Costly Costume Projects

Not that I need to further establish this, but I happen to be a huge nerd.  About a year ago I made a little creative project out of fashioning myself a Hawkgirl mask (Hawkgirl being a DC comic book character), and with the annual Supercon comic book convention approaching in June I’ve decided to finish up the costume.

The problem is that creating a costume can get expensive really quickly if I don’t keep an eye on my spending.  Luckily several pieces of the outfit I already owned (boots & leggings), and the two remaining clothing items I needed I found via an online dance & ballet supply store for relatively cheap; $12.99 for a gold tank top, and $14.90 for a pair of metallic red “booty shorts”.  Let's break it down, shall we:

That sets me up with the basic outfit, but the problem with the character of Hawkgirl is that she’s most recognizable by her enormous wings and her gigantic, face-crushing mace.  No matter which Halloween supply outlet I’ve searched the general pricing for the sort of wings I’m looking for is anywhere between $35 and $60.  As for a mace, I’ve been completely (and surprisingly) unsuccessful at tracking down a fake one – the closest I’ve come to is a toy sledgehammer.  The other option is that I can attempt to make the wings & weapon myself, but I’d have to pretty much pull ideas on where to start out of thin air.

I’ll keep up with my constant internet searches for reasonably priced plumage & medieval weaponry (a combination that sounds weirder on the page than in my head), but once again I am reminded on how my weird hobbies quickly get the better of my common sense & finances!