It’s that time again! Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. Free candy, great specials on TV and (of course) you get to be anyone for a day. In the past I’ve gone as a zombie, a Jackson Pollock painting, and Pedro from NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. This year, though, I’m thinking big! I’m making Max costume from WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE!

This would be an easy task if I knew what the heck I was doing, so for the past few weeks I’ve been scouring the web and local fabric stores for information on costume making and I’d thought I’d share some of what I’ve learned. Here is my list of the top five movie costumes of the year, along with information on how to make them yourself!

1.) Max

Unless your parents have an old WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE pattern from the 80s, you probably have no idea how to make this. Luckily, the movie has sparked renewed interest and resources are starting to pop-up online. Specifically, this video from Howcast:

The video is a great starting point, but it obviously shows the costume from the book and there are a few details you might want to consider if you want to be authentic to the movie. Click the image below if you need to make it bigger:

1.) I think the most important aspect of the Spike Jonze costume is that it’s not the traditional white felt used in most of the kid’s costumes. This one has texture and age. Lets face it, most things kids own look like crap after they’ve had them for a while. In the movie it almost looks like the costume is made out of a gray or off-white bathroom rug. I love it. You probably wont be able to find the exact same fabric, but I found something similar at my local fabric store for real cheap.

2.) Obviously, the ears are attached to the costume in the film.

3.) Most Max costumes have very prominent/noticeable whiskers, but in the movie they kind of fade into the background, so keep that in mind when looking for material to make them.

4.) When making the hood, be sure to leave enough room these two tabs at the base of the neck. You can read a bit more on making hoods here.

5 & 6.) Spike Jonze left the two most childish aspects of the book’s costume on the cutting room floor: The claws and feet. Instead, all you need is your favorite hipster shoes and tip-less gloves made from your fabric. You can read more about glove-making here.

7.) Lastly, the costume uses normal, gray buttons.

The video details measuring the fabric for a kid, which is probably different than for adults. Instead of tracing yourself around I’d recommend laying some comfy pants and a shirt down and tracing that instead, leaving about an extra half-an-inch or more for the sewing process. Good luck!

2.) The Wild Things

I was tempted to not even include this costume on the list because it seems so impossible, but I came across two great tutorials for making a Wild Thing. The hardest and most important part is the mask. Once you get that down, the rest falls into place, so that’s what I’m gonna focus on.

1.) The first and best resource I found is from blogger Sarah Clark. Last year, she worked on making some great Wild Things masks (pictured below) that look absolutely insane and she’s been kind enough to detail the mask-making process on her site.

The technique looks to be very time consuming, but yields some great results. Be sure to read parts one, two and three of her tutorial to learn how everything was made.

2.) The best part of the previous tutorial is that you can use it to make absolutely any Wild Thing, but if you’re looking for something a bit easier, you might want to stick with the Wild Thing Carol.

This article from eHow breaks down a simple process for making Carol. Once you have the mask done, a striped shirt shirt and dark pants can complete the look!

3.) The Basterds

This has got to be my favorite kind of costume. As fun as buying fabric, sewing and pretending my life is an episode of Project Runway is, just as satisfying is what I like to call the “thrift store costume.” This kind requires very little heavy lifting. Just some clothing and a little imagination.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS fits the bill perfectly because, unless you’re a sewing machine prodigy, you’re not gonna be making authentic WWII costumes. The trick isn’t to get it perfect, but to come close enough. A great example comes from the Three’s a Party “blog for the busy and broke.” Below you can see examples of how they were able to throw together inexpensive, yet effective, Shosanna and Aldo Raine costumes.

Some tips:

1.) Study the characters. Each one has many looks and some might be easier for you to achieve than others (the Shosanna above could’ve gone for the red dress-look, but the overalls and bandanna work just as well). Yahoo Movies has a huge picture gallery you can study. You can also check out the movie’s website to see more photos as well as the trailers.

2.) Become best friends with your local thrift stores. I did back during my high school musical theater days and I’ve never looked back. For this movie, though, if you want a more authentic look you should also check out your local military and army surplus stores. A google search of your area should tell you where they are located.

3.) Unlike the previous two costumes, which can stand on their own very easily, I think the full impact of this one can best be achieved with an ensemble cast. Get your friends together, assign each a character and arrive at the party in style!

4.) If you’re feeling extra lazy, the easiest costume has got to be Eli Roth’s Nazi-killing character, The Bear Jew: a white tank-top, pants with suspenders, some home-made medals around your neck, a baseball bat and you’re done!

4.) The Watchmen

Yes, believe it or not, WATCHMEN did come out this year. Because the movie premiered so early in 2009 it already feels a few decades old, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a hell of a costume out of it. As far as I can tell, your easiest and fastest bets are Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan, so I’ll stick with those.

1.) Rorschach is a another example of a thrift store costume. A quick look at his character reveals that most of it is made up of items you might find in the back of your (or your parent’s) closet.

The hat, gloves, trench coat and scarf can all easily be found for cheap or free, but you will have to make the mask yourself. If you really want to go all out, you can actually make a mask with ink bloats that literally change shape as you breath! You can find details about that here. For something a bit easier, check out the video below.

2.) Dr. Manhattan is about as simple as it gets. You’re pretty much a blue guy in black underwear (or no underwear if you feel like showing off). Of course, that begs the question of how you turn a person blue. To the rescue comes Blue Buddies, a site dedicated to all things Smurf. Click here for their section on blue body paint.

Of course, if you don’t want to paint yourself, you can always purchase a blue spandex catsuit but expect some questions when your mom finds it in your sock drawer.

As for the other characters, those costumes might require a bit more imagination than even I have. Luckily, if you’re not a skilled craftsman you can just buy them.

5.) The USS Enterprise crew

Good new, everyone! STAR TREK is cool again! Alright, I guess it’s always been cool in some circles, but J.J. Abrams has brought the franchise into the mainstream. The great thing about this is that there are so many online resources for TREK costumes that us newbies can take advantage of.

The STAR TREK costumes are all variations of a theme detailed by Costumzee: either a red, yellow, black or blue shirt (with a black shirt underneath), black pants, black shoes and the logo on your chest:

For this one, you might wanna stick to Walmart because finding a plain, long-sleeve shirt that fits well at a thrift store might be a bit tough. For the logo, I’d recommend printing it out, tracing it onto a hard index card, cutting it out and covering it in aluminum foil with the dull side facing out.

As far as Spock goes, you can definitely buy his famous ears online. You might also want to try your local costume shop, the mall or even Walmart. If you’re feeling adventurous, though, you can always make your own ear tips out of liquid latex!

Honorable Mention
1.) TRANSFORMERS
2.) PUBLIC ENEMY
3.) DISTRICT 9
4.) UP

So are there any great 2009 movie costumes we missed? List your favorites in the comments and let us know what you’re dressing up as! Happy Halloween!

Also, check out Tees For All for some pretty retro STAR TREK shirts!