Pennywise costume from Stephen King's It

Re: Pennywise Halloween costume

I finished pinning the pieces of the suit together and tried them on. Everything pieces together the way it should and fits fine!
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume

I have an idea for the bulge under the wig. I'm going to try some upsholstery-type foam(I think that's what it's called.) You can buy it in squares or by the yard at the craft store. The price increases with the thickness/firmness of the foam. I have some left over from the inside of my Red Tornado helmet, and if it works will post pics later.
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume

Here is the bald cap, with hair attached, and foam inside. The rubber of the cap doesn't seem to have enough stretch to really bulge like it did in the movie. I like that when it's on, the foam helps keep the top of my head look smooth. The cap was shipped folded and had a bit of a crease on the top, so that is reduced. However, you can see in the picture that the forehead tends to wrinkle and I don't know how to get rid of that. Would I be able to heat it and let it cool on my head or something? I'd be willing to remove the hair and repaint it if it would improve the way the cap looks. I'm still disappointed that the fur still turned out not to be long enough, and haven't found anything that looks like it would be much longer than what I have now.
019.jpg


Here is kind of a trial run. I'm not showing the finished costume yet, but I could use some advice on the makeup and wig. I used the stuff that comes in a little dish, and it didn't give me very good coverage, nor did it last long. Would the creamier type work better? I used talcum powder to set the makeup. Do makeup sponges work to apply it, or should I be using one of those big puffs? I had heard that cornstarch works well, but I didn't realize until it was too late that we were out of it. Would flour work as well?
004-1.jpg
 
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Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added 10/31*

well,here is my finished attempt. the costume went down really well and i won best costume of the night. hope you like.
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

Any suggestions on what I could do to improve the wig and makeup?
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

hi. i had originally got the same red fur as you but once it was on the bald cap it just didnt look right. i bought a big red afro wig. it was far too curly so i put it on a model head, boiled the kettle and poured boiling water all over the wig. i left the wig to dry but it was still to curly. i did the same procedure another 2 times and that seemed to take enough curls out. once i was happy with the wig i then marked the shape that wasnt needed and cut the front and middle of the wig to get the pennywise shape hair.

i used clown white grease make up. this blended in the bald cap really well as its really thick makeup. remember to set the make up with a bit of talcum powder otherwise the grease make up stays really wet and will just smudge.
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

^^The stuff I used was labelled "clown white," but it still didn't give good coverage. I was looking for suggestion to improve my makeup job, as well as to make my bald cap lay smoother.
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

I can't believe I missed this thread, especially since I've been working on and off on a Pennywise costume for a while; here's some info I've collected, if it helps:

http://www.therpf.com/f24/pennywise-bald-head-appliance-74671/

http://www.therpf.com/f24/bald-cap-suggestions-tips-76313/

The 'bulging forehead' appliance seems to be the hardest part to get accurate...

Here's a detail sheet I found online (thanks to Andrew Shirey/silentsketcher):

Pennywise_the_dancing_clown_by_silentsketcher.jpg


I'll be watching this thread with interest! :thumbsup

Rob
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

Cool drawing, thanks for posting! It does look like they changed the color scheme slightly when they made the actual costume. Those plans don't mention that the sleeves and ruffle are obviously tri-colored - Purple, pink/magenta or violet, and teal/green. Those last two appear different depending on the lighting and angle of the photograph. I wore kind of a placeholder for my vest on Saturday, and have the pieces cut out for a more accurate one. I think that for the "speckles" I might use some sprays of glitter paint, since it's only visible in certain pictures. I always thought the stripes on the ankle ruffles were blue and red or black and magenta. As previously discussed here, the shoes in the film don't look like clown shoes either.
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

I have a large screen cap collection, if you are needing anything in particular...just let me know. :thumbsup

Here's a few caps of the shoes (and ruffles):

IT255744.jpg


IT255283.jpg


Rob
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

Well, my colored ruffle and 2/3 white ones are already done. I bought colors that were as close as I could find in the fabric store, going by the photos I saved on my husband's iPhone. I just used cheap slip-ons that I got at WalMart(refer to the earlier post about "plimsoles" - these were the only things that looked remotely close. The ones in the screen cap still look more like tied ballet shoes than clown shoes. My actual clown suit is almost done, other than fixing the hems that I duck-taped last weekend and the stripes on the ankle ruffle. I have to add the top collar ruffle - I had plans to do that before, but didn't have the time with the Great Sewing Machine Jam of 2010. I also have to finish the vest. I'll still probably use the same velour on it, as I've never seen that kind of material before. I never noticed that there was a third stripe, going around the outer edge of the ankle ruffle. Do you think it's the same green/teal as on the sleeves and ruffle? I'll probably get the same shade in 1/4" ribbon and use the same pink(as close as I could find to magenta, which is what I thought it was) that I used on the sleeves. So should the one on the outside be black or another color? Also, I used a ProKnows nose, the M1 I think. Now what I really need is some help with smoothing out my bald cap. Someday I'll have to find longer faux fur, but that's the problem with buying it online.
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

As far as the leg ruffles go, those caps are as close as I've been able to come to finding lower shots of the costume; there's no a whole lot out there on this suit. If you enlarge the image, it appears to me that there is a green stripe (yes, IMHO, it appears to be the same as on the sleeves and ruffle) , a magenta/pink stripe, and an either 1) grey, 2) black, 3) dark purple, or 3) dark blue stripe on the outer edge....I think it's dark blue, to match his outer cuff and upper eye shadow.

it-pennywisewp06.jpg


The shoes definitely have laces (see my first screencap in the previous post), and here's a shot of the lower legs...

IT259478.jpg


...but it's still not enough to tell exactly what color the stripe is.

Rob
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

I know your costume is probably way past done by now lol but just to add my two cents in in case you ever wear it again or want to continue adding to it....I always use Ben Nye makeup which is a theatre makeup brand that does really great coverage. That's the cheapest option for a reliable cream makeup....if you have the money and time to use airbrush makeup then I really like graftobian. A store that I buy from called cinemasecrects here in Burbank, Ca carries all of them. There are obviously other online stores as well but that's just the one I buy from. Also for the shoes it looks like you'd do with a simple pair of Jazz dance shoes like from capezio. Don't know how much of this info you already know but like I said...just in case! :cool
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

I did a little more work on the costume for a party last night. I'm still not happy with all the details, but I will probably keep it and upgrade for future conventions.
Now that we've seen a nicer screencap of the vest, I wonder where that material came from. I always thought it was kind of a velour/velvet with pattern similar to brocade, but now I'm not so sure. I bought velour materal to make a vest, but ended up saving that project for another day and used an old vest I had laying around. (It's the same one I wore for the first time in this costume, but this time I removed the buttons.) For the next time, I was thinking of just using one of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine and using pink and purple metallic thread to make a pattern all over the velour. What are some things other people have used for their vests?
 
Re: Pennywise Halloween costume *Makeup Pics added - need suggestions*

Since I didn't have enough time to get my costume contest-ready and photographed, here is the first time I wore it. As I mentioned before, there were problems with my sewing machine and we weren't able to do final steps, like a proper hem or even finishing the top layer of the ruffle. I was not at all happy with the wig or makeup.
004.jpg


I actually ended up removing the fur from the wig in order to reshape it. I removed the pieces of foam I had used to try and bulk it up, because I think it contributed to the dents in the forehead. I actually padded the head while it sat on the styrofoam head to get the shape the way I wanted it, wrapped the whole thing in plastic, and (carefully) dunked it in a pot of simmering water. I left it sit on the head that way until cool, and when I removed the padding, the all the creases and dents were gone, leaving the cap looking much nicer. I repainted it and glued on a new piece of fur. I was experimenting with shortening the actual piece of fur fabric on the wig. I tried tucking it underneath the bald cap and thought it looked a lot better.
031.jpg


I had to have my husband pin around my ankles where the elastic would go, and I'm still not happy with the way it fit, so I might have my mom take a look at it the next time I see her, so I didn't bother to put the two ribbons on each ruffle until that's done. Like I said before, I just wore an old velour vest, but will eventually make a more correct one. Here are some pictures I took - for a Halloween costume, I think it worked pretty well. The fur filled out the wig enough that it stayed on without spirit gum, and at a party it was nice to be able to take it off toward the end of the night, especially because the wig covers my ears and slightly muffled my hearing.
014-1.jpg


029-1.jpg


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