Speed Racer: Anime / Live Action Hybrid / Off the Rack Adventure!

In my never-ending battle for stupid stuff to waste my money on, I've decided to put together a Speed Racer costume.

This year (2017) is the 50th anniversary (1967), so it's arguably timely. It has a moderate recognizability among persons of a certain age. Since it's basically a shirt & pants, it'll be cooler (temperature-wise) than a lot of things. And I'm also (apparently one of the few people who are) a fan of the 2008 movie, so it satisfies my inner fanboy as well.

Perhaps some of you would like to use this as a hypothetical Halloween fallback option?

Let's start with some references:

https://gndn.wordpress.com/2017/05/21/speed-racer-1967-costume-references/

https://gndn.wordpress.com/2017/01/15/speed-racer-2008-speeds-blue-shirt/

Speed wears a royal blue, polo or rugby style collared shirt with white accents and white pants. He also wears red socks, a red neckerchief and yellow gloves.

Up Shirt Creek

I kinda want a sewing machine now. It would make a lot of my foolishness easier, or at least a bit faster. I wouldn't have to ask people for favors.

So, for shirts close to what Speed wears, I took a look around:

Ebay
Etsy
Amazon
Overseas manufacturers
Overseas tailors

Et cetera, and ended up settling on a "rugby shirt" from a UK company. It's a balance between affordability and accuracy. Sadly, it does not have the white trim around the cuffs, but that's hard to find anywhere. I may add it on somehow later. The color's a bit paler than the deep royal blue Speed wears, but what is life but a series of compromises? It's also a cotton-poly blend, which I loathe, but am willing to make do with.

If you're going to buy one of the shirts I linked to above, be aware that they seem to run a bit large, and you should really base your order on your chest measurement & the measurements they list. I have a 39 inch chest, which they consider to be 'Extra Small.' Admittedly, I am probably not built like a rugby player...

Mike J. said:

...And I'm also (apparently one of the few people who are) a fan of the 2008 movie...

Click to expand...

You and me, friend. I saw it with a friend on initial release and it was a near empty theater and, regardless of the actual quality of the film, we... had... a... blast. Dizzying bright colors flashing across the screen and just nonsense, fantastical adventure; what's not to enjoy?! We said we'd see it again before it left theaters, perhaps "inebriated" or not, but it left theaters before then!:lol

Who Wears the Pants in This Relationship?

In the original cartoon, Speed wears a pair of pretty plain white trousers or pants. In the 2008 film, he's seen wearing a pair of padded white 'leather' pants.

For reasons I cannot easily explain (which really means I don't understand it myself), I chose a pair of phony, 'fashion' 'moto' style white denim pants. I might argue that I wanted to add some subtle details to my Speed costume, but that would not be supported by my choice of shirt. If I had a sewing machine, I'd be modding that shirt and adding some subtle details like piping or darker blue accent areas. Now, I run the risk of subtle details on one piece distracting the eye from another component of the costume.

That being said, here are the pants I chose:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HS2UB9C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You may simply use a pair of white trousers / pants / jeans, or perhaps choose a pair of white 'painter's pants' (with reinforced knees) for additional subtle detail.

I'd like to have a white belt as well... The cheapest option would probably be a white webbed belt from the Army-Navy store.

Hurting hearts need some healing:
Take My Hand With Your Glove of Love!

The gloves are / were (for me, anyway) a PITA.

In the anime, Speed wears a nondescript pair of yellow (presumably leather) gloves with cuffs. In the film, this is also true. Note that neither of these match what we would call 'driving gloves:' the kind with perforations down the fingers and big cutouts on the back side of the palm, that close with snaps or a strap.

Given my (inexplicable) desire to do an anime-movie-hybrid-with-maybe-some-subtle-details, I wanted a tight-fitting, slim, yellow glove. I started looking at work gloves, sport gloves, tactical gloves, dress gloves, scuba gloves, sun gloves, biking gloves, motocross gloves, motorcycle gloves, snowboarding gloves, etc, etc.

Also, apparently, I have tiny, girly hands (for a man). And glove sizes are different for men and women. Here's a 'fun' experiment: go to your local hardware store and see if they carry any work gloves at all in a 'small' size.

After an enormous, tedious amount of searching of eBay, Etsy, Walmart, Target, Amazon, the local Ace hardware, local Home Depot, local Lowe's Home Improvement, local small sports store, and local party supplies store, I settled on a pair of equestrian riding / show gloves. They're nice – slim fitting, comfortable, breathable. The only problem was they didn't come in yellow.

That's OK: I bought yellow dye and some yellow paint for leather. I should be covered either way! ... I've dyed things before, and screwed it up: dyed 'em too dark the first time around, tried to wash it out, lighten it up, etc. Of course, I did not learn my lesson, and dye them lightly (twice if necessary, etc) this time, but stupidly went 'all in.' The good news is the fabric portions of the gloves took the dye really well. But now they're leaning almost toward orange. The synthetic leather palms / fingers and rubber strap, however, barely took any dye. They went from bright white to a light cream. So, after these are done drying out, I'll try the yellow paint and see if it works.

So, painting the white, synthetic leather and rubber areas of my chosen gloves has been pretty much a success. I hope it stays on during the day, and doesn't flake off with sweat or anything, but there's only one way to find out. The real struggle may be using the touchscreen on my smartphone with them on. That being said, there are gloves made with an allegedly touchscreen compatible fingertip material, so keep your eyes peeled.

Socks to be You

In both the movie and the anime, Speed wears a pair of bright red socks.

I'd prefer a thick, cushy, cotton-based sock, but I did see a pair of bright red socks (presumably for baseball) at a local sporting goods store. I suspect they had a lot of synthetic material in them, though. I found a pair of sort of dull red socks at Walmart, but then picked up a pair of bright red Under Armour athletic socks. Alternatively, your local party supplies / costumes store should have a section of solid colors accessories.

If the Shoe Fits

in the anime, Speed wears a pair of brown or black loafers. In the film, he wears a pair of white boots.

I decided to go for a pair of black loafers, and ended up with a cheap black pair from Walmart. Nothing much more to say about that. I was considering a pair of slim, low-cut sneakers, but decided that was too close to what I wear all the time. I briefly considered more racer-like 'boots,' but those don't seem to come in low-cut and cheap versions. For those who would like to explore that direction, perhaps something like a cross-trainer, or wrestling shoe, or a track shoe (without cleats) might be possibilities.


-MJ

Quickie selfie, after several hours at a con: