10 easy-to-make costumes for geek girls
If you're a geek girl like me, you know the difficulty of coming up with good Halloween costumes. There's a limited number of women in geek culture to begin with, especially ones that wear a decent amount of clothes. It can be hard work dealing with all that spandex all the time. So what's a girl to do if she wants to show off her geeky loves without showing off too much skin?
Each costume on this list can be easily created from thrift store finds or by modifying easily found clothing. All you need is some basic sewing skills, a bit of creative flair, and a weekend to get things done in.
Here are ten costumes full of geek cred that you can make yourself and will cover all the nerdy necessities.
Got a favorite woman from geekdom you're planning on dressing as? Let us know in the comments below.
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1. Star Trek uniform (Original Series/2009 film) Now that Star Trek is cool again (finally!), why not give the old mini-dress uniform a spin? The easiest way to do this is to get a large t-shirt or dress in the department color of your choice (command gold, science/medical blue, or security/engineering red) and do some simple modification to get it to fit properly. Sew on a black collar and a fabric insignia (or an âofficialâ one off of Roddenberry.com) and some stripes to indicate rank, and tada! Youâre done. (Click here for a great tutorial for converting a t-shirt.)
3. 3. Sarah from Labyrinth I may be dating myself, but I love Jim Hensonâs Labyrinth, and Sarah is a costume thatâs both easily recognizable (assuming you are a child of the '80s) and easy to put together. She wears a pair of straight-legged jeans (back in at the moment), a flowy white blouse, and a patterned vest. If your local thrift store is anything like mine, that vest will be no problem. And, if youâre truly motivated, her bracelet is easy to make from plastic beads found at your local craft store.
4. Carmen Sandiego Carmen Sandiego (along with Waldo) has become a myth in pop culture for her ability to, if not truly disappear, be more slippery than a Slip-n-Slide coated in bacon grease. So why not give into the urge to emulate the master thief that neither time nor space can stop? All you truly need is a red fedora and a red trenchcoat and youâre good to go. Up to you to go with the '80s/early '90s red/yellow combo or the more recent red/black catsuit version. (Though one could argue — is it really important whatâs under the trenchcoat? See you next time, gumshoes!)
6. Mad Scientist Donât let the boys have all the fun! Why, if webcomics have taught me anything, itâs that the female is the deadlier of the species. And damn if we donât look good doing it, too. The mad scientist look is easy to pull off: a labcoat, a pair of goggles, some particularly intimidating-looking rubber gloves, something in a vial that smokes, and an evil laugh, and no one will dare cross you again. [Source]
5. "Sexy no Jutsu" "Sexy no Jutsu" is a cosplay term that was coined from the anime series Naruto. The back story is unimportant. What is important to note is that Sexy no Jutsu allows you to take any male character you like and create a female version. Example: Mario. Now: Mario Sexy no Jutsu. Itâs a fairly common trend in the anime community, but I say, why not use it for all of geekdom? (Besides, Iâm pretty sure that its mere existence is because of the lack of strong female characters to portray. This way, gender becomes unimportant.) The skyâs the limit. [Source]
7. Kaylee from Firefly Alas, Firefly, you were taken from us too soon. But that doesnât mean you canât show your Browncoat pride by dressing up as the ever-cheerful Kaylee for Halloween. You can get yourself a flightsuit from your closest army surplus store and a nice, pink floral shirt that Kaylee might have liked from your local thrift store. Grab a wrench and youâre the spitting image of everyoneâs favorite spaceship mechanic. Hey, itâs the least you can do for the show that gave us naked Nathan Fillon. Those were better days.
2. (Not Slave Girl) Princess Leia Not going to lie, Princess Leia is pretty awesome. Luckily, if you stay away from the bikini, sheâs an easy costume idea, too (assuming you know someone who is good at hair). From her iconic white dress and ear buns in New Hope to her red tunic and long white vest in Emperor to the camo poncho and Han-esque pants in Jedi (pictured, as done by Flickr user Kristen Pumphrey, youâre only a few thrift store finds and modifications away from show-casing your own princess.
8. Cardboard gadget/website of choice This may be criminally easy. Short on time, money, and skills? All you need is a large piece of cardboard and either the ability to draw or the ability to print things off your computer. (Also, the ability to cut large, square holes in cardboard. Hopefully thatâs not an issue. Of course, it may require adult supervision.) Then the electronic world is your playground. You can be your own Facebook/Google+ profile picture. You can be your own YouTube video. Or perhaps you decide to turn yourself into a giant Apple product of your choosing.
9. Ramona Flowers Whether youâre looking at the graphic novels, the movie, or the video game, Scott Pilgrim's Ramonaâs got style. Boys (and girls) want to be with her, and girls (and boys?) want to be her. Sheâs got a ton of outfits to choose from, so pick your favorite and head to your closet or your local thrift store, and when thatâs sorted out, head to a costume shop to grab a wig in your favorite Ramona color (I am partial to the teal myself). Want your own giant hammer? Paper maché, my friends, paper maché.
10. Lolcat If you have been on the internet at all, ever (and I assume you have, or else how did you get here?), you are aware of the lolcat phenomenon. The cats, they are everywhere. Bank on this by dressing up as your favorite! Simply acquire cat ears and a tail, provide your own caption, and youâre gold. Or, even better, get a tiny white board so your caption can be changed as appropriate throughout the evening. Above: one take on how to do it, as seen at Comic Con 2010.
