Headless Bride from Duct Tape

Talk about a bridezilla...

For Halloween last year I decided I wanted to go as a corpse bride since I had an awesome oh-so-eighties wedding dress at my disposal (left over from a previous theme party). The dress was so epic, any old dead bride just wouldn't do, so I started looking for inspiration.

I absolutely loved Love Bone's Headless Marie Antoinette costume, featured in Make Magazine, but I didn't have the materials or skills to sculpt it like she did.

What I did have was lots and lots of duct tape.


*For more info on me and the costume I'm currently working on, check out my blog http://modmischief.blogspot.com/

Step 1: What you'll need

From the thrift store:
- fabulous wedding dress you don't mind altering (when I was done the dress could easily have been restored to a normal wedding dress with a little work)
-crinoline or similar underskirt
-white opera gloves
-tight fitting shirt (you'll never get this back)
-small backpack

From the hardware store:
-duct tape
-masking tape
-scissors
-bamboo poles
-white glue
-paint brushes
-paint
-metal wire or clothes hanger
-paper towel
-glue gun and hot glue (optional)

From your recycling bin:
-newspaper
-cardboard
-margarine container or similar round plastic object
-plastic bottle cap

From your social circle:
-a good friend you don't mind getting very close with (ladies, he or she is going to have to have their hands all over your chest while you're wrapped up like a mummy, choose your assistants wisely)

Comments

[gbaenen]

Here is mine, After trial and error next year I will do different things to make it a tad bit easier

[ModMischief]

Thanks for sharing the picture!

[cbragg2]

Thanks for such a great costume idea and instructions. I won $350 with my costume and had such a fun time with it - loads of people wanting to take pictures and people genuinely frightened - especially the kids, here is a picture for you.

[ModMischief]

You both look great! Thanks for posting the pictures!

[TheDreamer]

Is there a way to do this without the dress, If you do not have a thrift store nearby and dont have one available to you? I love this idea and would love to have a way to do it without a dress. Hope you continue to have many, many more wonderful ideas.   




                                            TheDreamer

[ModMischief]

If you don't have a long dress you could do the same thing with a long overcoat or trench coat.

[sarahabijo]

here is my version of the Headless Bride. Thanks so much for this idea. I got so much compliment and won a netbook and $200 gc. I was also televise in our local channel News. I cannot walked 2 ft. without someone asking me to take picture. Thanks so much.

[abroom]

I made this and mine did not turn out as well too. I still got many compliments on it though.

April
http://bit.ly/yvuz3X

[melassey]

thanks for the instructions! Mine didn't come out as good as yours but here is a photo:


I also gave you credit on my blog:
http://melissahassey.com/2011/10/happy-halloween/

[Brittles888]

I made this costume AND I rigged it up to a squirt bottle with fake blood! (I removed the tip of the nozzle on a squirt bottle and attached a small plastic hose to it with a hose clamp. I attached the end of the hose to the center of the severed neck and clipped the bottle onto my waist. I walked around squirting blood all night. When people got mad about blood getting on them "I said I'm really sorry. I can't help it. My jugular's severed!") I won first prize. :) Thanks for this instructable.

[ahastings5]

LOVE THIS.... Made this costume yesterday for a party last night. I used a long sleeve dress with a high neck line because it is cold out in MT. I tried doing the paper part but it did not work out to good for me. I instead wrapped the parts I needed to with masking tape. Because my dress had a high neck and long sleeves I did not have to paint very much, so I bought spray paint. I also stuffed my headless body with towel and used towels for the arms as well... no carboard.

[andinofina]

Quick question, how long should the poles be and where did you get your poles?


Also would you recommend using a different type of poles that's more readily available at Home Depot and Lowes if bamboo poles aren't?

[ModMischief]

The length of the poles will depend on the length of your torso and where the backpack sits on your back.

I found the bamboo poles in the garden section of a hardware store, but anything relatively light and strong should work. You could try using broomsticks, pvc pipe, wood dowels or something like that.

[Lolmaster101]

i donnt git da bat waen u put thee bambo stiks in the ruksakc lill heelp!!?? gr8 idea tho! :D

[ModMischief]

Please see my response to your previous comment

[Lolmaster101]

i dont get how you put the bamboo sticks in the backpack????!!! lil help please!!! thankz

[ModMischief]

Think of it like the boning in a corset or wire in a bra. You want to make a narrow pocket to hold each pole.

Or if you're in a hurry, you can just use a ton of hot glue and duct tape to hold them in place.

[anutt]

That is tooo freaking cool!

[abroom]

This is awesome! I assume you can't wear it in the car and have to take it off each time you travel to a different destination.

[Fun2Hold]

One word for you: Awesomesauce. ;)

[ander]

And you specifically recommend using this costume in a bowling alley? I do find bowling alleys scary, so that wouldn't be a bad idea.

[nagutron]

I had the thought of the bride bowling her own head. Not possible, of course, but a creepy concept...

[ModMischief]

Wow, I wish I could pull off something like that.

Not sure how it could be done beyond photoshop, but it would be awesome!

[wwjoshuad]

maybe store an arsenal of dummy heads under the dress and just duck your head in real quick when you're throwing that strike? ;)

[ladygrail]

I am thinking of doing a modification of this costume I want to be able to use at least one arm in the costume so I can create the illusions of a headless fortune teller and still read tarot cards. I plan on doing alot of sitting instead of walking. Any suggestions? Thanks a bunch I love your idea.

[ModMischief]

I'm not sure how you could make it work in a sitting position. You might be able to pull it off by sitting on a short step stool under the skirt while people sit on taller chairs in front of you.

For a design that lets you use one arm, check out the Marie Antoinette costume that inspired me: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicemag/282946624/
She has one fake arm "holding" her head and half a fake arm on the other side. Her real forearm comes out at the elbow. You'd obviously need a dress with sleeves to make this work, but that shouldn't be too hard to pull off for a fortune teller.

I'd love to see the finished costume if you work it out!

[TsukimiyaJun]

Hi there, your projects are very awesome, falling in love with it /(=>W<)/ I have one question regarding the choice of wedding dress~ Must it be a floor-length one? I am having one knee-length wedding dress, so I was thinking of convert it into a Headless Bride costume... Thank you & have a nice day ^O^

[ModMischief]

I think a knee length dress would work as long as it will hide your torso. Just make sure you have an underskirt that matches, to cover your legs.

[Dandolion]

You could save time and effort if you used plaster bandages instead of duct tape and paper mache. you would need to use plastic (think dry cleaning bags) or other mold release (vaseline) under the t-shirt But it would save a step and once dry it would be almost as light.

[ModMischief]

Plaster bandages would definitely work but I don't think you'd save much time or effort. Having used them on my Ludo mask I can tell you that you would need to do several layers of plaster to get it strong enough. Plaster seems to take longer to dry than just paper and glue, so you might even end up spending more time doing it that way.

Another thing to consider is how brittle plaster is. The duct tape and papier mache is still pretty flexible when done. This was a very good thing as I occasionally forgot to duck under doors. I don't know if plaster would have held up as well.

If you do decide to go the plaster route, skip the t-shirt and go topless. Just be sure to use lots of vaseline.

[shellyyelly]

Thank you so much for the excellent costume instructions, I made the headless bride costume last year and took home the 1st place $500.00 prize at our local pub.

[trebornerdnoc]

where are ur arms and cud u use da same concept foer a grioom ?

[ModMischief]

Step 10: "Your real arms are usually hidden from view under the top skirt, but you still have easy access to drinks whenever you want to break the illusion."

This concept could be adapted to a headless man, but you'd need to have him wearing a long tailed coat or something else to hide your shoulders and torso. With this bride, the wearer's shoulders are hidden by the full skirt and look like hips. The dress is also nice because it hides your lower body and lets you drop to your knees for photos while still looking like you are standing. I'm not sure how that could be accomplished with pants.

If you wanted to turn this into a couple's costume, I think the best bet would be to get the groom to wear stilts so he's as tall as the bride and then have him die another way (stabbed in the back? stake to the heart?).

[porcupinemamma]

would it be possible to show how the bamboo sticks are placed? Thanks-fab costume

[ModMischief]

Sorry, I don't have a photo of how I attached the poles on the inside. I had to get rid of the costume soon after halloween as I didn't have room for it in my apartment (having her around is like having an extra roommate!).

The bamboo ran parallel as far apart as the width of the inside of the backpack and was secured on the inside of the dummy's shoulders, against the back.

[kimmy_girl]

Hehe- Wayne's World!

I really like this, it looks amazing!

[sdhardie]

I followed your How-To and made this costume for Halloween this year.  I had to make some changes, since my dress was strapless, but overall it looked really fantastic and was a huge hit!!  Thanks for posting the instructions!!

[teslafan100]

That's from "The Encyclopedia Of Immaturity"

[ModMischief]

What's from the Encyclopedia of Immaturity?

[eoutlaw]

This book is the best!  I have tons of paper airplanes because of this book.