Fantastic Four Couples Costume

I got this idea for a fantastic four couples costume from a challenge someone posted on a superhero forum. I wanted to see if I could create a Fantastic Four Human Torch costume that could “flame on”. I searched around the internet and could not find anything that was exactly the look I was searching for. So I took the challenge.

My first challenge in creating a costume is to make it home-made. I don’t want to go to the internet and purchase it. It has to be mostly made by me. So I always start out my costumes with at trip to the used clothing store. Oh I forgot to mention the second challenge for me is cost. It needs to be as low cost as possibly, thus the trip to the used clothing store vs. Joanne fabric.

After several trips I was finally rewarded with the basic outfit I wanted. I started with a long sleeve cotton red T-shirt and a light weight red cotton pair of sweat pants. I was also fortunate enough to find some large red socks to use as boot covers. Total price was $6.50. Then I went out to e-bay and found a pair of $3 cotton gloves to match.

The next step was to tie dye the clothes to give them a burning look and to blend the reds and dye the gloves. I used a partial bottle of dye that was left over from another project. So cost was minimal.

The Fantastic Four symbol on the chest was created from 2 colored foam pieces purchased at the craft store $1.50 and attached with hot glue. The yellow flames were made from 1 yd of yellow material (with hints of orange) that I purchased at half off from Joanne. Cost maybe $5? In retrospect material to make the 4 Logo in place of foam would have been a better option for the washing machine. I chose the material option for my wife’s Fantastic Four Logo. I was much happier with that.

I wanted to attach the flames on the sides of the costume. So I pinned the flames to the sides, folded the material over the flames and sewed it inside out. The flames were made by folding the material and appliqueing using iron on adhesives. I needed to tailor the clothes anyway because they were huge on me.

I used Snazarro face paint for the face and hair. I tried several ideas of red mask and head flames before I gave up and went with paint for the face. Failed ideas cost $4. Snazaroo face paint was picked up for for $4.

The flames on the head were a bigger challenge. After failing to find a flaming wig online, I made my own with trial and error. I finally decided to use a combination of colored yellow foam as the base and cut out flame material covering it.

The Sue Storm costume started with a certain Fantastic Four style in mind. Fortunately Sue had many outfits and hairdo’s over the years so it allows some flexibility. I went with the original 60’s look. A blue long sleeve t-shirt and a matching pair of blue sleepwear pants was the starting point. I made the 4 symbol out of material and applique. My wife replaced the collar of the shirt with a black collar. Cost about $30 total. I added a pair of black gloves dyed to fade out to her outfit for a couple dollars. I wanted to highlight Sue’s superpowers. So I chose white gloves that I could dye so it appears she is fading into gray. I also created a force field using Plexiglas and tape to attach it to her hand for pictures.

The costumes were a big hit at Comic Con. We had our photo taken 100 times including the Detroit News. This was the first Comic Con costume for my wife but not the last.

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