The Making Of The Costume: Doctor Octopus

For the past 3 years, I have put a lot of time and effort to make a kick-ass costume for halloween. Here's a quick recap of my costumes of the past:

Halloween 2002 - The Incredible Hulk


Haloween 2003 - Egon from the Ghostbuster




Haloween 2004 - Optimus Prime




This year, I decided to design a costume that was a little more challenging. And chalenging it was! I decided to dress up as Doctor Octopus (for those who live under a rock he's the villain from Spider Man 2 the movie - as well as all the spiderman comics). Every year, people ask me how I make my costumes. This time I decided to show you:

The materials I started with were a trnch coat I bought at village de valeur, a 16 foot plastic vaccuum tube I bought at reno depot, some cardboard boxes, metal rods and, of course, duct tape.


To attach the arms to a carboard base, I made 4 connectors out of cardboard and duct tape.


I then cut slits in the cardboard base, pushed through the ends of each connector and then taped the whole thing really well. I then attached the base to a girdle my dad used to use for his sore back, which was perfect for it had it's own flexible straps which didn't make my shoulders sore. This is the finished base:


I made four identical hands by just cutting slits in cardboard and folding it.


I cut the plastic tubing into 4 equal lengths and put them through each connector. I also attache de ametal rod to each arm to keep the curved shape, thus preventing them from just flopping around. Then I wrapped each earm in duct tape for that silver effect.


The arms were WAY to long and needed to be cut.


Before adding on the hands, I cut slits in the trench coat and rand the arms through.


I used coat hangers to keep the arms up to avoid them from snapping off the base...


...as well as keeping them close to each other.


Last, I added the hands and wrapped them up in tape to look cool!


The Final Thing!: