50 Shades of Grey Costume

Please note: this costume is "50 Shades of Grey," not "Fifty Shades of Grey."
My husband wanted a simple costume for Halloween. This is what we came up with. Neither of us has read the book "Fifty Shades of Grey." While this makes it difficult to build a costume around the characters, we decided to interpret the title more literally and made a "50 Shades of Grey" costume.

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Step 1: Supplies

This will produce one t-shirt with roughly painted blocks of color in fifty different shades of grey.

You need:
One T-shirt (preferably grey)
Wide Masking Tape (1.5 - 2 inches wide)
Paint Brush
Acrylic Craft Paints in white, black, red, yellow, and blue.
Textile Medium (designed to be used with acrylic craft paints)
Permanent Marker or Fabric Marker
5 cups or bowls (for mixing paint)
5 plastic plates (for mixing paint)
Names for 50 types of grey (find my list in Step 6)

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mikeasaurus says: Oct 22, 2012. 11:16 PM

That's a very creative costume!

Official Nerd Cred for naming out 50 shades of an achromatic along with Star Wars, vampires, Back To The Future, He-Man, Star Trek, and zombies in the same list!

Lindamp in reply to mikeasaurusOct 25, 2012. 9:58 AM

... and Doctor Who

WJewel says: Oct 26, 2012. 2:22 PM

This was totally brilliant! I have a friend who is very literal when it comes to costumes. For example, his name is Jim...for a Cocktails themed party he carried a 2 X 4 with Jim's Beam written on it...He would appreciate something like this!

palespirit says: Oct 29, 2012. 12:29 PM

You, madam, deserve a medal. I love the ridiculous amount of Sci Fi refrences, as has already been commented on, plus the sheer wit. I bet your husband isn't going to be the only person walking around in that. xD

thesagedragon says: Jan 29, 2013. 9:37 PM

totaly awesome!!!!!

claramecium says: Jan 23, 2013. 3:38 PM

it may remind people of turning 50. :)

lifeonthedge says: Nov 29, 2012. 7:28 PM

there's a weeping angel color on there! Just made my day!

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Penolopy Bulnick says: Nov 19, 2012. 3:32 PM

Naming the colors was genius!

poofrabbit says: Nov 13, 2012. 7:05 PM

Congratulations on being a finalist in the Halloween contest!!! Can’t wait to see if you win! Good luck!

starshipminivan (author) in reply to poofrabbitNov 14, 2012. 6:38 AM

Thank you!

Madrigorne says: Nov 2, 2012. 4:31 AM

OMG you made me both cackle AND snort!

probablepossible says: Oct 31, 2012. 8:47 PM

Yanno... the book is a portrayal of one woman's ideal lover, named Christian Grey.

Although many people, including myself, can't imagine dreaming of that type of guy, he in no way resembles paint chips on a sweatshirt.

So although as a teeshirt it's really lovely, and I would wear the hell out of it-- as a Halloween costume it falls a little flat.

starshipminivan (author) in reply to probablepossibleOct 31, 2012. 10:11 PM

I know you are disappointed that it is not a costume out of a book but as I state in my intro, this is not a costume of the book "Fifty Shades of Grey" (or of Christian Grey). It is a "50 Shades of Grey" costume--literally. My husband wore it all day and it was a huge hit. You can't have a shade of the color grey without giving it a name. The names of each color were dreamed up to give it a geeky flair with the hope that this would be the best element. From the comments we've received, it seems to have delivered. I have one happy hubby and he is my dream guy.

probablepossible in reply to starshipminivanNov 1, 2012. 12:26 AM

I've seen a lot of versions of this idea today, yours is by far the best. I love the color names. I wish it were printable,but I don't think you'd get the subtleties in the various shades!

starshipminivan (author) says: Oct 27, 2012. 12:09 AM

I really appreciate all of the positive comments and the official Geek Cred! The references in the colors include: Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings, World of Warcraft, Hellboy, Futurama, A Game of Thrones, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Mommy Dearest, The Evil Dead, Mythbusters, Simon & Garfunkel, Back to the Future, Star Trek, Muppets, He-Man, Doctor Who, Beetlejuice, The Dark Crystal, The Hulk, and Star Wars as well as some less specific elements of geekdom.

megglie says: Oct 25, 2012. 3:03 PM

Beautiful!! You are very creative... and fun, too. What a great idea for a costume. (My son's most creative was large lettering saying, "I Don't do Costumes."