Robot Couples CostumeRosie from "The Jetsons" and Bender from "Futurama" step out together in style!In the slides above, you're viewing pictures of a fantastic robot couples costume made by Joseph Barrett of New York. For his first attempt at constructing robot suits, he chose a couple's costume pairing Rosie the Robot (from "The Jetsons") and Bender (from "Futurama.") Joseph and his wife were the hit of the parties they attended while wearing their robot costumes. PLUS, this project gave Joseph the experience he needed to win the 2nd Place Prize in our 2009 Halloween Creative Design contest (with his fabulous Optimus Prime Stilt Costume.) On the rest of this page, Joseph will share how he made Rosie and Bender...and maybe you'd like to give this project a try yourself next Halloween! How to make the Robot Couples Costumefeaturing "Rosie" and "Bender"....by Joseph BarrettIf you're looking for a really fun Halloween couples costume idea that will be well-liked by your friends, I found out by experience that THIS is the costume!My wife and I were at a costume party and didn't realize there was a competition going on upstairs until we heard over the microphone..."Where's Bender and Rosie?" We went upstairs and people were screaming that we had won! Needless to say, we were flabbergasted--and very pleased! How did I come up with the Robot Couples Costume idea? I really don't know for sure what inspired the whole Rosie and Bender thing to be honest! My wife and I always do a couple's costume and for some reason I kept thinking about trying a robot costume (probably because I'm not that great at sewing!) A robot, I suppose, was the obvious choice in that case. At first I was just going to make a very generic robot with the box head and box body with little buttons on him...but I figured it would be a whole lot cooler to be a robot that everyone would recognize. There are really only a handful of famous robots. Bender from Futurama was my favorite and Rosie (from The Jetsons) was the only female I could think of...robotically speaking of course! : ) And so, I decided to give the idea a try! Materials needed for the Robot Couples CostumeGathering the materials to make the Rosie & Bender robot couple is easy enough.* The main necessity is cardboard! * Also, you'll need duct tape...lots and lots of duct tape. * The dome of Bender's head is made from a rounded out pie tin * The antennae are broken chop sticks * Dryer duct pipes form Bender's legs and arms (but Rosie simply wears a long sleeve black shirt and black leggings; we made her costume sleeveless) * You'll need some magnets and a cabinet knob for Benders cabinet belly door * White cardboard for Rosie's maid's cap, collar and apron...along with some red buttons Making the robot suitsSadly, being that this was the first year I had ever thought to make anything for Halloween, I never took pictures of the robot-making process...nor took notes.Hopefully, you'll be able to use my costume pictures (and the cartoon pics of Rosie and Bender above) to know which way to shape your cardboard pieces. I began by shaping the main body sections first, to make sure that they fit. Until you get the main section the right size for you to be comfortable, there's no point in going any farther. Duct tape is used at many points in the process. First, you'll use it to keep the body segments held together. Later, though, you'll use smooth strips of the duct tape to "paint" your costume pieces. Making Bender's arms is as simple as making sure that you cut his arm holes in the appropriate places. The size should be loose enough to freely move your arms...but not big enough that your duct hose doesn't fit. Of course, you'll cut your duct hose to the length that fits your own arms...then secure it to the body of your costume with, yes...still more duct tape! I'm not sure if you have ever watched Futurama, but if you're familiar with the character of Bender, you'll know that he runs on alcohol and always has a few beers in his belly door! So that should explain a few of these pics : ) Shaping the head--with still more cardboard--seems simple once you've already got experience making the body. Add the robot's expression by cutting out eye holes and/or drawing a toothy smile (depending on which robot you're making.) Add Rosie's hat, collar & apron...and then both robot's antennae. And then, you're almost ready to party! It's a good idea to put the suits completely on and make adjustments ahead of time. Minor adjustments can be made at the last minute...but if you've got something major to fix, it's best to know about it while there's still time to fix any problems. My cost for both costumes was around $70. I didn't figure that to be a bad price. Spending $35 per person only gets a very "average" costume at today's prices. Putting the same amount of money on this fun robot couple's costume helped us to "stand out in the crowd" for quite a reasonable price!
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