Thread: the riddler costume help

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hi! im determined to follow this through this year. everyone is going to be doing the joker this year, and a lot of people will get it wrong , there is no way to match how great heath pulled it off. i've wanted to cosplay as the riddler for awhile, and now that my hair has grown a little, i think i can pull it off. i need help locating all of the pieces i need. but this is the ultimate question, which riddler to be? frank gorshin's riddler or Jim Carrey's riddler? my answer would we neither. the one im interested in is the riddle from the animated series


bowler hat
gloves
pants
jacket
tie
(black undershirt?)
cane
green shoes

What sort of quality level are you looking for in the pieces?

You can get a similar hat for St. Patrick's day that could have the ribbon replaced, but it is not a quality piece.
Plastic Bowler/Derby Hat

cheap Felt Bowler/Derbey Hat

Since he is wearing a tie, you probably want a black dress shirt.

For the gloves you could dye a white pair from party city or buy Dark Knight Joker gloves
For the tie, look for a plain white clown tie you can paint the "?" onto.
Shoes can be painted or dyed depending on what color they start as.

check ebay for the cane or look in thrift stores and modify one for your costume.

as for the jacket and pants, again thrift store. Find them in light colors in yellows and greens possibly light blues, and make sure they are all cotton, then dye them.
be sure to wash them thoroughly and apart from other clothes so you don't stain any other clothes

i don't recommend the official joker costume gloves, but that's because they look like pleather (or vinyl) and i'm not a fan of either fabric.

other than that everything DeathDealer suggested is about the best way to go about it.




and a note i will catch flack for: yes most people will half-a** the joker costume because they are lazy and looking for an easy and recognizable costume.
but to say that no one can possibly pull off ledger's performance is ridiculous, after all the same was said of Depp's 'Jack Sparrow' character and look at how many people have not only managed to perfectly replicate the costume, but the character itself, in mannerism's, speech patterns and attitude.
it can be done, it just requires a level of dedication that will not be seen wide spread until the next convention (comic-con and such) year.

Looking at the cane he carries in the animated series it looks like it would be really simple to replicate. I did something very similar for my daughter's Halloween costume this year.

You just need to stop by a hobby store and pick up a fairly thick dowel rod and two wooden balls, one slightly larger than the other. Drill a hole in the larger one all the way through and slide it down the dowel, leaving enough dowel sticking out at the top to put the small ball on. Drill a hole half way through the smaller one and slide it on. Use 5 minute epoxy to attach both. Then, for the flared look coming from the cane up on to the lower of the two balls use some plumbers epoxy putty. It's a two part putty and once you mix it together you can work it on there to get the exact look you want and it will dry hard as a rock. You can then sand it to get it smooth and paint the whole thing green. The whole thing wouldn't take more than an hour to build and would really add to the costume.

For the 5 minute epoxy and epoxy putty you can get both at either a hardware store or Wal-Mart. The epoxy putty will probably be in the plumbing section.

I went as Alex from A Clockwork Orange one year and we made a cane out of a thick-ish dowel.

after i finished reading the replies, i went to the local thrift store and picked up half of my costume for about 10 bucks (YAYYYYYYY)







the pants are easy to find, just dress pants of course. i picked up the gloves on ebay, as well as the tie. i chose to make a slight alteration on the riddler pic i posted. with the purple gloves, i wanted to make the tie purple as well, because i wanted everything to flow almost one color.

still have a few pieces that are alluding me


the purple domino mask (not plastic)
green derby/bowler hat

if you can get a hard plastic full face mask (usually blank and fairly cheap) you can use a marker to draw the domino mask shape and, following the pattern, make one out of paper mache, or stiff felt/cloth
you can either glue it on or use flesh colored or clear stings to tie it on.

or you can just paint one on....

as for the hat... can you find one on ebay in a close color and dye it or paint it the right color?

You could cut the mask out of purple fun foam and glue it to your face with spirit gum.

If you do not like the cheap felt bowler hat I posted earlier, there are several decent quality ones in green for $50.00. Check their other listings for other sizes.

MENS KELLY GREEN DERBY BOWLER MEN'S HAT MEDIUM NWT NEW - eBay (item 250302467853 end time Oct-07-08 22:28:43 PDT)

Also, try Burlington Coat factory if you have one nearby. They get in fedoras for cheap and might have a bowler hat.

I also found an in-between quality hat.
Adult St. Patrick's Day Bowler Hat - St. Patrick's Day - eBay (item 250296026553 end time Oct-16-08 12:11:25 PDT)

NEW Saint St. Patricks Day HAT GREEN TOP HAT BOWLER - eBay (item 140269131899 end time Oct-21-08 10:04:08 PDT)