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~!

Straight Jacket

Up until the 1050’s the methods that were used to treat patients with mental disorders ranged from questionable to downright inhumane. Most of the time they did more to hurt these people than to help them. Some of the practices included ice baths for patients who were too excitable, electroshock therapy, insulin shock therapy, castration (for patients who were also sex offenders), and of course lobotomies. The lobotomies themselves could be something as simple as navigating an ice pick behind a persons eye and tapping it into their brain, to actually removing a pieces of skull and a piece of gray matter with it.

Most often, they were forced into a straight jacket and locked away in a room with padded walls so that they could not hurt themselves; and that is where the stereotypical Halloween costume for the ‘mental patient’ comes from. There are versions for both men and women should you decide to be a little crazy this holiday, and the come in several different varieties as well.

For women there is a ‘sexy straight jacket’ costume that features the jacket (of course) in pristine white; though unlike a normal straight jacket it features a scoop neck and an oval hole underneath to show a bit of cleavage, as well as some stylishly placed straps. It comes with a cute mini skirt and hat as well.

For the men there are straight jackets ranging from cotton fabrics to full-on authentic canvas jackets. They come in a variety of white and off white colors, as well as some in brown. There is a particular costume called the ‘straightjacket maniac’ that comes with a brown jacket and black straps, as well as a mask that looks like a maniac’s face and a cadge to go around your head. This costume has a more medieval feel to it and would definitely be fun to wear to a party. There are also straight jacket costumes associated with particular criminals, such as Hannibal Lector.

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.