Covered in Glitter and Screaming

Okay, this isn't really a costuming thing or a physical piece of art, but it took just as much planning as my more ambitious costumes and I'm pretty impressed that I managed to pull it off. At the time, we had lived in Tokyo for five years, and were about to move back to the US. Together we planned a farewell party for a Saturday night, but I wanted to surprise him with a treasure hunt before that as an early birthday present. The planning took months, the schedule coordination took weeks, and more than 20 people took time out of their day to be a part of this. We have some pretty great friends. I said, "I have plans for you today, put on pants." He only asked what kind of pants he should wear. That's trust! I made an excuse to leave the house, then sent him a text. Clue #1: A photo of the lockers in our local train station, a locker key, and an envelope of money labeled "for drinks." Clue #2: a photo of Ichiran in Shimokitazawa...

Husband and I both had Japan-specific costumes for our last Halloween in Japan. For him, we opted for a woodblock-inspired namazu,  the catfish of legend that causes earthquakes by thrashing about in its lair. (There are more ancient namazu woodblock prints than you might expect.) Reference photos from here . People tended to think he was a cockroach until they saw the reference photos, but then they got it. Not surprising, it's a bit obscure. Here's how I made it! Not nearly as intense as the robot costume I made for myself, but it was a whole new set of challenges. Step 1: paper planning. It's built around a bicycle helmet that we knew would fit Husband's giant head, so I put it on, took some reference selfies, printed one out and sketched the outline I wanted to create. Step 2: use cardboard, craft wire, and duct tape to create the outline. Include padding as necessary. Step 3: Add craft wire for lower jaw, experiment with shapes to get the chin, u...

Husband and I both had Japan-specific costumes for our last Halloween in Tokyo. Mine was based on the Amazonian fembots of the  Robot Restaurant  in Shinjuku, which I decided I wanted to do the first time I saw the show. Reference photo on left from here . This has been my most time intensive costume yet. Over 7 months I clocked 110 hours of construction time. Most of the materials are foam and cardboard, with touch lights, chair, magnets, and elastic from the ¥100 store. (For all intents and purposes, ¥100=$1.) Fabric for the skirt/top/backpack were more of an investment, but I used the whole meter of red I purchased, and I'll find a use for the rest of the blue stretchy vinyl eventually. Feet The feet started with a cardboard model over sneakers and ended with craft foam over Converse for a lower profile and less of a tripping hazard. Legs Lower pieces are held on by elastic straps, upper pieces by magnets paired with partners sewn into leggings. Two a...