FFPlaza.com Multimedia: Create Your Own Costume

Multimedia: Create Your Own Costume

Looking for a costume idea for next Halloween? How about a Fantastic Four costume? If you have enough friends, you could even pose as the entire group! But how would go about making your own FF costume? There are a number of costumes available now, with the success of the movie, but nothing beats making your own costume from scratch. I have so far learned of several ways to create your own FF uniforms which I have detailed below. They range in difficulty, with each design being harder than the last.

Sean's Method

Graphitti Designs has actually come close to manufacturing a FF costume. They have made a few different styles (short- and long-sleeve versions for both the classic blue and the Byrne black costumes) of t-shirts with the "4" logo already on them. Obviously, for a costume, the long-sleeve versions would work best. (Some comic book shops sell them for just over twenty dollars.) Underneath the Graphitti shirt, simply wear a white (or black if you're making a classic uniform) turtleneck and a white (or black) scarf around the waist. If you are really interested in turning it into a full costume, add white evening gloves and a pair of just-a-little-too-snug sweat pants with white tube socks pulled over them.

It doesn't quite work as an actual costume but it's probably the fastest and easiest way to get into uniform.

Andrew Miller as Mr. Fantastic

Andrew's Method

Andrew Miller put together a fairly quick, but quite effective, FF costume using mostly existing materials. In his own words...

What I did was:

Purchase a one-piece UNI-tard in navy blue. (Never did like that royal color.)
THEN, I bought a white LEO-tard and cut the sleeves off it (just for comfort as they won't be seen).
Put on the white, then the blue, add a white fabric belt from the dancewear shop and long white gloves... and voila! (White shoe polish in the hair is a nice touch as well).
Fortunately, I had some white rubber boots (which can't be seen in the photo), but they are kinda hard to come by these days. The "4" logo is cut from a white vinyl floor tile (but foamies at Wal-Mart work well, too) and black electrical tape. ANYTHING is better than using felt!
Not much to it. Easy, simple, accurate.

'Nuff said!

Tom's Method

Tom Banton e-mailed me this photo from his 1998 Halloween party. (In fact, it was this photo that inspired the article you're reading now!) From left to right are Andre, Tom, Gary and Jerry.

Tom started with three full-body dance leotards and one wrestling suit. The 4's were cut out of felt and glued on with fabric glue. The belts are simply some elastic belt material Tom picked up from a cloth shop. The gloves were store-bought. According to Tom, the most difficult parts were cutting out the 4's accurately and finding the wig.

The Thing costume is mostly body paint. The face was an off-the-shelf skull mask that Tom trimmed up (mainly the teeth) and painted.

Tom adds, "This was my first real time making anything like this, we had NO idea they would turn out that well." As I understand it, Tom and his friends were (rightfully) the hit of the party. Excellent job, guys! Thanks!

Justin Nickila and Friends as the Fantastic Four

Justin's Method

Justin writes in with another take on the Fantastic Four costumes, this time including a flamed-on Human Torch. In Justin's words...

All of the costumes were handmade from scratch. Everything was held together by stitching and/or hot glue.

Human Torch: Red lycra shirt/pants/hood/gloves/booties, cardboard at forearms and shins under the spandex to give the look of boots and gloves, red and yellow foam paper for flames with thicker foam underneath for support, rose-tinted sport sunglasses. On a side note, I suffered pretty severe burns on my shoulder from hot gluing the shoulder flame onto the costume while I was wearing it. 330 deg Fahrenheit glue will scar your skin, apparently.

Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman: Blue stretch material for suits with white cloth and/or paper for boots/belts/trim, one-size-fits-all white stretch gloves, long arm was a large cardboard packaging cylinder. 4s were made of construction paper. It helped that our Reed Richards was 6'5" tall.

The Thing: Painted cardboard with foam underneath for support, blue stretch material for shorts. Took some engineering to make it so he could walk several miles while wearing the suit.

Kerry's Method

This section is an abbreviated version of notes taken from Kerry's TV Lycra Page. Used with permission.

Of course, you always have the option of making a costume from scratch, so that it's exactly the way you want it. This method would probably be your best bet if you're trying to duplicate the Carlos Pacheco or Jim Lee designs. And, while I haven't tried it myself, I understand that it's not much more difficult than driving a car.

Since the FF uniforms are essentially just spandex body suits, you can start with a Kwik-Sew Pattern #2108. (This is for designed for females; some obvious but minor modifications would be needed for males. Lycra stretches, so an exact fit is not entirely necessary.) If you have difficulty finding this particular pattern, the company can be contacted at:

Kwik-Sew Pattern Company, Inc.
3000 Washington Avenue North
Minneapolis, MN 55411-1169

All of the instructions should be included with the pattern, but you will need to find all of the materials separately. Lycra -- also known as spandex, stretch material, and swim wear -- would be the most obvious material of choice. (I understand that the 60" width is easier to work with than the 48" width.) Be sure to use a "stretch stitch" for all of the seams here.

Gloves, unfortunately, do not come with the pattern. However, Kerry has designed a glove pattern that he's willing to share. Simply send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

Tiresias Productions
P.O. Box 82748
Kenmore, WA 98028

More difficult, but just as viable, would be creating your own based on existing store-bought gloves. Keep in mind that they are understandably the most difficult part of the costume and can be very tedious.

Final details, such as the 4 and neck piece, can be done as appliques. Cut out the parts and sew them directly on to the body suit.

Check out Kerry's site for more detailed instructions.

Matt's Method

Matt has done such extensive work in FF costuming that I've given him his own page! Definitely worth looking at!

If you're looking for your next Halloween costume, be sure to give yourself plenty of time for prepartions. These types of projects often take much longer than you anticipate, especially if you're only a novice seamstress. But, if you take your time and do things properly, you too can have your very own Fantastic Four uniform!