In January 2016, the world lost David Bowie, one of the most loved, creative, and inspiring individuals of all time. To call him just a musician would leave out all his memorable fashion looks. To call him just a rock star wouldn’t do justice to his acting career. From Labyrinth to Zoolander, from Hunky Dory to Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie left an impression wherever he went and whatever he did. To pay homage to his many iconic looks, we've picked one of our favorites to turn into a DIY Halloween costume. We went with his blue suit and orange hair combo in the "Life on Mars?" video. See below for all the details!
DIY David Bowie Costume
Of all the looks, why did we go with the "Life on Mars?" outfit? It was a very tough decision, but the striking, ice blue suit with matching eyeshadow, platform boots, and fiery orange hair won us over. Maybe next time we'll pull together a Goblin King outfit or recreate the cover of Alladin Sane with the iconic lightning bolt. The video was released in 1973, but the outfit remains memorable to this day.
The Finished Product
"It's a god-awful small affair / to the girl with the mousy hair."
For a look so eye-catching, it was fairly easy to put together! The main item, of course, is a blue tuxedo and half an hour or so to apply some amazing makeup. While it doesn't sound so classy and artistic to say, the suit is actually one of our Dumb and Dumber costumes! The boots are loaned from another famous musician: these are our KISS rock and roll platform boots.
Products Used
Joker Wig - Shop Clown Makeup Kit - Shop Black, Red, & White Electrical Tape White Tie - Shop
Baby Blue Tux - Shop KISS Starchild Boots - Shop Orange Hairspray - Shop 70s Housewife Wig - Shop
So, just a few items of crafting! One, to get the most accurate looking boots to match his kicks in the video, we went at those big boys with some black gaffer tape. Be sure to leave a little stripe of silver in there! Two, still in the mood for tape? COOL! Grab red and white and add one line each on the tie to match the video. Easy. Done. Then... makeup and hair! We have a full makeup tutorial below (phew!), but for the hair you have two choices. There's the red joker wig that's the right color, but wrong cut. Aaaaaand the Carol Brady, which is the right cut, but wrong color. You pick your pony, guys. We ended up going with the blonde wig, cutting the top up a bit for that delicious mullet style, and spraying it down with orange color.
"But the film is a saddening bore / for she's lived it ten times or more."
David Bowie Life on Mars? Makeup Tutorial Video
Our artist will guide you through the steps, from setting the perfectly pale base to the electric blue eyes and pink cheeks and lips.
David Bowie Cosplay Inspiration
Like we've mentioned above, there are about a million and one outfits and style that come to mind when you mention David Bowie. We wish we could, but we just don't have the time to recreate all of our favorites. Here are some cosplay and costume inspiration pictures we've found online from Halloweens and conventions past.
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Which is your favorite David Bowie look? Do you know anyone or are you yourself paying tribute to the Starman this Halloween? Please share with us in the comments, we'd love to see. You can see all of our celebrity and music costumes here, too, if Bowie isn't your pick for the season.