Dr. Horrible lab coat?

Fetthunter

Fetthunter

Sr Member
Any idea on where to find a vintage "mad scientist" lab coat like Dr. Horrible's? I have several "modern" (front closure) lab coats in my shop (from various places I've worked at over the years), but I can't seem to track down one of the shoulder button, vintage variety coats. reminds me of something from the 1920s/1930s... I could be WAY off...

Any leads? :)


Thanks!
 
I was JUST getting ready to post this same thing! :lol

I checked everywhere I could think of on the web last night looking for one of these things!
 
Me too. :lol

You know, it's very similar to Dr. Frankenstein's (though without the pronounced buttons on the shoulder)...

brideoffrankenstein2-1024.jpg




Seems like that was a common style lab coat for mad scientists in the 1920s and 1930s. The Bride of Frankenstein was from 1935, I believe.

I wonder if they had a different name back then, and that's why our searches have gotten us nowhere? I've tired "vintage shoulder button lab coat" and several variations, but to no avail. :(
 
I found a cheap Halloween costume with the buttons on the shoulder, but it was just that... cheap... and looked it, too.

Might have to get a pattern and make it.
 
I'd bet that Dr. Horrible's is custom (made by Shawna Trpcic) just because the REAL ones (that it's designed to look like) can't be found anymore (like the one I posted the pic of above), or the ones that do still exist didn't look quite right in one way or another. I guess that style is long gone. :(

Lab coats are nice when building props to keep stuff off of your clothes. Having a cool lab coat would be even better! :cool
 
Fetthunter said:
Lab coats are nice when building props to keep stuff off of your clothes. Having a cool lab coat would be even better! :cool
Click to expand...

I agree! And my day job is in a lab, so imagine how cool that would be!

I assume this is the cheap costume that was mentioned above?

http://www.spirithalloween.com/mens-costumes_scary-costumes/mad-scientist-adult-costume/

In addition to the buttons being wrong, it seems like the material is too flimsy, and Dr. Horrible's coat has slits up the sides to the waist. I was thinking it may not be a bad place to start, though, especially if you wanted to keep this a budget project.

For a custom, it seems like the material is consistent with cotton, with four buttons on the right shoulder and four buttons down the right side, the first of which is just below the curve for the arm and the last of which is down by the waist.

I'm just not sure what kind of pattern you'd use for the base...
 
I'd been looking for that type of lab coat EVERYWHERE, and the closest I got was a lab coat with mandarin collar, which you can find in nurse / lab supply catalogs. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to modify it from there. I was using it for the "chinese baby mask" interrogator from Brazil.

-Raj
 
Ramiel said:
I searched on google image "vintage lab coat" and I came up with these (small) pics...
http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/25/05/23210525.jpg
http://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/64/07/23210764.jpg

So...:confused
Click to expand...


Good find! Those are both obviously shoulder button coats. :thumbsup I searched for "shoulder button lab coat" and added "vintage" to the search at one point, but didn't get nearly THAT close! Good finds!

So we can probably assume that:

1) the coat style is indeed an older "vintage" style

-and-

2) it is most likely known as a "lab coat" and not some other type of medical clothing like a Dentist or chemist coat.
 
or it was custom made
seems it'd be pretty easy to do for someone with wardrobe experience. It would also explain his red one as well...
 
Could it be a lab coat used already in a Buffy or Firefly episode?
Maybe, knowing that they did this thing almost "free", is it possible...
 
Ramiel said:
Could it be a lab coat used already in a Buffy or Firefly episode?
Maybe, knowing that they did this thing almost "free", is it possible...
Click to expand...

I don't know about the lab coat, but the blaster that Dr. Horrible was going to use to kill Hammer was an Alliance sonic gun (Shei-now high tech Alliance crap) turned upside down with stuff added to the "top" (bottom of the sonic gun).
Maybe there is a Firefly connection...
 
I've been looking for one of these for years! Wanted to do a Mad Scientist costume but modern lab coats just don't have the same effect.
 
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