Tired of the same old fandom tropes? This Halloween, it’s time for a throwback!
With less than two weeks to go until Halloween, we know that you might find yourself scrambling for THE perfect fandom costume.
But, what to wear? You can’t be a hippogriff again, and your Katniss costume is so 2013. It’s too cold to be a khaleesi, but not cold enough for Frozen!
Don’t get us wrong, here at Hypable we love, live, and breathe 21st century fandom fun, but every once in a while, it’s nice to take a step back to remember the good ole’ days before iPad tablets and free Starbucks wifi. Back to the days when you had to churn your own butter. Back to the days when corporal punishment was acceptable in public schools. Back to the days when people gobbled up bread found lying outside in the dirt.
So we present to you six “classic” fandoms each with two different costume ideas for you to try out: the ambitious “Fandom Favorite,” and the quick and easy “Five-minute Fandom Fix.”
Roald Dahl
Fandom Favorite – James and the Giant Peach
As a small British boy with terrible aunts and no friends, you’ll need a button-down shirt and blazer complete with khaki shorts and little boy socks.
Use paper mache to create your giant peach, and when it dries, stick it on top of a miniature of the Empire State building. Use pipe cleaners and/or straws to attach floating seagulls.
Five-minute Fandom Fix – Miss Trunchbull
Step 1) Are you a woman? Great!
Step 2) Are you not a woman? Even better!
Step 3) Tie your luscious hair up in a very tight, very severe bun. Make sure you use plenty of hair grease gel.
Step 4) GRAB YOUR BEST SMOCK. And by best, I mean ugliest! Woo!
Step 5) Wrap a giant belt around your waist.
Step 6) Hike up those knee socks and strap on the boots.
Step 7) Grab the nearest Bratz doll; swing it around by it’s pigtails.
The Brontes
Fandom Favorite – The Moors
Everyone knows that the moors are a fascinating character unto themselves in Wuthering Heights. And this Halloween, YOU can do them justice!
First, acquire astroturf. If that is unavailable, then you will need a grass-like substance that you can apply over your entire body. The most inexpensive option would be to go mow your lawn. Find an appropriate bodysuit and superglue the grass onto it. If you’re feeling extra ambitious, you can also add pebbles.
Next, you will need cotton balls and Easter egg dye. I realize that it is not Easter season, but Betty Crocker food coloring will also do. Dye the cotton balls grey by dipping them in the coloring and then letting them sit out to dry. Once they are dry, paste them ALL OVER THE ASTROTURF BODYSUIT. Because the moors are DARK and TERRIBLE, and their cloudy skies inspire GLOOM and FIERCE PASSION and MADNESS.
Finish your costume by acquiring two mini electric hand fans that you will hold so that everyone you come in contact with can have billowing, sexy hair like Cathy. I’ve come home and I’m so cold!
Five-minute Fandom Fix – Mrs. Rochester
Put on your pajamas and grab a butter knife. Then walk around the streets moaning.
Shakespeare
Fandom Favorite – Queen Titania of the Fairies
Get creative with your fairy queen costume! Want to dye your hair pink? Sure! Paint your skin blue? Great! There have been so many Titania representations throughout the centuries that your options as to what a fairy would look like are endless. Will she wear a flowing hippy dress, or a forest-themed miniskirt? Will she go barefoot, or string flowers through her hair?
The only really essential element to a Titania costume is that you NEED a Bottom to go with her. No, not that kind of bottom. You need a donkey-man!
The easiest way to do this is to find a Ken doll and a donkey Beanie Baby, then cut off the Beanie Baby’s head and stick it on top of the Ken doll. Now you have a Bottom to swoon over! Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful!
Five-minute Fandom Fix – Ghost King Hamlet
There are two ways to play Prince Hamlet’s ghost daddy. You can go the old-fashioned way, with a white sheet. Or you can wear a nightgown, put on a Burger King crown, and dump a bucket of baby powder on your head.
Narnia
Fandom Favorite – Aslan
Want to be the King of the Jungle? How about the KING OF NARNIA?? (Well, not really, that was Peter and Edmund… but you get the picture.)
Fashioning your Aslan costume will be fairly similar to fashioning any lion costume. First, start off with your feet: you can acquire lion paw slippers in the clearance sections of most stores that end in “Mart,” or sometimes at your local CVS pharmacy. Tan Uggs will also work.
Next, go to your local fabric store, and find some tan, furry fabric. Use this fabric to make furry shorts and a furry vest. You will wear brown leggings and a yellowish/tan long-sleeved shirt under your fur.
Next step: find a headband with kitty-kat ears and tease your hair out so that it looks like a shaggy, voluptuous mane. Finally, finish the look off by drawing whiskers and a kitty-kat nose on your face.
And don’t forget to find two Cabbage Patch Kids to strap onto your back: they will be your Lucy and Susan obviously!
Five-minute Fandom Fix – The Lamppost
Wear all black then stick a lantern on your head.
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Fandom Favorite – Collecting Syrup
So, obviously the best Little House day ever is SYRUP DAY, and you too can bring forth the delicious jubilation by dressing as a sapping syrup tree this Halloween. First, you will need wood, or a wood-alternative, to simulate the bark. If you’re wary of covering yourself in wood considering the open Jack o’ Lantern flames that will abound, consider crumpling up brown butcher paper. Paper is also flammable, but it is also less heavy, so when your pants catch on fire (liar, liar) you will have an easier time running away.*
After you cover your body in brown butcher paper, you will want to find a flutophone to use as a spigot. Paint it grey, then stick it in your mouth, because this will be how Laura collects the syrup, obviously. When this is done, grab a bucket and fill it with syrup. You will carry this bucket around as you spread joy.
*This was a lame joke. Please stop, drop, and roll when there is fire.**
**And please do everything you can to not catch on fire in the first place.***
***Like, maybe just don’t play with fire.
Five-minute Fandom Fix – Pa Playing the Fiddle
Want to be the ultimate BAMF in the big woods? Pa butchers cows, churns butter, then brings out the fiddle y’all.
To be Pa, you’ll need sensible shoes and a heart of gold. Doodle some scruff on your face with eyeliner cuz Pa has a boss beard. Finally, fetch some cardboard and cut out YOUR VERY OWN FIDDLE. If you tape your iPod to the back then you can play magical woodland music for everyone.
The Bible
Fandom Favorite – Manna in the desert
Like our moors costume, to get the desert setting right, you’ll need a body suit, preferably in a tannish color. Put on the body suit and then roll around in a tub of liquid glue. Once that’s done, dump a bucket of sand (you can find this at any local playground) over your head. Be careful and close your eyes.
To complete the desert look, add on tumbleweeds and other appropriate atmospheric desert props such as a lizard. Make a bright yellow sun out of paper mache, and attach it to a beanie that you will wear on top of your head. Top off the look by gluing pita bread onto your bodysuit.
Five-minute Fandom Fix – Joseph and his amazing technicolor dreamcoat of many colors
Bring out your rainbow poncho!
Lacking that, pop out that pride flag you’ve had laying around, and drape it over your shoulders.
Fan of our book coverage? Why not join our Hypable Books Facebook group!
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.