Definitive Clockwork Orange Costume

Received my Corcorans today.

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I struck gold with these. After weeks of trudging round military surplus shops to no avail and being frightened off online sellers (average price asked was around £100+), I stumbled across a guy in the U.S. selling some on E-Bay for £30.
Obviously, he was unaware how collectable they are. It's great when you get those sort of breaks. :cool
 
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hey thanx for the link! those braces look perfect. i have bought another pair off ebay, which were acceptable, but these look way better. thanks! and congrats on the boots!!! they look sweet. a similar thing happend to me, last year....a guy selling his pair for a very reasonable price!!!!!!! cant wait to see pix of ur finished costume. once mine will b done, ill post pix as well. : )
 
No problem :)
How are you getting along? Must admit to one or two codpiece issues myself, but I'm certainly getting there.
Like you, I'm aiming for as near to 100% accuracy as is possible. I get tired of seeing thousands of hastily thrown together crap that lots of folk do around Halloween etc..
People think this is a cheap and easy costume with no effort involved, but to do it right certainly isn't the case. :)
 
ur absolutely correct. it seems to be an easy costume to put together at first, but its not. i started exactly a year ago, thinking i was gonna finish it in time for halloween 2011. i was wrong of course. i didnt have all the time i wish i had to dedicate to this, otherwise i probably would have done it by now. biggest issue was the shirt. i ended up finding, after a loooooong time, a western corduroy shirt, which i had modified a bit, but it still bothers me cos it doesnt have the orizontal lines on the yoke, as u pointed out urself. i may have to have it done too. also, the cod piece is not done yet, but im almost there. the eyeballs on the cuffs werent exactly a joke either. i mean evrything is kinda complex if ur looking for a screen accurate outfit. after all its Kubric! ; ) id say im around 85% now... just finishing the last details. ah, what r u gonna do about the hair? i bought 3 wigs so far, and none of them work! : (

the blackthorn i found looks pretty good, but since there's no britva it doesnt satisfy me. im gonna have to fashion that too... ; )
 
Ha ha.. We seem to share the same obsession with details. If something doesn't feel 'right' to me, it niggles away until I've fixed it.
Anyway, luckily I'm blessed with shoulder length brown hair, so when the time comes I'll probably cut and style it to resemble Alex. I did consider the idea of a wig, indeed I bought one, but it looked cheap and gaudy and was slightly the wrong colour so I thought it'd be easier just to do my own.
As notsoserious pointed out a few pages back if you go for wigs it seems to be a case of trial and error.

Undecided about going for the Britva . I'm not totally familiar with the law on swordsticks in the UK, but all it would take is one grumpy copper to decide I was carrying an offensive weapon...:behave
 
Hey guys, I saw this topic a little over a year ago and was too iffy on whether or not I would ever replicate Alex. My initial idea for Halloween was Frank Booth, but I figured the character wouldn't stand out enough in a busy environment, nor do I think there are many people who have watched Blue Velvet, so this was my backup plan.

At the moment, I've got the cuff links, the braces and the groin guard is on it's way. I couldn't find any replica corduroy shirts, nor have I been satisfied with any pants I've found. As far as the boots, I've seen several similar pairs, but I'm not 100% on where the zipper is located? Also, does anyone have any details on the brim of the derby/bowler? There's a lot of cheap deals out there, but I'd rather not pay $60 or $70 for a hat if they have the same standard for cheaper.

Many thanks!
 
Incorrect. Heard Malcolm Mcdowell speak at Dragoncon last month and he said the costume was tossed together at the last minute out of junk in his car for the most part includeing his Cricket groin protector that the director told him to put on on top of everything else instead of under it like it usually goes. Dunno what make/model or anything but it's definitly cricket gear.

I highly doubt this. Kubrick was one of the most precise, detailed, and imposing directors in the history of film. I bet he spent months planning out this costume.
 
I couldn't find any replica corduroy shirts, nor have I been satisfied with any pants I've found. As far as the boots, I've seen several similar pairs, but I'm not 100% on where the zipper is located? Also, does anyone have any details on the brim of the derby/bowler? There's a lot of cheap deals out there, but I'd rather not pay $60 or $70 for a hat if they have the same standard for cheaper.

Many thanks!

An exact replica is extremely difficult to find. The nearest I found was one on e-bay but it had a collar, the corduroy on the yoke was vertical and to top it off - it was a ladies!:unsure. So I ended up finding a factory that made corduroy, buying 2 metres of it and giving it to a seamstress with a set of very precise instructions!:lol
At a guess I'd say Malcolm used his own cricket pants too. I went looking for some at the weekend, but most modern cricket trousers are either:-
a) not the same sort of material
b) cream in colour
c) have a different style (elasticated waists)
d) sport a logo.
To that end I am considering using the trousers I use on my Snowtrooper costume. Most Snowies use Dockers or painters pants, but I found a pair of German Naval trousers in a surplus shop for £3 and they are very similiar to these...

New Miltec White German Naval Trousers, Great for Fancy Dress - Surplus and Outdoors

As for the boots.. Corcoran jump (paratrooper) boots don't have zippers on. The model number is 1500. Quite tricky to find a cheap pair I think.. (especially here in the UK)

As for the Bowler..Going off Notsoserious's research a few pages back.. a Dunn and Co red silk lined hat. Now, this is where I differ with his findings. He stated that finding the one he reckoned it was impossible..
As for the Hat used in the film, I've been doing a little research. The only time in inside of the hat is seen is when it topples from Alex's head during the fight scene with Billyboy and his droogs.
The lining appears to be red with a wider leather headband and what appears to be a drawstring. This would definitely make it a hard shelled riding hat.
The red lining narrows down the maker considerably.
To my limited knowlege red lined hard shelled riding hats were made by:

G A Dunn & Co (but they don't include the wide leather drawstring head band)

Guess what I've just bought? ;)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280972378149?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
..and it has the drawstring!
 
It's an excellent bowler to be sure Frantic Hedgehog, but it doesn't have the drawstring arrangement in it. What you may think is a drawstring is in fact a decorative bow.
I have two a Dunn & Co myself. I had to wait ages to finally track one down in a 7 5/8ths so I can comfortably wear the wig underneath.

The hat I think in the film is an equestrian bowler with a wider leather headband on the inside that conforms to the head of the wearer as the drawstring is pulled.

Someone asked about my shirt earlier. It is believe it or not a Dolce & Gabbana. Would never in a million years think I'd find myself wearing something so bourgeois.
 
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It's an excellent bowler to be sure Frantic Hedgehog, but it doesn't have the drawstring arrangement in it. What you may think is a drawstring is in fact a decorative bow.

Check the pictures lower down. ;) (There are 10 in total.)
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By the way, whilst your on, you say you used Magix colour spray on your codpiece? Which particular one? I guess it was 'Bone'?
 
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I checked the pics again and it looks the same as mine, it's not a drawstring. If it turns up and it is, I'll eat mine lol.

As for the colour spraydon't get bone, that was exactly the same colour as the hide I used for the cod in the first place :facepalm

The colour I used is unfortunately not available any more it was Mist and doesn't even feature on their new colour charts, which has really P***ed me off as mine could use a going over. I found one can at a local market and that was it.
 
Hmm.. that's a bugger.
Just been looking at the film again and it would seem that the cods are in fact white. Or certainly were when they started and over time have become grubby and weathered and are actually a sort of dirty white/used dishcloth sort of colour (Am I painting a picture for you there?:lol)
Maybe the best is to just do it in a flat white material and let it naturally get grubby?
 
It's a difficult one to be sure. In some grabs I've got it looks almost light salmon pink.

I met up with the man himself a while back, we had a bit of a chinwag and he still sticks to the Cricket box story and I'm not going to disagree but I still doubt it. Nothing like that existed in Cricket history a far as I can tell.
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However I also had a long conversation with an actor called Marshall Bell a while ago at a convention. Out of the blue he comes up and says "Oh my wife dsigned the costume you're wearing". Turns out he's married to Milena Cannonero. He took our picture and gave me his wifes email address but I haven't heard anything back from a couple of questions I asked.
 
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Yeah I agree. Certain light does give it a pink hue in some shots. Noticeably the shot where Alex draws his knife. However, looking at your redone pictures, I think you've pretty much nailed it. I confess to having an issue at the moment with my cod. I can't seem to get the material (suedette) drawn tight enough when I stick it down and ultimately there are one or two creases too many in it. That may be down to the shape of the cod I'm trying to cover. It's an RDX boxing one and I think it's a little too pointed at the business end.
I may scrap it and go for the Ampro.
 
Thanks for the response, Hedgehog!

I found a couple of shirts that from a distance, look similar but look to be just polyester. Is it a pure white or an off shade? Like you guys mentioned, it's hard to tell based on every shot, but I saw these and thought I'd get some input;

WESTERN STYLE PEARL SNAP Men's Long Sleeve White Shirt 16.5 Large | eBay

MENS VINTAGE WESTERN COWBOY RODEO ROCKABILLY SHIRT SZ M SNAPS | eBay

VTG H Bar C Men's Off-White l/s Western snap button front shirt size 16.5 / 34 | eBay

At this moment, I'm sacrificing pure authenticity for time, since I do have many outlets around here that would have anything remotely close to what I might find online. Of the three I listed, I'm leaning towards the third since it looks like a coarser material, but I'm terrible when it comes to identifying what's what. Heh.
 
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