Amazing Steampunk Costumes

As I wind down my Halloween suggestions, I wanted to take the time to mention one last costume option for you all. This is something that -though it has been around since the late 80s and early 90s- has recently been sweeping through the internet and local anime/comic/scifi conventions. I’m talking about Steampunk. Steampunk centers around a world very similar to Victorian England, where the technologies we have today are present, but they are all constructed and powered differently; usually by steam. Steampunk settings do not share the dystopia that cyberpunk settings often center around, but they do carry the same themes of rebellion and living by your own rules. The distinctive dress of this ‘world’ is what makes it so fun, and a steampunk costume this Halloween would definitely get people looking your way.

A lot of the components for a steampunk costume can be purchased. Piecing together various Victorian costumes, and adding more brass-colors, a weapon, or some leather would basically get you where you need to go. But the best steampunk costumes are the ones that people have made themselves. There are a few elements that show up very often in these costumes that are kind of like staples that hold the look together. This list generally includes tops hats, goggles, Victorian shoes, brass and gold colors, clock innards, and a super cool gadget or weapon.

Honestly, even if your costume sucks, if you have a nifty gadget or weapon then it will make up for some of it. Generally the weapon would be a pistol, or some kind of machine gun that attaches to your forearm. The gadgets vary as much as our modern day gadgets do. I have seen everything from watches, to backpacks and staffs that seem to have some kind of magical property, to glowing compasses, to body armor.

These costumes tend to take a lot of work, but they are some of the most visually appealing and show-stopping of them all.

Happy Halloween~!

Army Man

Everyone wants to be a little badass sometimes, and most often this means that you wind up with a leather jacket and a motorcycle. But you don’t need to make any permanent life changing decisions if you just want to be badass for a little while, you could make it happen for Halloween. There are many different ways to do this of course, from simply picking out things that you’ve always wanted to try and dressing as such; for example the leather jacket thing I was talking about. (You could spice it up with one of those ‘fake tattoo sleeves’ to give the illusion of ink, if you wanted.) To making a costume so over-the-top amazing that everyone will forever consider you the most badass Halloween party-goer in the history costume of their lives.

While browsing the internet it’s easy to see who attempted, and who accomplished this goal. One such man probably had a thought process that went along the lines of ‘the military is definitely badass, but there’s nothing too special in dressing in a uniform. I know what would be cool, being a toy army soldier.’ Now, this doesn’t sound too impressive on paper, but the way he went about doing it is what made it so incredibly amazing and unique. This man got himself a uniform, boots, gun, and helmet just like the little toy soldiers wore, and painted them all the same shade of green. But that wasn’t enough, he painted himself green too. As you can see from the photo, it had a jaw-dropping spectacular effect. If he showed up to a Halloween party I was throwing, he would win ALL the costume contest prizes.

Sometimes the way to be the most badass isn’t by attempting to look tough, but by having a unique idea and making it a reality in as flawless a way as you can manage. You’ll be remembered for decades, and it will rock.

Space man

The cold dark recesses of outer space… what to we really know about it? What do we really know about our neighboring planets? About their history? Lastly, what is the best way to go about finding out? Exploring them, that’s how. Sure robots can be sent to map the terrain, but it’s an entirely different scenario when a human being sets foot on the surface of some far off world. We might not have the technology yet for deep space exploration, but we certainly have the drive. This is part of the reason why so many Sci-Fi movies, novels, and comics have come about in the past century. The idea of what these other worlds might look like, fascinates us. So maybe, for this Halloween you might want to take that giant leap for mankind and dress as a space explorer.

There are tons of different ways to do it of course, as evidenced by the hundreds of films, books, and even Lego adventure sets that all center around outer space. You could be a general astronaut like we have today in the thick white suits with the shiny helmet and American flag sewed onto the arm, or you could pick something from popular culture, perhaps something a little more futuristic. The space suits in the movie Armageddon resembled those that we currently use, but were slightly less bulky, grey, and had what looked like a ton of different useless seams, zippers, buttons, and tubing going around it; which makes for a really cool effect.

Don’t want to construct/buy a suit? You could always design your own, or simply be a character from a movie that takes place in outer space. Star Wars and Star Trek are popular options, as well as Mission to Mars, Armageddon, and Sunshine (who had the biggest bulkiest suits of all time, honestly.)

See what you can discover this Halloween!