Bat Suit

[Batdave]

I have started working on my Bat suit. Hopefully to complete in time for halloween. I have posted on my utility belt and hope to get back to that this weekend. I can't say enough great things about the resources on this board. So far I have found everything I need to know for putting the suit together. I work in New York City so I have been able to visit several of the places people have recommended to buy stuff. Last week I went to Spandex house to get the material for the gloves and trunks. It was very helpful since I had to look through a number of navy blue fabric rolls before I could find the best match to the cowl I bought from Will. I then went next door to Silk House and found navy woven satin for the cape. A friend's mom makes figure skating costumes for a living, so she is used to working with spandex and satin. I ordered Chucks pattern and gave it to her to make the gloves and cape. I have done some sewing myself so I am going to try to do the trunks.

Today I went to Onstage Dancewear to order the tights. They're only about 8 blocks from my office, so it was an easy trip. They were very helpful. I was ready to buy the tights in white supplex and dye them, but they actually had a grey that looked very close. It is really a cool blue-grey which is what I imagine the to correct color to be. For some of the other materials the grey is completely different. But this looked good. I was not too big on the idea of dying anyway, as we have a front loading washer. I ordered the 3x size (I'm 6 ft 220 lbs, need to loose a few) and the sales women said that would be the right call. She asked if i wanted to try some on but I really could not bring myself to do it there. With a cowl and cool belt ok. But in a store full of dancers, I don't think so.

I will update on my progress as it comes together.

[Silverknight58]

Quite a shopping trip! It's cool to be able to just walk in and get the stuff necessary, looking forward to seeing the complete enesemble!

[BatBob]

Sounds great, Dave! Your lucky that they had a colored pair of Spandex there.
Good call on the 3X! These things are TIGHT! lol

Good luck and have fun, Ol' Chum!

[Batdave]

***Admin edit - Please refrain from posting any customer transaction or customer service issue/complaints for any company on the board. No vent zone. Please check our rules. On another note like the big bold red letters for this section says, discussing about assembling a costume with mostly ordered items unless you are customizing them considerably really should take place in the Merchandise Section. ***

[Batdave]

***Admin edit - Please refrain from posting any customer transaction or customer service issue/complaints for any company on the board. please check our rules***

With very few options I went with a light grey unitard with a mock neck and zipper in the back. The color is a bit light and the material is a nylon with a bit of a sheen. It is not accurate but not horrible either. I still don't have the right boots, not to mention Batman's body, so I will consider this a work in progress. Now I have to cut an opening so I can go to the bathroom while wearing this thing.

[Chuck Williams]

If it makes you feel any better, the original tights were 100% nylon and did have a slight sheen to them. They were not dead matte.
So sorry about the snafu!!

Chuck...

[Batdave]

So I was able to complete my Batman Costume just in time for Chillercon. Well almost, there are still a few pieces that need to be tweaked. Here is what it consists of:

Silver Knight Cowl -Awesome
Cape - Made by a friend for Chuck's pattern. Came out great.
Trunks - Made by me from Chuck's pattern
Gloves - Made by the same person who made the cape, then revised by me. She only had an outline of my hand to go from and few pix. Not being a big batman fan she was working a bit blind. She put the fins on the top like a stegosaurus. I remove the glove part from the gauntlet and remade the gauntlet. They are no Gaspar gloves but the look great and were made with for about $10 in material.
Utility belt and buckle - Made by me
Nylon unitard from Onstage - not what I wanted but had to settle as the correct items I ordered were not made. It worked out ok and fits well. The color is off and I don't like the sheen, but I am going to try and dye it before buying something else. According to Rit, nylon can be dyed.
Boots - Super hero costume boot that I painted blue. Not quite right as they are too high, but the worked out in a pinch and only $50. Will eventually have to order real boots.
Pix below.

[Ben Bentley]

That turned out great and it looks like you had a lot of fun in it!

My first pair of boots I wore for SDCC before I was lucky enough to inherit some beautiful Duran Boots were a pair of generic "Hero" boots that I trimmed down to a more suitable height/shape and then spray painted.

[BatBob]

Great pics, Dave! Came out SUPER!

[Batmanish]

I had a friend put in a small 6" zipper in the font of my tights.. Mine is an all in one.. I got it from SpandexMan.com and then dyed it according to Chuck Williams. Yes it is difficult not to have access in the front!

[hobbybuilder01]

looks batty great to me the belt is fantastic..