Draw a bunch of question marks on the shoes and socks. See what I care.
February 5, 2014 7:02 AM   Subscribe

 
These still seem like a lot of work to me.
posted by elmer benson at 7:04 AM on February 5, 2014 [10 favorites]


Though, looking through my closet, I realize I could probably cosplay Aquaman today, which is kinda cool. I wonder if I could find a pitchfork in the garage.
posted by elmer benson at 7:06 AM on February 5, 2014


Though, looking through my closet, I realize I could probably cosplay Aquaman today, which is kinda cool.

Well, if you can stand all the "hey, what is my goldfish saying?" jokes....
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:09 AM on February 5, 2014


These still seem like a lot of work to me.

Seriously. Which I think says something about just how much work real cosplayers put into it. My half assed Mal costume was just khaki pants, maroon dress shirt, and suspenders.
posted by kmz at 7:10 AM on February 5, 2014 [2 favorites]


Love this! *following*
posted by infini at 7:10 AM on February 5, 2014


My easiest costume has always been Trinity from The Matrix...
posted by infini at 7:11 AM on February 5, 2014


Opened the link, saw red sweatshirt & wastebasket on head Arishem the Judge, immediately fell in love.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:16 AM on February 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


Morpheus : No shirt; be pale

Nailed it.
posted by das_2099 at 7:19 AM on February 5, 2014 [4 favorites]


My laziest intentional cosplay was realizing that, with newly red hair, all I needed to be Phillip J. fry was a red overshirt and a confused expression.

Then again I regularly walk into my closet going " oook, what's it gonna be today, Bob Benson? Dean Winchester? Rupert Giles? Will Graham?" so I don't think I'm a representative sample.
posted by The Whelk at 7:19 AM on February 5, 2014 [4 favorites]


D-Man should totally go with the sweats & duct tape version of Daredevil's first costume. Also Paul Pope should write and draw it.
posted by jason_steakums at 7:20 AM on February 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


Morpheus was the only character I recognised -- and the only one I could imagine doing half-assed. Maybe I'm just not as handy with the duct tape, or maybe it's that green suits are never $5 at my local thrift store, but more like $40-50.

But I did manage to pull off a different half-assed Endless costume last Halloween. I was working, and I had to hear a black shirt and black pants for dress code. I have black hair of about the right length, so with a bit of pale makeup and well-applied eyeliner, I was a quite passable Death. (thanks to the SO for making a great tin-foil ankh).
posted by jb at 7:28 AM on February 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


We where doing a Sandman theme show with all kinds of fun props ( FISH BALLONS ) and since I was one of the staff I had to be one of the Endless and I chose Destructioon cause I had a beard and flannel shirt already on.

I did end up carrying a stuffed dog around tho.

( The part was the Mcee/host chained a book to his wrist just like Destinity and used it as a way to read from his script, hee hee.)
posted by The Whelk at 7:32 AM on February 5, 2014 [2 favorites]


elmer benson: "These still seem like a lot of work to me."

I had the same thought. I was expecting to see something more along the lines of John Belushi's "I'm a zit!" gag. These are actually not so bad on a budget...
posted by Mister_A at 7:35 AM on February 5, 2014


My laziest costume is "The Invisible Man when he's not invisible."

aka The Man.
posted by Mister_A at 7:37 AM on February 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


Morpheus : No shirt; be pale

...

Oh, that Morpheus! I was really confused for a sec.
posted by kmz at 7:46 AM on February 5, 2014 [6 favorites]


It wasn't cosplay, but the best half-assed Halloween costume I've ever seen was a guy dressed normally with a flat-bottomed paper bag taped to his stomach. "What are you?" "A kangaroo."
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:52 AM on February 5, 2014 [8 favorites]


"Morpheus was the only character I recognised"

Then you may not be the target market for this tumblr.
posted by komara at 8:14 AM on February 5, 2014


aka The Man

Oh, finally! - now I know who to stick it to. Thanks!
posted by the quidnunc kid at 8:18 AM on February 5, 2014 [6 favorites]


Break the fourth wall with Animal Man! Good luck finding swim googles this time of year. More importantly, the key to this costume is that his jacket is a blue denim/cotton jacket, not a leather jacket.
For anyone dieing to play Animal Man at this time of the year swim goggles are going to be available year round at any dive shop or pool.
posted by Mitheral at 8:20 AM on February 5, 2014


This reminds me of the Casual Batman costume AskMe. I wonder how that ended up? I love the idea of Batman halfassing it.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:21 AM on February 5, 2014


When things are slow at the vintage shop I work at, I regularly put together cosplay outfits based on what I have to hand. Sometimes this results in selfies.
posted by nonasuch at 8:21 AM on February 5, 2014 [8 favorites]


Oh, and I helped the little girl I babysit put together an AWESOME Casual R2D2 costume-- white tutu, white t-shirt with three blue horizontal stripes across the chest, and a white canvas baseball cap and white Keds painted to look like R2's head and feet. Like so.
posted by nonasuch at 8:24 AM on February 5, 2014 [14 favorites]


I want to see his version of Galactus.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:25 AM on February 5, 2014


...and upon further thought, I'd also like to see Arnim Zola and MODOK.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:27 AM on February 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


I want nonasuch to start a tumblr!
posted by infini at 8:28 AM on February 5, 2014 [4 favorites]


I see that version of Dr. Doom almost every Halloween.
posted by thivaia at 8:37 AM on February 5, 2014


Absolutely following this one!

From the title, I was expecting something along the lines of the old Adam Sandler SNL Halloween costume ideas sketch. ("Look at me! I'm scary Pickle Mustache Man! Now give me some candy!")

But I wouldn't call these "half-assed" at all. Yes, they use amateur-level costume construction skills, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The root word of "amateur" means "love," after all. Substituted for that particular skill is a hell of a lot of work in both sourcing the materials (especially at an affordable level) and putting them together. I can sew, and I've done paid work as a stage costumer, but I don't know if I could make an elaborate duct tape pattern like on that Arishem the Judge costume, or fit the bucket headpiece properly.

If I saw any of these costumes at a convention, my reaction would be, "How awesome is that? and I would be over there asking for a picture.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:40 AM on February 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


"Morpheus was the only character I recognised"

Then you may not be the target market for this tumblr.


I read plenty of comics and other cosplay inspirations, but yeah, it's superhero heavy. I came to comics through Gaimen and the other alternative titles, and have never been interested in the others.

That said, my comment still stands: the majority of these costumes are relatively expensive and a lot of work. Yorick from Y:the last man would be cool; also, kind of an interesting comment on gender and comics if a woman cross-dressed as him.
posted by jb at 8:44 AM on February 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


> From the title, I was expecting something along the lines of the old Adam Sandler SNL Halloween costume ideas sketch. ("Look at me! I'm scary Pickle Mustache Man! Now give me some candy!")

Compared to current Adam Sandler movies, that's like something Billy Wilder wrote.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:04 AM on February 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


Last year, for a team climbing competition, we did these half-assed TMNT cotumes (pics). It only took us 1 day to make 'm but we had just as much fun as that one time we spent >35 evenings making decent costumes. Also, destroying a costume is half the fun.

This years competition is next month. Unfortunately, none of these cosplay ideas will be recognisable so I'm keeping an eye on this thread for other useful ideas.
posted by Akeem at 9:08 AM on February 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


"I don't know who this 'Gene Simmons' guy is. It would be cool if he did someone recognizable, like Omar Rodriguez-Lopez."
posted by Tool of the Conspiracy at 9:14 AM on February 5, 2014


This is great - I was expecting it to be snark aimed at homemade cosplay outfits. I've had vague plans to put together a Duct Tape Dr. Doom outfit once my son is old enough to start attending conventions.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:53 AM on February 5, 2014


You could call him Dr. Doomie Howser!
posted by Think_Long at 9:54 AM on February 5, 2014 [2 favorites]


I secretly want him to haul off and punch someone dressed as Galactus in the nards before yelling "DOOM CONQUERS ALL!"
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:56 AM on February 5, 2014


My laziest costume is "The Invisible Man when he's not invisible."

Wrap white bandages around your head and hands, securing them with double sided tape. Add black sunglasses and a scarf covering your mouth. Shirt, slacks, dark overcoat, possibly a fedora if you have one. That's how they did it in the movies. It would be surprisingly good cosplay for $10 at most.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 11:04 AM on February 5, 2014 [2 favorites]


I was once jb's version of Death for the exact same reason and in the exact same way, right down to the tinfoil ankh. (I'm blond, though, so I did have to add a wig.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:15 AM on February 5, 2014


This is super helpful for someone like me. I really want to participate in Halloween, but for the life of me, I cannot fucking figure out how to put together a costume for anything. I'm willing to do the work, if it involves taping things onto things, or stapling things onto things. Now I have enough simple costumes to put together with clothes bought at the good will to last me for years!
posted by Saxon Kane at 12:09 PM on February 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


And then there are the heroes who are wearing essentially jeans and and logo t-shirt -- Kevin Matchstick, just carry a baseball bat; or few iterations iterations of Wonder Girl, just find something that could pass for a golden lasso (or, earlier, a wonder woman t-shirt, bike shorts, and a bad black wig.).
posted by Karmakaze at 12:17 PM on February 5, 2014


I once went to a Halloween party as the Corinthian, but the tricky bit was persuading a (very kind and patient) friend to paint teeth on my eyelids. The other tricky bit was navigating the party while either A) wearing sunglasses or B) keeping my eyes closed to display the teeth properly. I managed to avoid the walls, mostly.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 12:17 PM on February 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


Yeah, I only recognized a couple of the characters without looking them up, but it was enough that I knew he wasn't just pulling stuff out of thin air.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:55 PM on February 5, 2014


For a Hallowe'en party a decade ago, I produced a Darth Vader costume on the cheap. I bought the helmet at a costume store, sewed an old black polar fleece blanket* into a cape, wore black everything else of course (sweatshirt, pants, boots) and with about seven bucks expenditure at a hardware store and some Krazy Glue, managed to turn a small black box into a serviceable reproduction of his chest box. Shoulder armour? Several dollar store place mats and black duck tape built on a framework of salvaged wire hangers for structure. Total expenditure apart from helmet: about twelve bucks.

Five years later I resurrected the costume and made a notable improvement by buying some tiny black battery-powered speakers and running them to an mp3 player inside the chestbox running this sound on a loop.

Then I blew my budget and bought a lightsaber. Whatevs. Still good.

*Let me tell you, having no exposed skin wearing an ankle-length layer of fleece atop everything else will keep you warm indeed, even in a chilly October. After turning up at a party, I usually modify the costume to Anakin Skywalker with a swiftness. Or if the party is on the fourth floor of a walkup, Sweaty Anakin Skywalker.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:06 PM on February 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


My laziest intentional cosplay was realizing that, with newly red hair, all I needed to be Phillip J. fry was a red overshirt and a confused expression.

! ...girl!Fry is definitely on my list of lazy cosplay now.

I have often been tempted to go to Comic-Con as Misfit!Batgirl. Actually, her regular Misfit costume would be pretty easy, too.

I am super sad that Misfit is apparently no longer in continuity. damn it DC, why must you destroy everything I love *shakes ineffectual fist at sky*
posted by insufficient data at 1:23 PM on February 5, 2014


OK, I may have snorted at Dr, Fate.
posted by lekvar at 1:38 PM on February 5, 2014


Black leather jacket.

White button-down shirt.

Green trousers.

Brown loafers.

Baseball bat.

Old camera.

Splatter red food dye on everything.

BAM! YOU'RE FRANK WEST!


Total cost of materials: $50, from op shops
Total time spent: 0 minutes
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:23 PM on February 5, 2014


(And these are great.)
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:24 PM on February 5, 2014


! ...girl!Fry is definitely on my list of lazy cosplay now.

OK, it's not exactly lazy, per se, because it involves some sewing, but I could do it with really simple pieces, some of which I already have. But since you brought up crossplay, I just had to share my crossplay fantasy that's just waiting for the right occasion.

Mrs. Dreamfinder. With a little hair bow for my plush Figment.

"I can be any sex I want... with my Imagination!"
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:36 PM on February 5, 2014 [3 favorites]


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