Ken Tanabe | Halloween 2008: Green Armor

Halloween 2008: Green Armor

This costume is inspired by the Sydney Opera House, animals with segmented exoskeletons (such as shrimp and lobsters), and “giant” Japanese robots (like Voltron and certain Gundam robots). I created a modular system which allowed me to build the shoulders, hips, toes, and most of the head with identical parts. The heels, chest/back plates, and face mask have unique shapes.

MATERIALS:
Free of charge: 5 FedEx shipping tubes, 2 large FedEx shipping boxes. Bought: 2 cans of Montana Gold spray paint (2 x $10), black costume gloves ($6.50). Already owned: black turleneck, black jeans, assorted small bolts, nuts, and washers, X-acto knife.

Halloween Costumes

Halloween Rules

1. Make it yourself.
This is the best way to be original. A store bought costume is better than no costume, but you can do better than that!

2. Use your whole body.
If you wear your usual clothes and throw on a mask, is that really a costume? Go from head to toe.

3. Keep it cheap.
Anybody can spend a zillion dollars on a costume and look cool. The real challenge is making it happen on a budget.

4. Don’t rely on recognition.
Do not dress as a celebrity or a movie character. Standard characters like vampires are off-limits, too.

5. Don’t rely on sex.
Don’t get me wrong – being sexy is great and all. Just don’t rely on it to make your costume work.

6. Don’t rely on horror.
Sure, blood and guts are a Halloween tradition, but don’t feel limited. Take advantage of the day you can wear anything!

Do you make Halloween costumes that follow these rules? If so, contact me.