Trickster Costume Build
Over Summer and Fall 2022, I recreated the costume of The Trickster from Cirque du Soleil's Koozå. This costume involved not only handmaking a whole suit and headpiece, but painting every piece to get the striped pattern. It was a huge undertaking and became something I'm very proud of. The costume also won second place in Swampcon 2023's costume contest.
Finished Product
This was how the finished costume turned out. The suit was sewn from an altered pattern and the headpiece was patterned from scratch. The stripes were then handpainted to match up between all the pieces in a neutral standing position.
Headpiece
The hardest part to build was the character's headpiece. I drafted a pattern from paper and converted the base into foam, then covered it in fabric and made the tendril pieces out of stuffed fabric with wire inside to keep their shapes and a bell on the end of each. The whole piece was then painted just like the rest of the suit.
Custom Painted Suit
After tailoring a pattern to make the suit fit right and match the character, I began the long, long process of painting it. Each part of the suit required multiple layers of paint and needed to be done one at a time so all the stripes would line up with each other. I also had to sew show covers for thrifted dress shoes so I could paint them to blend in with the pattern.
