When my son told me that he wanted to be Edward Scissorhands for Halloween, I knew that we were going to have a blast making the costume for him. Everyone in the family had something to add - my son of course offering the piece de resistance by literally *becoming* Edward that Halloween night :)
Many people have asked us over the last year, so here it is - how to make a (mostly!) simple Edward Scissorhands costume for your kids. Tone it down or add to it as you like.
Collect belts from used clothing stores. We ended up with ten belts for our then 4 year-old son. Obviously, bigger bodies will need more belts. They were collected over a period of several months anytime we were near a Salvation Army. Find black belts of all shapes and sizes with lots of grommets, studs, big metal buckles, etc. The more visual variety the belts have, the more interesting the costume will look.
Next, sew the shirt & pants. Note: I am NOT a seamstress and you do not need to be either.
Buy some cheap black pleather at the fabric store (I bought a yard and a half for my 4 year-old, but again, bigger bodies will need more). Retrieve a shirt and pants that are essentially the size and shape you are seeking. Draw a simple pattern around them on the back of the pleather, allowing about a half inch on every side to sew. Pleather is wickedly forgiving and easy to work with.
The shirt will require six cut pieces of pleather - two for each sleeve (if you are brave, or more experienced than I, you can achieve the sleeve in a single piece of fabric - but for this particular suit, the additional seam is irrevolent), one for the front and one for the back.
The pants are just two pieces, front and back, with an additional inch of length added to sew in the elastic waistband. If you are literally looking for the costume to be a one-night wear, you can also just belt it up with electrical tape and skip the waistband altogether.
Sew 'em up! These pieces should be straightforward and very simple - they basically serve as a blank canvas for all the wonderful belt gluing you're about to do!
Now it's time to figure out where you are going to place the belts on the pleather suit you have made. Lay the belts out and arrange them in a variety of ways until it looks good. DO NOT cut any of your belts until you have made final decisions regarding placement, because you will then cut them to size based on their location on the shirt and pants.
Once the belts are cut and you have an idea of where they will be placed on the suit (drawing a "map" sketch of their locations wouldn't be a bad idea), use a hot glue gun to adhere the belts to the shirt and pants. Afterwards, you will want to reinforce all of the belts in place with black electrical tape to keep them from falling off - the hot glue and pleather are only a fleeting bond and the tape will hold everything in place.
Once your bucked pieces are in place, you will have lots of scrap pieces with grommets and studs. Fill in the rest of the suit with these scraps in the same way you attached the buckles.
Congrats! With the addition of a black turtleneck and a final belt worn loosely around the neck as a choker, you now have yourself an Edward Scissorhands suit.
Now, about those scissorhands...
The hands begin with a plain pair of well-fitted black knit winter gloves.
Using a toilet paper roll, cut 2 pieces of cardboard that will make the shape of the entire back part of the glove to give it a sense of robotic body - spray paint them shiny black and when dry, attach to the back of the gloves with a glue gun.
Take ten gray or silver plastic knives and file the teeth down with sandpaper (this is for safety and to flatten out the curve of the butter knife). Then attach knives to the pinky, ring and middle fingers of each glove using electrical tape - Stuff the glove first with tissue paper to give them the shape they will be when worn (or have your child wear them) - you will need to secure these firmly around each finger, or the knives will droop.
For the pointer finger, you will have an actual "scissor" made with the butter knives. We didn't feel it was necessary to the illusion to have all of the fingers have actual scissors, but we liked the visual appeal of having the one on each hand.
To make this portion of the glove, make a mark on the center points of two knives, and then drill a hole through the marks. Bring the knives together and screw them together with a very small screw and nut. For safety, add a drop from the glue gun onto the spot where the screw sticks out. Do the same to the other glove.
For the loop at the top of the "scissor," cut a small circle from a 2" PVC pipe and then cut that in half into two "C"-shaped pieces. Spray paint the pieces black and then attach to the top of the screwed-together knives with the glue gun. Note that they look more like real scissors when the tops of the knives are facing each other as the sharp part of the scissor.
Tape off the thumb with electrical tape (Edward does not have a scissor on his thumb :)
While a wig is certainly an option for this costume, real hair just simply looks better. Our son told us his plans to be Edward early enough so that he could grow his hair out to an Edward-appropriate length for Halloween. This is one of those costumes where the hair really matters, so a little pre-planning on this can really go a long way.
To make the hair stick up Edward-style, use about a tablespoon of a max-strength styling agent (we used Got2b glued spiking glue) on dry hair. Lean them over and blow dry upside-down so that gravity can aid you as the product is drying. Once you've achieved the desired amount of stickupedness, use hairspray to shape the ends and touch up the roots. Then, if necessary, spray the hair black with temporary hair color - we used 2 cans of Fright Night brand in 'Black Fog', and it went on very nicely. Apply outdoors, if possible, the stuff stinks.
For the make-up, start with a semi-unnatural shade of white for the base, and then add in a few shadows under the eyes and at the cheekbones (this is Johnny Depp we're replicating here) with charcoal-colored eye shadow. Add scars in various locations with smudged red lipstick lines, blotted until softened and subtle.
Color the lips with the same white foundation that you started with, and then draw in a new set of cupie doll lips with black eyeliner, and then fill in with black lipstick.
Voila! Your little Edward is now ready to take on your neighbor's hedges!
Edward accidentally nips his face, then a little boy's. Edward is beaten with a stick repeatedly, and he stabs an attacker in the chest, causing him to fall out a window to his death. Mention of rape.
Parents need to know that there is sporadic violence in Edward Scissorhands. Aside from a woman attempting to seduce Edward wearing a lace bra (she mounts Edward while he is on a chair and attempts to use his scissors to cut off her clothes), sexuality is limited to courting rituals (kissing and hugging). Some of the garish set pieces, like Edward's haunted mansion, and the title character, with mean-looking, scissors for fingers, may be terrifying for young children. There is a mention of rape. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
In EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, Peg Boggs (Dianne Wiest) is a down-on-her-luck Avon representative shopping around her small, sunny neighborhood for prospective clients. When skewered resources force her to pay a visit to the local haunted house, she meets Edward (Johnny Depp), a recluse living in the attic who shyly appears in a zany 80s punk bouffant and leather getup, with scissors for hands. When the matronly Peg adopts Edward and brings him home for dinner, the whole family must deal with the razor-sharp consequences of Edward's scissorhands; most notably Kim (Winona Ryder), the doe-eyed daughter who becomes Edward's object of affection. At first, the townies welcome Edward with patronizing curiosity, but, after he rejects the advances of the neighborhood hussy, the town shows its true colors. Edward proceeds to get caught at the wrong place at the wrong time and is pursued by the police. Cornered, he is forced to make a choice between staying with the girl of his dreams or returning to his dark palace alone.
The film, lovingly directed by Tim Burton, is a darkly sweet (self) portrait of adolescent angst. We can all relate on some level to Edward's social awkwardness, and Depp's deer-in-headlights self-consciousness is adoring enough to soften the sharpest of pointed appendages. The pastel-colored township cuts a drastic figure against Edward's looming mansion in the distance. Like the best of David Lynch, Edward Scissorhands exposes the cynical underbelly of front porch Americana, forcing us to find beauty and truth in the grotesque when we allow what is "good" to run more than skin-deep.
b37509886e