...

Happy Belated Halloween, Gamespotters!

I thought it was fitting to post up my Halloween pics, along with the history of my costume. I started it before Halloween '04, and it took over a week of material reconnaissance, then a full month to build the prototype. It barely held together when my then boyfriend (dressed appropriately as Link) and I took my friend's kid trick-or-treating, after which I decided I could do MUCH, much better, learning how to use an airbrush to boot. I ended up shoring it up for a skit in my Japanese class in February 2005, and had a friend do a photoshoot:

Prototype Costume 2005 (click for slideshow)

After that, I set about remaking most of the costume for Halloween 2005. The only pieces I kept were the shoes, helmet and beam cannon.

Halloween 2005 Rebuild (click for slide show)

This version was great, but I wore it to Fanime 2008 and it sustained severe battle damage, especially the shoulders which were the weakest part and hardest to figure out how to keep on. I couldn't get 10 steps without being mobbed for pictures, which was awesome but it made everything take forever and the suit wasn't meant to be worn for more than 2 hours at a time! The suit was also held together by kind of an elastic garter belt/harness that held up the upper legs while holding down the shoulders with velcro without attaching to the bike pants and tshirt underneath.

I spent a month remaking the shoulders, in between work trips, and figuring out a new method of attachment. The shoulders are now super sturdy and look more 3D, and they held up extremely well during the few hours I wore it:

New (top) and old (bottom) shoulders before detailing (click for construction slide show)

I didn't get many pictures, but my friend got a few. I ended up staying up until 4:30am before Halloween finishing the details, then woke up at 9am to fix some reattachment issues. I only had time to wear it to the coffee shop (I go every day I'm not out for work, they were all looking forward to seeing it), then my office an hour away. Nobody else at the office dressed up, but my friend got pictures for me. I was so tired I even forgot to bring my own camera!

Samus 2012 (click for slide show)

After I showed off in the office, it was too late to leave before hitting traffic, so Tracy, my friend and coworker, and I headed to Panera for dinner. I forgot to bring my dress cover up to wear over the body suit when I wasn't in suit, and there was nobody in the Panera really so I just went in with my suit and all the sewn on velcro and snaps. The ladies at the register politely asked what I was supposed to be, and I just explained that was just the undersuit of my costume and that my actual costume was in the trunk. So I showed them a picture, and what do you know but one of them was a huge Metroid fan! So I went back to my car and donned the costume in the parking lot, and came back and they took lots of pictures. That totally made my night :)

I will continue remaking various parts over the next few years. For next year, I want to lose 20 pounds (for many reasons) and it will wear much better, then I will remake the yellow body in a way that will allow for better movement. I also want to add the rib cage detailing, right now there is nothing covering my upper side, so you see too much of the black of the body suit. Maybe I'll even add some LEDs :)

Either way, this suit is here to stay!

Hope your Halloween was fun and exciting as well.

-z