attacked and he and his mother seek refuge with the Fremen, they wear stillsuits designed to recycle their sweat and tears into drinkable water.  Recreating the complex suits can be tricky, so it will help to be a little flexible with the design.  Layering padded motocross armor can help achieve a similar look, and don’t be afraid to use some spray paint to get the color right.  Cut the sleeves off a hooded cardigan to finish the look.

Played to perfection by Sigourney Weaver, Gwen DeMarco is the perfect “Galaxy Quest” parody to every communications officer in Star Trek. Woefully under-appreciated despite a talent for alien languages, communications officers are usually accused of just “repeating the computer”. And DeMarco is sick of it!

You might not be headed for a starship, but you can still get DeMarco’s look. Start with a blonde wig, a red tank top, and grey boots. Snag a grey flight suit and some red paint for the details of a Galaxy quest suit. Add on a Galaxy Quest patch, grab your communicator, and you’re ready to go.

A football player isn’t the most likely interplanetary hero. But he might just be the one Earth needs with Ming the Merciless pushes the moon closer to our planet in an attempt to destroy it. Thankfully Dr, Zarkov finds Flash Gordon (played by Sam J. Jones) and takes him to the planet Mongo to save all of humankind!

It might sound like a stretch. But, hey, it was the ’80s. And it makes for a really great closet cosplay.

You’ll want to start with a blonde wig, tan slacks, a brown leather belt, and white sneakers. After that all you need is the signature Flash Gordon t-shirt and you’re ready to save the galaxy!

Alison Pill plays Agnes Jurati, a human cyberneticist on the television sci-fi drama Star Trek: Picard.  She is the leading expert on Earth when it comes to the science of synthetic life forms, which makes her a useful addition to Picard’s crew.  Agne’s outfit changes throughout the show’s episodes, but she can often be found wearing a cozy-looking sweater under a white lab coat.

Originally written by Robert Heinlein in 1959, Sony adapted the novel Starship Troopers into a 1997 film that tanked in the box office only to gain a cult following. The film follows Johnny Rico (played by Casper Van Dien who later went on to make several cameos in other Starship Trooper films) as he graduates high school and enlists in the army. Unlike military service in America today, however, military service is required to gain full rights as a citizen, prompting Rico to join despite his parents’ protests. Rico and his friends go on to fight Bugs and Arachnids, members of an insect-like species that have been fighting humans for control of new planets since the beginning of off-Earth human colonies.

The most unique piece of the Starship Trooper uniform is the helmet. It’s modeled on just about any other military helmet of course. But the specific styling is what really sets aside a Starship Trooper. Unfortunately a premade unit is pretty pricy. There are a few other options though. You can get a 3-D printer file for it here. Or you can find craft foam tutorials like this one on YouTube.

From there, the rest of the costume is fairly easy. Grey tactical pants and, a black t-shirt and a chest protector The chest protector listed above is very close to the version the Troopers wear but it has white detailing. Black acrylic paint will cover that up since the protector is made of nylon. And of course you’ll need your trusty laser rifle.

In Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (played by Gary Oldman) is a weapons dealer who falls in league with Mr. Shadow, also known as the Ultimate Evil intent on destroying Earth.  Zorg attacks Leeloo while looking for the four elemental stones, though his plans are eventually thwarted by Korben Dallas and others.  Recreating Zorg’s futuristic look may take some time if you want to get the pieces just right, but you can always tone down his wet-look holographic clothes by choosing slightly more muted pieces in similar colors.  By getting crafty with some clear plastic and a small toupee, you can evoke a look that is similar to Zorg’s unique hair and futuristic head piece.