The Man With No Name... on a budget!

[CTF]

So, the little lady and I are heading to a Deadwood party in just over a month, which means we have to find suitable costumes for this hootenanny. We plan to make an impression (mind you, she does that wherever she goes ), so we really want to make a start on them.

My first thought was to go as Marty McFly from Back the the Future Part III... but, as funny as it'd be, I don't think it would be a good idea to turn up at the Gem Saloon dressed in that! Instead, I've decided to go as the real Clint Eastwood:

Now, I know practically nothing about the costume, which means this'll be a real learning experience; so far, I've been using the following thread thread as reference:

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=50316

But I'm hoping the experts will make an appearance in this thread. Speaking of which, I'm doing this on a budget, so please don't link to any sites that are selling replicas... unless they have good reference, that is; as I really need some reference photos!

Thanks!

 

[CTF]

And the little lady? Well, she's going as a saloon gal, which she's already started; pics will be posted when it's finished, of course.

 

[CTF]

A lot of people seem to wear blue jeans with this costume... but, looking at my [limited] reference, the jeans look black.

Clint wore the latter, right?

 

[CTF]

Does anyone have screengrabs from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly that they'd like to share?

:thumbsup

 

[Bizarro Lois]

I don't have any screen grabs, but I think that black jeans would work just fine on a budget, as long as they don't have a lot of detail(ie tags, fancy stitching, funky pockets, anything that would make them look too modern). Same thing for the shirt - I think a light blue chambray work shirt would do just fine. Maybe you could distress it a little. Since you seem to be focusing on time/price than severe accuracy, you can probably find most of what you want at WalMart or the thrift store. His belts are very wide, and I don't see them for men very often, so you might want to check the women's department for those. Target carries a lot of unique belts, the last time I checked.

 

[Apollo]

A Member here did the poncho by sewing 2 army surplus blankets together and using I think it was shoe whitener to paint on the Poncho designs>

Cost him less then $ 20.00 and the results were Great! :thumbsup

 

[Caplan]

for the movie Clint Eastwood had he hold it even blue jean's in black then had washed it then run in dust.

Caplan

 

[Bizarro Lois]

for the movie Clint Eastwood had he hold it even blue jean's in black then had washed it then run in dust.

Caplan

:confused Huh? :lol

 

[CTF]

for the movie Clint Eastwood had he hold it even blue jean's in black then had washed it then run in dust.

Sorry, any chance you could post that again.

 

[CTF]

The biggest undertaking is going to be the poncho, which I plan on making, but I don't think it'll be too hard. Famous last words, huh?

I'm pretty sure I've got a green wool that matches the ponchos I've seen for sale... and I know the original was woven. I'll have to make a pattern -- which is where I'll screw up, no doubt -- then add the detail. How am I going to do the latter? Good question! I'm thinking of stitching the detail, but we'll see what looks best.

Would anyone be kind enough to take a photo of their accurate poncho? Flat on the ground, so I can get an idea of what goes where.

 

[CTF]

I don't have any screen grabs, but I think that black jeans would work just fine on a budget, as long as they don't have a lot of detail(ie tags, fancy stitching, funky pockets, anything that would make them look too modern).

I have a few pairs of black jeans that are a slim fit, with no tags or pockets, that I was thinking of using. People already have called 'em cowboy jeans, actually.

 

[Caplan]

you should read more than pounds on life and the movies of Clint Eastwood
they teach it very interesthing things...

 

[Bizarro Lois]

The biggest undertaking is going to be the poncho, which I plan on making, but I don't think it'll be too hard. Famous last words, huh?

I'm pretty sure I've got a green wool that matches the ponchos I've seen for sale... and I know the original was woven. I'll have to make a pattern -- which is where I'll screw up, no doubt -- then add the detail. How am I going to do the latter? Good question! I'm thinking of stitching the detail, but we'll see what looks best.

Would anyone be kind enough to take a photo of their accurate poncho? Flat on the ground, so I can get an idea of what goes where.

I think you're right about the poncho, but as long as you get that and a decent looking hat, you'll be recognized.
Depending on how big the weave of your wool is, you could just do kind of an embroidery/cross stitch design in yarn or something with strands of the right thickness.

I have a few pairs of black jeans that are a slim fit, with no tags or pockets, that I was thinking of using. People already have called 'em cowboy jeans, actually.

I think those will be just fine.

 

[PadawanLearner]

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/ often has old army surplus blankets. I know about a month ago they received a giant shipment of WWII German blankets, I think they were selling them in bundles of 6.
Just in case you decide to go with the sewing blankets together route, which I would imagine would work out great as the poncho is pretty much going to be two panels anyway.

 

[Ttaskmaster]

Have you considered sewing the pattern with a ball of white wool?
If it doesn't have to look utterly amazing and is only for one event, this might be an option.

Or, use Tipexx/White-Out

for the movie Clint Eastwood had he hold it even blue jean's in black then had washed it then run in dust.

He wore black Jeans, which were washed and then made very dusty and dirty, for a weathered appearance.

 

[terryr]

No old time cowboy would wear blue jeans. They were for farmers and gold miners.

I took 2 photos of the poncho at the Gene Autry museum. [no photos allowed.]

Maybe you wife can go in a poncho as well.

 

[CTF]

From the looks of it, I'd say the vest will be easiest part. I don't think I'll screw it up... especially since it's meant to look like it is barely holding together! I'll just have to find a decent length of sheepskin, then whip something up. It'll be trial and error.

I'm just hoping that I'll be able to rent the hat; otherwise, I'm going to be **** out of luck... no hat, no entry! I'll print off some photos, then go visit a few places, so fingers crossed!

 

[CTF]

Well, I've got the shirt:

Excuse the poor photo, it was taken in Photo Booth.

The only "problem" is that it doesn't have rounded tips on the collar; and the stripes are running diagonally, not horizontally... but everything else is perfect. Yet, I still feel the need to have the collar fixed! What have you done to me, RPF? It shouldn't cost too much, anyway.

 

[CTF]

Should I get the sleeves shortened?

The limited reference I do have shows that the sleeves are quite short; the cuffs are a couple of inches above his wrists.

 

[CTF]

Okay, I've got the shirt ready to be altered (by a talented seamstress); and I've also got the correct colour of wool on its way to me.

I still have to figure out a few things with the latter, though... like how I'm going to detail it!