Concerning the Conceptualisation of Costumes...

It's a shame that the nature of this blog leaves it dormant for much of the year. During those months between finishing one costume and the frenzy of starting the next, subject matter is thin on the ground. This year, my aim is to augment the usual August(ish) to November activity with a bit of extra content; by articulating some of the brainstorming activity that typically goes into new a costume idea. 

Fully Built: Mr. Potato Head

The construction of my Emporer Zurg costume was a collaborative effort. Without the help of my girlfriend, Ciara, I would not have gotten very far past the head and torso. Fabrics are just not my strong point. They are not any point on my skills radar, really. In return for Ciara's invaluable input to my Zurg costume, I helped her construct her Halloween 2010 costume. We decided to share a Pixar theme in our costumes, ultimately choosing Zurg's film compatriot Mr. Potato Head.

Fully Built: Zurg

The cumulative effort which went into Zurg is split into a number of different posts here; but I wanted to compile all the photos which were taken from beginning to end (significanly less towards the end, as I struggled for time) to show the evolution of the costume. It invariably starts with a piece of wire, and a simple shape.

The Emperor's New Torso

I've taken a break from the Ion Blaster, because I was becoming self-concious about not having started the body.

I decided to tackle the torso first (still figuring out the midriff and the lower body). To do this, I started by acquiring a large, flat cardboard box (below).

Phase 1: Papier Mache; Phase 2: ??? Phase 3: Profit

Despite setting a deadline for this week that I haven't quite met, I'm happy enough with my progress. I now have the head entirely papier mached, as well as the three barrels of the Ion Blaster.

First Meaningful Progress

At last, progress to speak of! I've been working on Zurg's head over the last month, though it's been a bit slower than I would have liked. Using the same method as I have done for the last three years (i.e. wire and papier mache) I've finally gotten a frame together.

That Time of Year Again...

This is the first year I've really been indecisive about my costume idea. While last year commitments stopped me from getting a start on the costume until mid-September, I pretty much knew I wanted to be T-1000.

I began this year with an idea that had been floating around my mind from the previous Halloween; none other than the Mayor of Halloween Town himself, of The Nightmare Before Christmas fame. The film is an old favourite of mine, and who better to embody the spirit of Halloween? I immediately began to think of how I would construct him and nail his features; most notably his swivelling head, which rotates depending on his mood (see above, left).

My indecisiveness raised its head when I started playing Bioshock on the PC. I got sucked into the game (more addictive than a barrell of MSG) so naturally my mind started wandering to Bioshock-related costume ideas. Pretty soon I decided I wanted to be a Big Daddy. I mean not only was it a Bioshock costume; it also satisfied my usual criterion of being utterly ridiculous. Inspired by some amazing attempts by others, I was pretty sure this is what I wanted to be. My mind kept drifting back to the Mayor though; in addition to the fact that my girlfriend had decided to go as Nightmare's Sally. In the end I conceded that it was a better idea than Big Daddy, and got down to work. Huzzah, I had made a decision! I drew some concept sketches, mostly to figure out how I'd make myself as big around the waist as the plump Mayor.

As the summer went on though, I just didn't feel inspired to get started. The idea had lost some of its novelty on me, and I wasn't too excited by it. So, when my girlfriend asked if I'd consider going as Zurg from Toy Story 2 (we are both huge Pixar nuts) a little light bulb went off above my head. I had found my costume idea.

For the last few days I've just been figuring out how I'm going to go about doing the costume. I think it has the advantage of being very doable, while having the potential to be totally ridiculous. I think it ranks ahead of Ash and T-1000 in terms of ambition, but definitely behind my Alien and Predator reprisals in previous Halloweens. Updates to come as they happen.