Tauntaun
The group voted on costume themes and we went with Star Wars.
I debated between a twi'lek and a tauntaun, ultimately deciding that I'd rather make horns than head tentacles, and a creature from an ice planet would be more in line with the northeast Halloween weather than a member of a race known for their tendency to skimp on clothing.
If you're not familiar, a tauntaun is the thing that they ride on the ice planet; the moment in the movie that tends to stick with people is the scene in which Han Solo slices open the carcass of one and shoves Luke inside so he wouldn't freeze to death overnight. This scene was very upsetting to me as a kid, so I have mixed feelings about referencing it in the costume plan, but I couldn't not. It's just too good a setup.
Overall plan: light gray, tan/gold accents. Coverage somewhere between bikini and fur suit.
Headwear
I started with a light gray wig from Arda and made some ears and horns to clip in.
Ears were made by following the steps for these deer ears, except I sewed the ears to individual hair clips instead of a headband.
I thought I was going to make horns from paper clay, but cardboard with paper clay smoothing ended up being lighter. I followed this tutorial, but mine didn't come out nearly as symmetrical and I had to undo the larger rings and re-shape them around photo #2 so they'd sit better on my head. I also scrapped the wire guide once the cardboard was glued in place to keep it as light as possible.
Painting is my favorite part! Base coat of white, medium hue coat, then add darker and darker shadows and light on highlighted areas until there's an obvious top and bottom.
The horns were glued to a circle of felt and sewn to a comb, and that was stuck into the wig and sewn in place. It was a huge pain to get the ears and horns symmetrical, and I'd hate to have to try to fix it in a bar bathroom because one of them got bumped and fell out.
Clothing
Gray hoodie, gray pants, belt with grenade pouches (to stand in for saddle bags, and I got them for a different costume years ago), and tan boots to reflect the color of the horns and belt.
I found this fantastic two-toned fur on Amazon to use for accents.
I used a random piece of felt to help me with shape and placement, but overall the shapes I cut out of the fur were pretty basic. Mostly triangles or rectangles.
I was a little concerned that I'd look ridiculous with the giant inverted triangle of chest hair.
But once all the fur was added it didn't look out of place.
My favorite part of this costume might be the little cartoon Luke on my shirt under the hoodie. I like to think it's clever, and it's darn cute.
Finishing touch: tail. Stuffed with a few handfuls of filling from a pillow we were going to throw away.
Detail: fingernails painted silver with gold flecks.
I managed to get fake eyelashes on for my makeup, not that you can tell because the wig hides so much of my face, but attention to detail never hurts.
Total time about 30 hours, most of it split between the horns and hand-sewing all the fur.
Bonus: husband went as Slave Leia.
Or, as one friend pointed out, Slave Neigh-ah.
I debated between a twi'lek and a tauntaun, ultimately deciding that I'd rather make horns than head tentacles, and a creature from an ice planet would be more in line with the northeast Halloween weather than a member of a race known for their tendency to skimp on clothing.
Overall plan: light gray, tan/gold accents. Coverage somewhere between bikini and fur suit.
Headwear
I started with a light gray wig from Arda and made some ears and horns to clip in.
Ears were made by following the steps for these deer ears, except I sewed the ears to individual hair clips instead of a headband.
I thought I was going to make horns from paper clay, but cardboard with paper clay smoothing ended up being lighter. I followed this tutorial, but mine didn't come out nearly as symmetrical and I had to undo the larger rings and re-shape them around photo #2 so they'd sit better on my head. I also scrapped the wire guide once the cardboard was glued in place to keep it as light as possible.
Painting is my favorite part! Base coat of white, medium hue coat, then add darker and darker shadows and light on highlighted areas until there's an obvious top and bottom.
The horns were glued to a circle of felt and sewn to a comb, and that was stuck into the wig and sewn in place. It was a huge pain to get the ears and horns symmetrical, and I'd hate to have to try to fix it in a bar bathroom because one of them got bumped and fell out.
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| There is something about a wig and horns that just lights up the brain just right, no? |
Gray hoodie, gray pants, belt with grenade pouches (to stand in for saddle bags, and I got them for a different costume years ago), and tan boots to reflect the color of the horns and belt.
I found this fantastic two-toned fur on Amazon to use for accents.
I used a random piece of felt to help me with shape and placement, but overall the shapes I cut out of the fur were pretty basic. Mostly triangles or rectangles.
 | |
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I was a little concerned that I'd look ridiculous with the giant inverted triangle of chest hair.
But once all the fur was added it didn't look out of place.
My favorite part of this costume might be the little cartoon Luke on my shirt under the hoodie. I like to think it's clever, and it's darn cute.
Finishing touch: tail. Stuffed with a few handfuls of filling from a pillow we were going to throw away.
Detail: fingernails painted silver with gold flecks.
I managed to get fake eyelashes on for my makeup, not that you can tell because the wig hides so much of my face, but attention to detail never hurts.
Total time about 30 hours, most of it split between the horns and hand-sewing all the fur.
Bonus: husband went as Slave Leia.
Or, as one friend pointed out, Slave Neigh-ah.
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| You're welcome. |
That's great to see it all come together like that in a single post. I never noticed the Skywalker t-shit underneath. Perfect!
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