Advice on making costumes lighter/more breathable?

[pestulio07]

Hi all!

I've only made 1 costume to date, and it was incredibly heavy, hot, and uncomfortable. Well this year for a Renaissance Festival, I'm going as the Planet Hulk version of Captain America, and I'm trying to make it as light/breathable as possible.

Do you guys/gals have any tips on methods or materials that have worked for you in the past?

I've attached a few images, and here are my initial thoughts:
Last time, I used EVA foam, which worked well for shaping and everything, but was terribly hot and stiff. So this time around, I'm thinking of using it for the shield, and shoulder guards, but nothing else. For the blue body pieces, I'm looking at getting blue pleather from a fabric store, and making it lightweight, but look like leather. The skirt-kilt thing, I'm honestly not entirely sure...

Thanks for any input, tips, or advice!

 

[Cameron1138]

If you're trying to keep it from being too warm, pleather is not something I would recommend. Given that it's essentially plastic, it traps heat in very well and has pretty much no breathability. I'd suggest a suedecloth or something, unless you can get real leather (which I don't have much experience with, so I don't know if that would be as warm or not).

 

[Matchbox]

looks like a fair bit of rigid armour plate in the design, and if you're going to go as he has just armour then skin, I'd work with foam it's light, easy and pliable, there's enough gaps in the picture to be cool.. I mean, any costume will be hot, but going round some Con' halls you'd be melting in regular clothes soooooooo :/

Otherwise the rest looks like you could do it with leather straps bandage and cloth (would recommend cotton for it's breathability) Polyester is nasty stuff XD