Post-Apocalyptic Costume Part 2
As part of the Fallout party Hubby and I went to, I dressed as a Wasteland Surgeon. Part of the costume appeared to be canisters on the belt that looked like soup cans. Fortunately, I had several in the recycle bin ready to go. I peeled off the labels, then had to attach them to the belt.
I used a pair of black socks I was going to get rid of. I think they worked well, because the fabric is stretchy. I used half a sock, wrapped around each can, and sewed together.
I call this “Frankenstein” stitching. It’s ugly, and thick, but serves the purpose. This part was going to be facing the belt though, so it doesn’t really matter what it looks like.
I hunted around the house for medical looking implements to stash in my utility belt. Cotton balls and an ace bandage were a no brainer, and then we just happened to have all these syringes laying around! They don’t have needles on them, since they are for giving medicine to the pets orally. We collected them from various trips to the vet, and now I’m glad they were filling up that drawer in the kitchen.
Latex gloves, dog nail clippers, medical tape, and of course duct tape rounded out my medical supplies.
To attach the cans to the belt, I just used some tan yarn. I tied a loop at the top and the bottom. Using the socks worked great here, because the yarn sank down into the fabric, and had a really good grip on the can. I left the tails hanging on both loops.
I used the hanging ends to tie each can onto the belt. I tied all three very snuggly together so they would help keep each other in place, and vertical.
Here’s the finished product:
A pipboy and Nuka Cola added to the authenticity. Using make up to add dirt all over was fun, plus I rubbed and dripped red paint a few places to make pretty convincing wounds.
How to Make a Post-apocalyptic Costume
As you may have noticed, our friends enjoy costume parties, and costuming in general. For Sara’s, we celebrated in the theme of Fallout, which, if you aren’t aware, is set in the post-apocalyptic United States. I flipped through some costumes on different wikis online, and chose to be a Wasteland Surgeon. If you click on that link, you can see that I needed a blood spattered wife-beater shirt.
So you will need: wife beater, paint, newspaper, paint brush, and dirt. One thing I should have done first is tea-dye the shirt to make the whole thing beige. Get a pot of water and a couple bags of tea. Boil the tea in the pot, and soak the shirt in tap water. Squeeze out the excess water. Damp fabric wicks the tea into the fibers better than dry. Put the shirt into the tea, and stir it around for a bit. You can lift it out with a spoon periodically to see how you like the color. This method will never get your fabric that dark, it just kind of adds a beige tone, which is perfect for post-apocalyptic costuming.
We started out by watering down the paint a LOT. The yellow and brown are for pit stains, so you want it to be pretty diluted.
I started by dipping a stubby paint brush in the red, and flicking it with my finger to make tiny sprays of blood everywhere. Then I dipped it and flung it at the shirt from different angles to make slightly larger sprays. Then I straight poured some on, and balled up pieces of shirt to dip in the paint. You can see I stuffed the newspaper in between to keep it from bleeding through. The smears at the bottom are from me wiping my blood-soaked hands on the shirt, which is what would actually happen if I was a wasteland surgeon.
Hubby and I were working on this in the back yard while the neighbors were doing yardwork. I’m sure they think we’re demented now. They heard things like “You need more blood on the back”, “What if there’s some darker brown, dried chunks on it?”, “Is this a good blood color, or this?”, “I want some blood under my finger nails”.
Here we go with pit stains. I balled up the underarm on each side, and dipped it into the pale yellow paint water. I squeezed out the extra so it would dry faster. We used the same method to make sweat stains on the front and back collar, and on the lower back. While these were still wet, I rubbed them in the dirt in the yard.
Finished outfit:
I had on a pair of Hubby’s cargo pants tucked into boots. I used brown eyeshadow, and black eyeliner to make dirt smears on both of us, and I added fake bandages in a couple places. I made those belt canisters also, but that will be another post. FYI, glasses are totally appropriate for this costume. They even give you a perk in the game, which increases you intelligence. Just like in real life!
