Crafting your Halloween costume

When the dreaded memo from your HR Department announcing this year’s company Halloween party appears on the office bulletin board and you have nothing to wear, who are you gonna call? (Definitely not the Ghostbusters or you’ll likely lose the costume contest.) Me? I call my cosplayer friends. I won’t be attending any costume parties this year, but I thought it will be a fun learning experience to discuss costumes with those who are passionate about making them; they shared a lot of great tips and tricks that were useful when they made their past costumes. I learned that if you’ve got some arts and crafts skills, ingenuity, and a lot of patience, you can make your dream costume in several days using ordinary materials for unusual purposes. And if all else fails, then the question to ask is: “What would MacGyver do?" Find the element that ties the look together

A friend once told me that for costume party purposes, it is more important to ensure your costume is wearable and evokes the general look of the character rather than spend too much time creating an accurate replica down to the last stitch. This is impossible to do in most cases anyway, unless you have access to the same materials and technology as the original costume designer. To pull off a convincing look, it’s more important to pick out elements of your chosen costume that stand out and to work hard to recreate that. Harry Potter costumes, for example, are all the rage these days because of the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. If you’re thinking of dressing up as a Gryffindor student and don’t have the time to have the black school robes made, you can focus on the rest of the student uniform. The girls’ uniform consists of a collared white shirt worn inside a black or dark gray cardigan, a knee-length skirt in a matching color, black stockings (or grey knee-high socks if you opted for the gray outfit), black shoes, a magic wand, and the all-important Gryffindor House necktie. The wand and necktie are what will set off the costume so that it screams “Gryffindor student!" You can also add a scarf for good measure. You can use ready-made clothes for most of the ensemble and it’s easy to make your own wand, but it’s unfortunate that a tie of the exact color and pattern seen in the movies is difficult to find in local stores. The Gryffindor tie, though, is basically just color maroon with gold diagonal stripes, so look for that or something very close. Take a cue from Claire Torres, a member of local fan group Hogwarts Philippines. She created her own Gryffindor necktie by buying a regular maroon tie and attaching thin gold ribbons in a diagonal pattern on it using fabric adhesive. If you’re thinking of going as someone from the other Hogwarts Houses, look for neckties that are green with silver or gray diagonal stripes for Slytherin, navy blue with silver or gray diagonal stripes for Ravenclaw, and yellow with black diagonal stripes for Hufflepuff. There’s a reason they teach you papier-mâché in art class Finding and re-creating the crucial elements that set off elaborate costumes is a little more difficult, but not impossible. Sheila Mendoza, a friend who has been into cosplay for about 10 years now, likes portraying characters from movies and games. For the local launch of the ROSE Online game in 2005, she chose to come as Est, a non-player character who lives on an icy planet called Luna. One thing that an Est costume can’t do without is her short staff with its bird-shaped headpiece. Sheila cut the basic bird shape out of a cardboard box to serve as a base form for the headpiece, and then built it up by papier-mâché; she used a short plastic pipe (you can also use broom handles, mop handles, or toilet plunger handles) as a base form for the staff. After the staff dried, it was then painted and decorated. You can use papier-mâché to make other costume elements like masks, headdresses, and pieces that need to be stiff but lightweight. It’s a versatile technique to have for your costume-making arsenal. Put dough in the oven and out comes…jewelry? Another important element of Est’s look is her distinctive necklace made up of 3 crescent shapes of different sizes. It’s nearly impossible to find similar pieces in shops selling jewelry elements, so Sheila used a method she’s heard about from other cosplayers: sculpting using bread dough. Yes, bread dough! These days, most cosplayers use polymer clay for small sculpting projects like this, but dough can work just as well for those with limited resources. After procuring the ingredients from the baking needs aisle of your favorite supermarket, mix them and work them into the desired shape. Do your research well and get as many high-resolution images of the costume element you are copying—taken from various angles, if possible—so that you can determine the correct size and see the finer details of the piece. Pierce holes into the pieces before baking so that you can later insert wires, thread, or hooks to connect them with other elements. Bake them in an oven as instructed, and paint them after they have cooled. For Est’s necklace, Sheila used oil-based watercolor to paint the crescents; spray paint should also work. You can use this method to create pendants, unusual beads, brooches, decorative elements, and other similar sculptural pieces. Winner by a hair Sheila had the help of a good seamstress to make Est’s main garments, but to truly look the part, she applied elaborate make-up and wore a silver wig. Hair is important to the overall impact of your costume. Hair color and hairstyle is even more important for costumes that are, in effect, just normal clothes. If, for example, you’re dressing up as Rosalie Hale from the Twilight series, wearing her entire ensemble complete with an authentic replica Cullen Crest necklace won’t be enough. If you don’t wear a blond wig, you will not be recognizable as Rosalie; you will just look like a regular Twilight fan who happens to have a replica necklace. Knight in shining paper armor People often stay away from costumes that have armor components because the armor can be difficult to make, but there are a lot of materials and methods that can be employed to make something that looks like armor. Often, the novelty of wearing something that uses unconventional materials catches the judges’ eye and tells them that you are creative and innovative; this should earn you extra points during a costume contest. Sheila’s Magic: The Gathering Serra costume featured delicate shoulder armor. To make it, she used specialty cardboard cut into the desired shape, and added gold trim at the edges. You can sew these pieces together or stick them on a base form. Papier-mâché is a fallback for constructing armor segments. If you’re lucky to find them, rubber sheets are also ideal for armor, as they’re flexible, lightweight, easy to cut, and paint or wrap. I was told you can find some of these in Marikina among the footwear manufacturers. You can also visit the supermarket’s party needs aisle to get paper plates, cups, foam containers, and foil. These are quick solutions for your armor dilemma, but use them only if you think you have the skill to make something that won’t look cheesy or cheap. Be sure not to be obscure No matter what costume you eventually decide to wear, remember that the key to making a splash on Halloween is to look and act the part. Of course, it goes without saying that your actual character choice is just as important as what you will wear. If your party has a theme, stick to it, but to avoid comparisons, come as a character that others will not likely choose. Don’t go for something too obscure, though; be sure the people at your party will be reasonably familiar with your character because that’s part of the fun of wearing a costume. Now it’s time to stop reading and time to start crafting! Construction will be tricky, but wearing your dream costume will be a real treat. Star Wars Stormtrooper milk bottle helmet to go with a rubber sheet armor, anyone? Good luck and May MacGyver Be with You. - GMANews.TV