Archive for the ‘Superhero Costumes’ category

Superheroes Wanted. Marshwood Man Answers the Call!

August 19th, 2009

I love superheroes - the classic well-known ones and the original creations of people just like you. I love it even more when someone puts together a superhero costume and wears it somewhere other than just a Halloween Party or Superhero Party.

marshwoood-man-on-the-move

That’s what mild-mannered, maintenance man, Rick Benedict has done. He regularly ducks into a private spot, dons his superhero costume, and lets his alter-ego, Marshwood Man, take over. He runs around the nursing home helping and cheering up the patients, assisting with physical therapy, and generally making lives better.

His costume is simple yet unique. He’s got white gloves, a black costume fedora hat, a black plastic Zorro  mask, a cool green cape, and a specially made t-shirt with “MM” printed on the chest. When he appears in his spandex shorts and costume, smiles and happiness follow in his wake. He’s making the world a better place — PERIOD, END OF STORY!

So who is your alter-ego? What would your superpower be? What little bits, or gigantic chunks, of goodness could you do?

  • You could offer to pump gas or wash windows at a gas station.
  • Do something as simple as pushing the crosswalk button for others?
  • Hang out in the parking lot of a grocery store and help others with their groceries.
  • Volunteer at a school, nursing home, or hospital children’s ward.
  • Hang out at parks at play with kids.
  • Offer smiles on your downtown streets.

marshwood-man

Superheroes are needed. There are openings everywhere. In every city and town.  Just get creative and make a costume and come up with a name. You could actually make a world of difference in the funnest way.

How to Get Your 15 Minutes of Fame

May 3rd, 2009

Do you secretly wish for a moment in life where all eyes are on you?  Where you are in the spotlight? Where you are the center of attention? Do you have hopes of someday having people talk about you, saying  things like “Wow, did you here about what So-and-So did?”

» Read more: How to Get Your 15 Minutes of Fame

Looking for a Job or Just Need Extra Cash?

March 29th, 2009

Ok, you know those guys down in Hollywood that dress up in costume every day as their favorite character? Yeah, you know the ones. Well, they do this for a living. They get up, have their coffee and breakfast and head down to the Chinese Theater and make themselves available for pictures with tourists.

Superman Costume Picture

The tourists eat it up! They don’t charge for this service at all, but they do accept tips. So, if you’re short on cash, head on down to your “main” street where there are likely to be tourists in your town dressed up as Superman or Batman or any other character you can resemble.

Batgirl Costume Picture

If you can combine this with some sort of talent, then you might just earn greater tips! Do you dance, sing, juggle or create music? If so, you just might see the tips rolling in. But don’t go juggling Kryptonite as Superman, people just might not believe it!

If you don’t really have many tourists in your town, then maybe you can offer your services at children’s birthday parties. I cannot tell you how many times my dad dressed up as Batman for my son’s birthdays. I thought he would never outgrow that stage!

Adult Batman Costume Picture

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Viewing Parties

March 11th, 2009

What’s your favorite TV show? The one you will reschedule other events in your life just to watch? The one you look forward to watching all week long?  Are you among the millions American Idol faithful? Can’t get enough of Lost? Are you sure to be found watching the latest episode of Heroes every week? Or maybe it’s one of the newest additions to the TV lineup that has your viewing attention. Something like Life on Mars, maybe?

If you are going to be a big old TV show fanatic, you might as well do it right. I’m thinking that our favorite shows ought to be watched like the sports fans do with their weekly sports. They get together, meet up in front of a big screen television wearing the colors or jerseys of their team, cheer, and make it a group event. Weekly viewing parties, with people just like you, watching your favorite show are totally the way to go. Don’t just wait for the big finale to get together. Have fun every week like this.

Don’t meet up just to watch though. Think of how those sports lovers dress up for the event and follow their model. How about wear your Rock Star or Pop Star best when you get together to watch the newest American Idol contestants strut their stuff. Flashy outfits, lots of sequins, boas, and wild looks is the way to watch that show. Then you will really feel qualified to offer all your criticism.

Dress like Paula and jump and dance when someone gets rockin’ or wear a plain t-shirt and jeans to do your best Simon Cowell impersonation.

For a show like Lost, you could always dress up as one of the characters or you could dress up in some other costume inspired by the show or the characters. Dress all tropical islander, be a doctor like Jack, a conman like Sawyer, or a scientist like many of the Dharma folk. There are so many possibilities here, change it up every week.

Heroes could be one of the funnest shows to dress up for. You could dress like one of the heroes, all in black, as a politician, a policeman, with a big scar across your face like Peter, carrying a Samurai Sword like Hiro, or in a cheerleader costume like Claire. Or you could always step into your nearest phone booth and slip into any superhero costume. You could even wear a classic superhero costume. So what if they aren’t a character on the show? A hero is a hero and any superhero costume is fun to wear!

A Life of Mars viewing party could have a gathering of faithful viewers dressed as cops, detectives, and folks from the 70s. What fun that would be!

Whatever your show, gather your friends, have everyone bring food and drinks, dress up and watch your favorite show together. What a great way to take something ordinary and everyday and make it really fun.

Secrets of my Superhero Costume

March 10th, 2009

I’m going to take a risk here and share some highly classified, top secret, and personal information. I trust that you will not let this slip into the wrong hands. The fate of the world, as we know it, hangs in the balance.

I am a superhero. I have an hidden identity, a full-on  superhero costume, and a superhero name. Yep, I’m the real deal. And I am now going to share with you how I made my superhero costume. I’m sorry I can not reveal my superhero hideaway or my superhero weakness, that would be going too far and could put my mission on planet Earth in jeopardy. I am only sharing this confidential information about my superhero costume, because you may need it someday. Maybe deep down inside you know you are a superhero and haven’t been using your powers to better humanity merely because you lacked the proper outfit. Or, of even more importance, you may have been invited to a Superhero Theme Party where you have to create and dress as your own personal superhero. So here’s how I created my costume.

I already happened to own these cool superhero boots, so I decided to build the rest of my superhero costume around them. I chose to use a yellow and red color scheme.

Imagine the possible superhero costume you could make with these.

I happen to be a fan of tights, spandex, and wearing my undies on the outside, so I went with the classic superhero look. I chose to go with a long sleeved unitard from We Love Colors, but you could also go with tights and leotard, tights and a t-shirt, or nothing on top like Nacho Libre.

If you choose the latter, I just hope you’ve got a more appealing torso than Jack Black (sorry, Jack).

I looked around for the perfect pair of red undies, but struck out. So I bought red bikini bottoms instead. I ended up loving the look and the fit. I loved them so much, I went back and bought the bikini top to match.

Unlike the Incredibles, I don’t have an aversion to capes. In fact, I totally dig them. I knew I absolutely had to have a cape as part of my costume, even though flying is not one of my superpowers. Capes are just plain cool and add a mystical, intriguing touch. The problem is it’s really hard to find superhero capes for sale.

I bought a long, red costume cape and had a friend alter it to suit my superhero needs. Perfect!

My superhero name is Fitnatic. I’m dedicated to health, fitness, and getting people active. I wanted a big F on my chest to make my superhero costume memorable. I bought a sheet of felt with a peel off adhesive backing. I made a pattern, cut out the F, and attached to my chest.

For the final touch, I used red clown makeup to paint a mask on my face. I’ve tried wearing masks, but they have several inherent problems. The first of which is the constant urge fans and arch enemies have to pull masks off, revealing your identity. Secondly, masks  tend to restrict your peripheral vision, which is a real problem for superheroes. Finally, it gets hot in a mask. Painting the mask onto my face has solved all of these problems.

Use this information wisely and protect it with your life. I’m trusting that my secret is safe with you. If, by chance, you reveal this information to evildoers, don’t be surprised if I suddenly appear with a set of dumbbells and a list of grueling exercises for you to perform.

How to Pick Your Superhero Costume

March 1st, 2009

You’ve gotten the call. You’ve been alerted. Whether it be through a signal in the sky, hearing a cry for help, or maybe you just felt it with your spider sense.  Whatever the method of alert, your presence is needed. Maybe it’s for Halloween. Maybe it for A Superhero Theme Party. Maybe it’s for some other event or maybe you feel the urge to help old women across the street. It’s time to let your alter ego out and go all superhero.

There are so many options, so many possibilities, so many choices! How do you know which superhero costume is right for you? Well, there are a few questions to answer to find out which costume suits your particular brand of super powers and out-of-this-world abilities.

  • Are you hero or villain? This is the most vital question to be answered in determining your costume. Do you find yourself dreaming of world domination or world peace? Which pose is more you: wringing your hands together while releasing an evil laugh, or hands on your hips, shoulders back, chest out, gazing off into the unknown? The answers to these questions should make it abundantly clear whether you have superhero tendencies or if you’d make a better super villain.

  • Are you good with wearing tights and spandex? Spandex and tights are some of the more popular clothing choices for superheroes especially.
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    Superman, Spiderman, Batman are some of the most popular heroes sporting spandex (with the underwear over the top, of course), but tights and Spandex are not actually a necessity for superheroes or villains. On the hero side, we have the Punisher and Bartman. There are quite a few villains who don’t wear tights and spandex, such as Joker, Lex Luthor, and Kingpin. Tight wearing evildoers include Catwoman, the Riddler, and Poison Ivy.

  • Cape or no cape? Capes look completely cool, but can be a hindrance for some superheroes or villains. For a further explanation, rent and watch The Incredibles dvd.

    Mr. Incredible says No to capes.

    Hero in TightsHero in Shorts Hero in shortsHero in shorts.

  • Do you need the built-in muscles or not? Many of the superhero costumes for guys come with built-in muscles and actually look better on guys of average build to a bit on the slender side.

    The muscles are built into the costume.

    Good news for all you big buff guys though – there are some superhero costumes that let you sport your own muscles instead of the foam ones.

    No built-in muscles here.

  • Female superheroes, do you super-legs to go with your costume? The superhero costumes for women  such as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Robin show off quite a bit of leg.

    Look at those legs!

    You have to decide if you are comfortable with that and if you’ve got the legs to carry off the look. If you really want your legs to look great, make sure to wear some go-go boots with your costume. If you want to cover your legs, think about a costume like Elastigirl (from the Incredibles) or Catwoman.

    Mrs. Incredible is hiding her legs.

  • Do you want to be one of the classic superheroes/villains or one of the more modern creations? Dr. Horrible, a modern super villain,  is taking the internet by storm and wears a costume that looks good on anyone and everyone.

    Dr. Horrible

    If you want to go really modern, think about all the newest set of heroes and villains  from the TV series Heroes.

    Newest addition to the superhero world.

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  • How to Throw a Superhero Party

    February 27th, 2009

    I love Superheroes. I’ve loved them since I was a kid. You did too, you know it! You had your favorite Superhero or Super-villain. If you were raised in the 70′s or later, superheroes were just part of your growing up years (and beyond for many of us).  Honestly, even being all grown up and mature,  I still have superhero fantasies.Superheroes (and villains) are just plain super-cool, so what better theme for a super-party?

      

     

    Here are some ideas to keep in mind as you plan your Superhero party.

    • 1. Will the theme will be Superheroes, Super Villains or a mixture of both? Any of these work really well. If you are sending out e-vitations, there are some cool superhero themed ones out there.
    • 2. Are your guests to dress as existing superheroes/villains or create their own superhero persona? Or is it going to be a mix. 
    • 3. Decorate the place with posters of classic superheroes, from Superman to The Green Arrow. Post Most Wanted posters of classic villains, The Joker to Lex Luthor. Throw in some posters of some more modern heroes and villains, from Dr. Horrible to Sylar. Simple and fun decorations could include the exclamatory word bubbles like the ones from the 1960′s Batman television show. Just grab some construction paper, cut out star shapes and write things like “Pow!” “Kaboom!” and “Thwack!”
    • 4. Create a cool and fun entry way. Maybe a retina scan box out of cardboard, a handprint reader, or just a big sign saying “Welcome to the Superhero/villain convention – only those with super powers admitted beyond this point.”
    • 5. There are plenty of great superhero-themed games and activities you could play, if that’s the type of party you are throwing. Check out these websites.

    Next time I’ll share ideas on how to pick just the right superhero costume for you and how to create your own unique superhero persona and costume.

    For those of you seriously ready to explore the super powered world, to determine your own super powers, or how to be the super hero you’ve always known you were, I recommend How to Be a Superhero.