'Carol' from 'Where the wild things are'(Movie) Costume

Step 2 OK, lets get this out there...

You will need:

Faux Fur - (~2.5 yds body color 4" pile, 0.5yd face color 1" pile, 1.5yd black 4" pile) These are very approximate measurements, you really need to feel it out yourself.Expect to pay around $20/yd for fur.

Foam - I happened to have 2 twin-bed sized sheets of 2" mattress foam, and one block of 4"x8"x10" foam, and that was enough. I got those a couple of years ago from an economy foam store, but I think they would be more expensive these days. My friends who were making the Alexander and KW Wild Things bought 1" foam sheet from a fabric store for about $10/yd - 4-5 yds are needed. The 2" foam was good in a lot of ways - it holds it's shape and gives a weighty appearance that looks very natural. On the other hand, it's somewhat unyielding and it's obviously twice as heavy.


Feathers - I think the actual Movie Carol has custom cut and dyed turkey feathers. I got a pound of raw pigeon feathers for $30 and used about half. My attitude was that people might remember that Carol has feathered legs, but wouldn't remember what they looked like.

Chicken Wire - Most hardware stores will sell this - I got about 6'

Newspaper - for papier mache

Child's hula hoops or 1/2" PVC plumbing pipe - for the head frame any structural support needed in the body.

Florist's wire - for holding pipes, hula hoops, wire etc. together. Any wire that you can easily bend with pliers will do the trick

Papier Mache paste - I used a 5 to 1 mix of water to flour, but watered down Elmer's might be better.

Hot Glue Gun and tons of Glue - I had a mini glue gun, and on this costume I used almost 175 glue sticks. You'll see why later.

Embroidery thread - or any thick, strong thread. This is for sewing the foam, so it needs to be thickish so as to not rip the foam.

Acrylic Paints - selection for painting the eyes and nose, lips. Also acrylic spray paint in brown and black.

1" PVC pipe and elbows + 3/4" dowels - for the frame to hold up the head

Long coat zipper

Leather work gloves

Luggage strap

Old shoes - probably. I build some old shoes into the costume feet, but you could do this differently

Liquid latex - Jury's out on this one. I'll discuss later.

Deli plastic salad bowls - 2