Halloween Parades
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We’re at the end of October, which is easily the spookiest, most candy-filled time of year. It’s also the time of year when we get to gawk at all the costumes made by creative folks. And who’s more creative than Muppet fans?
Yes, it’s time again for our 14th annual Halloween Parade! That’s when we collect photos of people wearing the impressive Muppet costumes they made for Halloween (or, as we’re finding a lot of these days, Comic Cons). There isn’t much that impresses us more than some of the amazing costumes we find for these Parades.
Yes, we realize that this article is being posted before October 31st, meaning that we are likely missing some great costumes from Halloween 2015. If you or someone you know is wearing a Muppet costume this year, please email it to us and we’ll include it in next year’s Halloween Parade!
Now without further ado, let’s look at some Muppet cosplay!
Miss Piggy is the kind of costume that can be done any number of ways. She can be sexy, she can be portly, she can be a movie star, she can be a ’70s throwback, she can be a little more “Miss” or a little more “Piggy”. These two seem to have chosen “Piggy as Jessica Rabbit” and “1980s Business Woman on Her Wedding Day Piggy”.
I love this little Reporter Kermit! The one in the trench coat, not the tiny naked fellow in his hands.
As we do every year, we try and find at least one good Sweetums costume, and this year we found two! Every Muppet group needs a good Sweetums, if only to carry their car if it breaks down on the side of the road.
Steampunk Jim Henson! Continuing the grand steampunk tradition of adding useless cogs to things and pretending that they’re powered by coal. You know, like how puppets work.
Our pal Chandler Jackson made a more traditional take on his Jim Henson costume, complete with his homemade Kermit. But you’ll notice, that’s not just any Kermit, it’s the Sam and Friends-era collarless pre-frog Kermit! Fantastic attention to detail, and a great beard game to boot!
Check out this amazing Ghost of Christmas Present costume! And know him better man!
I can’t decide what part of these Dark Crystal costumes impress me most. Kira’s face? Aughra’s existence? Homemade Fizzgigs? All three of those terms, by the way, will be drink specials at the next Muppet Vault.
The Jim on the left there is our friend David Stephens, whose costume we featured in a previous Parade. And as great (and specific!) as his costume is, I can’t help but be amazed at that Floyd, who not only nailed the look of the puppet, but also got the perfect Sgt. Pepper-style shirt. If Floyd was a little taller, this is exactly what he’d look like.
Jareth is a pretty popular costume. All you need is a Tina Turner wig, pirate shirt, leather jacket, and far-too-tight pants. But kudos to this cosplayer who went the extra mile to create Jareth’s beggar costume! Double whammy!
Pups can get into the costume game too! Oscar is beyond cute, but Reporter Kermit (complete with collar, trench coat, and interviewee Grover) is brilliant. But are they the best Muppet dog costumes…?
Ah, now that‘s a Muppet dog costume! I wonder, has Rowlf played the keytar before? If not, he obviously looks natural with it around his neck. Better than a leash, anyhow.
Constantine can get you what you want, especially if what you want is an easy-to-make yet super effective costume, as seen in this pic of our friend James Whitehead. Accent not included.
Sarah wouldn’t have gotten far in the Labyrinth if this was the Worm she encountered. Forget the Goblin City, she’d spend the whole movie drinking tea.
I love the annual array of Sesame Street costumes. The characters are so universally recognized, you can try and look just like the puppets or evoke just the essence, and it works either way. A stripey shirt and unibrow will always look like Bert, just as a blue skirt and pink leggings make a fantastic Prairie Dawn. Covering yourself in garbage doesn’t automatically make you Oscar, but it’s a step in the right direction.
A Lips costume!!! I don’t have a funny joke, I’m just amazed that this exists! What a world we live in!
Behold: The many Beakers of Halloween! People sure do love wraping their heads in pink tubes and speaking in “meeps”. Also: SCIENCE!
Here’s some more Labyrinth costumes, all a lot more obscure than your Jareths and Sarahs. Sir Didymus isn’t all that little-known, but I’ve never seen anyone dress as him. The Junk Lady? Hardly. The Wiseman and his bird hat? I’m surprised that anyone even knows who they are.
We’ve seen some great Swedish Chef costumes in the past, but this is the first time I’ve seen a Muppet chicken in a pot. Points off though, because pots don’t have feet. Amateurs.
EX-KERM-INATE!
Lovely Red Fraggle costume. I especially like the use of a yellow baseball cap as Red’s upper lip. Sometimes you gotta use the materials you have at hand.
My favorite part about this group of Muppet cosplayers spotted at San Diego Comic Con isn’t their costumes, it’s the fact that they have no idea they’re taking a photo with Muppet performer Bill Barretta. Some fans they are!
This year’s Halloween Parade winner is Taminella Grinderfall, submitted by Matthew Brink. And you can see why it’s my favorite of the collection. The costume looks amazing, almost exactly like the puppet. She’s got the cane (“bake the hall in the candle of her brain!”), and a perfectly placed fang. But mostly, have you ever seen a Taminella costume before? Me neither! It’s so obscure, yet familiar to all Muppet fanatics like us. Congratulations, Matthew, you’ve ruined us for Muppet costumes for years to come.
Many thanks to everyone who submitted images of the above costumes to us, and double thanks to everyone who dressed as a Muppet! Again, if you would like to submit any photos of Muppet-related costumes for our next Halloween Parade, please email them to us.
Happy Halloween, Muppet fans!
Click here to make a steam powered beard on the ToughPigs forum!
by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
