# Invisible Man Costume



## JustJimAZ

A company in Arizona makes these fantastic costumes.
http://www.creativeintelligencesolutions.com/Creative_Intelligence_Solutions/Wanna_be_INVISIBLE.html

I'm not sure I can reverse engineer them and re-create the quality, but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

Right away, I see the costumes have long coats. The invisible woman has a long robe.

I'm thinking the basic build is the same as a headless costume - you look through the "chest" area and the head sits on a rig mounted on your shoulders. The unnatural position of the shoulders seems to bear this out. The wearer is no doubt actually behind the lining of the coat. Maybe there is a shell behind the lining to keep its shape?

Apparently the head turns left and right and also "drinks", which is pretty impressive. I'm thinking the only way to do that is to connect the invisible head to the wearer's head like some stalkarounds do - on a helmet of some kind. The drinking trick? Maybe tubing that is hidden in the bandages or a trick glass? You may be able to rig tubing that actually goes into the wearer's mouth for actual drinking. That could require some practice, but I bet it could be done.

The really clever part, I think, it the open cavity where the body should be. It needs to be framed to hold its shape, and be deep enough to make the illusion work, but not so deep the whole thing looks unreasonably thick. The suspenders really help that, I bet.

Notice the pants are also made to hold their shape and are hollow. They also seem to be lit from within, so the illusion is illuminated - and you control where they look. I think the pants could be created using two identical pair of pants, cutting the back of the legs out of the front pair at the knees, and stiffening or framing the top 1/2 to keep shape. Maybe stiffening is not necessary, if you use steel plumber's tape to keep the waist "round"

If that's the case, one would slip into the other pants, which would be sewn or attached by Velcro to the front pants. Then put on the coat and helmet. Like any headless costume, the sleeves would have to be altered - cut and partially stuffed - to make the illusion work.

I am no magician, though I am fascinated by illusions. I built the "sneeze your head off" gag for my son last year. I believe the invisible costume as I describe it would work, but if anyone can see something I overlooked, or an easier way to accomplish one part of the illusion or another, I'd love to hear your ideas.

By the way, if you do go to the site and look around, you will see the "Lady Gaga" costume in pics with other people, and the whole thing IS a full head taller than those people.


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## Wildcat

This could help with some of the questions.


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## SMR

Not sure if this might have anything to do with the illusion, but each costume makes use of some sort of shiny cloth to back up the cavity. Could be a way to reflect the light to discourage people from noticing any suspicious lines or bulges.


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## JustJimAZ

Wildcat said:


> This could help with some of the questions.
> 
> Well, everything I see in the video seems to bear out my initial thoughts. I did not previously realize there was a fog machine in the pants though!
> 
> The thing really is pretty thick. The head movement is really good. Probably a fairly complicated head attachment in there. Gimbals, maybe.
> 
> Thanks for finding the costume video!


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## JustJimAZ

SMR said:


> Not sure if this might have anything to do with the illusion, but each costume makes use of some sort of shiny cloth to back up the cavity. Could be a way to reflect the light to discourage people from noticing any suspicious lines or bulges.


Could be!


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## plbrooks

*Invible Man Costume - Great Illusion and not to hard to build*

I built the Invisible Man Halloween costume in a week. Out of respect to the creator I will not post how I built this great invisible man illusion.

http://www.ez-ranch.com/TheInvisibleMan.mp4 Enjoy!


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## RoxyBlue

I think you're on the right track, Jim. Looking at Wildcat's video, it seems pretty clear that the wearer is behind the invisible portion of the costume and the height of the head suggests a stalkaround type of approach. Also, when he bends his arms, you can see that his shoulders are lower than the costume shoulders.


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## Mattimus

I think the costumes look great. I do feel like you could make the shoulders and head attachment shorter and thus more natural looking. The lighting and fog are a cool idea but I am infatuated with the invisible drink idea. I would love to sip on a beer from 2 ft above my head!


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## DarkLore

Love the process...keep posting your progress. Who sells it and how much?


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## stick

Very cool looking.


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## dubbax3

This is pure genius!! Found this link too.
http://www.azfamily.com/good-mornin...0-for-invisible-cowboy-costume-229141291.html


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## JustJimAZ

plbrooks said:


> I built the Invisible Man Halloween costume in a week. Out of respect to the creator I will not post how I built this great invisible man illusion.
> 
> http://www.ez-ranch.com/TheInvisibleMan.mp4 Enjoy!


Unfortunately, your video is not playing for me.



DarkLore said:


> Love the process...keep posting your progress. Who sells it and how much?


It sells from invisiblecostumes.com, AKA http://www.creativeintelligencesolutions.com/Creative_Intelligence_Solutions/INVISIBLE_MAN.html. I understand the average cost is $4,500, depending on various options.

I like to think that years of exposure on these forums is giving me an "eye" for what is really happening in illusions like these. I wish I could take a year off work (paid, naturally!) and just build a whole house of illusions.


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## Joiseygal

Oh I would love to see progress on this costume. Illusion costumes are my favorite!


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## kprimm

that is cool, but not for 4,500.........unless I knew I would win 25,000 of course. Very cool though.


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## HavenHaunt

That is a sweet costume. It would for sure win my work costume contest. I better start making it now.


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## JustJimAZ

Joiseygal said:


> Oh I would love to see progress on this costume. Illusion costumes are my favorite!


I love them too. I have a Pinterest board dedicated to them. Do you?
http://www.pinterest.com/justjimaz/illusion-costumes/


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## The Halloween Lady

What a fun, fun costume idea! I can't wait to see your results.


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## wcrsx

That is definately a sweet costume


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## Joiseygal

I would like to try creating this costume also. Also JustJimAZ love your Pinterest page!


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## WilburGoneWild

Wildcat said:


> This could help with some of the questions.


Is it possible to post this video again?


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## Wildcat

Unfortunately since the video has been set to private. It is no longer available.

Here are a couple more of with the same idea.


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