"Zookeeper Costume"

Costume Instructions

Costume Materials
I used about 4 yards of black fur for the gorillas body. I purchased about 3 pieces of pvc pipe for the cage and spray painted it silver. I used a kids pair of pants and an old shirt for the zookeeper. The only piece I had to buy was the gorillas mask, feet and hands. I used a pillow to support the torso of the gorilla and pvc pipes inside the pillow to hold the head up and support the arms and shoulders. The pvc pipes were held together with pvc elbow joints. A piece of foamcore was used for the top and bottom of the cage in order to support the legs of the zookeeper.

Costume Instructions
This is a very complicated process so I will do my best. The first thing I did was make the cage. I used pvc white pipes and pvc elbow joints to make the cage. It took many trial and errors to figure out how long the sides should be and it all depends on your body. Once I figured this out I cut the pipes using a pvc cutter and put the pieces together leaving the top and bottome open which later I would add two pieces of foamcore.
Next I attached the supports for the torso and head of the gorilla which was made out of pvc pipes and attached these supports to the cage so the torso and head of the gorilla was attached to the cage. The weight of the cage rested on my hips. I had two pvc pipes that came out of the back of the cage and set inside my back pockets so that the cage was balanced in the front with the cage and the back with the torso of the gorilla.
Next I made the gorillas lower half by making a kind of pants with the gorilla fur. I used an elastic in the waist to hold the pants up. I purchased a pair of gorilla feet to finish the lower half of the gorilla.
I now moved on to the upper part of the gorilla. I used a foam pillow inside a sweatshirt to make the chest of the gorilla. I stuffed the arms with polyfill then covered the upper body with black faux fur. The head was a mask that I had from another costume so I put that on the top of the torso and attached it.
The cage now needed the top and bottom so I could work on the lower half of the zookeeper.I cut two pieces of foamcore to fit the top and bottom of the cage. I glued these on with a glue gun. I cut a hole in the bottom foamboard so my upper torso could come up into the cage. Because I wanted the zookeeper to look like he was inside the cage I made fake legs out of a pair of pants and stuffed them with polyfill. I added a pair of boots and crossed the legs to look like he was stuffed into the cage. The upper part of the zookeeper was my upper torso so I put on a tan shirt and left the bottom untucked to cover up the upper part of the pants.
To get dressed in this costume I wore a pair of jean shorts so the pvc pipes from the cage could rest in my back pockets for support.I put the tan shirt on for the zookeeper. The cage and torso of the gorilla is all one piece so I put the gorilla pants and feet on and slipped the cage over my head onto my hips. It was a very difficult costume but fun to play around in.