Transformers Costumes

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
The new Transformers release date for the film is Friday 26th June 2009. The movie is also sometimes called Transformers 2 and is one that both big and small kids have been looking forward to.

Transformers Fancy Dress Costumes
As with all big films these days, there is always a bunch of official merchendise to go with it and Transformers is no exception. With everything from Transformers coloring books, Transformers games, Transformers toys, transformers masks, helmets and of course Transformers Costumes. The two main costumes available are for the two main characters: Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. These are available in both childrens as well as a few adult transformers costumes available.

Transformers Optimus Prime Costumes
Optimus prime is a great role model as is in the story of Transformers, he is the leader of the Autobots (The heroic Transformers). Optimus Prime and the other Autobots come from the planet Cybertron where they are constantly pitting themselves against Decepticons (The Bad Transformers) for peace in the universe. One of his famous quotes is "Autobots, transform and roll out!"

The fancy dress costumes (main image) are available in both adult and childrens sizes. The officially licensed Transformers Optimus Prime Deluxe Adult costume comes with a character jumpsuit, mask and sculpted chest piece. The adult vesion is available in one size only, but should fit most adults (42-46)

The Childs Optimus Prime Costumes are available in two styles, the Animated version as well as the movie version:

The Optimus Prime deluxe costume comes with a red, blue and gray jumpsuit, chest piece, toy arm weapon and face mask.



The Transformers Animated Optimus Prime Deluxe Child costume consists of a jumpsuit with attached foam chest and upper arms, two foam arm cuffs and a Optimus Prime mask.

Transformers Bumblebee Costumes
In the Transformers univese, Bumblebee is the "little brother" of the heroic Autobots, he is always trying to prove himself to the taller, stronger robots, especially his leader, Optimus Prime.

Like the Optimus Prime Costumes, the Bumblebee costumes are available in both adult and childrens sizes, in both the classic movie styles as well as the animated versions. The best costume is the Bumblebee Movie 3-D Deluxe Costume that has a black, gray and yellow jumpsuit with 3-D armor that looks like real robot parts as well as a robot mask that matches the costume and completes the look of an autobot. It is available in child sizes: Small, Medium and Large.

Where to buy Transformers Costumes:

Shoppers in the UK
Transformers Costumes on Amazon.co.uk

Shoppes in the USA
Transformers Costumes on Amazon.com

For those of you in the US, you can take a look at the Halloween 4 Costumes page on Transformers Costumes >>

Zorro Costumes

The Zorro Fancy Dress Costume
Zorro is usually depicted in films and books wearing a black costume with a flowing Spanish cape and wearing a flat-brimmed Andalusian style hat. Zorro also wears a black face mask that covers the top of the head from eye level upwards.

For authenticity, you should use a rapier as the correct style of "sword" Zorro uses this to slash his famous "Z" as his mark. Most Zorro costumes come with the Zorro sword, or you can purchase it as a separate accessories. Zorro has also been known to use a bull-whip and some costumes come with one included. If you cannot find one being sold with the Zorro costume, you could check the accessories for Indiana Jones as their whips are similar.

Child Zorro Costumes - World Book Day Costume Idea
The Children's Zorro costume available is almost miniature replica's of the adult costume and for me makes an excellent fancy dress idea for World Book Day as not only has Zorro been featured in many books, but the costume is undeniably cool, which you know as well I do, is extremely important at school!

Why a Child Zorro Costume makes a perfect World Book Day Costume
Did you know that Zorro who was often called Señor or El Zorro in the original stories about him was first created in 1919 where he appeared in the serialized story of "The Curse of Capistrano" written by Johnston McCulley. The original story "The Curse of Capistrano" was reprinted by Tor books in 1998 under the title "The Mark of Zorro". ISBN 978-0-8125-4007-9 (see below for links to the books, DVD's and costumes)



Adult Zorro Costume

Of all the Zorro costumes, I think the official deluxe version is the best. The Zorro outfit comes with a one-piece black jumpsuit complete with a padded muscle torso, chest, bicep, triceps and deltoid muscles, that makes you look like you have spent the past decade in the gym! The costume comes with attached black knee-high vinyl boot covers that makes it look like you are wearing Zorro's boots. This costume also comes with the long black cape, Zorro's black Andalusian style hat has a 3D raised golden trim and Zorro logo. Finishing touches include a belt with printed decoration and Zorro logo and the Zorro face-mask.

To complete the look you will probably have to buy the Zorro sword and whip separately.

Other Zorro Fancy Dress Costumes
Other than the child and adult Zorro costumes, there are also infant Zorro costumes, Pet / Dog Zorro costumes and women's Zorro costumes (La Bandida) costumes available.


Where to Buy Zorro Costumes
To buy the adult, child, women's, infant and pet Zorro costumes, I would suggest the websites below:

UK Shoppers:
Zorro Costumes on Amazon.co.uk

The Mark of Zorro on Amazon.co.uk

Amazon have the adult men's and woman's Zorro costumes as well as the child and infant outfits. There are also the accessories like the masks and swords. As well as the books and DVD's!

US Shoppers:
Zorro Halloween Costumes on Amazon.com

The Mark of Zorro on Amazon.com

Like the UK site, Amazon.com have every Zorro costume that you could ever want including all the available accessories for sale.

Wolverine Costume

Continuing on with the fancy dress films theme, another film to hit the big screens with a fancy dress link is a new X-Men film entitled X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Of all the X-Men Characters, the only fancy dress costumes that I could find were for Wolverine and the female Storm Costumes.

The official Wolverine Super Hero Costume comes with the one piece yellow and blue jumpsuit with the muscle padded body showing off ripped abs, chest, biceps and deltoid muscles. The Wolverine claws are made from PVC, held in place with elastic straps and the foam face mask is held on via a Velcro strap at the rear. For the legs the Wolverine costume comes with foam boot tops with a printed boot effect that finishes at the base of the trouser leg so ideally you will need a pair of black shoes to compliment the costume.

Where to buy the Wolverine Costume:
Shoppers in the USA:
Wolverine Costumes on Amazon.com



Shoppers in the UK:
Wolverine Costumes on Amazon.co.uk


About Wolverine
The story of Wolverine in the comic series is quite interesting, even if you are not an avid comic book reader and it is easy to see how they are going to make a film about him. Wolverine is a mutant, with enhanced animal like senses and abilities that include retracting claws made from bone on his hands and a healing ability that allows him to recovery very quickly from any wounds. This ability also alws Wolverine to have a much longer lifespan than the average human. Before he was a mutant, Wolverine was born James Howlett and is commonly known as Logan.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The new X-Men Origins: Wolverine film that is due for release on 1st May was mostly filmed in New Zealand and Australia and once again stars Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. The film follows Wolverine when he was part of Team X, about 20 years before the formation of the X-Men and before his skeleton was stuck together with an unbreakable metal called adamantium.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer

Check out the official X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer of the film, it actually really looks good and well worth watching:

Friday the 13th Costumes

Did you know that the next Friday the 13th is in February, this also is the date when the new Friday the 13th (2009) film is due to be released. The plot of the film is the usual: A group of young adults (probably all good looking) discover a boarded up at Camp Crystal Lake, where they soon encounter Jason Voorhees (Mears) and his thirst for blood.

Jason Voorhees Costumes
The great thing is that the main character of Jason and his ice hockey mask make an excellent fancy dress costume, so would make an excellent choice if you are planning on going to a fancy dress party any time in February, but especially if it happens to be on the 13th. The Jason Voorhees costume also has the advantage in that you could use it again in October as it also makes an ideal Halloween costume.

There are plenty of commercially available costumes for sale, but it would also be pretty easy to make your own Friday the 13th costume, all you would need are some ripped overalls, a hockey mask, and if possible a Machete or you could make one.

The official Adult Deluxe Jason Voorhees Costume (pictured) is probably the best Jason costume available and as far as official costumes go it is not too expensive. The costume comes with the long sleeve green shirt and trousers, with printed blood stains. You also get the hand painted vinyl face mask that has one eye covered with a black mesh and elasticised straps to hold it in place. Unfortunately and it is something that slightly annoys me, the machete for the fancy dress costume is sold separately.

If you don't want to buy the whole Jason Friday the 13th costume, you could always just get the mask as they are pretty cheap and the use an old pair of overalls splattered with red paint for the rest of his outfit.

US Shoppers
Jason Voorhees Costume on Amazon.com

UK Shoppers
Jason Voorhees Costume on Amazon.co.uk

Friday the 13th Trivia:
So why do we assume that Friday the 13th is either unlucky or somehow bad? It may just be because many people consider that thirteen is an unlucky number and that Friday is an unlucky day. Did you know that In Scandinavia, Friday the 13th was at one point considered the luckiest day of the year. The word for Friday derives from the Norse Frigga, a major goddess in Norse paganism!

Official Friday the 13th Trailer:



You can check out the official Friday the 13th movie website here: http://www.fridaythe13thmovie.com/

Pink Panther Costumes & Inspector Jacques Clouseau Fancy Dress

The Pink Panther 2 film is due for release in February and I thought that it may be fun to see what fancy dress Pink Panther costumes there are available and where you can find them.

About the Pink Panther
If anyone has ever watched any of the previous pink panther films, you will know that a "pink panther" as an animal does not feature anywhere in the films other than in the credits. The Pink Panther is actually the name of a diamond which is being tracked down by the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau, who in the original 1962 film is played by Peter Sellers. Because of the popularity of the cartoon Pink Panther character in the opening credits, a series of short animated films was produced and that is how we have come to know the Pink Panther and is what the costumes look like.

The new pink Panther film has an impressive cast featuring Steve Martin, Jean Reno, John Cleese and Andy Garcia and we can only hope that the film is as good as the cast.

The Pink Panther Trailer

Inspector Jacques Clouseau Costume & Pink Panther Fancy Dress Costumes
There is the obvious choice of wearing a Pink Panther Costume, which are available in both children and adult versions. Another fancy dress idea would be to dress up in a Inspector Clouseau costume.
I also think that as a couples costume combination you could consider dressing him in a Pink panther or Inspector Clouseau costume and her in a diamond costume.

Where to buy your Pink Panther Outfit:
The USA
Amazon.com have a good selection of Pink Panther costumes and Inspector Clouseau costumes available.

Pink Panther Costume on Amazon.com

You could also try Buycostumes.com although as of today they do not have any in stock.

The UK
Amazon.co.uk also have a good selection of Pink Panther costumes at great prices, also try Jokers' Masquerade fancy dress

Pink Panther Costume on Amazon.co.uk

Crazy Santa Costumes

Fancy Dress Ideas For Christmas
If you are a little bored of the traditional red and white image of Santa, here are a few alternative fancy dress ideas for Santa this Christmas that I have managed to find on the web.

The Grinch Santa Claus Costume
The Grinch Santa costume is also fun. If you do not know the story, the Grinch is a character that was developed by Dr Seuss and it was he that stole Christmas and I think makes a fun alternative to the traditional white bearded Santa. This Grinch fancy dress costume comes with the Grinch mask with attached green fur fabric whiskers. The Headpiece has the red Santa hat attached. Red long sleeved Santa jacket and completed by a wide black belt with an over-sized brassed belt buckle.

Bad Santa Costumes
Red and White not the colours for you? How about black and white? I managed to find this Bad Santa costume that has the words 'Bah Humbug' written on the Santa hat, perfect for the Santa with a bad streak in him!

Take a look here if you are looking for a Traditional Santa Claus costume

Traditional Santa Claus Costumes

The Traditional Red and White Santa Outfits
So where did this iconic image of Santa in his red suit come from? Some people incorrectly think that the Coca-Cola Company invented the red Santa costume in the 1930's. Coca-Cola only used the character because his well-known colour scheme is similar to that of the company logo. So even though Coke were not the first to put the red suit on Santa, the company did play a large role in making the character much more popular. It was way back in 1885 that we find the first Christmas card depicting Santa Claus in his famous red suit. Printed in Boston by by Louis Prang although I am not sure if he was the first to put Santa into the red and white. The original inspiration came from Saint Nicholas of Myra, in the Netherlands. In Dutch he was called Sinterklaas, who was helped by his servants called Zwarte Pieten, who we now call his elves.


Fancy Dress Santa Claus Costumes

I guess these days when we think of Christmas, the first name that comes to mind is Santa Claus. The great thing about Santa as a character is his well known fancy dress costume. The red and white Santa Costume, or Santa suit with long white beard and Santa hat is about as well known an icon in the fancy dress world as you can get. If you are looking to buy a Santa outfit there are literally thousands to choose from and all from the outside look fairly similar. From the super deluxe Santa suits to cheap Santa beards and hats, you are sure to find a costume that will suit your needs as well as how deep your pocket goes, but all this choice can also be a little daunting. My advice with so much choice would be to shop around, spend a bit of time and you are sure to fined the right xmas costume for you.

A great place to start is with a shop like Amazon who have a huge variety of costumes that you can quickly browse through:

USA:
Santa Costumes on Amazon.com


UK:
Santa Costumes on Amazon.co.uk

Plus Size Halloween Costumes

Sometimes finding large sizes of fancy dress or Halloween Costumes can be difficult. Most website stock the normal adult costumes, as well as childrens Halloween costumes and even toddler and baby costumes, but no plus size fancy dress. The if you are looking for plus size Halloween costumes it can become even more difficult.



It's all in the name - Halloween Costumes Plus size
If you are searching on the web for larger sized Halloween costumes, you may want to try different search terms. Try "Plus Size Halloween Costumes" or "Full Cut Costumes" as depending on where you live, the terminology for larger sized costumes is different and different fancy dress websites use different names for this category of fancy dress.

I have done a little research and here are a few Plus size Halloween costumes that I think are pretty cool:

Mens Plus Size Halloween Costumes

Halloween Plus Size Adult Werewolf Costume (ref: 23082)
This werewolf costume comes in larger sizes and I think is perfect for Halloween, the Costume includes tattered red gingham shirt with black, grey and white plush fake fur on the chest using a torn through fabric effect. It is available from most good fancy dress stores, both in the UK (including Jokers' Masquerade) and the USA. Halloween plus size awoooooo yeagh! (sorry that was my werewolf impression!)

Plus Size Official Deluxe Ghostbusters Costume (ref: 21808)
Ghostbusters costumes are one of the best selling themes of fancy dress costumes this Halloween and the good news is that the men's Ghostbusters costume is available in larger sizes as well. Another great thing about this costume is it's versatility, as it also make a great 80's theme costume.







Womens Plus Size Halloween Costumes

Plus Size Sally Costume (ref: 22506)
The Sally Standard costume makes an excellent Halloween costume and is also available in larger sizes, try doing a Google search for "Plus Size Sally Standard Costume" For those of you who don't know, Sally Standard comes from the Nightmare Before Christmas film You can find out more the about the film and its cast by visiting the Internet Movie Database. The fully licensed Halloween costume includes a thin dress with printed patchwork colour detail on the front, collar, short sleeves with one slightly longer than the other and dagged finish at the base and sleeves. The back of the dress is an attractive pink and has ties at the base of the neck for easier fitting. There are also two drapes just below the bust at the rear of the dress that will add definition when tied and allow you to make as figure hugging as desired.

Halloween Plus Size Sexy Witch Costume (ref: 21485)
If you are after a more traditional Halloween costume what could be better than a scary witch costume? Something with a little twist in it is a sexy witch costume, hey you can still look sexy and be a witch these days! The good news I also found plenty of Witch Halloween Costumes in Plus sizes on the web.





Adult Devil Princess Costume (FC) (ref: 23314)
Again, a devil costume is a pretty traditional Halloween costume, less so for women, and I think costumes like this one pictured are pretty sexy as well as fitting perfectly into the Halloween theme. There are quite a few plus size women's devil costumes out there, and so you shouldn't find them too difficult to get hold of.

Many thanks to Jokers' Masquerade Halloween Costumes for the excellent Plus size Fancy dress Costume Ideas.

Super Hairy Fairy Scary Halloween Costume!

Super Hairy Fairy Scary Halloween Costume!

It is not often that a fairy costume makes it into my top 10 scary Halloween costumes category, but sometimes it is not so much the fancy dress that is scary and more to the person wearing it!

The combination of a bearded man in a fairy costume, you have to agree is pretty scary stuff! I am not sure how well this will go down as an adult mens Halloween costume for the masses, who knows it may just take off this year.. or not!

Anyway, I have dubbed this costume a Super Hairy Fairy Scary Halloween Costume!

Happy Halloween!

The Indiana Jones Hat

Apart from his jacket and his whip, the Indiana Jones hat is probably the most distinctive part of the Indiana Jones costume.

The Indiana Jones hat is actually in the style of a fedora hat, which are made from soft felt and have a crease down the length of the hat and are pinched on the front and on both sides of the hat. The term fedora goes back right to 1891 and comes from the title of a play by Victorien Sardou. Princess Fédora, who was the heroine of the play who wore a hat similar to a fedora in 1882.

The reason for the fedora hat to be used as the Indiana Jones hat was because Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas wanted to give the character and look of the Indiana Jones costume a distinctive silhouette. And after looking at many different styles of hat they decided to use the fedora, and that is why the Indiana Jones hat is so distinctive!

As an added point of interest, the Indian Jones hat was made by Herbert Johnson Hatters in England for the first film. The Fedora Indiana Jones hat for the film The Temple of Doom was made by Eddy Baron of Baron Hats. And lastly, the Indy hat for "Crystal Skull" were made by Steve Delk and Marc Kitter of AdventureBilt Hat Company.

Indian Jones Hat – The Myths
Did Harrison Ford staple the Indy hat to his head?
Because the distinctive style of the Indian Jones hat became so iconic, the film makers could not really remove it and so Harrison Ford had to wear it for almost every scene and if it ever fell off, they would have to stop the scene, replace the hat and start again. As a joke, Harrison Ford placed a stapler gun against his head during shooting of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and so this is where the urban legend that Harrison Ford stapled the Indian Jones hat to his head!

US Shoppers
Indiana Jones Hat & Costumes on Amazon.com

Buy Costumes.com:



UK Shoppers
Indiana Jones Hat & Costumes on Amazon.co.uk


Check out a previous post on the Indiana Jones Costume