Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Costume

One of the classic horror characters is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Wait, is that a singular horror character or multiple horror characters. Are there two or really just one. I'm not sure how to refer to him/them.

Well, anyway, after building a mad scientist lab for Halloween I thought it was about time to become one of the classic mad scientists, Dr. Jekyll. But instead of Victorian themed I would go modern.

Mr. Hyde is an added bonus - Two, Two -- Two horror characters in ONE! (Sorry couldn't resist the reference to the 60's and 70's advertisements for Certs mints, "It's two, two, two mints in one".)

One side of you is Dr. Jekyll with his lab coat and flask and the other side is the disheveled Mr. Hyde.

This is not a complicated costume. Just a couple of old shirts, a Tyvek® lab coat, some type of lab glassware you can drink from, a can of green temporary hair color spray, 'monster teeth', and, optionally, a weird theatrical contact lens.

Warning: You will have to do some sewing and all the garments will need to be cut in half, so make sure none of the shirts happens to be your prized Hard Rock Cafe, Barcelona, Polo!

Supplies

Two Shirts of Contrasting Color - Buttons should line up

(Shirts you can cut in half and not regret it; check out the local thrift stores.)

Tyvek® Lab Coat (Also to be cut asunder.)

Can of Green Temporary Hair Spray Color

Black Cream Makeup

'Monster Teeth'

Paper and Masking Tape

Safety Pins

Lab Glassware (Boiling Flask) You Can Drink From (Optional)

Blue Sports Drink (Optional)

Theatrical Contact Lens (Optional)

Step 1: Cut Your Shirts and Lab Coat in Half

Yes, you have to cut all the shirts and lab coat in half. Well, you might not be cutting them exactly in half.

If your shirt has a hanging loop, or box pleat in the center of the back you might want to avoid them. They can make it hard to sew the two shirt halves together. So if your shirts have a hanging loop or a box pleat you probably want to cut to one side of them. You can sew the two larger halves together.

Step 2: Sew Your Shirts Together

If it has been years since you have sewn, or if sewing is new to you, I would recommend the Instructables Machine Sewing Class.

To get two halves to be one, start by lining the cut edges of shirts up while the shirts' outer sides are laying on top of each other. The result looks as if you took a shirt and folded it in half onto itself, arm to arm, with a fold down the back, with inside showing.

You want the top edge of the collars (when worn) to match, so start there to line them up. Pin the shirts together moving from the top edge crease of the collar to the (back) edge of the collar and also down the length of the shirt pinning the shirts together. The shirt tails will probably not line up, but that is OK as they get tucked in.

After pinning, sew a seam down the length to join the shirts.

If you have an aversion to sewing you could use duct tape, hot glue, or even staples. It's up to you. Sewing provides the nicest end result.

Step 3: Attach Your Lab Coat

Lab coats don't tend to stay on if half is missing, especially if one of the sleeves is missing. There is just nothing to keep the coat on your back.

Sooooo you have to attach the collar of the lab coat to the collar of the shirt. You can safety pin it, or tack sew it, maybe even hot glue (Be careful not to melt the Tyvek®).

The rest of the lab coat tends to fly away as you walk so you need to attached the cut edge of the lab coat at a couple of points down the back centerline of the shirt. Maybe once at the mid back and once just above where a waistband would hit. This keeps the lab coat under control and prevents it from flying all over the place.

Step 4: Divide Your Face & Spray

To get a good straight line of green between character halves I used masking tape and paper to mask off the side of my face that I wanted to remain 'normal'.

The exposed part of the face and hair was sprayed with the green temporary hair color spray. Make sure to test the spray on a part of your skin other than your face to see if there is any type of reaction before spraying this all over your face.

Apply black cream makeup over your Mr. Hyde eyebrow to darken it.

Step 5: Cut Your Teeth on (Well, in Half)

Mr. Hyde has poor dental hygiene practices so we need his teeth to reflect that. We need rotten teeth.

Take the flexible fake teeth and cut them in half. I only used the uppers. You will be inserting these fake teeth into the Mr. Hyde half of your mouth. They look pretty grody.

Step 6: Prepare Your Transformational Serum

Since Dr. Jekyll drank a serum that transformed him into Mr. Hyde - you should have a serum too!

You can use any liquid, but blue sports drink has a nice look to it. Use whatever you like, or nothing at all!

If you use a drink, it is a nice touch to have it in laboratory glassware. Clean glassware - no making your own transformation! You can find flasks on Amazon and similar retailers by searching for "boiling flask."

Step 7: Add Contact (Optional)

Something about a crazed lunatic speaks weird eyes. I looked through the extensive collection of contact lenses on the internet and selected the yellowish with small pupil type you see, "Funky Eyes Yellow".

Please note that wearing a theatrical contact lens may be hazardous to your eyes.

A couple of websites on the do's and don'ts for Halloween contact lenses are instructive.

I had not seen the info presented on the links above before wearing the contact lens. If I had I might have reconsidered or consulted an eye professional. Apparently all contact lenses in the US are medical devices, need a prescription, and you should see an optical professional before wearing them in order to insure you don't injure your eyes.

Just thought -- You should make an informed decision.