Check out the 1979 Collegeville Catalog (BSG, The Lord of the Rings, KISS) at Plaid Stallions.
(Photos via eBay)
Archive for the 'Halloween Costumes' Category
Collegeville Cylon Costume (1978)
Published October 3, 2014 Battlestar Galactica , Collegeville , Halloween , Halloween Costumes Leave a CommentHalloween, 1978: Battlestar Galactica
Published October 3, 2014 Battlestar Galactica , DIY , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Mattel Toys Leave a Comment
Shawn Smith, Colonial Warrior. Not sure how he’s going to fit into that Viper, though.
Halloween, 1983: Homemade Atari Computer Costume
Published October 1, 2014 Atari , DIY , Halloween , Halloween Costumes 1 Comment
Halloween, 1984: Gizmo and Gremlins
Published October 30, 2013 '80s Decor/Design/Fashion , '80s Movies/TV , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Horror Movies/TV 2 Comments
The Gremlins costume is a Ben Cooper, but I have no idea why it says STAR. It should say STRIPE, the only Gremlin named in the movie. At the time, even though I adored Gremlins (kids were literally running out of the theater, scared shitless—it was awesome), I would have been all over that Dr. Doom costume. In ’83 and ’84 my pursuit of comics was approaching mania.
UPDATE (10/12/15): Thanks so much to Shawn Robare for pointing out that the Gremlins costume does indeed say Stripe. My reading of “Star” was an optical illusion.
Here’s the Ben Cooper Gizmo costume.
There was also a full body Gizmo costume. Here it is in action.
And here’s the McCall’s pattern, if you want to try and track it down. Notice the box with the painted air holes (not included).
(Photos via bobcat135/Flickr, Sean/Flickr, Needleloca, and Etsy)
Halloween, 1983: Tron
Published October 18, 2013 '80s Movies/TV , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Tron 2 Comments
The place is Charlotte, North Carolina. The kid with impeccable taste is Bryan Bowden, who very kindly gave me the background on the photo:
I had never seen the movie Tron, but I had all of those promotional read-along books that kids could get at Burger King or McDonald’s (I forget which). So my knowledge of the movie was based off of the abridged, kid-afied version of Tron. I just loved the idea of being a computer person who threw a frisbee weapon and rode cool laser motorcycles.
[…] ROTJ costumes cost money, and my mom never spent money on costumes because she was smart. Tron was my second choice. I found the mask first. It was at a dollar store and was just a simple shiny blue “robot” mask. I told my mom I wanted to be Tron. She had no idea what that was but used the pictures from the books to sew together a costume. The costume is a sleeveless vest she made and some Dallas Cowboys pants with reflective tape down the side. For good measure, she wrote “Tron” on the chest with the reflective tape, and put more reflective tape on the back in an angular pattern. She wanted me to be super reflective because 5-year-olds used to go trick or treating at night.
I was obsessed with sci-fi, robots, space, NASA, computers, etc. My family encouraged it, but they did not understand technology so we didn’t have a computer till the late ’80s and it was a used Apple IIe.
All of this tech love didn’t manifest itself in my future career. Currently, I’m a teacher and a comedian. I teach comedy at The Second City Training Center to ages 11 – adult. High School did an amazing job in killing my love of science. However, my demand for tech stuff in our luddite household encouraged my brother to explore and interact with newer technology. He’s now an engineer for HP (Hewlett Packard, not Lovecraft).
Ben Cooper did release a Tron costume in 1981, but I’ve never seen it outside of the box. It doesn’t matter. This one is better.
Thanks again, Bryan.
Halloween, 1984: Ghostbusters
Published October 14, 2013 '80s Movies/TV , Ghostbusters , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Sci-Fi Movies/TV 1 Comment
Very clever. I can’t tell what the backpacks are made of, but the proton guns are Uzis. The kids’ names are sewn on the uniforms.
UPDATE (10/23/13): Nick sent me details regarding the costumes:
The costumes were built with a pattern that had come out during that year for costumes. The backpacks were simply spray-painted cardboard boxes with shoulder straps. However, a special opening at the top allowed people to drop candy inside, so we could have theoretically mopped up some serious candy because the boxes could hold a lot. While we never got a photo of the rear of the backpacks, my brother designed the outside with all sorts of hoses and accouterments so it would have a “wow” factor that made it look very fancy and techie. The Uzis were just the standard toy gun from K-Mart that you could buy at the time. Through standard rubber hoses, they were then attached to the backpack.
(Photo via nick_cw1861/Flickr)
Halloween, 1983: He-Man
Published October 14, 2013 Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Masters of the Universe 4 Comments
It’s hard to look tough in long johns and a purple tunic-skirt, but the kid kind of pulls it off. Speaking of classic MOTU, have you seen this guy?
(Photo via the he-man.org message boards)
Halloween in the Classroom, 1976: Batman, Jaws, Snoopy, Witchiepoo, and More
Published October 9, 2013 Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Jaws 8 Comments
Witchiepoo is the antagonist in Sid and Marty Krofft’s H.R. Pufnstuf, which originally ran in late 1969 but stayed in syndication until 1985. The bat costume has an image of Vampira on it—I have a better shot I’ll post soon. I also see a Tweety Bird costume. What’s the yellow costume with the blue tie and suspenders? It looks familiar. Any others I’m missing?
They’re all eating cupcakes on a Halloween napkin, drinking out of Halloween cups. The cupcakes are not gluten-free or sugar-free. Construction paper jack-o’-lanterns hang from the blinds. And those desks!
Halloween, 1977: Ben Cooper Chewbacca Costume
Published October 1, 2013 Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) , What Our Rooms Looked Like 9 Comments
Halloween marks the beginning of my personal holiday season. October itself has a smell and a feel, a comforting crispness, even in Southern California. I don’t have the time to do anything elaborate for the blog, but I do have a few great shots like the one above, and I’ll try to mix in some other ghostly stuff as well.
The first costume I remember wearing is a Luke Skywalker number my mom made for me in ’77 or ’78. What about you guys?
All-Time Best Halloween Costume: Special Star Wars Edition
Published October 31, 2012 DIY , Halloween , Halloween Costumes , Star Wars (Original Trilogy) 4 Comments
Let’s stick with the Star Wars theme, shall we? The photo is from The Trek BBS, a Star Trek forum. It’s Halloween, 1977. The poster says she took sketches in the movie theater and made the whole costume herself.
Show me a sixteen-year-old who cared this much about The Phantom Menace. Are you listening, Disney?
2 Warps to Neptune 