The Big Lebowski Costume Thread

I don't know if anyone mentioned it but the 'Pajama Pants' he is wearing with the cardigan are 80's surfer pants...If anyone hits on the real thing post it up. Someone may have already posted it. I only read through 5 or 6 pages before coming to post.
You can find a link to a company that produces reproduction pants here but, as you'll see, they're not 100% accurate.

When I was looking for wardrobe items for my Dude costume back in 2011 I scanned that Rusty Zipper website daily hoping to find something I could use. Unfortunately, every pair of "surfer pants" that would have been good for a "close enough" pair were too small for me. After clicking on your links, I see that hasn't changed. :lol
 
Oh god, that site is rather sad for size selection. Even Jeff Bridges wears larger than 30W, and i'd wager as are most people who try to do a decent costume. haha ...still, i don't mean to demean the find, especially for a new person to the forums. nice find, grumped.

Too bad they don't have the other surfer pants he wears in the movie (the "over the line" scenes, about 15 mins in). Kind of purplish blue with red palms and white (very light lavender?) foliage & accents.

pants.jpg


By the way, my Old Navy shorts arrived today. Not NEARLY as brown or tan as the pic made them look in case anyone is looking to pick them up. At first i though they sent me the blue & grey ones by mistake, but nope they are the "couscous" color I ordered. Still, they'll pass on general inspection to the uninitiated eye. On the good side, I won't have to fade those like I was planning. Next up is the Rit color remover on the purple tee and maybe on the bowling shirt as well...(the tee is very comfy & light, just needs to be broken in, faded, and maybe stretched to blow out neckline.
 
Alright guys, trying something new this time for the Ralph's Half & Half carton.

Last year I just printed out the graphics on adhesive back paper and stuck it on to a painted carton. This time I'm going to print out the whole carton and cut/fold/glue it together.

Here's the pattern I came up with:

View attachment 363218View attachment 363219

And here is the link to the file in case anyone wants to give it a try themselves - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/298211/lebowski-raplhs-carton.jpg

Good luck!

Dan Almasy - you are a genuis!!
Many thanks for the time and effort in getting the Half & Half together - it's well appreciated!
A large white Russian for you me thinks!
I salute you Sir!
 
...The shorts I wore in the photo in post #163 were the closest I could find at the time...The funny thing is, I have no idea what happened to those shorts. I'm sure they're around here somewhere, but I'll be damned if I can find them. So I took a quick look on evilBay and spent $10 and change (shipped) on these...They're used and appear to be stained, but they should be good enough for me after I clean 'em up a little.
I finally washed and attempted to try on the "replacement" shorts. They were advertised, and labeled, as having a 36 waist, but they must have shrunk because they fit more like a 34--a little tight for me, but not a big deal. And then the plastic button that holds 'em together at the waist broke into five different pieces. :lol They'll be useable once I find another button and do a little "adjusting".

And, now that I have these, I found the shorts I wore in 2011. :facepalm Ain't life grand! Oh well, at least I have options. :cool
 
Does anyone have a good lead for retro bowling shoes? eBay hasn't had anything in my size (10 1/2 - 11) that aren't new or have velcro fastening instead of old school lacing. i spent several hours last week trying to find places online but to no avail. I thought about checking the two or three bowling alleys which still exist in the area for "retired" shoes but they all switched to velcro years ago.

EDIT: Never mind... just found a size 11 grey/maroon pair on eBay (not green/maroon, but oh well!). Ha! Go figure... the question still stands in case anyone needs info for tracking down old-school bowling shoes. ;)
 
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I got one of those replica bowling shirts last year, and it never occurred to me that the Dude's shirt was faded. Good call! Be sure to let us know which fading method works for you so we can steal your idea and try it ourselves. :D

I haven't tried fading the replica bowling shirt yet, but the t-shirt turned out ALMOST perfect! it was a really new-off-the-rack purple (Old Navy purple v-neck, $8 on sale) that i didn't think would ever fade normally in time via wear & wash. i opted for the Rit Color Remover laundry treatment, which i picked up at Safeway and is likely sold anywhere that Rit dyes are sold (Walgreen's, Wal-Mart, etc). Since I was just doing the one shirt and didn't want colors to blend together while decolorized, i just followed the "stove top" method for directions, although i altered it by bringing a lot of water (about 2 gal) to an almost-boil, poured it all into my plastic bucket i use for dyeing, and then followed the directions from there on out. Soaking / agitation time took about 30 minutes, although i could have likely stopped around 15 - 20. After washing & drying the shirt, it turned out to be a really good light purple that looks like it's had a lot of wear to it. i'm really glad i went this road instead of trying to sun-fade it or do something drastic like lemon juice + sun.

i'm going to attempt the bowling shirt next [maybe later this week or next] and hope i don't fade it took much, maybe soak it for up to 10 mins. it's definitely much lighter in the movie, but i'd rather err on having it bright rather than screwing it up. ;)

here's how everything looks so far (note: bowling shirt isn't faded and i'm debating about dyeing the robe still based on the color swatch posted in this thread):
IMG_2510.JPGIMG_2504.JPGIMG_2506.JPG
 
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...i opted for the Rit Color Remover laundry treatment...
I picked up a box of that to try to fade the green v-neck tee shirt I wore in 2011. At the time I thought it was okay, but after viewing the movie and looking at stills since then I realize it's too dark. I haven't used it yet, but I'm encouraged by your results.

By the way, for anyone who wants to get that "rumpled" look for your tee shirts I think I've stumbled onto a good way to do that. Before you wear them to whichever event you're attending, wash them and then sleep in them for two or three nights. This way, the wrinkles will form around your body naturally rather than just form random patterns as they would if you were to ball them up and throw them on the floor for a few days. I suppose you could just wear them for a few days, but you might have people wondering, "Weren't you wearing that shirt yesterday, and the day before? Geez, what a slob!" :lol

...i'm debating about dyeing the robe still based on the color swatch posted in this thread...
I've given up on trying to find the "right" robe. Every "lead" I found turned into a dead end, so I just got a robe I liked that was "Dude-esque". Besides, I needed a new bathrobe anyway. :cool
 
I picked up a box of that to try to fade the green v-neck tee shirt I wore in 2011. At the time I thought it was okay, but after viewing the movie and looking at stills since then I realize it's too dark. I haven't used it yet, but I'm encouraged by your results.
well, if it helps any... i decolorized the bowling shirt today after my attempt with the tee. i'm happy i did the tee first as a test since i left that in a bit longer and took out more color than planned (as mentioned above). had i done the bowling shirt for anything longer than i did -- which was only about 5 minutes, maybe 6 at most -- i would have been screwed. 20 - 30 minutes would have taken out most of the brown for sure. the yellow could be lighter, but i think i got just enough desaturation in it that the slightly faded brown gives enough appearance at first glance that it's second-hand (after all, The Dude isn't named Art) . as it was, the Medina Sod text on the back lost a lot of darkness and almost looks dark grey, but i think that's a small price to pay for the well-worn look. ;) i can toss up front & back pics if you or anyone else is interested.

I've given up on trying to find the "right" robe. Every "lead" I found turned into a dead end, so I just got a robe I liked that was "Dude-esque". Besides, I needed a new bathrobe anyway. :cool
yeah, that's why i'm debating but kind of in reverse. i could use the current one as a bathrobe and then splurge on an $80 white one, which looks closer in design. to dye. if i screw it up too much, i could probably eBay it or something to make back some / all of the cash. the sad part is i'm between jobs so the $$$ is hard to justify at the moment. since i don't usually wear bathrobes, i could get by without one and just keep the current one for the costume (but damn, it was nice wearing it around the house in the cold weather last year). lol

(p.s. the one i'm looking at is Boca Terry mini stripe that sells on their website for $77, but found a couple cheaper on other sites)
 
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...i decolorized the bowling shirt today after my attempt with the tee...i can toss up front & back pics if you or anyone else is interested...
Of course we're interested in pics--the RPF is a rather visual forum. ;)

...the sad part is i'm between jobs so the $$$ is hard to justify at the moment. since i don't usually wear bathrobes, i could get by without one and just keep the current one for the costume (but damn, it was nice wearing it around the house in the cold weather last year). lol
You're preaching to the choir here, man. Being on disability is a little better than being between jobs, but not by much. Besides, I think a "Dude on a budget" costume/wardrobe is more in keeping with the character. :cool And considering we're using things like bathrobes, tee shirts, sandals, sunglasses, etc., they can be worn in our daily lives so it's not like we're spending a fortune on something that's going to hang in a closet unused 364 days of the year. I don't wear a bathrobe often either--I'd had my previous one since my late teens and I'm now 53 years old. It definitely had a well-used look to it that was very Dudely, but it was a little too snug in the shoulders to be comfortable so it was time for a replacement.

Speaking of which, if I have any parties to go to this year I've decided to change things up a little and do the "shopping at Ralph's" Dude thing instead of wearing the same things from three years ago. I already have the robe, the white v-neck tee, the green plaid shorts, the shades, and the Ralph's Club Card, so I got a pair of these:

Rockport_Sandals_zpsd55c5945.jpg


They're no more accurate than the rest of my gear but, as I wrote above, I'm the only one who would know...well, me and you'se guys. :D But they're Dudesque, comfortable, and didn't break the bank at $61 and change, so I'm good with it.
 
Of course we're interested in pics--the RPF is a rather visual forum. ;)

True dat!

Before:
IMG_2506.JPG

After:
IMG_2517.JPGIMG_2520.JPG

... Besides, I think a "Dude on a budget" costume/wardrobe is more in keeping with the character.

great point! i keep forgetting things like that since most of my friends who do cosplay either make their own stuff or buy new things to use. i'm still getting used to the community of it all. i need to use that mentality more often, for sure!


They're no more accurate than the rest of my gear but, as I wrote above, I'm the only one who would know...well, me and you'se guys. :D But they're Dudesque, comfortable, and didn't break the bank at $61 and change, so I'm good with it.

very nice find! those definitely look more comfortable than the others, of which i bought a pair.
 
I forgot to mention, a bunch of ex-coworkers do a weekly after-work model/artist session (since they're mostly artists) every wednesday. for the month of october they were asking for volunteers to come sit for a couple hours in a costume of choice. i signed up for Oct 15 and will likely do the sweater / pants Dude costume. the guy in charge said that he'll provide the "Caucasian" fixin's and music by CCR for the night. haha if they scan & send me their final drawings i'll post them up here.
 
Before...After...
It's a subtle difference, but much better! I'll have to try that with mine.

...great point! i keep forgetting things like that since most of my friends who do cosplay either make their own stuff or buy new things to use. i'm still getting used to the community of it all. i need to use that mentality more often, for sure!
It really depends on the costume/wardrobe/prop you're trying to duplicate. If you're doing, say, a Darth Vader or Iron Man costume, you really don't want to cut corners or build it "on the cheap". But for the Dude? Yeah, evilBay and thrift stores can be your friend.

...very nice find! those definitely look more comfortable than the others, of which i bought a pair.
Once again it came down to me failing to find a pair that were an exact match, or even relatively close, so I decided to go with similar and comfortable. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes...well, he eats you. :cool
 
It's a subtle difference, but much better! I'll have to try that with mine.

yeah, it's harder to tell in the pics and the outdoor lighting didn't help much, but i'd say the brown is about 3 or 4 shades lighter and the yellow is maybe 2 shades. not much but noticeable definitely better.... i definitely think you should give it a try, but again i can't stress enough to only do it for a few minutes of soaking. because of that, go with the stove top method (or heat water and dump it all in a bucket like i did). you have a lot more control with it all that way.

It really depends on the costume/wardrobe/prop you're trying to duplicate. If you're doing, say, a Darth Vader or Iron Man costume, you really don't want to cut corners or build it "on the cheap". But for the Dude? Yeah, evilBay and thrift stores can be your friend.
Once again it came down to me failing to find a pair that were an exact match, or even relatively close, so I decided to go with similar and comfortable. Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes...well, he eats you. :cool

:thumbsup
 
well ive been looking for a ribbed robe i found some but there 2 dark colors like there a joe boxer one on ebay but to dark to dye on the robe and that bed bath and beyond robe i cant even find that **** man this WILL NOT STAND MAN why does finding a ribbed robe have to be um um um um um um um complex
 
Hey fellow Dudes

Thought i'd share my collection of screen accurate Folgers 39oz cans that i've been collecting for a while now (most given to fellow fan friends for costumes or presents but i will be selling 1 or 2 that are left on that (in)famous auction website.. I won't put the link up but keep an eye out if you're interested.

Just need to convert the white plastic lids to blue and then they are ready to hold Donny (figuratively speaking of course!)

22102014608 sml.jpg folgers can.jpg
 
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Hey Dudes, Pendleton is once again producing the sweater. The knit pattern adjacent to the zipper looks different, but otherwise it appears to be a faithful reproduction (unlike their "tribute" sweater from 2011). At the moment it looks like it's only available through Pendleton's website, but if you have an extra $239 lying around and you want a real Pendleton Dude sweater...
 

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