My daughter wanted to go as a plague doctor for Halloween last year. I usually make her costumes but this was an exceptionally involved costume. I did my best to document the process which I didn’t have the forethought to do with her other insane costumes.
The Mask
This was the most time consuming portion of the costume, but it was something that I wanted to get “right” otherwise the whole thing would end up looking hokey. I didn’t know if I was going to attempt to make it or just find one to buy. I ended up making because the good masks were way out of my price range for one night of wear.
I ended up buying a pattern off etsy and it was worth it. I will link it here: Plague Doctor Mask Pattern.
The pattern calls for leather… there was no way I was making anything out of leather here so I decided to try my hand at sewing craft foam. You heard me right… sewing craft foam. It is a lot more delicate than leather would have been but also more lightweight. I got the extra thick 3mm foam sheets.
Now I sewed this all by hand so it is not always straight or matched up in the right places. If you look at the mask straight on you can see the centerpiece is crooked. That is why all these pictures are in profile.
The Goggles
I only deviated from the pattern with the eye pieces. My daughter got a pair of costume goggles from the Spirit Halloween store link to those here: Steam Punk Goggles. and she really liked the steampunk look of them so I have to make it work with the existing mask. I also had the added problem that my daughter wears glasses and can’t see a thing without them. The goggles gave me just enough room for her to wear her glasses under the mask. There was a lot of gentle carving with the Xacto knife, gluing and some cursing but I got the goggles affixed to the mask.
I pulled the belt buckle off of a ladies slim fashion belt and used it for the back.
Faux Rivets
The rivets were a challenge for me. I didn’t want to add anything too heavy to the mask and I certainly didn’t have anything to do actual rivets with. So what I used may shock you #clickbait
GOOGLY EYES! Yes!! I spray painted googly eyes gold and distressed them with some stippled black acrylic paint. Then glued those bad boys on the mask. It was funny because you could still hear the googly eyes rattle when she turned her head too fast. We all got a laugh out of it.
The Hat
The hat was a lucky find at the Halloween store. It was called a “Farmers Hat” and it was perfect (Link to it here: Black Farmers Hat). We looked for a long long time to find a good hat for the costume. I was worried I was going to have to make it out of craft foam too! Thankfully I didn’t have to.
Click here to see Part 2 of the Plague Doctor Halloween Costume
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