Worst Costume Experiences?

Note to self: Never do a Stormtrooper costume, based on these numerous horror stories.

So it's my first time doing a costume in a public convention. I'm ready to get suited up as the dark knight, I've worked until the eleventh hour on my costume and I'm confident that it'll survive the Johannesburg heat of around 35 outside, and 45 on the inside. My glue is good, it's bonded to the mesh undersuit and it fits me like a glove.

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I'm smiling on the outside, but I'm screaming on the inside thanks to the Itchy and Scratchy show.

Only I didn't account for how my under-undersuit, wasn't thick enough. Which meant that my mesh was notoriously itchy. Bugger the fact that I was sweating buckets for hours. Screw the fact that my shoulders were aching thanks to that heavy urethane chest piece. The damn itchiness man. Everytime I took a step, it felt like I a hundred mosquito bites flaring up.

And thanks to the limited movement of the suit, I could't reach around for a quick bat-scratch. My experience may not have been physically damaging, but being trapped inside a batsuit for hours and being unable to scratch anywhere almost drove me mad.
 
Going back to 2005/6, was dressed up as a decent cheap thrift shop Jack Sparrow for a pirate vs ninjas pup crawl. I had glued with pva some platted nylon wig segments to some strategically grown stubble (works well) for the Goatee. What a magnet for people to pull on it was, hurt like hell but lasted all night.

2011 Wai-con I rushed the finish on my ODST to wear it on the day, had used rivets to hold the shoulder on to the motor cross armour I wore. Tried it at home the day before, wonderfull. Suit up at the con and flex for a shoot.. POP off they come. Used leftover velco that I thankfully left by accident in the suit box to walk around with shoulder pads falling over every hug I got!

2011 Supanova: Same suit, now rock solid. Some people find out how tough the armour is (Fibreglass, bondo, mx armour) when they bump into me. This, depending on who it is means they either 1: Ask what it's made of. 2: Ask what it's made of while PULLING something to see if it breaks. 3: Punch me in the helmet and complain about why you fist hurts.

2012 halo 4 release, I made a new MC suit. It's a bad experience because my legs straps all broke and I had to pull up my pants for every photo, in publc, for three hours. My wife was wearing my ODST (halarious) and was three months pregnant and got a shock when some dumb teenager thought it would be funny to punch her in the stomach! Not that he would know, but she waved him off and said she was fine, felt nothing because of the armour. Phew.

People.
 
Early year of college. Saw a sign that there was going to be a costume contest. I thought, "oh yeah, I've been working on my 89' batman costume for a few years and felt pretty good about it." So I packed it all carefully into a giant duffel bag, lugged it through my morning of classes - and around 11:30 showed up in the student rec hall for the contest. Not many people about but a small group. Figured the rest would show up soon.

I went into the nearby bathroom, changed, put on the eye makeup, stuffed my clothes into the duffel bag and came out ready for a contest. In the 20 minutes it took me to change the group of people who were inside had left and there was a large group out on the patio looking at the pumpkin carving entries. They all turned around as a single unit, and I realized, this group of about 25 people were those in the adult special education program. All of their eyes went wide and instantly I was swarmed. I had someone under my cape rooting around, I had hands EVERYwhere - and I had one guy who was about 6' 2" who had grabbed me by the shoulders and was pulling me close like he was going to kiss me, while asking me in a very serious, very urgent voice, "BATMAN! WHERE'S ROBIN?! WHERE'S ROBIN?!"

There were no supervisors and I obviously had no handler. After about 10 minutes of trying to calm everyone down and getting my cape area clear I was able to get into the bathroom and very quickly change out of the outfit. And no sooner had I removed the cowl and top armor then a head opened the bathroom door, looked around and asked, "Have you seen Batman?" I replied, "uh, No. I'm afraid I haven't." They took one last look around and said, "Ok." I never did enter the contest.
 
Worst experience in costuming?
Almost 80 lbs of steel armor in the middle of a Georgia summer!
Sweat rolled out of my body faster than I could replenish it with liquids. Threw-up in a a camp ground porta-potty, with a line of people waiting to use it...
Finally found some shade, sitting in a red ant hill...couldn't get my armor off quick enough, stripped down to my underwear in front of a group of elderly ladies.
It all happened in the same day.
I still to this day look at that armor and bust up laughing.
 
the first time i went out in my predator suit i was going to a friends costume party before halloween night i was like great test run before i head out the following night, well im a big guy in the first place and wearing a muscle suit covered in predator armor and back pack plasma cannon made me that much bigger... so when i tryed to enter the house i couldnt fit was to wide with the suit on had to enter sideways and when i did the door frame caught my plasma cannon and ripped it off it hit the floor and broke into a ***** ton of parts. i was able to repair it to go out the following night just to have the back pack fail and had to take the whole thing off and have my spotter walk around with it.
 
I was around 16 when I started working on my 89' batman costume. The first thought I had for legs was leather pants. I actually had gotten this idea from a Scorpion's album cover. Now the question was who could fashion custom tight leather pants for me? Of course - the 'high end' fetish store downtown. And they did a great job and I was pretty happy with the pants and they worked for quite a few years. But no one there EVER believed that all I was interested in were form fitting leather pants, with no pockets and a side zipper for a batman costume. Throughout the entire process the tailor kept asking me -
"So what are you really going to do with these?"
"Wear them as part of a batman costume."
"No really, it's ok. You can tell me."
"Seriously. Batman."
"Ooook."
 
well, the worst would probably be the time my boots gave me a blister and a week or two later I ended up in hospital, having surgery that resulted in a hole in my leg ;) (I did have a pre-existing injury from getting kicked at soccer, but the blister was most likely the cause of the cellulitis). I dubbed my leg Manky.

The second would be attending a convention in Brisbane, in Summer, in my Sharpshooter costume (AC3 multiplayer). Being from Melbourne we're used to a much more temperate climate, and I'm not a fan of the heat. Sharpy is dressed for the frontier, with lots of thick layers; oil coat, vest, shirt, binder, gloves, hat, prosthetic beard etc. After a full day in a convention with no air-con I ended up with heat stroke, and we still had to walk back to our hotel... I need more summer-appropriate costumes...
 
I spent 4 months making a foam Iron Man costume for my son. As the work progressed, we talked about entering the neighborhood costume contest. By the end of the build, we were talking smack, how we were going to take the prize, hands down. The big day comes. They call his age group, and he stands in line. All of a sudden the line of kids disbanded and everyone is walking away. I look at my wife with a "what's going on?". With a look of disgust, she informs me that we were beat out by a store bought Rapunzel. My son (7 yrs old) asks where his prize is. When we break the news to him, he gets this puzzled look on his face, wheels turning for the longest time. Finally, he points at another kid and says "look at that cool ninja costume!". He was over it. His mom and I weren't. We will never get over the injustice. The only redeeming thing about that day was the number of people that pointed at my son and gave compliments for his costume. And my son's response to injustice.
 
I spent weeks on my first prop sword, it was a Twilight Princess version Master Sword. I was making it out of plaster wood and foam, and as the convention day came closer I rushed to finish the handle. Well in the end the blade looked great but the hilt looked like a mess. Definitely taught me to work on costumes far before the deadline!
 
The office Halloween costume contest equivalent of that is a coworker cross-dressing - wins every single time regardless of how awesome the other entrants' costumes are.

My screen accurate Snake Eyes and all my perfectly constructed Cobra buddies lost out to race car driver Jeff Gordon and his buddies dressed as the Reservoir Dogs-suits and sunglasses!
 
Oh, and wearing a fully padded pleather Vader suit down the main drag of a local suburb in the blistering sun for a parade-kept removing the helmet to pour out the sweat and condensation!
 
This past November, Ghostbusters: Chicago Division and other members of The Midwestern Ghostbusters Coalition entered the McDonald's Thanksgiving Parade. I had been invited along seeing I started Chicago Division and the team felt I deserved to be there. Before then, I wasn't a Ghostbuster for at least 2 years because a previous shoulder injury finally flared up so bad I couldn't wear the 35 lbs pack or reach for the particle thrower without stirring the injury. I had to retire the Pack. But this... This was what I wanted to do with the team since I started it back in 2002, so I went for it.

Up at 4 am, st the team's Ecto owner's house by 6, in the city by 7:30, parade starts - for us, anyway - at 10. It's cold and my damaged shoulder joint is already screaming. We had a woman dressed as Zuul and another dressed as Gozer warming up in the Ecto because of their costumes. Naturally, I leave them alone. They had the worst costumes for the weather in Chicago at the time, so I just bite my lower lip and deal with the weather and my shoulder.

The rest of me is fine. I went to a hardware store the night before and got hand warmers, feet warmer inserts for my boots, was wearing a Carhartt sweatshirt with a hood, hat, gloves, 4 layers. I was warm enough, but that damn shoulder: It was going to be my damned undoing.

Everyone starts marching. Groups were leaving their staging areas one at a time in staggered secession. We moved bit by bit. Chris Biddle of Windy City Ghostbusters wanted us to draw our throwers when we reached the TV area of the parade route. By this point, I'm dreading the idea. Anyone who owns a Proton Pack and used Dixie Cup brackets will tell you those brackets suck for unhooking your thrower. They stick more than your balls to your leg in summer heat. So, a stiff and damaged right shoulder has to work twice as hard to get this damn thing off the hook. I don't remember who I asked, but right before we started marching on State St. I asked someone to pull my thrower out and gently put it back on the hook so the thrower would pull free with little effort.

We're about halfway down the parade route. The stop-n-go of the march was killing me. I tried to take my mind off the shoulder by working the crowd and screaming at the top of my lungs. Yeah, that was brilliant. Screaming + Cold air = Slowly closing up my throat. The only thing I was doing to myself was making myself more miserable. But damnit, I was in a parade! One of the biggest of the year! I will not bitch!

Then my thrower falls off my pack, shattering the acrylic tip on the street.

****!

I'm glad I used screws on the front gun barrel, otherwise that would have went bye-bye, too. I was pissed, but I tried my damnedest to carry on. I picked up the thrower and just held onto it. Damn my shoulder, damn the Midwestern cold, damn Dixie Cup brackets, and damn my broken-ass thrower. It's not like I have enough broken crap to fix!

After that, I rode back to the Ecto owner's house, got my crap piled into my truck, headed home, and had myself a few nips of Jack. Only thing I could do is drink and relieve the pain.

Upside to this is I now have one thing crossed off my bucket list.
 
That is how it is at about every bar contests also. I am sick of showing up in a costume costing more than most peoples cars are worth that took since last Halloween to make. and not even making it to the semifinals. Its either someone half naked, cross dressing or wearing a party city costume that messaged everyone on Facebook to cheer for them that wins. We need to have our own contest on RPF.
 
That is how it is at about every bar contests also. I am sick of showing up in a costume costing more than most peoples cars are worth that took since last Halloween to make. and not even making it to the semifinals. Its either someone half naked, cross dressing or wearing a party city costume that messaged everyone on Facebook to cheer for them that wins. We need to have our own contest on RPF.


There actually is a Halloween costume contest on the RPF Forum every year ;) So get cracking for October!
 
Went out a pub crawl dressed as Skeletor.


by the end of the night i'd lost one glove and my bald yellow head had been drawn on and kissed by loads of girls.
including one with a blunt eye pencil who's message was still etched into my head for a few days after.
NEVER felt pain like it.
 

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My most recent costume disaster happened at Dragon Con 2013. I had made a suit of power armor from Fallout 3, and was heading to a Fallout photo shoot on Friday evening. After I got my suit on and was preparing to leave the hotel, I heard a snap from one of my knee joints. One of the supports on the side of the knee that held everything in place broke loose from the epoxy on the shin armor. I tried to soldier on and make it to the photo shoot, but by the time I got there, I had a piece of steel and some fiberglass digging into the side of my knee. I ended up leaving before any pictures were taken.

Unfortunately I didn't pack an adequate repair kit and was unable to repair the damage until after the convention. I ended up missing marching in the parade, and wasn't able to wear my armor in another Fallout photo shoot on Sunday. :(
 
Haven't had many bad experiences with costumes, but the worst I had has to have been the time I got into a swordfight with a drunkard.

I'll elaborate.
I was in a con that goes through the night, and like the smart person I am, I hadn't booked any kind of accommodation, so the plan was to stay up all weekend(fri-sun). Somewhere along the sat-sun night, me and a friend got hungry and realized there was a McDonald's open in the city centre, and off we went. Half way there I realized that I was wearing monk robes and had a wooden prop sword on my back. It was a long way and we decided to push on.

Of course, the McDonald's was packed with people in different stages of intoxication, and immediately after we entered, the "Hey, Gandalf/Aragorn/G*****n samurai!" shouts started. We ignored and joined the line, and I pondered if this was the day I'd get stabbed to death. Instead I got hit on by a few drunk girls, which I promptly ignored.

We ate in the relative peace of the joint, and got up and left. Once outside, I heard yet another "Dude's got a samurai sword!"(was not, was a ******* sword, I don't know how you don't make the difference), which I ignored and walked away. Then I felt the familiar tug on the scabbard's belt that ran across my shoulder, that you feel when you pull the sword out of it's scabbard. Quick check confirmed that my hands were still on my sides, so slightly panicky and angry I turned around. Met with the drunkard pointing my own sword at me. Shameful, but I was more angry at that point. I asked him to return it to me, which he answered with laughter and took a few swings at me with the sword. Naturally I was upset about that. After a brief bedlam I had re-acquired what was mine, and he was running away, and me and my friend doubled back to the venue before anything worse happened. Being wood, the prop was ruined from the damage it took when the idiot swung it about, but that's how I learned to avoid costuming around normal people.

Then there was the time a hobo tried to stab me, but I was wearing chainmail. His face was kinda priceless.

_A
 
Speaking of crappy bar costume contests, my worst one was not even advancing to the second round against clearly inferior costumes, and when my friend asked the 'judge' why I didn't even advance she said, "He just bought an expensive costume, that's like cheating." Except my costume was all self-made (and could have been easily proven it if they had only asked... it's the Lego one in my profile pic, if anyone's interested) and the costumes that all advanced to the next round were clearly standard Party City costumes. I could have tolerated her 'logic' if the other costumes were unique or creative in any way, but since they were all the same off-the-shelf standards I've seen year after year (a Reno 911 Lt. Dangle won) I just didn't get it. I was infuriated and haven't been back to that place on a Halloween since.
 
I have a couple, while dremmeling things I have shot hot shards of plastic into my eyes and once even a shard of metal into my eye. After that one it was time for a face shield and now prescription goggles.

Once I was spray painting some clone armor for someone and didn't have a respirator and ended up giving my self bronchitis. I again learned to always wear safety gear after that one and now wear a respirator all the time.

While wearing my 300 Spartan my shin guards cut holes in the tops of my feet and then I did the Dragon Con parade trying not to limp the entire time. Blood slowly staining my sandals.

Also while in my 300 Spartan at Megacon I had some random guy take like 500 photos of a friend and I, which would have been fine if he didn't make it weird. Like he was asking "do the capes come off" and kneeling down and clearly taking pictures of our crotches, etc. We had to make up an excuse to leave where we were standing and go somewhere else, which he kept trying to get us to stay saying "just one more pose" etc. What made it worse was the next year I wore my brand new Scarlet Spider costume and had worn the mask in from the parking lot (not taking it off since the car) and he came up to me and some how recognized me saying "oh you have a 300 costume don't you? Are you going to be wearing it this weekend?" I got so creeped out I didn't know what to say. I just walked away.
 

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