A Very McCoy Halloween

This year, for Halloween, inspired by Vanessa's Spock and by the shear awesomeness that is Star Trek, I've decided to go as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy. I've just finished (for the most part, still need trim on sleeves) my costume and have thus decided to post some pictures of it and say how I created it.

Firstly, I needed the shirt. I originally wanted to go with the classic short sleeve shirt, but unfortunately, I couldn't find a premade or pattern for this shirt. I looked at the local fabric store, but they didn't have any patterns that quite worked. So, instead, I purchased a pattern from roddenberry.com and a patch for the shirt. The pattern had step by step instructions that were mostly clear. However, I do have a few comments for others who wish to use the pattern:

*The Size: Go with a bigger size than you think necessary. After I made my shirt, it ended up smaller than I would have liked, though I feel that I should also say I'm not the world's most experienced sewer. Still, it's better to go bigger and take it in if needed.

*The Collar: The most complex part of the shirt, the collar also takes the longest to get right. Once finished, it is supposed to fit like a turtle-neck type of shirt, but since it is made from binding, the collar kind of chokes a little. Nothing life threatening, it's just a tad bit uncomfortable.

*The Zipper: The pattern has you go back after finishing the shirt to insert a zipper. It goes down the left side. It was originally used to make it easier for the actors to put on the shirt after they got their makeup done. However, in normal use, the zipper doesn't really help. It's just an extra step.

Besides those few points, the pattern is great. I'm really happy with my overall result. As can be seen in the pictures, I still need to add the insignia on the sleeves, but that will only take mere minutes.

As for the rest of my costume, I did things the cheapest way possible. I used a pair of black dress pants that I had laying around and purchased some boots (slightly sexier than those McCoy would have worn, but still suitable) from Payless for only about $30.

Here are some pictures of my finished result. Please note that I intend to do my makeup and hair on actual Halloween so that I can better represent McCoy. Also, I apologized for my pained expression and kind of poor picture quality. I'll try to get better pictures on the actual day.