Lady Oogie Boogie Costume

I’ve always love dressing up as villains, and what better villain to be than the iconic Oogie Boogie costume!

“And if you aren’t shakin’
Then there’s something very wrong
‘Cause this may be the last time now that you hear
the boogie song.”

I wanted to do a feminine twist on the character so I knew from the start Oogie was going to need some curves. I also knew that I wanted to have him unraveling with bugs showing since that is one of my favorite parts in the movie. So, I set out to buy an enormous amount of burlap and packages of fake bugs (not your normal everyday shopping list).

Lady Oogie Boogie Costume Instructions

The first thing I started with was the pants. Let me tell you, burlap is the most frustrating material to sew because true to the movie, it unravels like crazy. After a few days of battling with it, I completed the pants. Based on all that hard work, I decided I only wanted one leg. So, I cut the other one off and fringed it a little to make it look like it was unraveling.
Next, I completed the arm with exactly the same struggle. So much so that I decided I was only making one. That is why the other is covered in bugs… oh! I mean, that was a deliberate artistic choice… ah, no it wasn’t.
After completing the one arm, I set off to complete the hood. I wanted it to be more feminine so I decided on the hood instead of a full mask. This way I was able to use makeup and the prosthetics I made, another passion of mine.
Then it came down to the corset… dun, dun, dun. I ended up taking an old corset I had and sewing burlap panels on top of it which to my surprised worked.
I then went over the whole costume, stitching it with black yarn to give it the iconic Oogie Boogie look.
Lastly, I bought a black bodysuit to put underneath it.
On top of the body suit is where I hot glued all of the plastic bugs. Warning hot glue is… HOT! I had so many burns, but at the end it was all worth it.

I wore the costume to a Comic Con convention in Chicago, and it was so well received by everyone who liked the feminine twist I put on it!

Lady Oogie Boogie Costume Instructions

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