# Jack Skellington costume in the works. (also, mask?)



## NickG

So with the nightmare before christmas playing pretty much non-stop in the living room, I've decided to be Jack Skellington this halloween. I think I am going to buy one of the masks that's readily available online (about $20 I guess) because I'm not familiar with making such a thing and I don't want it to fail and not turn out at the last minute. Has anyone used one of the latex / whatever masks, or seen one before?

Today was a huge day so far as the costume coming together, I got as near perfect a jacket as you can get without making it yourself from goodwill for $10. They didn't have any black pants in my size and length... I may go back for some navy blue ones but there are two other goodwill stores near work and on the way home I can check. I need to do something about boots too though, or maybe use my black dress shoes and white socks. (bones, eh?)

the bow-tie will be easy enough to make... and I already had a white shirt as pictured.


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## Ms. Wicked

Great find on the jacket! I'm sure you'll find a pair of black pants, keep looking and check out the other locations! It will come together for sure!


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## RoxyBlue

You're more than halfway there - you've got the perfect build for a Jack


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## NickG

just ordered a mask via an ebay costume store...


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## toymaker

on the same topic i came across this video of a guy going above and beyond for a killer jack skellington costume 




he had a very cool home made mask and hes on stilts:jol:


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## NickG

that's pretty cool... the mask is super nice. I was actually more inspired by this:

http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=16b5d7e35c5d7b55f202eebdc7693a87&topic=309660.0

the girl actually got to meet Tim Burton!

Mine will kids stuff compared to what these folks have but I'm also doing it in 12 days with a sub $40 budget. 

I'd love some of those gloves - looks like they're about $25 shipped. I was actually thinking of using makeup or body paints on my hands to do the job.


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## NickG

btw, got pants today at goodwill, $3 - right waist and length!


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## NickG

done striping the jacket... took about 10 hours and 3.5 oz of fabric paint. (oi!)


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## RoxyBlue

Time for a new picture, Nick


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## NickG

needy, much? 

the stripes on the front are actually a little too neat and I got more lax on the rear and sleeves.. but it'll be dark and I'll be moving so it's no big deal. we've contemplated trimming the front of the jacket to make it shorter and effectively make a "tail" in the rear and shredding that a bit, but it's undecided. (honestly I can't bring myself to cut such a nice jacket... I know it's ok now, but if I cut it there is no going back..)


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## Tralan

The great thing about that! You can be Beetlejuice next year!

Oh yeah, I was going to add some stuff. Because I am a big guy... both tall and... "portly" I can't wear a Jack suit and just be Jack skellington. So, I've actually got planned out for next year a Jack skellington stuffed "puppet" that I'm going to build and attach to my black clothing. It'll be attached to me at the wrists, ankles waiste and neck. My head, hands and feet will be Jack's. You'll only be able to see him from the front. from the back I'm just some guy in black clothes lol


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## Ms. Wicked

Wow Nick. Your hard work is paying off! This is looking great!


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## fick209

Costume is coming along great, good work on the jacket. Can't wait to see it all put together.


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## NickG

The pants aren't coming out as nice as the coat... without the pre-existing pinstripes as a guideline I'm not sure everything is going to be the same... and I'm also annoyed that the stripes aren't quite the same as Jacks (his have thicker black, and a little thinner white, about 70/30 and mine is about 50/50) BUT... I do keep reminding myself that the tots won't know the difference on halloween, and I'm not entering any contests with it.  Also keep in mind this is the fist costume I've actually tried to make, prior 2 years were pre-packaged "winged reaper" and prior to that was coveralls, headlamp and a shovel - cemetary grounds keeper. Prior to that was spongebob - yellow sweatshirt & kaki shorts. 

Funny tidbit... yesterday while Kellie (the Mrs) was getting Lizzie (2.5 year old) ready to go to preschool / daycare she said "hey - my daddy is da punkin king" I've been showing her the costume every step of the way and explaining that I am going to be jack the pumpkin king and "see, this is Jack's coat!" So she wont' be scared. She takes about a day to warm up to scary stuff. (terrified of the FCG the first night it was hanging in the front room, and how she points to it and laughs and says "her scary! look!" Also was terrified of the scare fx's cauldron witch head I had off for repairs, and when I put it away in the garage last night she said "hey - where she go?" "in the garage" "oh, - I wanna see it! let's go!" and she laughed and pointed at it and said "hey, her teeth! look!" She won't give it kisses though... she did give a 20" skeleton kisses last night.


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## RoxyBlue

Having a dad who is the Pumpkin King gives a kid major bragging rights


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## NickG

oh, and Lizzie watches the nightmare before christmas pretty much every day now. She loves it and somewhat sings along with the songs. That is what sparked my idea of the costume.


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## NickG

Tralan said:


> I've actually got planned out for next year a Jack skellington stuffed "puppet" that I'm going to build and attach to my black clothing. It'll be attached to me at the wrists, ankles waiste and neck. My head, hands and feet will be Jack's. You'll only be able to see him from the front. from the back I'm just some guy in black clothes lol


check this out! http://www.annathered.com/2009/05/24/back-from-boston/


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## NickG

bow-tie complete. Made from black fabric, jewelery wire, hot glue and velvet. bat head sewn like a pillow, turned inside out and filled with velvet scraps. elastic band to support around neck, safety pin to secure to keep from moving about and becoming overly annoying.

currenty working in the jacket... front cut "bobbed" - fabric added to rear for tails. Pants about 60% striped but need 2 coats due to material absorbing the paint too much vs. the jacket and the stripe aren't bright enough.


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## NickG

btw, I got the mask in... it's not nearly as bad as I expected. I might need to figure out how to give it a little more body but it'll do. Also need to add more pantyhose to the eye holes. way too transparent.

tails:


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## Tralan

NickG said:


> check this out! http://www.annathered.com/2009/05/24/back-from-boston/


Oh wow, that is cool.


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## Samhain

That's looking really good so far. Would love to see the mask as well.
The bow tie is perfect. You're going to be a great Jack!


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## Draik41895

NickG said:


> oh, and Lizzie watches the nightmare before christmas pretty much every day now. She loves it and somewhat sings along with the songs. That is what sparked my idea of the costume.


Haha,Thats almost as much as me,Love the costume so far.i envy you for being so awesome,and am excited for you cause your my friend.


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## kprimm

Holy cow that was one heck of an awesome job on that costume, that was totally inspirational.


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## NickG

mask...


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## RoxyBlue

I like what you did with the back of the jacket.


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## NickG

still need to try to darken the eyes, and I'll wear black cream makeup too. Black socks, black shoes I suppose. (I hate those shoes....) the sleeves creep up a bit, I've tried to stretch them out best I can. I'm toying with the idea of pinning them to the backs of the gloves, that way I can still pop them off if need be. My mother in law dropped off our 4 month old while I was trying it on, and also at the same time the school bus was dropping off the 8 year old, so I popped the mask back on and went to get the baby from her car in costume, gave the kids on the bus something to talk about.

What do ya'll think of the tie? Seems off... but I think it's the right length vs. my shoulders.. maybe thicker lines on it?


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## RoxyBlue

I think you're right about the tie being a bit off. You may need to downsize it so it's in proportion to the head, not your shoulders. Right now it's the most dominant item in the ensemble, and that takes away from the mask.

If you're proficient with a needle or sewing machine, the other suggestion I have is to narrow the legs on the pants. It would give you that distinctive "bird leg" look that he had.

I'll bet the kids on the bus got a huge kick out of seeing you!


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## NickG

yeah, we talked about doing the pant legs but our swing machine has been broken for a few years now... (lost the pedal and the replacement I got was the wrong one.. lost the receipt, etc...) My mother-in-law might be able to though. The other thing is that I have size 12 feet and the smaller the legs are, the more disproportionate my feet look. I could just pin the legs though...


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## NickG

btw, that was the perfect way to look at it. I just sized the bowtie to the head rather than to my body and it looks a whole lot better.


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## madmomma

Costume is looking great! Put your M-I-L to work and get her to tighten up the pants a little. Your daughter must be so proud of her wacky dad...what's better than that ??


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## fick209

costume is coming along great, the tails added to back of jacket made a great difference. Good job:jol:


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## Dark Angel 27

major kudos for the costume! You have to be one of the coolest dads out there to dress up for halloween and even more so to be the Pumpkin King. your kids must be so proud! 

it looks awesome. i haven't seen the movie in some time but it looks like your spot on! i agree about the eyes. get some black panty hose and it should work wonders! :lolkin:

happy haunting!


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## NickG

pant legs taken in thanks to m-i-l. I pinned them and tried them on and gave them to her. Should be pretty good. I went a bit on the narrow side. tried them on w/ my shoes to make sure they would be ok.


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## Optym

Holy! That looks like an incredible amount of time has gone in to your costume, incredible


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## Merlin (The Quiet One)

Wow great costume!


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## nixie

Wow!!!!!!


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## NickG

well, Jack was a big hit. I spent most of the night walking around as Jack does, knees high in the air, toes forward... man, my legs are tired. I got asked several times for photo-ops, and got tons of compliments. The mask wound up with quiet a bit of condensation inside it, but that's to be expected for such a thing. I found it best to keep moving to keep airflow coming in the eye holes. I did have to remove the additional layer of panty-hose I added to the eye holes due to 10% visibility. even as is, the visibility is poor. I just wore black makeup and eyeliner.


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## RoxyBlue

You look great, Nick, and skinnying up those pant legs made all the difference!


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## Spooky1

Your Jack turned out really good, Nick.


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## Dixie

Looks great!! I was really looking forward to seeing this one completed, thanks for the pics!


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